[iOS] Stale video conference notification re-dispatched on every cold boot due to missing deduplication

[deepak0x]

On iOS, when a user taps "Accept" or "Decline" on a video conference push notification, the app correctly processes the action. However, Expo’s getLastNotificationResponseAsync() / getLastNotificationResponse() does not clear the last notification response after it is read.

Because of this, the same stale notification persists across cold boots (force-close → reopen from app icon). Every time the app launches normally, it re-processes the old video conference notification and dispatches deepLinkingClickCallPush again.

This causes users to be repeatedly forced into an old, already-ended video call.

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Root Cause

There is no deduplication logic in the notification handling pipeline.

• No notification ID is stored after processing.
• No check exists to verify whether a notification has already been handled.
• Expo persists the last notification response across cold boots by design.

As a result, the same notification is dispatched repeatedly.

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Affected Code Paths

Path 1

app/lib/notifications/push.ts (around line 277)

• Calls Notifications.getLastNotificationResponse()
• Immediately returns the transformed notification
• No ID check

Flows into:

app/lib/notifications/index.ts (lines 42–44)

• If notificationType === 'videoconf'
• Immediately dispatches deepLinkingClickCallPush
• No deduplication check

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Path 2 (Backup Path)

app/lib/notifications/videoConf/getInitialNotification.ts (lines 56–75)

• Calls getLastNotificationResponseAsync()
• Parses ejson
• If notificationType === 'videoconf'
• Immediately dispatches deepLinkingClickCallPush
• No deduplication check

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Saga Handler

app/sagas/deepLinking.js (handleClickCallPush)

• No staleness check
• No timestamp validation
• Attempts to join any video call regardless of age

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Environment

• Rocket.Chat Server Version: Any
• Rocket.Chat App Version: Latest (develop branch)
• Device: Any iOS device
• OS Version: iOS 15+

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Steps to Reproduce

1. Receive a video conference push notification on iOS.
2. Long-press the notification and tap Accept.
3. App opens and joins the call.
4. End the call.
5. Force-close the app.
6. Wait any amount of time.
7. Reopen the app normally (tap app icon).

Observed Result

• The app attempts to join the same old, ended video call.
• Force-close and reopen again → same behavior.
• This repeats indefinitely until another notification is tapped.

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Expected Behavior

When opening the app normally (not from a notification):

• App should open to the home screen or last viewed room.
• A previously processed video conference notification should never be re-processed.

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Actual Behavior

Every cold boot re-processes the same stale video conference notification and dispatches deepLinkingClickCallPush, forcing the user into an old call.

This continues indefinitely until a new notification interaction replaces the stored response.