[POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility per site for initial value while checking eligibility async #15753

jaclync · 2025-06-16T08:32:56Z

Why

Previously, POS eligibility is checked async based on a few API requests for displaying the POS tab. This results in a noticeable delay when the POS tab is shown (just the initial site settings API request for store country/currency already takes ~1.8 on my end for a Pressable site via Jetpack connection) after every launch / login / store switching. This PR aims to reduce the delay after the first POS eligibility check based on the assumption that merchants do not change store configurations that could affect POS eligibility often, by caching the POS eligibility and displaying the initial tab based on the cached value while checking POS eligibility async.

Please feel free to suggest other ways to optimize the POS tab visibility check, and any implementation details in this PR.

Description

This pull request introduces functionality to manage the visibility of the POS (Point of Sale) tab based on eligibility and initial visibility checks. Key changes include updates to caching POS eligibility via app settings, new methods for managing POS tab visibility, and associated unit tests.

Updates to `GeneralStoreSettings`:

Added two new properties, isPOSTabVisible and lastPOSTabVisibilityCheckDate, to the GeneralStoreSettings struct for tracking POS tab visibility and the last check date. (Storage/Storage/Model/GeneralStoreSettings.swift: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Updated the Copiable extension for GeneralStoreSettings to include the new properties for copying and merging data. (Storage/Storage/Model/Copiable/Models+Copiable.generated.swift: [1] [2] [3]

POS Tab Visibility Management:

Introduced a new method, checkInitialVisibility, in POSTabEligibilityChecker to determine the initial visibility of the POS tab without relying on network requests. (WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/Dashboard/Settings/POS/POSTabEligibilityChecker.swift: [1] [2]
Added logic in MainTabBarController to update the visibility of the POS tab based on initial visibility and eligibility checks, and to persist visibility state in app settings. (WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/MainTabBarController.swift: [1] [2] [3]

Unit Tests:

Added a comprehensive test in MainTabBarControllerTests to verify POS tab visibility behavior under various conditions, including initial visibility and eligibility changes. (WooCommerce/WooCommerceTests/ViewRelated/MainTabBarControllerTests.swift: WooCommerce/WooCommerceTests/ViewRelated/MainTabBarControllerTests.swiftR454-R525)
Introduced mock implementations for POSEligibilityChecker and StoresManager to support testing of POS tab visibility logic. (WooCommerce/WooCommerceTests/Mocks/MockPOSEligibilityChecker.swift: [1] WooCommerce/WooCommerceTests/ViewRelated/MainTabBarControllerTests.swift: [2]
Passed storesManager as a dependency to various components, such as POSTabCoordinator, HubMenuCoordinator, and HubMenuViewController, to manage POS tab-related actions. (WooCommerce/Classes/POS/TabBar/POSTabCoordinator.swift: [1] WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/Hub Menu/HubMenuCoordinator.swift: [2] WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/Hub Menu/HubMenuViewController.swift: [3] WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/Hub Menu/HubMenuViewModel.swift: [4]

Steps to reproduce

Prerequisite: a WPCOM account that has at least two connected stores, one eligible for POS and the other one not eligible.

Log out if needed
Log in to the account in the prerequisite with the store that is eligible for POS --> after logging in, the POS tab should appear shortly
Tap on the POS tab --> it should launch POS in full-screen
Exit POS
Go to Menu tab and switch to a store ineligible for POS --> after switching stores, the POS tab should not appear even after a while
Switch to a store eligible for POS again --> after switching stores, the POS tab should appear immediately
Tap on the POS tab --> it should launch POS in full-screen
Exit POS
Relaunch the app --> the POS tab should appear immediately
Go to Menu tab and switch to a store ineligible for POS --> after switching stores, the POS tab should not appear even after a while

Testing information

@jaclync tests that if the POS tab is initially visible, tapping on the tab to launch POS, then POS eligibility becomes ineligible async, the app should not crash and the POS tab is hidden after exiting POS (this should also be covered in the MainTabBarController test case)

Screenshots

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPad.A16.-.2025-06-16.at.16.48.02.mp4

I have considered if this change warrants user-facing release notes and have added them to RELEASE-NOTES.txt if necessary.

…ity.

…. DI `currentDate` to `AppSettingsAction.loadPOSTabVisibility` for unit tests.

…er selecting the tab with the tab being shown from initial value.

wpmobilebot · 2025-06-16T08:45:54Z

📲 You can test the changes from this Pull Request in WooCommerce iOS Prototype by scanning the QR code below to install the corresponding build.

	App Name	WooCommerce iOS Prototype
	Build Number	`30535`
	Version	`PR #15753`
	Bundle ID	`com.automattic.alpha.woocommerce`
	Commit	`7b29c57`
	Installation URL	5i9bor3vr0b5o

Automatticians: You can use our internal self-serve MC tool to give yourself access to those builds if needed.

staskus

Thanks for the improvement!

