Scanner: tappable start overlay so the camera can never silently hang

Auto-start on mount as before, but keep a tappable overlay until the video is
actually playing (readyState>=2). If getUserMedia hangs (8s watchdog), is
denied, or fails, the overlay becomes a "tap to start camera" button that
retries in a real user-gesture context — instead of sitting on "Starting
camera…" with no recovery. Works for both Android Chrome PWA and iOS Safari.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

app/components/QRScanner.web.tsx

@@ -4,39 +4,48 @@ import { BarcodeDetector } from "barcode-detector/ponyfill";
 import { theme } from "../lib/theme";
 import type { QRScannerProps } from "./QRScanner";
 
-/** Web/PWA scanner using getUserMedia + the BarcodeDetector ponyfill (zxing-wasm). */
+/**
+ * Web/PWA scanner using getUserMedia + the BarcodeDetector ponyfill (zxing-wasm).
+ *
+ * iOS Safari only reliably grants the camera from inside a user gesture, and it
+ * loses that context across the app's navigation (PIN → name → scanner). So we
+ * auto-attempt on mount but always keep a tappable overlay: if auto-start
+ * doesn't produce a playing video, one tap starts it in a real gesture context.
+ */
 export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
   const videoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement | null>(null);
   const streamRef = useRef<MediaStream | null>(null);
   const rafRef = useRef<number | null>(null);
   const activeRef = useRef(active);
-  // Route onScan through a ref so the long-lived camera loop (started once in
+  const startingRef = useRef(false);
-  // useEffect) always calls the LATEST handler — otherwise a mode switch
+  const playingRef = useRef(false);
-  // (e.g. to Banquet) keeps hitting the mount-time handler.
   const onScanRef = useRef(onScan);
   const lastScan = useRef<{ code: string; at: number }>({ code: "", at: 0 });
+  const [playing, setPlaying] = useState(false);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
-  const [starting, setStarting] = useState(true);
 
   activeRef.current = active;
   onScanRef.current = onScan;
 
   async function start() {
+    if (startingRef.current) return;
+    startingRef.current = true;
     setError(null);
-    setStarting(true);
+    playingRef.current = false;
-    // Stop any previous stream before requesting a new one (Retry / remounts).
+    setPlaying(false);
+    // Drop any previous stream before requesting a new one.
     streamRef.current?.getTracks().forEach((t) => t.stop());
     streamRef.current = null;
     try {
-      // Watchdog: on iOS, getUserMedia can hang indefinitely when it isn't tied
+      // Watchdog: if getUserMedia neither resolves nor rejects (seen as a hung
-      // to a user gesture (we navigate here from the name screen). If it doesn't
+      // "Starting camera…"), reject after 8s so the overlay becomes an
-      // resolve, surface an error + Retry button (Retry IS a fresh gesture).
+      // actionable "tap to start" instead of hanging forever.
       const stream = await withTimeout(
         navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({
           video: { facingMode: { ideal: "environment" } },
           audio: false,
         }),
-        12000,
+        8000,
       );
       streamRef.current = stream;
       const video = videoRef.current;
@@ -44,8 +53,6 @@ export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
         video.srcObject = stream;
         video.setAttribute("playsinline", "true");
         video.muted = true;
-        // Fire-and-forget: awaiting play() can itself hang on iOS. We only need
-        // the stream attached; the tick loop waits for readyState.
         video.play().catch(() => {});
       }
       const detector = new BarcodeDetector({ formats: ["qr_code"] });
@@ -53,7 +60,12 @@ export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
       const tick = async () => {
         rafRef.current = requestAnimationFrame(tick);
         const v = videoRef.current;
-        if (!v || v.readyState < 2 || busy || !activeRef.current) return;
+        if (!v || v.readyState < 2) return;
+        if (!playingRef.current) {
+          playingRef.current = true;
+          setPlaying(true); // camera is actually up
+        }
+        if (busy || !activeRef.current) return;
         busy = true;
         try {
           const codes = await detector.detect(v);
@@ -71,28 +83,19 @@ export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
           busy = false;
         }
       };
+      if (rafRef.current) cancelAnimationFrame(rafRef.current);
       rafRef.current = requestAnimationFrame(tick);
-      setStarting(false);
     } catch (e: any) {
-      setStarting(false);
       setError(
-        e?.name === "NotAllowedError"
+        e?.name === "NotAllowedError" || e?.name === "SecurityError"
-          ? "Camera permission was denied. Allow camera access, then tap Retry."
+          ? "Camera permission was denied. Enable camera access for this site, then tap to try again."
-          : e?.message === "timeout"
+          : "Could not open the camera. Make sure no other app is using it, then tap to try again.",
-            ? "Camera didn't start. Tap Retry."
-            : "Could not open the camera. Make sure you're on HTTPS and no other app is using it.",
       );
+    } finally {
+      startingRef.current = false;
     }
   }
 
