Signal-android: Flickering while scrolling a lot of unread messages in groupV2

Created on 21 Oct 2020 · 5Comments · Source: signalapp/Signal-Android

[x] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
[x] I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
[x] I have read https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports
[x] This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

Bug description

Strange flickering while scrolling a lot of unread message in a groupV2

Steps to reproduce

Enter a big group
Wait for new messagges (i tested with ~100 unread messages)
Manually scroll to the bottom

Actual result: A lot of flickering/stuttering while scrolling
Expected result: Smooth scrolling without flickering/stuttering

Video

I recorded a sample video
https://streamable.com/xeddmf

Device info

Device: Asus Zenfone 6
Android version: Android 10
Signal version: 4.74.2

Link to debug log

I forgot to create a debug log, i will try tomorrow when the chat will be full again

Source

BeTmAsTeR

👍4

Most helpful comment

Also getting this, as are other people in my group chats, both Android and iPhone. The flickering is a result of the horizontal 'unread' line shifting down--when a person sends 2 consecutive message, normally their name only displays on the first message. When the horizontal rule is between the 2 messages, both display their name, changing the overall height of the messages. It causes the whole thing to shift unexpectedly. Pretty sure that's what is going on anyway.

We are all on the latest version of Signal. It doesn't happen on desktop.

RandolphNimmer on 16 Dec 2020

👍2

All 5 comments

I encountered this with about 60 unread messages. It was just one flicker but when there's more unread messages (>100)
flickers happen more often.
https://debuglogs.org/8715fd3578d9e9e96b68bf2eba78dcd795783d70f3876239cc40803d56e28f10

DirkPitt1 on 23 Oct 2020

👍1

I observed this too. The flickering is annoying and disrupts continuous message reading. A recording of the issue could be found in the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e191fCZNYLMz8Jupwi6-PI0ARKLfTD8U/view?usp=sharing

sivaraam on 23 Oct 2020

👍1

Do more debug logs help in this case? I experience this also regularly when many messages have accumulated in our large beta testing group.

From what I can see, it has something to do with the recalculation of the unread messages count. While scrolling it seems to count down in the background, but at certain points in time the app wants to display a new count of unread messages (together with the message divider line). Both is shortly shown and disappears again and thereby changing the placement of the message bubbles => generating the "flickering"