Use `takeSnapshot` instead of `takePhoto` on Android by marcaaron · Pull Request #84951 · Expensify/App

marcaaron · 2026-03-11T19:24:55Z

Explanation of Change

After taking a receipt photo, the transition to the confirmation page felt sluggish due to slow photo capture on Android, synchronous Onyx writes blocking navigation, and a heavy component tree rendering during the navigation animation.

This PR addresses:

Faster Android capture (captureReceipt/index.android.ts): On Android, use takeSnapshot instead of takePhoto when flash is off. takeSnapshot grabs the preview buffer directly (~16ms), avoiding the full camera capture pipeline. When flash is on, fall back to takePhoto. iOS keeps takePhoto for both cases.

iOS camera format optimization (index.native.tsx): Reorder useCameraFormat priorities so photoResolution takes precedence over videoResolution. Previously videoResolution:'max' was selecting a 5712x4284 (24.5MP) format when photos only output at 4032x3024. The new ordering selects a 4032x3024 format directly, cutting iOS capture time roughly in half (~400ms → ~200ms). Cap fps at 30 to prevent the "soap opera effect" that lower-resolution formats exhibit at higher native frame rates.

Camera quality/speed tuning (Camera.tsx): Change photoQualityBalance from "speed" to "balanced" — benchmarking showed only ~15ms difference but "balanced" applies noise reduction that produces visually better photos with smaller file sizes (2.3MB → 1.5MB for the same scene). Disable photoHdr and videoStabilizationMode per VisionCamera performance tips. Remove redundant props (enableBufferCompression, enableDepthData, enablePortraitEffectsMatteDelivery) that already match their defaults.

Deferred navigation (index.native.tsx): Use requestAnimationFrame before navigating to the confirmation step so React renders the frozen camera state (didCapturePhoto=true) before the screen transitions away.

Benchmarks (iOS, iPhone — same subject across tests)

Setting	Capture Time	File Size	Resolution
Before (5712x4284 format, `"speed"`)	~400ms	~2.3 MB	4032x3024
After (4032x3024 format, `"balanced"`, fps=30)	~200ms	~1.5 MB	4032x3024

Fixed Issues

$ #84793
$ #85006

Tests

Open app, tap FAB → Submit expense → take a receipt photo
Verify receipt image appears clear and legible compared to production
Submit the expense successfully
Repeat from within a report chat (+ button → Submit expense → photo)

Repeat with track expense flow (FAB → Create expense → photo)

Create a new account with no workspace
Tap "Create expense" in FAB

General testing of flash

Scan a receipt with flash on
Scan a receipt with flash off
Verify that in both cases the result is legible

Test multi-scan mode (take multiple photos)

Scan a variety of receipts in multi-scan mode
Verify they are legible and created with no issues.

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

N/A

QA Steps

Same as tests

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

github-actions · 2026-03-11T19:26:04Z

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

…in problem is with Android

codecov · 2026-03-12T00:43:44Z

Codecov Report

✅ Changes either increased or maintained existing code coverage, great job!

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/CONST/index.ts	`95.16% <ø> (ø)`
...epScan/components/NavigationAwareCamera/Camera.tsx	`0.00% <ø> (ø)`
...tep/IOURequestStepScan/captureReceipt/index.ios.ts	`33.33% <33.33%> (ø)`
...u/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx	`40.92% <60.00%> (+0.67%)`	⬆️
...st/step/IOURequestStepScan/captureReceipt/index.ts	`0.00% <0.00%> (ø)`
...IOURequestStepScan/captureReceipt/index.android.ts	`0.00% <0.00%> (ø)`
... and 10 files with indirect coverage changes

github-actions · 2026-03-12T00:50:29Z

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

github-actions · 2026-03-12T00:55:24Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #84951.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-807fae8-3d8daef-099d81665ef12600a5f8ac96537ab5e10588fd80/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-807fae8-3d8daef-ae8b58dc5f8cb54e133be47276fdc45cb2f262bb/index.html

Web 🕸️
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kubabutkiewicz · 2026-03-12T09:39:39Z

Looks good overall, but I see 2 potential problems

Isnt preloading of the participants decreasing the perf of the Scan screen? I think potentialy this can create additonal rerenders
Intersection manager is deprecated from what I know maybe we can use the React 19 features for that like https://react.dev/reference/react/startTransition

marcaaron · 2026-03-12T20:20:51Z

Isnt preloading of the participants decreasing the perf of the Scan screen?

