[Bug/Mobie] Android Search Bar Duplicating Text

[Robocat999]

Describe the bug
On Android, attempting to use the search bar will result in every other character duplicating every prior character until a reaching a non-alphanumeric character. This issue makes searching impossible on effected devices. Duplication occurs on even numbered characters. There are several oddities to this behavior that are as follows:

• While non-alphanumeric characters will break the chain, they will still trigger the duplication before entering the string if they would be on an even number.
• Numbers alone will not trigger this bug. Additionally, numbers sometimes, but not always, will break the duplication chain as a non-alphanumeric character would.
• If two or more numbers are typed in a row, any following characters can be typed without duplication. However, backspacing these characters will resume the bug, with the chain starting from the characters after the most recent number.
• Backspaces will trigger this bug. In this case, duplication is as expected, with the last character having been removed rather than a new character having been added.
• The duplication seems only to occur when auto-complete is providing suggestions, and the characters duplicated seem to be related to what the auto-complete sees as a word. Spaces and punctuation break a word, and two or more numbers in a row keeps auto-complete off until backspacing or starting a new word.
• On Firefox, the even characters will invisibly create the duplicated text, and the odd characters will reveal the prior invisible text. This alters the occurrence pattern slightly, as the character that reveals the text and the immediate next character can be typed normally, with the third character inducing a duplication. Thus, rather than duplication (d) being 1>2d>3>4d>5>6d, it is 1>2d>3>4>5d>6. This differentiation in behavior is notable for reproduction but appears fundamentally part of the same issue.

Given the seeming connection between auto-complete suggestions and the various oddities, the relation between the search box and Android auto-complete may be where this issue lies.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Open Fermi in a web browser on an Android device
2. Go to any guild
3. Try to type in the search box
4. Bug should be quickly evident

Expected behavior
When typing in the search bar, characters should not be duplicated.

Examples
The following example sequences should help illustrate aspects of the bug. Each > represents the next character being input:
Duplication Case on Chromium: Typing the characters "abcd"
a > aab > aabc > aabcaabcd

Non-alphanumeric Breaking Duplication Case on Chromium: Typing the characters "ab.ab"
a > aab > aab. > aab.a > aab.aab

Non-duplication Case on Chromium: Typing the characters "12abcd"
1 > 12 > 12a > 12ab > 12abc > 12abcd

Duplication Case on Firefox: Typing the characters "abcd"
a > a[ab] > aabc > aabcd
[] shows invisible text

Non-duplication Case on Firefox: Typing the characters "12abcd"
1 > 12 > 12a > 12ab > 12abc > 12abcd

Smartphone:

• Device: Pixel 9 Pro
• OS: Android Version 16 (GrapheneOS)
• Browser: Vanadium (Chromium based), Firefox
• Browser Version: Vanadium Ver 157, Firefox Ver 147.0.4

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

[Robocat999]

Ah, apologies, I forgot a detail. This bug could not be replicated on IOS 18.7.4 using an IPhone Xr. Neither Safari nor Firefox demonstrated the issue on IOS.

[Robocat999]

A limited version of this issue also appears when typing new or editing existing messages. The second character will always induce the bug, but further characters are fine. This makes it impossible to type a message without the first character being repeated (unless it is an exception to duplication as discussed in the issue). This variation also impacts editing messages. Other text boxes, such as those related to personal profiles, appear unaffected by the issue.

As suspected, the issue indeed appears to be rooted in word suggestions. After disabling these suggestions, the issue no longer occurs. While inconvenient to disable word suggestions, this is a suitable workaround if a user needs to search or type.

Additionally, the bug appears to only occur with Android Open Source Project (AOSP) based keyboards. English GBoard keyboard was unaffected. Thus, swapping to a keyboard not based on AOSP is another suitable workaround, although choices are limited outside of GBoard.

This bug also alters how the GBoard JP flick keyboard functions. The conditions are the same, expect rather than duplication, word formation is impeded. Typically, you type Hiragana, which is highlighted automatically, and then either select from variations using Kanji or Katakana if needed. Where this bug is present, the initial Hiragana is immediately unhighlighted, making it impossible to correctly form sentences with that keyboard. Strangely, repeatedly tapping a key when creating the first character for a message or edit can occasionally bypass this issue, while searching will always prevent characters from correctly joining, making it unusable for searching in Japanese with a flick keyboard. I am not aware of a way to work around this beyond writing out words in another space and pasting them into the search bar.