[HOLD for payment 2024-08-09] [$250] Switch to expensify classic button not working on m-web safari

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.0.10-6
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @ishpaul777
Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1721668187994169

Action Performed:

1. Go to https://staging.new.expensify.com/settings/exit-survey/reason on mweb
2. Complete the flow
3. Click green Switch to Expensify Classic button

Expected Result:

User is redirected to olddot

Actual Result:

User is not redirected to olddot and button nonfunctional

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Which of our officially supported platforms is this issue occurring on?

• Android: Native
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: Native
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

Screen.Recording.2024-07-22.at.8.51.47.PM.mov

RPReplay_Final1721677493.MP4

Add any screenshot/video evidence

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01550410ab679e7457
• Upwork Job ID: 1815808508017223645
• Last Price Increase: 2024-07-23
• Automatic offers:
• akinwale | Reviewer | 103303782

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @abekkala

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @abekkala (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[nyomanjyotisa]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Switch to expensify classic button not working on m-web safari

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause of the issue is that the Linking.openURL method in React Native is not handling the URL correctly on Safari. Specifically, Safari has stricter URL handling requirements, and URLs need to be properly encoded to ensure they are opened correctly.

App/src/libs/asyncOpenURL/index.ts

Lines 4 to 12 in 38cddee

	const asyncOpenURL: AsyncOpenURL = (promise, url) => {
	if (!url) {
	return;
	}
	promise.then((params) => {
	Linking.openURL(typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params));
	});
	};

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

To address the issue, the following changes are proposed:

• Ensure that the URL passed to Linking.openURL is properly encoded. This prevents any special characters in the URL from causing issues in Safari.
• Modify the asyncOpenURL function to encode the URL before opening it with Linking.openURL

Update this code to the following

    promise.then((params) => {
        const finalURL = typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params);
        const encodedURL = encodeURIComponent(finalURL);
        Linking.openURL(encodedURL);
    });

RESULT

Switch-to-expensify-classic-button-not-working-on-m-web-safari-.-Issue-45941-.-Expensify-App.mp4

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[bernhardoj]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Switch to expensify classic doesn't work in mWeb Safari.

What is the root cause of that problem?

Pressing the switch to expensify classic button will do an API request and will try to open the old dot link after the promise is resolved.

App/src/pages/settings/ExitSurvey/ExitSurveyConfirmPage.tsx

Lines 86 to 94 in 38cddee

	onPress={() => {
	ExitSurvey.switchToOldDot().then(() => {
	if (NativeModules.HybridAppModule) {
	Navigation.resetToHome();
	NativeModules.HybridAppModule.closeReactNativeApp();
	return;
	}
	Link.openOldDotLink(CONST.OLDDOT_URLS.INBOX);
	});

However, opening a link/new tab inside a promise doesn't work on mWeb Safari. We previously had this kind of issue at #3615 which we fix it by opening a new window first then wait for the promise to complete.

App/src/libs/asyncOpenURL/index.website.ts

Lines 13 to 28 in 38cddee

	const isSafari = /^((?!chrome|android).)*safari/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
	if (!isSafari || shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic) {
	promise.then((params) => {
	Linking.openURL(typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params));
	});
	} else {
	const windowRef = window.open();
	promise
	.then((params) => {
	if (!windowRef) {
	return;
	}
	windowRef.location = typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params);
	})
	.catch(() => windowRef?.close());

The issue is that in mWeb Safari, opening a new tab/link requires a user gesture, and putting it inside a promise won't be considered a user gesture anymore.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

Call Link.openOldDotLink(CONST.OLDDOT_URLS.INBOX); outside of the promise (we can do it only for mWeb Safari).

App/src/pages/settings/ExitSurvey/ExitSurveyConfirmPage.tsx

Lines 86 to 94 in 38cddee

	onPress={() => {
	ExitSurvey.switchToOldDot().then(() => {
	if (NativeModules.HybridAppModule) {
	Navigation.resetToHome();
	NativeModules.HybridAppModule.closeReactNativeApp();
	return;
	}
	Link.openOldDotLink(CONST.OLDDOT_URLS.INBOX);
	});

if (!NativeModules.HybridAppModule) {
    Link.openOldDotLink(CONST.OLDDOT_URLS.INBOX);
}

If we only do it in safari, then pressing the Switch to expensify classic will immediately open the new window, while for other platforms, we will wait until the loading is complete.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

The main solution will open the window and set the old link link as the url to the window without waiting the switchToOldDot request to complete. If we want to wait for switchToOldDot, then we can update openOldDotLink to accept a new params called extraPromise. We pass the switchToOldDot to the extraPromise and wait for it to complete.

if (!NativeModules.HybridAppModule) {
    Link.openOldDotLink(CONST.OLDDOT_URLS.INBOX, ExitSurvey.switchToOldDot());
} else {
    ExitSurvey.switchToOldDot().then(() => {
        Navigation.resetToHome();
        NativeModules.HybridAppModule.closeReactNativeApp();
    });
}

App/src/libs/actions/Link.ts

Lines 63 to 70 in 8e4dc0f

	// If shortLivedAuthToken is not accessible, fallback to opening the link without the token.
	asyncOpenURL(
	// eslint-disable-next-line rulesdir/no-api-side-effects-method
	API.makeRequestWithSideEffects(SIDE_EFFECT_REQUEST_COMMANDS.OPEN_OLD_DOT_LINK, {}, {})
	.then((response) => (response ? buildOldDotURL(url, response.shortLivedAuthToken) : buildOldDotURL(url)))
	.catch(() => buildOldDotURL(url)),
	(oldDotURL) => oldDotURL,
	);

extraPromise.then(() => 
    API.makeRequestWithSideEffects(SIDE_EFFECT_REQUEST_COMMANDS.OPEN_OLD_DOT_LINK, {}, {})
        .then((response) => (response ? buildOldDotURL(url, response.shortLivedAuthToken) : buildOldDotURL(url)))
        .catch(() => buildOldDotURL(url))
),

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01550410ab679e7457

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @akinwale (External)

[akinwale]

After reviewing both proposals, we can move forward with @bernhardoj's proposal here since the solution follows a pattern that already exists in the codebase.

🎀👀🎀 C+ reviewed.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @srikarparsi, see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/7972 for more details.