diff --git a/src/common/SmartUrlInput.js b/src/common/SmartUrlInput.js
index d2486c59c98..4b6d9dedbfb 100644
--- a/src/common/SmartUrlInput.js
+++ b/src/common/SmartUrlInput.js
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 /* @flow strict-local */
 import React, { useState, useRef, useCallback, useContext } from 'react';
 import type { Node } from 'react';
-import { Platform, TextInput, TouchableWithoutFeedback, View, Keyboard } from 'react-native';
+import { Platform, TextInput, View, Keyboard } from 'react-native';
 import { useFocusEffect } from '@react-navigation/native';
 import type { ViewStyleProp } from 'react-native/Libraries/StyleSheet/StyleSheet';
 
 import type { AppNavigationProp } from '../nav/AppNavigator';
 import { ThemeContext, createStyleSheet } from '../styles';
-import { autocompleteRealmPieces, autocompleteRealm, fixRealmUrl } from '../utils/url';
-import ZulipText from './ZulipText';
 
 const styles = createStyleSheet({
   wrapper: {
@@ -16,15 +14,10 @@ const styles = createStyleSheet({
     opacity: 0.8,
   },
   realmInput: {
+    flex: 1,
     padding: 0,
     fontSize: 20,
   },
-  realmPlaceholder: {
-    opacity: 0.75,
-  },
-  realmInputEmpty: {
-    width: 1,
-  },
 });
 
 type Props = $ReadOnly<{|
@@ -32,6 +25,7 @@ type Props = $ReadOnly<{|
   // `navigation` prop we pass to a `SmartUrlInput` instance is the
   // one from a component on AppNavigator.
   navigation: AppNavigationProp<>,
+
   style?: ViewStyleProp,
   onChangeText: (value: string) => void,
   onSubmitEditing: () => Promise<void>,
@@ -93,8 +87,11 @@ export default function SmartUrlInput(props: Props): Node {
   /**
    * The actual input string, exactly as entered by the user,
    * without modifications by autocomplete.
+   *
+   * Prepopulates with "https://", because not everyone has memorized that
+   * sequence of characters.
    */
-  const [value, setValue] = useState<string>('');
+  const [value, setValue] = useState<string>('https://');
 
   const themeContext = useContext(ThemeContext);
 
@@ -113,26 +110,11 @@ export default function SmartUrlInput(props: Props): Node {
   const handleChange = useCallback(
     (_value: string) => {
       setValue(_value);
-
-      onChangeText(
-        fixRealmUrl(autocompleteRealm(_value, { protocol: 'https://', domain: 'zulipchat.com' })),
-      );
+      onChangeText(_value);
     },
     [onChangeText],
   );
 
-  // When the "placeholder parts" are pressed, i.e., the parts of the URL
-  //   line that aren't the TextInput itself, we still want to focus the
-  //   TextInput.
-  // TODO(?): Is it a confusing UX to have a line that looks and acts like
-  //   a text input, but parts of it aren't really?
-  const urlPress = useCallback(() => {
-    if (textInputRef.current) {
-      // `.current` is not type-checked; see definition.
-      textInputRef.current.focus();
-    }
-  }, []);
-
   if (Platform.OS === 'android') {
     // (This eslint-disable is fine; the relevant rule is not to call Hooks
     //   conditionally. But this conditional won't vary in its behavior
@@ -141,29 +123,11 @@ export default function SmartUrlInput(props: Props): Node {
     useRn19366Workaround(textInputRef);
   }
 
-  const renderPlaceholderPart = (text: string) => (
-    <TouchableWithoutFeedback onPress={urlPress}>
-      <ZulipText
-        style={[styles.realmInput, { color: themeContext.color }, styles.realmPlaceholder]}
-        text={text}
-      />
-    </TouchableWithoutFeedback>
-  );
-
-  const [prefix, , suffix] = autocompleteRealmPieces(value, {
-    domain: 'zulipchat.com',
-    protocol: 'https://',
-  });
-
   return (
     <View style={[styles.wrapper, style]}>
-      {prefix !== null && renderPlaceholderPart(prefix)}
       <TextInput
-        style={[
-          styles.realmInput,
-          { color: themeContext.color },
-          value.length === 0 && styles.realmInputEmpty,
-        ]}
+        value={value}
+        style={[styles.realmInput, { color: themeContext.color }]}
         autoFocus
         autoCorrect={false}
         autoCapitalize="none"
@@ -176,8 +140,6 @@ export default function SmartUrlInput(props: Props): Node {
         enablesReturnKeyAutomatically={enablesReturnKeyAutomatically}
         ref={textInputRef}
       />
-      {!value && renderPlaceholderPart('your-org')}
-      {suffix !== null && renderPlaceholderPart(suffix)}
     </View>
   );
 }