iOS 18 set tab's badge

[gmasiero]

I have searched and made sure there are no existing issues for the issue I am filing

• [X] I have searched the existing issues

Description

On SDK 12.5.1.GA and iOS 18 / iPadOS 18, if you set the badge value of a Tab, it works only the fist time.

Expected Behavior

The tab must always show the correct badge (for example: tab.badge = '7' --> the badge must show '7', also if it's not the first time i've set it)

Actual behavior

The tab badge is updated only the first time

Reproducible sample

// create a tabGroup and a tab called "myTab"
var window = Ti.UI.createWindow({
    title: 'My Tab'
});
var myTab = Ti.UI.createTab({
    window: window,
    title: 'My Tab',
    icon: 'myicon.png'
});

// add myTab to the tabGroup
tabGroup.addTab(myTab);

// change tab's badge value
myTab.badge = '5';
myTab.badge = '7';  // tab badge remains '5'

// ATTENTION: I've found this workaround: if you modify (for example) the title of the tab, it works (the tab is refreshed?):

myTab.badge = '5';
myTab.badge = '7';  
var tmp = myTab.title;
myTab.title = tmp + ' ';
myTab.title = tmp;  // now the tab is refreshed and the badge shows '7'

Steps to reproduce

Create an app with a Tab Group. In a tab, set the badge value more than one time. See the reproducible sample.

Platform

iOS

SDK version you are using

12.5.1.GA

Alloy version you are using

No response

[m1ga]

Hi, I've tested

var win1 = Ti.UI.createWindow();

var tab1 = Ti.UI.createTab({
    window: win1,
		icon: '/assets/images/tab1.png'
}),
tabGroup = Ti.UI.createTabGroup({
    tabs: [tab1]
});

tab1.badge = 1;
tab1.badge = 2;
tab1.badge = 3;

tabGroup.open();

and it does show 3 for me. iOS 17 and 18.1 simulator. Android is working fine too

[m1ga]

@gmasiero did you try my example above to verify if it is working for you too?

[hbugdoll]

@gmasiero Your reproducible sample code is incomplete. How do you create and open your tab group?

I've tested with Ti 12.5.1.GA under iOS 17 & 18 and the badge was correctly updated.

[m1ga]

Little update here as we had an report on Slack:

var win1 = Ti.UI.createWindow({
    backgroundColor: 'blue',
    title: 'Blue'
});
win1.add(Ti.UI.createLabel({text: 'I am a blue window.'}));

var win2 = Ti.UI.createWindow({
    backgroundColor: 'red',
    title: 'Red'
});
win2.add(Ti.UI.createLabel({text: 'I am a red window.'}));

var tab1 = Ti.UI.createTab({
    window: win1,
		title: 'Blue',
		icon:"/images/appicon.png",
		badge: 10
}),
tab2 = Ti.UI.createTab({
    window: win2,
		icon:"/images/appicon.png",

		title: 'Red'
}),
tabGroup = Ti.UI.createTabGroup({
    tabs: [tab1, tab2]
});
tabGroup.open();

setTimeout(function(){
	tab2.badge=2;
}, 2000)

only the creation badge is visible on an iPad. The one from the timeout is only visible on iphone, not on ipad:

[hbugdoll]

only the creation badge is visible on an iPad. The one from the timeout is only visible on iphone, not on ipad:

Oh, nice found. I can narrow down the issue to the floating tabbar on iPadOS 18+. The code example works fine under iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and iOS 18.

[hbugdoll]

badgeValue is set correctly, but not displayed. And forcing a redraw of the tab controller doesn't have any effect.

~~A rewrite with the UITab API (iOS/iPadOS 18+) will probably be necessary :worried:~~

[m1ga]

badgeValue is set correctly, but not displayed. And forcing a redraw of the tab controller doesn't have any effect.

That's so strange. Adding a space to the title and it will update on the iPad and it's only on ipad which is super strange. Perhaps some UI thread issue and a title change will trigger something else in the update part?

[hbugdoll]

That's so strange. Adding a space to the title and it will update on the iPad and it's only on ipad which is super strange. Perhaps some UI thread issue and a title change will trigger something else in the update part?

Changing the title in general forced a update/redisplay. I suspect this is because a title change is animated in the floating tabbar under iPadOS 18+.

---

The actual cause was the re-creating of UITabBarItem in updateTabBarItem. Reusing the UITabBarItem fixes the problem. Edit: ...but raises a new issue https://github.com/tidev/titanium-sdk/pull/14324#issuecomment-3438098121.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b419f82-d857-4a5a-adcc-b27199f79334