Good question. It might be. I was thinking if we defer it until the camera is ready then by that point the user is already scanning something and the re-renders would not create a negative impact. But think I will do some more E2E timing and compare things side by side.

After testing this a bit - it does seem better on low end Android, but kind of worse on higher end iOS.

…VisionCameraImprovements

Julesssss

Sneaky, I love it. With a noticable improvements lets do this just for Android?

After testing this a bit - it does seem better on low end Android, but kind of worse on higher end iOS.

marcaaron · 2026-03-13T03:00:12Z

Sneaky, I love it. With a noticable improvements lets do this just for Android?

Yeah, I think also we should test on a higher end Android device to see if it still helps there. I rolled back the deferred rendering idea since it absolutely made performance worse on an iPhone 16 Pro.

github-actions · 2026-03-13T22:13:14Z

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

github-actions · 2026-03-13T22:32:36Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #84951.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-9f13932-65761aa-dfb95767d6ac74d86e778bc0bea5d879ac93cd43/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-9f13932-65761aa-91193e54eb9ce99a0fda8ef2421da3223e53d48a/index.html

Web 🕸️
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👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

# Conflicts: # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/hooks/useReceiptScan.ts # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx

…ange

github-actions · 2026-03-27T02:38:45Z

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

github-actions · 2026-03-27T03:00:14Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #84951.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-6096b64-546dee7-abe5def05cb2c1457ebc96d53d995eab85bec4c2/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-6096b64-546dee7-e80c5b7c8f43757c8b7e7b5f1a5bc4bf6a5cfa6f/index.html

Web 🕸️
⏩ SKIPPED ⏩
The build for Web was skipped

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

Julesssss

Testing well on Android 👍

QichenZhu

Sorry for the last minute request, just found a small style issue.

QichenZhu · 2026-03-28T03:22:20Z

src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx

    // This cuts capture time roughly in half while maintaining the same output photo resolution.
-    const format = useCameraFormat(device, [{photoAspectRatio: 4 / 3}, {photoResolution: {width: 4032, height: 3024}}, {videoResolution: 'max'}]);
+    // Use screen dimensions for video resolution since we only need enough for the preview.
+    const format = useCameraFormat(device, [{photoAspectRatio: 4 / 3}, {photoResolution: {width: 4032, height: 3024}}, {videoResolution: {width: windowHeight, height: windowWidth}}]);


Can we make these magic numbers constants?

…onCameraImprovements # Conflicts: # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx

QichenZhu

Thanks!

melvin-bot · 2026-03-30T23:50:06Z

@AndrewGable 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]

marcaaron · 2026-03-31T02:26:36Z

Looking into why Melvin keeps trying to assign random people to this review 😄

@Julesssss ready for you whenever 🙇

kubabutkiewicz

LGTM

github-actions · 2026-03-31T16:20:47Z

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

github-actions · 2026-03-31T16:25:27Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #84951.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-545edf5-0c048d4-239e14b5208754764117938b636b6885fc143e25/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-545edf5-0c048d4-d04d41b29cd92b490c0558117c686ea0728a2a6d/index.html

Web 🕸️
https://84951.pr-testing.expensify.com

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

OSBotify · 2026-03-31T16:29:55Z

✋ This PR was not deployed to staging yet because QA is ongoing. It will be automatically deployed to staging after the next production release.

OSBotify · 2026-03-31T20:02:17Z

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/Julesssss in version: 9.3.51-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Bundle Size Analysis (Sentry):

Android
iOS

MelvinBot · 2026-03-31T20:04:32Z

No help site changes are required for this PR.

I reviewed all relevant help site articles under docs/articles/ against the changes in this PR:

Articles reviewed:

new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Create-an-Expense.md — SmartScan receipt creation workflow
new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Attach-and-edit-receipts-on-expenses.md — Receipt attachment/editing
new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Track-Expenses.md — Expense tracking with SmartScan
new-expensify/concierge-ai/Expense-Assistant.md — AI-powered expense creation
expensify-classic/expenses/Add-an-expense.md — Classic receipt scanning

Why no changes are needed:

This PR is a pure performance optimization with no user-facing behavioral changes:

Uses takeSnapshot instead of takePhoto on Android (internal API swap — same user action)
Optimizes camera format selection on iOS (internal config — no UI change)
Changes photoQualityBalance from "speed" to "quality" (internal quality setting — no user-visible control)
Defers navigation with requestAnimationFrame (smoother transition — no workflow change)

The existing help site instructions ("tap the camera icon and snap a photo of a receipt") remain accurate. No feature names, button labels, workflows, settings, or user-facing behaviors are affected.

mitarachim · 2026-04-01T09:01:56Z

Deploy Blocker #86852 was identified to be related to this PR.

