fix(startup): Firefox no longer hangs on "Heating up" after login (#303)

initClient awaited navigator.storage.persist() before creating the client.
Chromium and WebKit answer at once, but Firefox shows a permission prompt
and leaves the promise pending until it's answered, so the app sat on
"Heating up" (no sync, no crypto, no IndexedDB) for every Firefox user who
didn't notice the prompt.

The request is still made (KE-1 only needs that), but startup waits at
most 1.5 s for the answer. The comment claiming persist() never prompts
is corrected.

Verified in Playwright Firefox with the prompt left unanswered
(persist() still pending): before, still "Heating up" after 20 s; now the
room list after 12 s.

Fixes #303

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_017PCb59uY3UKqDqt7B6hzd5

src/app/features/message-search/SearchFilters.tsx

@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ import { DebounceOptions, useDebounce } from '../../hooks/useDebounce';
 import { VirtualTile } from '../../components/virtualizer';
 import { stopPropagation } from '../../utils/keyboard';
 import { MsgTypeFilter } from './useMessageSearch';
-import { useLocalRoomNames } from '../../hooks/useRoomMeta';
 
 const MSG_TYPE_FILTER_OPTIONS: { msgType: MsgTypeFilter; label: string; icon: IconSrc }[] = [
   { msgType: 'm.image', label: 'Images', icon: Icons.Photo },
@@ -138,19 +137,14 @@ type SelectRoomButtonProps = {
   onChange: (rooms?: string[]) => void;
 };
 function SelectRoomButton({ roomList, selectedRooms, onChange }: SelectRoomButtonProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
   const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const [menuAnchor, setMenuAnchor] = useState<RectCords>();
   const [localSelected, setLocalSelected] = useState(selectedRooms);
 
   const getRoomNameStr: SearchItemStrGetter<string> = useCallback(
-    (rId) => {
-      const name = mx.getRoom(rId)?.name ?? rId;
-      // [Gitea #336] match the personal "Rename for me" name too
-      return localNames[rId] ? [localNames[rId], name] : name;
-    },
-    [mx, localNames],
+    (rId) => mx.getRoom(rId)?.name ?? rId,
+    [mx],
   );
 
   const [searchResult, _searchRoom, resetSearch] = useAsyncSearch(
@@ -298,7 +292,7 @@ function SelectRoomButton({ roomList, selectedRooms, onChange }: SelectRoomButto
                             }
                           >
                             <Text truncate size="T300">
-                              {localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}
+                              {room.name}
                             </Text>
                           </MenuItem>
                         </VirtualTile>
@@ -707,7 +701,6 @@ export function SearchFilters({
   pinnedOnly,
   onTogglePinnedOnly,
 }: SearchFiltersProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
 
   return (
@@ -755,7 +748,7 @@ export function SearchFilters({
               }
               after={<Icon size="50" src={Icons.Cross} />}
             >
-              <Text size="T200">{localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}</Text>
+              <Text size="T200">{room.name}</Text>
             </Chip>
           );
         })}

src/app/features/message-search/SearchResultGroup.tsx

@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ import {
 } from '../../hooks/useMemberPowerTag';
 import { useRoomCreators } from '../../hooks/useRoomCreators';
 import { useRoomCreatorsTag } from '../../hooks/useRoomCreatorsTag';
-import { useLocalRoomNames } from '../../hooks/useRoomMeta';
 
 type SearchResultGroupProps = {
   room: Room;
@@ -74,7 +73,6 @@ export function SearchResultGroup({
   hour24Clock,
   dateFormatString,
 }: SearchResultGroupProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
   const useAuthentication = useMediaAuthentication();
   const highlightRegex = useMemo(() => makeHighlightRegex(highlights), [highlights]);
@@ -214,7 +212,7 @@ export function SearchResultGroup({
             />
           </Avatar>
           <Text size="H4" truncate>
-            {localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}
+            {room.name}
           </Text>
         </Box>
       </Header>

