[Android] Focus is removed from TextInput when Talkback is enabled

[oargaruna]

Description

Our project is a hybrid of React Native modules and native UI. We are adding accessibility to our App and are hitting a weird issue with Talkback in TextInput:

If there is any clickable element before a TextInput in the view hierarchy, double tapping to add focus to the TextInput using Talkback sends the focus to the clickable element before it.

Reproduction

I have been able to reproduce the bug in a sample app: https://github.com/oargaruna/TextInputTalkback

1. Deploy the App on an Android device
2. Enable Talkback (from Settings -> Accessibility) and open the Sample App
3. Tap once on the TextInput to give it Talkback focus
4. Tap twice to try to get the keyboard to come up

We expect the keyboard to show up with focus on the TextInput, but the focus jumps to the TouchableOpacity element defined before it.

If the TouchableOpacity element is removed, this behaviour is not reproducible.

Additional Information

• React Native version: 0.41.1
• Platform: Android

[JasonWang-MS]

Same issue for me. Any solution?

[hramos]

Hi there! This issue is being closed because it has been inactive for a while. Maybe the issue has been fixed in a recent release, or perhaps it is not affecting a lot of people. Either way, we're automatically closing issues after a period of inactivity. Please do not take it personally!

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[projetolead]

This is still happening to me on RN 0.49.3. Any workarounds?

[lelandrichardson]

Reopening this as it appears to be affecting us as well.

[backwardok]

Looks like this might be a dupe of #17042 ?

[haitaoli]

The issue is caused by this line of code:

react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/textinput/ReactEditText.java

Line 202 in c9ff0bc

return false;

It's been there forever. I guess it means the focus is always controlled by JS code. But when TalkBack is enabled the focus needs to be set directly.

[haitaoli]

Found some comments in code:

  // This component is controlled, so we want it to get focused only when JS ask it to do so.
  // Whenever android requests focus (which it does for random reasons), it will be ignored.

I wonder if this is still an issue in recent Android versions.

[oargaruna]

The issue is not reproducible in 0.51.

[haitaoli]

@oargaruna this only happens on Android 6.

[RamyaSenk]

It is not working on Android 8.0 on latest version of react native as well.

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as "For Discussion" or "Good first issue" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[BenWildeman]

still an issue in RN v0.54 and I'm currently testing on an Android 8.1 device. definitely not device specific when looking at the code linked by @haitaoli

[FLGMwt]

This is still affecting Android 8.0 - RN 0.57.1

Do we have any context for the hack? We'd prefer not to maintain a fork, especially since that was explicitly referenced in the AirBnbB posts : P

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as "For Discussion" or "Good first issue" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[BenWildeman]

still an issue, bot

[JJBarata]

Hello, I'm currently using Android 8.1.0 with RN 0.51.0 and RN 0.58.3 (two apps) and both have the same problem when talkback is enabled, the keyboard does not appear when autofocus is in the textinput.
Does anyone still have the same problem yet?
Another thing I noticed is that this is happening intermittently, that is, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not work.
Thanks.

[raphaelssampaio]

I have the same problem here. I'm using RN 0.59.3

[dishantwalia]

Double tap and hold to long press on TextInput keyboard will come up, it's default behaviour. Works for me

[BenWildeman]

@dishantwalia that is not default behaviour. everything should be accessible by double tapping.

To explore by touch, slowly drag one finger around the screen. TalkBack announces the icons, buttons and other items as you drag your finger over them. When the focus reaches an item that you'd like to select, double tap anywhere on the screen to select the focused item.
https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006598?hl=en-GB

you should make sure that whatever you're testing this against is actually an input field and not a wrapper. for instance, if you use the floating label input field type provided by Native Base, you can access the input field by double tapping on the wrapper

[fhugoduarte]

I found a possible solution for this issue #24519

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as a "Discussion" or add it to the "Backlog" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[BenWildeman]

still an issue

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as a "Discussion" or add it to the "Backlog" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[BenWildeman]

still not fixed

[stale]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may also label this issue as a "Discussion" or add it to the "Backlog" and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[stale]

Closing this issue after a prolonged period of inactivity. If this issue is still present in the latest release, please feel free to create a new issue with up-to-date information.