Homepage tab reopens in tab tray after closing it

[cpeterso]

Steps to reproduce

1. Open a homepage tab in the tab tray.
2. Try to close it by swiping it or tapping the X button.

Expected behavior

The homepage tab should close and stay closed.

Actual behavior

The homepage tab closes, but then reopens. See this recording:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/81bd989d-abc3-4d5e-b716-903c716fc25a

Device & build information

• Device: iPhone 15 Plus running iOS 26.0.1
• Build version: Firefox 9000 (63255)
• First seen version: I first saw this issue just a few days ago. I think the problem is in my session data because when I downgrade to a very old TestFlight Nightly or Beta build, I still see the problem.

┆Issue is synchronized with this Jira Task

[cpeterso]

I haven't tried closing all my tabs yet because I have a dozen tabs open that I haven't finished reading yet.

[cpeterso]

I was experiencing the problem all day and then it stopped after I closed the homepage tab while in landscape orientation. I don’t know if, or how, landscape orientation might make a difference to closing tabs.

[cpeterso]

But then the persistent homepage tab reappeared, perhaps after closing a tab that is not the bottom most tab.

[janbrasna]

I managed to get the app data into a similar state, most likely by leaving the tabs on the last HNT open while upgrading between versions or flags or something like that:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/da70c6c0-e5d8-4a93-8a02-4e1d16b081d8

[janbrasna]

After some more persuading I finally managed to get rid of the HNT from a neighboring one (at about 1:20 below) and it has not come back since:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6299de92-f686-4a83-b465-c70883122520

[afurlan-firefox]

@lmarceau Lets go ahead and remove inactive tabs. Also, lets align the UX for iPad with the new redesign.

[nbhasin2]

Lets remove it for iPad cc @afurlan-firefox @lmarceau and make all inactive tabs active.

Note: To align UX before you do this work

[data-sync-user]

➤ Laurie Marceau commented:

This should be fixed by https://mozilla-hub.atlassian.net/browse/FXIOS-14327 ( https://mozilla-hub.atlassian.net/browse/FXIOS-14327|smart-link )

[data-sync-user]

➤ Diana Andreea Barladeanu commented:

Verified as fixed on v9000(65950), with iPad A16(18.6).

[^ScreenRecording_12-15-2025 12-27-38_1.MP4]