[Due for payment 2026-02-25] [$250] Android/iOS app interrupts my music whenever I send a message

[chuckdries]

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Version Number: 9.3.15
Reproducible in staging?: yes
Reproducible in production?: yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @chuckdries
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #expert-contributors

Action Performed:

1. Be listening to music on the device
2. Send a message in any conversation (or approve a report, or mark a report as paid, or do anything else that makes sound)

Expected Result:

Newdot's sounds should not interrupt my music

Actual Result:

Newdot's sounds briefly mute the music that I am listening to

Workaround:

None

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

screen-20260210-150752-1770764867589.2.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @dylanexpensify

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022021664434483832916
• Upwork Job ID: 2021664434483832916
• Last Price Increase: 2026-02-11

[melvin-bot]

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

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @dylanexpensify (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/~022021664434483832916

[samranahm]

Proposal

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

Android app interrupts my music whenever I send a message

What is the root cause of that problem?

On Android, when the app plays a short sound (message sent, approval, etc.), it uses expo-audio, which in turn uses Android’s audio focus API.
In Sound/index.native.ts the app only called:
setAudioModeAsync({playsInSilentMode: false, shouldPlayInBackground: true});
So no interruptionMode is set. In expo-audio’s Android module

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

We should Set interruptionMode: 'mixWithOthers' in the same setAudioModeAsync call. With that:

Android: expo-audio does not request audio focus when interruptionMode === MIX_WITH_OTHERS . The app’s short UI sounds play alongside other audio (e.g. music) without taking focus, so the music is no longer interrupted.

iOS: The same mode means “mix with other audio,” which is the desired behavior for these UI sounds.
This matches expo-audio’s docs: 'mixWithOthers' is intended for “sound effects.

setAudioModeAsync({
  playsInSilentMode: false,
  shouldPlayInBackground: true,
  interruptionMode: 'mixWithOthers',
});

here

App/src/libs/Sound/index.native.ts

Line 14 in eddf27e

setAudioModeAsync({playsInSilentMode: false, shouldPlayInBackground: true});

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

[abbasifaizan70]

Proposal

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

When listening to music on Android and NewDot plays a notification sound (sending a message, approving a report, etc.), the background music is briefly muted or paused.

Expected: NewDot's sounds should not interrupt background music.

Actual: NewDot's sounds briefly mute the music.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The app requests audio focus when playing sounds, which causes Android to pause/duck other audio. This happens in:

1. In-app sounds - App/src/libs/Sound/index.native.ts uses expo-audio which requests audio focus by default
2. Push notification sounds - CustomNotificationProvider.java uses USAGE_NOTIFICATION which can interrupt music

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

Configure expo-audio to NOT request audio focus for notification sounds, allowing them to mix with background music.

File: App/src/libs/Sound/index.native.ts

App/src/libs/Sound/index.native.ts

Line 14 in eddf27e

setAudioModeAsync({playsInSilentMode: false, shouldPlayInBackground: true});

Proposed:

setAudioModeAsync({
    playsInSilentMode: false, 
    shouldPlayInBackground: true,
    interruptionMode: 'mixWithOthers'
});

This tells expo-audio to play sounds without requesting audio focus, allowing them to mix with background music.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A - This is the standard Android approach for notification sounds that should not interrupt other audio.

[github-actions]

⚠️ @abbasifaizan70 Your proposal is a duplicate of an already existing proposal and has been automatically withdrawn to prevent spam. Please review the existing proposals before submitting a new one.

[twinkle-react]

Proposal

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

On Android, when NewDot UI sounds play, like sending a message or approving a report, the background music briefly pauses or mutes.

What is the root cause of that problem?

In this implementation, the module-level audio configuration in src/libs/Sound/index.native.ts assumes that the default audio mode is fine and does not explicitly set the documented interruption mode constants for mixing with other audio. Because of this, the platform may grant exclusive audio focus to short UI sounds, which interrupts background media playback.

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

We update the shared sound library at module initialization to explicitly request the documented MIX_WITH_OTHERS interruption mode constants when available. We keep runtime detection and logging. All callers remain unchanged.

File changed:

• c:\App-main\src\libs\Sound\index.native.ts

Updated module-level initialization:

15:61:c:\App-main\src\libs\Sound\index.native.ts
// Configure audio mode. Prefer a documented Android interruption-mode constant if available.
// We attempt to read the known constant from the runtime (`Audio.INTERRUPTION_MODE_ANDROID_DUCK_OTHERS`
// or a top-level `INTERRUPTION_MODE_ANDROID_DUCK_OTHERS`) and fall back to a conservative
// configuration if it's not present. Any failures are logged so we can detect no-op scenarios.
(() => {
    // Prefer the documented MIX_WITH_OTHERS constants when available.
    const interruptionModeAndroid =
        (ExpoAudio as any).Audio?.INTERRUPTION_MODE_ANDROID_MIX_WITH_OTHERS ?? (ExpoAudio as any).INTERRUPTION_MODE_ANDROID_MIX_WITH_OTHERS;
    const interruptionModeIOS =
        (ExpoAudio as any).Audio?.INTERRUPTION_MODE_IOS_MIX_WITH_OTHERS ?? (ExpoAudio as any).INTERRUPTION_MODE_IOS_MIX_WITH_OTHERS;

    const audioMode: Record<string, unknown> = {
        playsInSilentMode: false,
        shouldPlayInBackground: true,
    };

    const foundConstants: Record<string, boolean> = {
        android: interruptionModeAndroid !== undefined,
        ios: interruptionModeIOS !== undefined,
    };

    if (foundConstants.android) {
        audioMode.interruptionModeAndroid = interruptionModeAndroid;
    }
    if (foundConstants.ios) {
        audioMode.interruptionModeIOS = interruptionModeIOS;
    }

    try {
        // Use the exported function if available
        const setter = (ExpoAudio as any).setAudioModeAsync ?? (ExpoAudio as any).Audio?.setAudioModeAsync;
        if (typeof setter === 'function') {
            Log.info('[sound] setAudioModeAsync invoking', {
                foundConstants,
                setAudioModeAsyncPresent: true,
            });
            // Call and intentionally ignore promise resolution here; log rejections.
            setter(audioMode).catch((err: unknown) => {
                Log.info('[sound] setAudioModeAsync rejected', {message: String(err)});
            });
        } else {
            Log.info('[sound] setAudioModeAsync not available on expo-audio runtime', {foundConstants});
        }
    } catch (e) {
        Log.info('[sound] Exception while setting audio mode', {message: String(e)});
    }
})();

Playback creation now uses the runtime API:

71:75:c:\App-main\src\libs\Sound\index.native.ts
    const source = SOUND_ASSETS[soundFile];
    if (!source) {
        return;
    }

    const player = ExpoAudio.createAudioPlayer(source);

Native notification file inspected:

• android/app/src/main/java/com/expensify/chat/customairshipextender/CustomNotificationProvider.java

Current AudioAttributes configuration:

158:163:c:\App-main\android\app\src\main\java\com\expensify\chat\customairshipextender\CustomNotificationProvider.java
AudioAttributes audioAttributes = new AudioAttributes.Builder()
        .setContentType(AudioAttributes.CONTENT_TYPE_SONIFICATION)
        .setUsage(AudioAttributes.USAGE_NOTIFICATION)
        .build();

channel.setSound(getSoundFile(context), audioAttributes);

No native change is applied now. The fix stays in the shared sound layer.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

None