fix: Can't upload a receipt in HEIC format, page reloads or loads infinitely

[martasudol]

Explanation of Change

The main fix was removing the blocking error and instead implementing a pass-through fallback. When HEIC conversion fails (whether due to the heic-to library not recognizing the file or any other reason), instead of preventing the upload entirely.

Fixed Issues

$#68778

Tests

1. Navigate to the workspace chat, tap +, "Create expense"
2. Tap "Choose file", select a receipt in the HEIC format
3. Scan expense is created successfully

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

Same as Tests.

QA Steps

Same as Tests.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

• I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
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• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
  • MacOS: Desktop
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Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

ios-native.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

ios-web.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

web.mov

MacOS: Desktop

desktop.mov

[melvin-bot]

@QichenZhu Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

[QichenZhu]

Hi @martasudol, it seems the server doesn't support HEIC format yet, so the receipt upload will fail if we passthrough the file.

Screen recording

RPReplay_Final1756809870.mp4

Server response

Console warnings

[martasudol]

@QichenZhu could you share with me the test file that you use?

[QichenZhu]

Sure! Here it is: #68778 (comment)

[mountiny]

Yeah HEIC is not supported by the server, it has to be converted before being posted I believe cc @Beamanator

[Beamanator]

This is def consistent with #47078 (comment), but I don't quite remember "why" - if there was a limitation on our backend or if we just wanted the img to optimistically upload & have a preview

[martasudol]

@QichenZhu I've jus tested it with your file and it works:
web:

Nagranie.z.ekranu.2025-09-3.o.08.55.25.mov

ios native:

Nagranie.z.ekranu.2025-09-3.o.08.57.47.mov

[QichenZhu]

@martasudol, could you try it on a physical device? I'm using iPad Pro 10.5, iOS 17.7.9.

[QichenZhu]

Steps:

1. Download the photo from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pi5if4sy6Ax0p4AtmkPxo_RmtZUhkxOG/view?usp=sharing and save it into "Files"
2. Tap FAB - Create expense - Scan
3. Tap "Choose Files", select the file in step 1
4. Try to submit the expense

Expected result: The expense is created and the receipt is scanned
Actual result: The page keeps loading, crashes, or shows "There was an error uploading your receipt"

[github-actions]

🚧 @mountiny has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

[github-actions]

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, Desktop, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #69634.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.amazonaws.com/android/69634/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.amazonaws.com/ios/69634/index.html

Desktop 💻	Web 🕸️
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.amazonaws.com/desktop/69634/NewExpensify.dmg	https://69634.pr-testing.expensify.com

---

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

[IuliiaHerets]

QA team tested these steps with iOS adhoc build. No loading errors or crashes. Receipt got uploaded, but got a scanning error stating details need to be entered manually. Same behaviour for two testers with iPhone 16/iOS 18.3.1 and iPhone 16 Pro Max/18.6

ScreenRecording_09-04-2025.08-44-29_1.mp4

ScreenRecording_09-04-2025.08-26-07_1.MP4

[QichenZhu]

Thanks @IuliiaHerets! Good to know the HybridApp is working. How about mWeb Safari?

[IuliiaHerets]

@QichenZhu Do you want to test us on the staging build on Safari?

[IuliiaHerets]

@QichenZhu @mountiny

1. iPhone 15 iOS 18.5 Safari, mentioned receipt failed the scan, another HEIC receipt - page reloaded, receipt is not uploaded. Same result as in the issue
   https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b59da980-b5a3-4a09-8bb7-23ec7ab07d2b

2. iPhone 16/18.3.1/Safari- receipt uploaded but scanning failed to enter details manually
   https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c7cdfb74-2245-49c4-b708-ff87de74c46d

[QichenZhu]

Thank you! That's really helpful.

Summary

Test results with this PR on mWeb Safari following these steps.

Device type	Model	iOS version	RAM (GB)	Issue reproducible?
Physical	iPhone 13	17.3	4	Yes
Simulator	iPhone 15 Pro Max	17.5	N/A	Yes
Physical	iPad Pro 10.5	17.7.9	4	Yes
Physical	iPhone 15 Plus	18.0	6	No
Physical	iPhone 16	18.0	8	No
Physical	iPhone 16	18.3.1	8	No
Physical	iPhone 13 mini	18.4.1	4	Yes
Physical	iPhone 15	18.5	6	Yes

[martasudol]

Thanks @QichenZhu @IuliiaHerets for testing! So it looks like the main problem now is scanning, not uploading. Probably after failed scanning, uploading is blocked. Let me look into this.

[QichenZhu]

So it looks like the main problem now is scanning

@martasudol, I don't think that's the main problem here.

The original issue is about the upload failure in No. 1 of the comment:

page reloaded, receipt is not uploaded. Same result as in the issue

The scan failure in No. 2 is a separate issue:

receipt uploaded but scanning failed to enter details manually

[martasudol]

1. https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b59da980-b5a3-4a09-8bb7-23ec7ab07d2b

Yes but note that in this recording the flow is the following:

1. upload HEIC file - works
2. scanning first file - failed
3. upload second HEIC file - failed

[QichenZhu]

@martasudol, good point! I just tested this: the page could also crash if you upload the file without submitting it for scan, go back and upload the same file again. Repeat it 4-5 times if it doesn't crash.

Screen.Recording.2025-09-08.at.9.58.12.PM.mov

[martasudol]

Ok, I see a few problems here. Please take a look at the recording below – it’s from staging, where I tried to upload and scan a JPEG file.

1. On the first attempt, the file didn’t upload at all.
2. On the second attempt, I got the error: "There was an error uploading your receipt."
3. When clicking on the newly created expense, I see the "Hmm... it's not here" page.

Nagranie.z.ekranu.2025-09-9.o.09.45.15.mov

For HEIC files on staging, it behaves as we’ve already described.

Something is definitely off here. It looks like failed scanning is common for both JPEG and HEIC (so it’s not really related to the file format).

I’d recommend splitting uploading (as you can note in the above recording, it also didn't work on first attempt for JPEG) and scanning into two separate issues.

cc @gedu as I know you're working on another issue with scanning process.

[mountiny]

@martasudol that is definitely off, I have not seen this issue in staging before, that seems like a bug / deploy blocker

[gedu]

Yeah, mine is different behaviour, it's related with SequentialQueue and killing the app

[martasudol]

@martasudol that is definitely off, I have not seen this issue in staging before, that seems like a bug / deploy blocker

100% agree. I’ll be out of office from tomorrow until next Monday, but someone from the Callstack team will take it over in the meantime. cc @mountiny @gedu

[m-natarajan]

Unable to reproduce this in staging and production by uploading jpeg file, but at times have to select file twice to upload

bandicam.2025-09-09.18-17-59-502.mp4

bandicam.2025-09-09.17-37-32-325.mp4

[mountiny]

I believe we can close this one now, thank you!