Start voice call in PiP (not in fullscreen) by toger5 · Pull Request #34055 · element-hq/element-web

toger5 · 2026-06-30T14:14:29Z

Fixes: https://github.com/element-hq/voip-internal/issues/608

For the reviewer:
Pressing the expand button in the call toast will get you to the lobby.
This seems undesired. We can either fix this as part of this PR or move this problem to when we adopt a new toast layout/ design.

This PR surfaced an existing bug:

pressing the join button on an ongoing call SHOULD either start a voice or a video call (the user cannot choose manually anymore) based on the intent of the current call (what others do). So that the new joiner has the correct camera preset.
This was NOT the case. It always started a video call when pressing join.
This change surfaces this as pressing join -> starts a video call -> does not start in pip.
This was fixed and a regression tests added.

Checklist

I have read through review guidelines and CONTRIBUTING.md.
Tests written for new code (and old code if feasible).
New or updated public/exported symbols have accurate TSDoc documentation.
Linter and other CI checks pass.
I have licensed the changes to Element by completing the Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

Half-Shot

A playwright test would be lovely if you could find some time for it. We should have some examples already.

Half-Shot · 2026-07-01T09:18:51Z

+            expect(dispatcherSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ view_call: true, voiceOnly: false }));
+        });
+
+        it("clicking the join button of an ongoing voice call joins as a voice call", async () => {


Can't tell, is this testing the PiP bit?

Not really. Its a regression test for a bug that surfaced working on this PR.

Let me document this in the PR description.

This PR surfaced an existing bug: - pressing the join button on an ongoing call SHOULD either start a voice or a video call (the user cannot choose manually anymore) based on the intent of the current call (what others do). So that the new joiner has the correct camera preset. - This was NOT the case. It always started a video call when pressing join. - This change surfaces this as pressing join -> starts a video call -> does not start in pip. - This was fixed and a regression tests added.

Half-Shot

Probably would still prefer the two changes you factored out to be merged first (and not in this PR :P), but the changes look good to me.

toger5 · 2026-07-02T10:41:19Z

@Half-Shot

Probably would still prefer the two changes you factored out to be merged first

Both of the factored out changes have been merged in seperate PR's now:

So the diff of this PR does not include the changes anymore (now, that I updated the branch.)

`should be able to join a ${callType} call in progress` test

toger5 · 2026-07-02T12:02:30Z

@Half-Shot I also added the pip container check to the existing: should be able to join a ${callType} call in progress test.

Half-Shot · 2026-07-02T12:29:54Z

(provoking the cla tool into running :/)

robintown

Skimmed this so far and it raised the following questions for me:

robintown · 2026-07-02T14:14:54Z

                    call = CallStore.instance.getCall(payload.room_id)!;
                }
+
+                // Custom case where we start voice calls in pip


Does this change apply to both placing a call and receiving a call?

robintown · 2026-07-02T14:15:12Z

+                // Custom case where we start voice calls in pip
+                if (payload.voiceOnly ?? false) {
+                    viewingCall = false;
+                    ActiveWidgetStore.instance.setWidgetPersistence(call.widget.id, room.roomId, true);


Are you sure that eagerly setting the widget persistence to true before it's even loaded won't create new stuck widget issues? (Imagine the widget fails to load or instantly hits an error screen, for example)

This is interesting.
I played around with it. Those are my observations:

if you provide sth that does not speak widget api properly (random / broken url/ no network) you will not get contentLoaded -> infinite loading spinnger

we currenlty do NOT have a timeout in EW. Just in the widget api. There we log: Widget specified waitForIframeLoad=false but timed out waiting for contentLoaded event

Before this change: we could press the x button and it would kill the widget. Or we switch room and the non sticky widget would get killed.

With this change it is sticky already. We will still see the "widget" (in loading state) when switching rooms. with the back button we can get into fullscreen and then press the x button (the x will be there until we are connected to the call, its not based on the widget being sticky) the x button will take care of unsticking the widget.

if a call crashes during load we can do the same work around as above.

TLDR:

this is not an issue -> workaround: back button -> x button

We dont have any EW timeout for widget loading to autoclose. User has to take action. This is an independent issue.

robintown · 2026-07-02T14:15:49Z

The designs technically ask for there to be no header on the PiP when viewing the timeline of the matching DM room. How do you want to handle that?

I think the back button in the header is required to close broken calls.
The white background will become a follow up PR.
We might also want a voice call to be fullscreen:

switch to video

go to EC settings

With the back button in the header we need the space anyways and i think it might make sense to add the name there in that case.

What does design/product think about this?
@americanrefugee @daniellekirkwood

toger5 added 2 commits June 30, 2026 16:04

start voice call in pip

939861a

Update jest.config.ts

468728b

github-actions Bot deployed to Netlify June 30, 2026 14:21 View deployment

toger5 added the T-Feature Request to add a new feature which does not exist right now label Jun 30, 2026

toger5 changed the title ~~start voice call in pip~~ Start voice call in PiP (not in fullscreen) Jun 30, 2026

fix "join" button to use correct intent

cee259c

github-actions Bot deployed to EndToEndTests June 30, 2026 14:41 View deployment

Add regression test for join button

b593b2d

github-actions Bot deployed to Netlify June 30, 2026 14:48 View deployment

toger5 added T-Enhancement and removed T-Feature Request to add a new feature which does not exist right now labels Jun 30, 2026

github-actions Bot deployed to EndToEndTests June 30, 2026 15:07 View deployment

Update RoomHeader-test.tsx

b2e9c5b

toger5 marked this pull request as ready for review June 30, 2026 15:48

toger5 requested a review from a team as a code owner June 30, 2026 15:48

toger5 requested review from Half-Shot and MidhunSureshR June 30, 2026 15:48

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fmt

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Add playwright test

2a70ff8

toger5 requested a review from a team as a code owner July 1, 2026 14:56

toger5 requested a review from AndrewFerr July 1, 2026 14:57

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toger5 added 2 commits July 2, 2026 13:57

Fix expected intent on "join" button press

bde353a

Add additional pip check to exising:

82efc9c

`should be able to join a ${callType} call in progress` test

Merge branch 'develop' into toger5/start-voice-call-in-pip

a966fa8

toger5 force-pushed the toger5/start-voice-call-in-pip branch from 986e495 to a966fa8 Compare July 2, 2026 12:03

toger5 requested a review from robintown July 2, 2026 12:04

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Half-Shot reopened this Jul 2, 2026

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robintown reviewed Jul 2, 2026

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toger5 commented Jun 30, 2026 •

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