OSBotify · 2026-04-02T19:53:39Z

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/jasperhuangg in version: 9.3.51-10 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	failure ❌
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Use takeSnapshot to test Android performance improvements

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marcaaron added the Ready To Build label Mar 11, 2026

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marcaaron added 4 commits March 11, 2026 10:16

I do not see why this should be platform dependent even though the ma…

c86c59b

…in problem is with Android

Merge branch 'main' into marcaaron-androidVisionCameraImprovements

78e82bc

Refactor native methods - leave iOS alone for now acually

2b28a12

preload participants

807fae8

marcaaron changed the title ~~Use takeSnapshot to test Android performance improvements~~ Improve shutter-to-confirmation performance Mar 12, 2026

This was referenced Mar 12, 2026

[Due for payment 2026-04-16] [Metrics] ManualShutterToConfirmation - Optimize "Confirm details" page rendering after receipt capture #83503

Open

feat: Add thumbnail support for receipts and improve image handling #84919

Merged

marcaaron changed the base branch from main to marcaaron-fixSentryDurationLogs March 12, 2026 20:22

Merge branch 'marcaaron-fixSentryDurationLogs' into marcaaron-android…

7b55841

…VisionCameraImprovements

Julesssss reviewed Mar 12, 2026

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Base automatically changed from marcaaron-fixSentryDurationLogs to main March 12, 2026 20:52

marcaaron added 3 commits March 12, 2026 13:28

Adjust quality

74ac296

Revert deferred location

c48e7c8

Fix style

28b8838

Remove changes not needed

9f13932

marcaaron changed the title ~~Improve shutter-to-confirmation performance~~ [POC / WIP] Improve shutter-to-confirmation performance Mar 13, 2026

Merge branch 'main' into marcaaron-androidVisionCameraImprovements

fe7e940

# Conflicts: # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/hooks/useReceiptScan.ts # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx

use screen-sized video resolution and clamp fps to format-supported r…

6096b64

…ange

marcaaron dismissed JmillsExpensify’s stale review via 6096b64 March 27, 2026 02:35

marcaaron requested a review from Julesssss March 27, 2026 19:03

Julesssss previously approved these changes Mar 28, 2026

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QichenZhu reviewed Mar 28, 2026

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marcaaron added 2 commits March 30, 2026 13:11

extract camera photo resolution magic numbers into CONST.RECEIPT_CAMERA

ef7f3bf

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into marcaaron-androidVisi…

4cfe7e7

…onCameraImprovements # Conflicts: # src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepScan/index.native.tsx

marcaaron dismissed Julesssss’s stale review via 4cfe7e7 March 30, 2026 23:33

QichenZhu approved these changes Mar 30, 2026

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melvin-bot bot requested a review from AndrewGable March 30, 2026 23:50

kubabutkiewicz approved these changes Mar 31, 2026

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Julesssss approved these changes Mar 31, 2026

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Julesssss merged commit 545edf5 into main Mar 31, 2026
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Julesssss deleted the marcaaron-androidVisionCameraImprovements branch March 31, 2026 16:20

OSBotify mentioned this pull request Mar 31, 2026

Deploy Checklist: New Expensify 2026-03-31 #86774

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mitarachim mentioned this pull request Apr 1, 2026

Android & iOS - Attachment - No permission prompt when tapping on capture button #86852

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jponikarchuk mentioned this pull request Apr 1, 2026

Android - Attachment - Front camera flash is supported on iOS but not on Android #86853

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marcaaron restored the marcaaron-androidVisionCameraImprovements branch April 3, 2026 20:25

QichenZhu mentioned this pull request Apr 9, 2026

[Performance] Use takeSnapshot on Android, preload participants and defer IOURequestStepConfirmation rendering #85006

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Explanation of Change

Benchmarks (iOS, iPhone — same subject across tests)

Fixed Issues

Tests

Offline tests

QA Steps

PR Author Checklist

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