[Better Expense Report View] [$250] Web - Reports - Unable to play video in Reports > Chats

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.1.24-2
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught on HybridApp, is this reproducible on New Expensify Standalone?: N/A
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: Exp
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sdsoidsj@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Mac 15.3 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to chat.
3. Upload a video.
4. Go to Reports.
5. Go to Chats.
6. Click on the video.

Expected Result:

The video will play.

Actual Result:

The video does not play. Nothing happens after clicking on the video.
If Reports page is refreshed, the video will play. When switching between Reports and Inbox, the video does not play again in Reports > Chats.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug6795602_1744077155211.20250408_095048.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @miljakljajic

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @miljakljajic (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]

Triggered auto assignment to @techievivek (DeployBlockerCash), see https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/9980/ for more details.

[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.

[mkzie2]

Proposal

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

The video does not play. Nothing happens after clicking on the video.
If Reports page is refreshed, the video will play. When switching between Reports and Inbox, the video does not play again in Reports > Chats.

What is the root cause of that problem?

1. On the search page, reportID is undefined

App/src/components/VideoPlayerContexts/PlaybackContext.tsx

Line 111 in 689e60c

setCurrentReportID(reportID);

App/src/components/VideoPlayerPreview/index.tsx

Line 49 in 689e60c

function VideoPlayerPreview({videoUrl, thumbnailUrl, reportID, fileName, videoDimensions, videoDuration, onShowModalPress, isDeleted}: VideoPlayerPreviewProps) {

But the currentReportID is always the topmost reportID or reportID from the params. This causes currentPlayReportID not to be the same reportID on the search page, and the video can't play.

App/src/components/VideoPlayerContexts/PlaybackContext.tsx

Line 131 in 689e60c

const currentPlayReportID = [attachmentReportID, reportIDWithUrl, currentReportID].find((id) => id !== undefined);

2. !firstRenderRoute.isFocused is never true if we the play the video in preview on large screen.

App/src/components/VideoPlayerPreview/index.tsx

Lines 80 to 85 in 689e60c

	if (videoUrl !== currentlyPlayingURL || reportID !== currentlyPlayingURLReportID || !firstRenderRoute.isFocused) {
	return;
	}
	setIsThumbnail(false);
	}, [currentlyPlayingURL, currentlyPlayingURLReportID, updateCurrentlyPlayingURL, videoUrl, reportID, firstRenderRoute]);

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

1. If the focused route is not an attachment route or report screen route, reportID should be undefined

if (Navigation.getActiveRouteWithoutParams() !== `/${ROUTES.ATTACHMENTS.route}` && focusedRoute?.name !== SCREENS.REPORT) {
    reportID = undefined;
} else {
    reportID = Navigation.getActiveRouteWithoutParams() === `/${ROUTES.ATTACHMENTS.route}` ? prevCurrentReportID : reportID;
}

App/src/components/VideoPlayerContexts/PlaybackContext.tsx

Line 98 in 689e60c

const updateCurrentPlayingReportID = useCallback(

2. This hook should return true in large screen

const {shouldUseNarrowLayout} = useResponsiveLayout();

get isFocused() {
    if (!shouldUseNarrowLayout) {
        return true;
    }
    const activeRoute = Navigation.getActiveRouteWithoutParams();
    const allRoutesToConsider = [initialRoute.current, ...(focusExceptionRoutes ?? [])];
    return allRoutesToConsider.includes(activeRoute);
},

App/src/hooks/useFirstRenderRoute.ts

Line 12 in 689e60c

get isFocused() {

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

NA

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

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