[Due for payment 2025-08-19] [$250] Notifications - Notification from group does not include group name

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.1.88-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2148171/folder/12015334/test-cases/39318180
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: MacBook Air 18.5
App Component: Notifications

Action Performed:

1. Sign in to ND Desktop app with gmail account (User A)
2. Sign in with another gmail account on secondary device (User B)
3. As User B, create a group chat with User A and User C
4. As User B, send a message in the group chat
5. As User A (main user), observe the notification

Expected Result:

Notification from a group chat consists of group name, sender name and a message

Actual Result:

Notification from a group chat does not include group name on Desktop app, like on iOS. It shows only sender's name and a message, like in 1:1 chats.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug6904836_1754022308581.notification_from_group.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @trjExpensify

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @trjExpensify (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.

[trjExpensify]

@jponikarchuk how does it look on Web?

[Eskalifer1]

Proposal

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

Notifications - Notification from group does not include group name

What is the root cause of that problem?

Here is the part of the code responsible for setting up notifications:

App/src/libs/Notification/LocalNotification/BrowserNotifications.ts

Lines 98 to 130 in 3478b90

	pushReportCommentNotification(report: Report, reportAction: ReportAction, onClick: LocalNotificationClickHandler, usesIcon = false) {
	let title;
	let body;
	const icon = usesIcon ? EXPENSIFY_ICON_URL : '';
	const isChatRoom = ReportUtils.isChatRoom(report) || ReportUtils.isPolicyExpenseChat(report);
	const {person, message} = reportAction;
	const plainTextPerson = person?.map((f) => Str.removeSMSDomain(f.text ?? '')).join() ?? '';
	// Specifically target the comment part of the message
	let plainTextMessage = '';
	if (Array.isArray(message)) {
	plainTextMessage = getTextFromHtml(message?.find((f) => f?.type === 'COMMENT')?.html);
	} else {
	plainTextMessage = message?.type === 'COMMENT' ? getTextFromHtml(message?.html) : '';
	}
	if (isChatRoom) {
	const roomName = ReportUtils.getReportName(report);
	title = roomName;
	body = `${plainTextPerson}: ${plainTextMessage}`;
	} else {
	title = plainTextPerson;
	body = plainTextMessage;
	}
	const data = {
	reportID: report.reportID,
	};
	push(title, body, icon, data, onClick);
	},

And there is no check here to see if it is a group, so we get into else block and display message as for non chat notification.

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

We need to add a check for isGroupChat:

ReportUtils.isGroupChat(report)

Or we can add this check into function isChatRoom if needed(But I'm not sure that's a good idea, because we use isChatRoom in many places and it might break something)

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

N/A

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.

[Eskalifer1]

@trjExpensify I think it should look the same as in a 1-on-1 chat. Here is a screenshot of the result with the solution from my proposal:

[ijmalik]

Proposal

---

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

Group chat notifications currently only show the sender's name and message, missing the group name that appears in chat room notifications.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The notification handler checks for isChatRoom but doesn't account for isGroupChat, causing group messages to fall into the 1:1 chat notification format and run the following code

App/src/libs/Notification/LocalNotification/BrowserNotifications.ts

Lines 120 to 123 in 3478b90

	} else {
	title = plainTextPerson;
	body = plainTextMessage;
	}

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

Add group chat detection:
const isGroupChat = ReportUtils.isGroupChat(report); // Add group chat detection

Here:

App/src/libs/Notification/LocalNotification/BrowserNotifications.ts

Line 102 in 3478b90

Replace:

App/src/libs/Notification/LocalNotification/BrowserNotifications.ts

Line 116 in 3478b90

if (isChatRoom) {

With:
if (isGroupChat || isChatRoom)

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

1. Verify group chat notifications show group names

2. Confirm chat room notifications remain unchanged

3. Ensure 1:1 chat notifications work as before

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[trjExpensify]

Mhm, so why wouldn't this be working the same as the iOS notifications for example? Notifications from group chats or reports seems to appear with this structure:

**<CommenterDisplayName>**
**<ChatName>**
<Message>

Examples

GroupDM (no custom chat title):-

Tom Rhys Jones
Tom, Jeff, Bob
What's up guys?

Room:-

Tom Rhys Jones
#admins
What's up guys?

Expense Report:-

Tom Rhys Jones
Expense Report 2025-01-01
What's up guys?

[trjExpensify]

(CC: @arosiclair @Julesssss for vis here)

[Eskalifer1]

I think that notifications for native devices have a different sending logic, since this section only contains notifications for Desktop and Web, while noop functions are used for native devices:

App/src/libs/Notification/LocalNotification/index.native.ts

Lines 1 to 11 in 18d4f1e

	import type {LocalNotificationModule} from './types';
	// Local Notifications are not currently supported on mobile so we'll just no-op here.
	const LocalNotification: LocalNotificationModule = {
	showCommentNotification: () => {},
	showUpdateAvailableNotification: () => {},
	showModifiedExpenseNotification: () => {},
	clearReportNotifications: () => {},
	};
	export default LocalNotification;

cc: @trjExpensify

[trjExpensify]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if there's a reason we styled the browser notifications on web/desktop differently. 🤔 Perhaps Jules or Andrew will know.

[arosiclair]

Web and desktop notifications don't have as many styling options. It really just allows:

Title
Message

and that's pretty much it. So we have to work around that to include extra info for group chat notification. I can help manage this.