I think it could be slightly improved by making a call to the initial cache synchronous and eliminating a delay entirely.

staskus · 2025-06-16T12:31:52Z

WooCommerce/Classes/ViewRelated/MainTabBarController.swift

            guard let self, let posEligibilityChecker else { return }
-            let eligibility = await posEligibilityChecker.checkEligibility()
-            let isPOSTabVisible = eligibility == .eligible
+            async let initialVisibility = posEligibilityChecker.checkInitialVisibility()


There's still a slight delay for the Point of Sale tab to appear.

updateTabViewControllers(isPOSTabVisible: posEligibilityChecker.checkInitialVisibility())

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPad.Air.13-inch.M3.-.2025-06-16.at.15.21.11.mp4

If we look at checkInitialVisibility implementation, it could be synchronous, and we could call it outside the posEligibilityCheckTask, allowing for the tab to appear as soon as possible. It would require getting around dispatching AppSettingsStore and accessing the data directly, but other than that, it would allow for a smoother appearance:

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPad.Air.13-inch.M3.-.2025-06-16.at.15.31.22.mp4

It's interesting that I didn't observe the slight delay in iOS 18.4 simulator, as in the screencast 1:06. But then I tried the same simulator type in iOS 18.5, and I see the delay now. I tried the device type as in my original screencast but in iOS 18.5 and see the same, so likely a behavior difference (probably about the timing of Task) between iOS versions. I'm looking into using a service for loading the initial visibility to make it sync.

Thanks for the suggestion, I updated the PR with a few commits to move the async initial value to a synchronous call from a new service in Yosemite POSEligibilityService behind a protocol for unit testing. Also moved the AppSettingsAction/store changes to the service for consistency. Please see if the delay is fixed after the initial load when you get a chance, thanks!

staskus · 2025-06-16T12:34:17Z

Yosemite/Yosemite/Stores/AppSettingsStore.swift

+            return onCompletion(nil)
+        }
+
+        let threeDaysInSeconds: TimeInterval = 3 * 24 * 60 * 60 // 3 days in seconds.


I agree that three days is more than safe. I would even go as far as to say that this cache could always be considered valid since we update it every time the app gets launched.

You can always find a way to break POS, even with a 3-day cache:

Configure the wp-admin settings to support POS

Launch Woo App, open POS

Change the wp-admin settings to stop supporting POS

Continue using Woo POS, observe some failures

Therefore, we could choose not to overthink it and always return the last tab visibility value for simplicity.

Yea good point, this edge case can already happen in production and not worth adding complexity for. I removed the date check in 396d3a8, so that it's just using the cached value for initial tab visibility.

…to load initial POS tab visibility from cached app settings synchronously.

…CachedPOSTabVisibility` to better describe what it does.

…e` for consistency with updated test cases.

…cribe what it does.

jaclync · 2025-06-17T06:55:34Z

Updated the PR for another pass!

staskus

Works perfectly now! Thanks for addressing the comments. Nice job on the functionality. 👏

# Conflicts: # WooCommerce/WooCommerce.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj

jaclync added 3 commits June 16, 2025 16:29

Save POS eligibility to app settings per site for initial tab visibil…

b4edd54

…ity.

Only return cached visibility if the last check date is within 3 days…

887f304

…. DI `currentDate` to `AppSettingsAction.loadPOSTabVisibility` for unit tests.

MainTabBarController: add a test case when POS becomes ineligible aft…

b40a363

…er selecting the tab with the tab being shown from initial value.

jaclync added this to the 22.7 milestone Jun 16, 2025

jaclync added type: task An internally driven task. feature: POS labels Jun 16, 2025

Nits and remove empty spaces.

cb0a48f

jaclync marked this pull request as ready for review June 16, 2025 08:58

jaclync requested review from iamgabrielma, joshheald and staskus June 16, 2025 08:58

staskus self-assigned this Jun 16, 2025

staskus reviewed Jun 16, 2025

View reviewed changes

jaclync added 9 commits June 17, 2025 10:23

Merge branch 'trunk' into feat/WOOMOB-611-cache-pos-eligibility

179e629

Replace async AppSettingsAction with a new POSEligibilityService …

72ff463

…to load initial POS tab visibility from cached app settings synchronously.

Remove currentDate and date check for initial tab visibility.

396d3a8

Remove lastPOSTabVisibilityCheckDate from GeneralStoreSettings.

1525029

POSEligibilityServiceProtocol: rename loadPOSTabVisibility to `load…

80df17b

…CachedPOSTabVisibility` to better describe what it does.

Nit: revert async let now that there is only one to await.

60cefb3

Move AppSettingsAction.setPOSTabVisibility to `POSEligibilityServic…

19fdfda

…e` for consistency with updated test cases.

Rename setPOSTabVisibility to cachePOSTabVisibility to better des…

f5e9709

…cribe what it does.

Fix trailing whitespaces.

f652b50

jaclync changed the title ~~[POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility value per site for 3 days~~ [POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility per site for initial value while checking eligibility async Jun 17, 2025

jaclync requested a review from staskus June 17, 2025 06:55

jaclync mentioned this pull request Jun 17, 2025

[POS as a tab i1] Analytics and enable local feature flag for public release #15766

Merged

3 tasks

staskus approved these changes Jun 17, 2025

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'trunk' into feat/WOOMOB-611-cache-pos-eligibility

7b29c57

# Conflicts: # WooCommerce/WooCommerce.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj

jaclync enabled auto-merge June 18, 2025 04:00

jaclync merged commit c8788ef into trunk Jun 18, 2025
13 checks passed

jaclync deleted the feat/WOOMOB-611-cache-pos-eligibility branch June 18, 2025 04:20

toupper mentioned this pull request Jun 19, 2025

[POS as a Tab] Persist Value for Site woocommerce/woocommerce-android#14218

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[POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility per site for initial value while checking eligibility async #15753

[POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility per site for initial value while checking eligibility async #15753

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[POS as a tab i1] Cache POS tab visibility per site for initial value while checking eligibility async #15753

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jaclync commented Jun 16, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Why

Description

Updates to GeneralStoreSettings:

POS Tab Visibility Management:

Unit Tests:

Steps to reproduce

Testing information

Screenshots

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jaclync commented Jun 16, 2025 •

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Updates to `GeneralStoreSettings`:

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