mobile: hideKeyboard will also trigger back / close the web view event starting from Chrome 138

[sockerzero]

Hi team,

Starting from Chrome 138, I’ve encountered an issue when using mobile: hideKeyboard in a web view page (while still operating in the native context). It appears that this call might also be triggering a back or close event, although this is not reflected in the Appium server logs.

I’ve confirmed that the behavior works as expected on Chrome versions 137 and below. However, after upgrading to Chrome 138, this unexpected behavior started occurring. I’m not yet sure what change in Chrome might be causing it.

[mykola-mokhnach]

You are right, we try to emulate KEYCODE_ESC and then KEYCODE_BACK if the former fails. See https://github.com/appium/appium-adb/blob/a430a4d846633ae8e0bc460d5d486856a1de4a15/lib/tools/keyboard-commands.js#L19 for more details.

[sockerzero]

Thank @mykola-mokhnach . Do you have any recommendations for addressing this issue? My current workaround is to downgrade Chrome to a version below 138, but I realize that’s not an ideal long-term solution

[mykola-mokhnach]

There is also 'appium:hideKeyboard' capability, which allows to hide the on-screen keyboard for the whole duration of the testing session (https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver?tab=readme-ov-file#adb) by changing the IME.

Unfortunately I don't know other ways to do it.

[sockerzero]

Thank @mykola-mokhnach , It seems like something changed in Chrome 138 that broke this method. Do you think we can fix it ourselves, or should we reach out to the Chrome team for support?

[mykola-mokhnach]

I assume Chrome has added some handling for the above keypresses, which was not there before. It definitely makes sense to raise an issue with them and discuss it.

[sockerzero]

I truly appreciate your support @mykola-mokhnach, I'll wait for the good news from you, thank you!

[mykola-mokhnach]

Sorry for not being clear enough. I would like you to report an issue, since you have more hands-on context on it as we do.

[sockerzero]

Oh, I see. I've submitted a ticket here: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/430635207, though I’m not sure if it’s in the right channel