[Due for payment 2026-05-20] [Due for payment 2026-05-18] iOS - Profile - In-app camera does not open when taking photo for avatar

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.3.69-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #87681
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): josdjnosdjionjsdonjisod@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: iPhone 15 Pro Max / iOS 26.4.2
App Component: Workspace Settings

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• App camera access is allowed.

1. Launch Expensify app.
2. Go to Account > Profile.
3. Tap Upload photo > Take photo.

Expected Result:

In-app camera will open.

Actual Result:

In-app camera does not open when taking photo for avatar.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7148502_1778255786565.12.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #87681

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

Root Cause: iOS modal presentation race condition introduced by PR #87681.

When the user taps "Take Photo", selectItem calls close() to dismiss the Popover modal, then immediately calls launchInAppCamera() which sets showAttachmentCamera(true). The new AttachmentCamera component renders a React Native <Modal> (line 178). On iOS, presenting a new <Modal> while another is still animating closed causes the new one to silently fail — so the camera never appears.

The gallery/document picker paths already handle this correctly by deferring their action via onModalHide.current (lines 559-583), but the camera's onPress path bypasses this mechanism entirely.

Solution: Defer launchInAppCamera() using the same onModalHide pattern that gallery/document pickers use. Change the selectItem function so that when the item has onPress (the camera item), it sets onModalHide.current to call item.onPress() (with a short setTimeout like the other paths), then calls close().

 if ('onPress' in item) {
-    close();
-    item.onPress();
+    onModalHide.current = () => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+            item.onPress();
+        }, 200);
+    };
+    close();
     return;
 }

Investigation details

Data flow (broken path):

1. User taps avatar → AvatarWithImagePicker calls openPicker() → Popover modal shown
2. User taps "Take Photo" → selectItem() called with camera menu item
3. selectItem() calls close() (starts Popover dismiss animation) then immediately calls launchInAppCamera()
4. launchInAppCamera() sets showAttachmentCamera=true → <AttachmentCamera> renders its <Modal visible={true}>
5. iOS refuses to present the new Modal while the Popover Modal is still dismissing → camera never appears

Why gallery/document works: Those paths set onModalHide.current before calling close(), so their action runs only after the Popover has fully dismissed.

Confirms avatar uses AttachmentPicker: AvatarWithImagePicker.tsx:230 wraps content in <AttachmentPicker>, so it hits the same broken code path.

Related Issues

• [Due for payment 2026-05-20] [Due for payment 2026-05-18] [$250] iOS - Attachment - App loads infinitely when taking photo #90042 — "App loads infinitely when taking photo" (same PR, different failure mode when camera permission is not yet granted)

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis, or explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.