[Due for payment 2025-05-13] [$250] Android - Chat - Unread marker is displayed on chat, when sending a payment

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.1.8-0
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught on HybridApp, is this reproducible on New Expensify Standalone?: Y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: N/A
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): ibellicotest+328@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause - Internal Team

Action Performed:

1. Open the Expensify app
2. Open any 1:1 chat
3. Tap on the "+" button and select "Pay Elsewhere" option
4. Complete the creation flow and send the payment
5. Once navigated back to chat, check if unread marker appears above the just sent payment

Expected Result:

Unread marker shouldn´t be visible for the user that sent a payment or any content

Actual Result:

Unread marker appears on chat above the payment sent by the user

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

• Android: Standalone
• Android: HybridApp
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: Standalone
• iOS: HybridApp
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

Add any screenshot/video evidence

Bug6760270_1741034650748.Marker.1.mp4

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Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021896950570489938755
• Upwork Job ID: 1896950570489938755
• Last Price Increase: 2025-03-18
• Automatic offers:
• rohit9625 | Contributor | 106591343

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @slafortune

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @slafortune (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.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021896950570489938755

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @ishpaul777 (External)

[LorenzoBloedow]

Proposal

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

Unread marker is displayed on chat after sending a payment.

What is the root cause of that problem?

We aren't updating unreadMarkerTime when a new visible report action is created:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionsList.tsx

Lines 206 to 219 in c406bee

	/**
	* The timestamp for the unread marker.
	*
	* This should ONLY be updated when the user
	* - switches reports
	* - marks a message as read/unread
	* - reads a new message as it is received
	*/
	const [unreadMarkerTime, setUnreadMarkerTime] = useState(reportLastReadTime);
	useEffect(() => {
	setUnreadMarkerTime(reportLastReadTime);
	// eslint-disable-next-line react-compiler/react-compiler, react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
	}, [report.reportID]);

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

We should make it so that every time a new visible action is created on the current report, the lastReadTime is updated.

This:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionsList.tsx

Lines 206 to 219 in c406bee

	/**
	* The timestamp for the unread marker.
	*
	* This should ONLY be updated when the user
	* - switches reports
	* - marks a message as read/unread
	* - reads a new message as it is received
	*/
	const [unreadMarkerTime, setUnreadMarkerTime] = useState(reportLastReadTime);
	useEffect(() => {
	setUnreadMarkerTime(reportLastReadTime);
	// eslint-disable-next-line react-compiler/react-compiler, react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
	}, [report.reportID]);

Should be:

    /**
     * The timestamp for the unread marker.
     *
     * This should ONLY be updated when the user
     * - switches reports
     * - marks a message as read/unread
     * - reads a new message as it is received
     * - completes the payment flow
     */
    const [unreadMarkerTime, setUnreadMarkerTime] = useState(reportLastReadTime);
    useEffect(() => {
        setUnreadMarkerTime(reportLastReadTime);

        // eslint-disable-next-line react-compiler/react-compiler, react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
    }, [report.reportID, report.lastVisibleActionCreated]);

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

E2E test that sends a payment using the "Pay Elsewhere" option and checks to see if the UnreadActionIndicator shows up.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Using subscribeToNewActionEvent but the timing is tricky and probably doesn't work without a hack like setTimeout.

[mallenexpensify]

@ishpaul777 plz review the proposal above, it's been 5 days :/