Bug 275527 – REGRESSION (again in iOS 17.5.1): Camera (getUserMedia) freezes in installed PWA

• Component: WebRTC
• Status: NEW

[Gio Cacchione]

I am encountering an issue with accessing the iPhone's camera in an installed PWA app since iOS 17.5.1. The camera consistently freezes within the PWA. When testing the same functionality on Safari (outside of the PWA), everything operates correctly.

After testing across multiple devices all running iOS 17.5.1 and various PWAs, results have been inconsistent. The issue persists on iPhone 13 models, where the camera freezes, whereas there are no issues on an iPhone 12 Mini.

All PWAs tested utilize the Html5-QRCode library for camera access to scan QR codes.

To reproduce the issue:
1. Navigate to `scanapp.org`.
2. Add to Home Screen on iOS 17.5.1.
3. Launch the app from the Home Screen.
4. Click on 'Request Permissions' for camera (front/back).
5. Grant permissions.
6. Click on 'Start Scanning'.
7. Note how the site freezes; no elements on the page respond until the PWA is force-closed.
8. Compare by testing the same website in Safari, where the camera opens without issue.

This issue appears to have been reported and resolved in previous iOS versions, specifically iOS 17.4.1. I can confirm that the problem was absent in iOS 17.5.0 but reappeared in iOS 17.5.1.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/130030494>

[youenn fablet]

This does not reproduce for me on a recent iOS 17.6 build on an iPhone 12 Pro.
I'll try later on an iPhone 14 Pro.

@Gio, @Quinn, can you send me a sysdiagnose ([e-mail]) with the timestamp where the issue reproduces.

have same issue

[youenn fablet]

(In reply to rychouwei from comment #3)
> have same issue

Could you send me ([e-mail]) a sysdiagnose?

[youenn fablet]

(In reply to youenn fablet from comment #4)
> (In reply to rychouwei from comment #3)
> > have same issue
> 
> Could you send me ([e-mail]) a sysdiagnose?

I tried again today on iOS 17.5.1 and was not able to reproduce yet.
Getting a sysdiagnose with the timestamp where the issue reproes would be of tremendous help.

Hi, youenn.

Were you test in iOS Safari 17.5.1?

We only reproduced in iOS WKWebview, unable to reproduce in Safari.

You can try this webrtc demo in iOS WKWebview 17.5.1

1. Open Camera
2. If camera works fine, refresh the page and open camera again.

Try 10 times may reproduce 1~3 times.

https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/getusermedia/gum/

[youenn fablet]

@rychouwei, I only tried on a PWA, following the bug description.
The freeze is also the app freezing according the description in particular `no elements on the page respond until the PWA is force-closed.`

@rychouwei, maybe you are experiencing something different and it is a camera freeze, meaning for instance that video element is paused or camera capture is failing?

I'll try to reproduce on a WKWebView on iOS 17.5.1.
If you can send me a sysdiagnose with the precise timestamp where the issue reproduces, that would be great.
If you have time to check iOS 17.6, that would be great too.

[youenn fablet]

I tried again on a iPhone 12 Pro and was not able to reproduce on a WKWebView iOS 17.5.1, though I am unclear whether it is an app freeze, a render freeze or a capture failure that I should look at.

Hi, youeen.

It is a camera capture failing issue. The camera's mediaStreamTrack is in muted state.

I'm unable to reproduce this case in iOS 17.6 beta.

[youenn fablet]

(In reply to rychouwei from comment #9)
> Hi, youeen.
> 
> It is a camera capture failing issue. The camera's mediaStreamTrack is in
> muted state.
> 
> I'm unable to reproduce this case in iOS 17.6 beta.

This is good news, thanks!

@Gio, @Quinn, can you also check what the issue is (muted state or not)?
And iOS 17.6 beta maybe?

Created attachment 471762 [details]
iOS 17.5.1 camera capture fail

Unable to catch a sysdiagnose from this blog: https://support.umbrella.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406646902420-How-to-capture-a-sys-diagnose-from-an-iOS-device

I record a video to show how to reproduce this case. Holp will help.

Created attachment 471916 [details]
sysdiagnode of camera capture fail in iOS 17.5.1

I got a sysdiagnode, hope will help.

The time to reproduce is 15:07

[Pio]

Hi, after installing 17.6, the same problem with camera freezing, the new version of IOS does not change anything in this case.

[Pio]

Tested on iPhone 15 Pro Max.

[Pio]

17.6.1 the same problem, tested on iPhone 15 Pro Max

[youenn fablet]

Is it still happening in iOS 18.4 beta?
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=284232 could help here as well.

I’ve been able to reproduce the same issue on iOS 18.1.1 (iPhone SE 2nd gen). Although the camera indicator in the status bar shows that the camera is active, the camera never actually launches.

When I debugged it, the MediaStream isn’t becoming active. In the console I see the error:
`A MediaStreamTrack ended due to a capture failure`