Improve iPad mini collapsed chat list / compact avatar rail UX

[xsa-dev]

Summary

On iPad mini, Telegram's split-view chat list can collapse into a very narrow sidebar/avatar rail, but this state currently does not provide a reliable or polished user experience. The collapsed rail mixes visual chat avatars with hidden story/search/folder/top-inset behaviors, which makes the top area and first visible chat icons unreliable to tap.

This issue is based on repeated real-device and Simulator testing while experimenting with a compact avatar-only rail for iPad mini.

Problems observed

1. The collapsed chat list is not a clean avatar-only rail

   • When the full chat list is collapsed, remnants of the full chat-list UI can still affect the rail: search, story header/creation behavior, folder/filter state, and top inset logic.
   • Even when some of these elements are hidden visually, their layout or gesture behavior can still affect the rail.

2. Top chat avatars can become non-clickable or have incorrect hit targets

   • The top visible avatar in the compact rail can fail to open its chat.
   • In some folder/filter states, tapping the top area can trigger story creation or other unintended behavior instead of opening the visible chat.
   • This suggests that the visible avatar frame and the actual hit-test/list row frame can become misaligned, or that an upper overlay/gesture area continues to intercept touches.

3. Story creation / story header behavior leaks into the compact rail

   • Tapping the empty/top area of the collapsed rail can open the story creation flow.
   • After cancelling story creation, the rail can end up with a very large top gap, as if story-expanded top inset state remains active.
   • Hiding the visible story strip is not sufficient if story top-inset expansion, story gestures, or hidden story hit targets remain active.

4. Folders/filters make the problem worse

   • The behavior is especially fragile when chat folders/filtered chat lists are involved.
   • A fix that appears to work in the root chat list can still fail once a folder is selected.
   • Folder/tab/filter state should not leave invisible controls or incorrect hit areas in the collapsed rail.

5. Search/loupe affordance is confusing in the collapsed rail

   • A visible search icon or placeholder in the compact rail suggests an actionable search control, but it may not work correctly at such a narrow width.
   • If search is not fully supported in the compact rail, the top area should be empty/non-interactive rather than showing a misleading loupe.

Expected behavior

When the iPad mini chat list is collapsed:

• The sidebar should become a polished, reliable compact avatar rail.
• The top empty/spacer area, if present, should be truly inert and must not open story creation, search, edit/selection mode, or any other hidden action.
• Every visible avatar below the spacer should have a matching, correct hit target and should open the corresponding chat.
• Story creation, story strip, and story-expanded top-inset behavior should not leak into the collapsed avatar rail unless intentionally designed and clearly visible.
• Folder/filter states should behave the same as the root chat list: no hidden overlays, no broken first-row taps, no incorrect story hit targets.
• Search/folder/full-chat-list controls should either be redesigned for the compact rail or hidden completely; they should not leave invisible interactive regions.

Actual behavior

During testing, the compact rail could enter states where:

• tapping the top empty area opened story creation;
• cancelling story creation left an oversized top gap;
• the top visible avatar did not respond to taps;
• behavior differed between the root chat list and folder-filtered chat lists;
• visual hiding of story/search UI did not fully remove the underlying gesture/hit-test behavior.

Suggested product/engineering direction

Please consider implementing a first-class compact sidebar mode for iPad mini instead of relying on a squeezed full chat list:

• Use explicit compact-sidebar layout metrics for iPad mini / narrow tablet master widths.
• Separate visible avatar rendering from full chat-list row layout, so text/date/search/folder remnants cannot affect narrow-mode hit testing.
• In compact mode, define a single source of truth for top spacer height and make the spacer explicitly non-interactive.
• Disable or redesign story/search/folder interactions for compact mode instead of merely hiding their views.
• Verify hit-testing in root chat list and in every chat folder/filter.

Environment

• Device class: iPad mini / narrow iPad split-view layout
• Context: Telegram iOS chat list collapsed into narrow sidebar/avatar rail
• Reproducible with logged-in account and chat folders/filters
• Also partially reproducible in iPad mini Simulator, though real-device logged-in state is needed to fully test folder/story behavior

Related PR / experimental work

There is experimental work attempting to improve this area here:

• Add iPad mini avatar rail layout #2198

However, the current user experience still exposes the issues above. The goal of this issue is to request a robust upstream-quality solution for the iPad mini compact sidebar/avatar-rail experience.