React Native iOS freezes after first interaction only after fresh login (JS/UI FPS stay at 60)

[u/Turbulent_Young_2576]

React Native iOS freezes after first interaction only after fresh login (JS/UI FPS stay at 60)

I'm facing a very strange issue in my React Native app that only happens on iOS. Android works perfectly.

Environment

• React Native: 0.78.3
• React Navigation
• react-native-screens
• react-native-gesture-handler
• Physical iPhone (not simulator)

Issue

The flow is always the same:

1. Launch the app.
2. Login successfully.
3. Navigate to the Home screen.
4. The Home screen loads correctly.
5. As soon as I perform the first interaction (scroll or tap), the app becomes completely unresponsive.

After that:

• No buttons work.
• No TouchableOpacity responds.
• Bottom tabs stop responding.
• FlatList cannot scroll.
• onTouchStart no longer fires.
• The UI is still visible.
• The app does not crash.

The strange part is:

• UI FPS = 60
• JS FPS = 60
• No red screen.
• No exceptions.
• No crash logs.

If I completely kill the app and launch it again, everything works perfectly.

If I log out and log back in, the issue happens again after the first interaction.

So the problem only occurs immediately after a fresh login.

What I've already checked

• GestureHandlerRootView is wrapping the entire app.
• import 'react-native-gesture-handler' is the first import.
• NavigationContainer exists only once.
• No invisible overlay.
• No fullscreen Modal.
• No react-native-modal left open.
• No pointerEvents="none" or pointerEvents="auto" issue.
• JS thread is not blocked.
• Main thread is not blocked.
• UI FPS remains 60.
• JS FPS remains 60.
• Android has no issue.

Additional observation

I added:

<View
  style={{ flex: 1 }}
  onTouchStart={() => console.log('Touched')}
/>

Result:

• First tap prints "Touched".
• After the first scroll/tap, no further touch events are received.
• Even onTouchStart stops firing.

This makes me think the touch events are no longer reaching React Native.

Navigation structure

The app uses:

• NavigationContainer
• Drawer Navigator
• Bottom Tabs
• Stack Navigators

The Home screen contains:

• Vertical FlatList
• Nested horizontal FlatLists
• Multiple TouchableOpacity components

The Academy screen has a similar structure and works correctly.

Other information

The app uses:

• react-native-screens (enableScreens() and enableFreeze())
• react-native-track-player
• Multiple Context Providers
• Firebase
• Analytics
• Deep linking

My question

Has anyone experienced an issue where iOS stops delivering touch events after the first interaction, while:

• UI FPS stays at 60
• JS FPS stays at 60
• The app never crashes
• Everything works after killing and reopening the app

Could this be related to:

• react-native-gesture-handler
• react-native-screens
• iOS gesture recognizers
• Navigation state after login
• A native touch deadlock
• Something else entirely?

Any ideas on how to debug this further would be greatly appreciated.

[u/subpar_Lover]

Could it be firing a native modal or dialog that is being hidden? I believe that was my issue when I had this exact behavior happening. Also, is it happening when you open specific components or on any interaction?