-  // Reject after `ms` if the promise hasn't settled (used to un-stick getUserMedia).
-  function withTimeout<T>(p: Promise<T>, ms: number): Promise<T> {
-    return Promise.race([
-      p,
-      new Promise<T>((_, reject) => setTimeout(() => reject(new Error("timeout")), ms)),
-    ]);
-  }
-
   useEffect(() => {
     start();
     return () => {
@@ -102,9 +105,17 @@ export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, []);
 
+  // Reject after `ms` if the promise hasn't settled (un-sticks a hung getUserMedia).
+  function withTimeout<T>(p: Promise<T>, ms: number): Promise<T> {
+    return Promise.race([
+      p,
+      new Promise<T>((_, reject) => setTimeout(() => reject(new Error("timeout")), ms)),
+    ]);
+  }
+
   return (
     <View style={styles.fill}>
-      {/* Raw DOM video element; react-dom renders it inside the RN-Web div tree. */}
+      {/* Raw DOM video element; react-dom renders it inside the RN-Web tree. */}
       <video
         ref={videoRef as any}
         style={{ width: "100%", height: "100%", objectFit: "cover" }}
@@ -112,18 +123,25 @@ export default function QRScanner({ onScan, active }: QRScannerProps) {
         autoPlay
         playsInline
       />
-      {starting && !error && (
+      {!playing && (
-        <View style={styles.overlayMsg}>
+        // Whole overlay is a button so a tap (re)starts the camera in a gesture.
-          <Text style={styles.msg}>Starting camera…</Text>
+        <Pressable style={styles.overlayMsg} onPress={start}>
-        </View>
+          {error ? (
-      )}
+            <>
-      {error && (
+              <Text style={styles.icon}>📷</Text>
-        <View style={styles.overlayMsg}>
               <Text style={styles.msg}>{error}</Text>
-          <Pressable style={styles.btn} onPress={start}>
+              <View style={styles.btn}>
-            <Text style={styles.btnText}>Retry</Text>
+                <Text style={styles.btnText}>Tap to start camera</Text>
-          </Pressable>
               </View>
+            </>
+          ) : (
+            <>
+              <Text style={styles.icon}>📷</Text>
+              <Text style={styles.msg}>Starting camera…</Text>
+              <Text style={styles.hint}>Tap here if it doesn't start</Text>
+            </>
+          )}
+        </Pressable>
       )}
     </View>
   );
@@ -142,7 +160,15 @@ const styles = StyleSheet.create({
     padding: 24,
     backgroundColor: theme.bg,
   },
-  msg: { color: theme.text, fontSize: 16, textAlign: "center", marginBottom: 16 },
+  icon: { fontSize: 44, marginBottom: 12 },
-  btn: { backgroundColor: theme.primary, paddingHorizontal: 20, paddingVertical: 12, borderRadius: 10 },
+  msg: { color: theme.text, fontSize: 17, textAlign: "center", marginBottom: 12, lineHeight: 24 },
-  btnText: { color: "#fff", fontSize: 16, fontWeight: "600" },
+  hint: { color: theme.textDim, fontSize: 14, textAlign: "center" },
+  btn: {
+    backgroundColor: theme.successBright,
+    paddingHorizontal: 24,
+    paddingVertical: 14,
+    borderRadius: 12,
+    marginTop: 6,
+  },
+  btnText: { color: "#06210f", fontSize: 17, fontWeight: "800" },
 });