iOS: prebuilt Frame tree with inherited CSS direction triggers UIKit targetNode assertion #11586

Reproduction: Core only, no renderer or router

A native tree assembled before Application.run() with inherited CSS direction="ltr" around a Frame terminates when a TextField on a pushed Page is tapped. Constructing the identical tree inside the application factory passes keyboard input and reversed/committed native Back.

Core 9.1.3, iOS runtime 9.1.0; reproduced on iPhone 16 / iOS 18.6 and iPad Pro 11-inch M4 / iPadOS 18.6 simulators. This entry imports only @nativescript/core: no NativeScript-Vue, router, Drawer, leave guard, custom recognizer or delegate override.

Pinned project: https://github.com/rafaelaugustos/vue-router-ns/tree/2ad9f1e/examples/ios-direction-repro
Core-only entry: https://github.com/rafaelaugustos/vue-router-ns/blob/2ad9f1e/examples/ios-direction-repro/src/app.js
Native results and real demonstration video: rafaelaugustos/vue-router-ns#158

cd examples/ios-direction-repro
npm ci
node scripts/resources.mjs
ns build ios   # default Core-only entry; no --env.vue / --env.router
xcrun simctl install SIMULATOR platforms/ios/build/Debug-iphonesimulator/iosdirectionrepro.app
xcrun simctl launch SIMULATOR org.nativescript.directionrepro direction-mode=prebuilt-ltr

Tap Push detail, then Draft: app terminates. Terminate/relaunch with direction-mode=inherited-ltr: the same Core tree built inside the factory passes the full native interaction test. direction-mode=prebuilt-none also passes. The locked project includes Vue/router dependencies only for separate comparison entries; this default entry does not import them.

The decisive order difference, using the same createRoot():

// Passing control
Application.run({ create: createRoot })

// Failing alternative run
const root = createRoot() // includes inherited LTR, Frame and initial navigation
Application.run({ create: () => root })

Original native exception

LLDB attached to the Core-only iPhone run, breakpoint objc_exception_throw:

Invalid parameter not satisfying: targetNode
-[UIGestureGraphEdge initWithLabel:sourceNode:targetNode:directed:]
-[UIGestureGraph addUniqueEdgeWithLabel:sourceNode:targetNode:directed:properties:]
_UIGestureEnvironmentUpdate
-[UIGestureEnvironment _deliverEvent:toGestureRecognizers:usingBlock:]

The later NativeScript EXC_BAD_ACCESS/exception-conversion failure and XCTest reporting “application is not running” are secondary symptoms.

Controls and limits

• Factory-built inherited LTR: passes on iPhone and iPad, including typing and reversed/committed Back.
• Prebuilt tree without direction: passes on both.
• Prebuilt tree with inherited LTR: reproduces on both.
• iPhone-only controls also pass: explicit ActionBar instances; navigation queued before Frame attachment inside the factory; only Frame created before startup; only root layout created before startup; prebuilt tree with LTR assigned on root loaded.
• The late-direction variant is a diagnostic control, not a proposed global workaround. Dynamic RTL, other hosts and physical devices are not certified by these runs. No production patch is included yet.

This corrects the earlier reduction in nativescript-vue/nativescript-vue#1186: its Core controls were created inside the application factory and therefore missed this initialization-order condition. Vue is not required to reproduce it. Downstream tracking: rafaelaugustos/vue-router-ns#139.

The XCTest runner keeps testPrebuiltLTR deliberately failing; it does not mask the defect by disabling interactive Back. The remaining question is why the prebuilt inherited-direction tree creates this invalid UIKit gesture relationship and where Core can safely prevent it.