src/app/features/room/thread/ThreadPanel.tsx

@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ import { useThreadNotificationMode } from '../../../hooks/useThreadNotifications
 import { useTimestampFormatter } from '../../../hooks/useTimestampFormatter';
 import { getMemberName } from '../../../utils/room';
 import { ThreadNotificationMode } from '../../../utils/threadNotifications';
-import { useLocalRoomNames } from '../../../hooks/useRoomMeta';
 
 type ThreadPanelHeaderProps = {
   room: Room;
@@ -40,7 +39,6 @@ type ThreadPanelHeaderProps = {
   requestClose: () => void;
 };
 function ThreadPanelHeader({ room, threadId, requestClose }: ThreadPanelHeaderProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const mode = useThreadNotificationMode(room.roomId, threadId);
   const { format } = useTimestampFormatter();
   // [Gitea #165] Who started the thread and when — the first thing you want
@@ -57,7 +55,7 @@ function ThreadPanelHeader({ room, threadId, requestClose }: ThreadPanelHeaderPr
             Thread
           </Text>
           <Text size="T200" truncate style={{ opacity: 0.65 }}>
-            {localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}
+            {room.name}
             {startedBy && root && ` · started by ${startedBy}, ${format(root.getTs())}`}
           </Text>
         </Box>

src/app/features/room/thread/ThreadsListPanel.tsx

@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ import { useTimestampFormatter } from '../../../hooks/useTimestampFormatter';
 import { formatRelativeAge } from '../../../utils/formatTimestamp';
 import { useRoomNavigate } from '../../../hooks/useRoomNavigate';
 import { ScreenSize, useScreenSizeContext } from '../../../hooks/useScreenSize';
-import { useLocalRoomNames } from '../../../hooks/useRoomMeta';
 
 // Persisted across panel opens (the panel unmounts on close). getOnInit reads
 // localStorage synchronously so the chosen filter/sort apply on first render.
@@ -236,7 +235,6 @@ export type ThreadsListPanelProps = {
   onOpenThread: (threadId: string) => void;
 };
 export function ThreadsListPanel({ room, onClose, onOpenThread }: ThreadsListPanelProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const { navigateRoom } = useRoomNavigate();
   const screenSize = useScreenSizeContext();
   const handleJump = useCallback(
@@ -363,7 +361,7 @@ export function ThreadsListPanel({ room, onClose, onOpenThread }: ThreadsListPan
               Threads
             </Text>
             <Text size="T200" truncate style={{ opacity: 0.65 }}>
-              {localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}
+              {room.name}
             </Text>
           </Box>
           {totalUnread > 0 && (

src/app/pages/client/inbox/Notifications.tsx

@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ import { useRoomCreatorsTag } from '../../../hooks/useRoomCreatorsTag';
 import { useRoomCreators } from '../../../hooks/useRoomCreators';
 import { PresenceRingAvatar } from '../../../components/presence';
 import { AvatarDecoration } from '../../../components/avatar-decoration/AvatarDecoration';
-import { useLocalRoomNames } from '../../../hooks/useRoomMeta';
 
 type RoomNotificationsGroup = {
   roomId: string;
@@ -224,7 +223,6 @@ function RoomNotificationsGroupComp({
   hour24Clock,
   dateFormatString,
 }: RoomNotificationsGroupProps) {
-  const localNames = useLocalRoomNames();
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
   const useAuthentication = useMediaAuthentication();
   const unread = useRoomUnread(room.roomId, roomToUnreadAtom);
@@ -430,7 +428,7 @@ function RoomNotificationsGroupComp({
             />
           </Avatar>
           <Text size="H4" truncate>
-            {localNames[room.roomId] ?? room.name}
+            {room.name}
           </Text>
         </Box>
         <Box shrink="No">

src/client/initMatrix.ts

@@ -20,9 +20,12 @@ export const IDB_VERSION_CONFLICT = 'IDB_VERSION_CONFLICT';
  * session. When that happens the device "resurrects" with a blank key store and the
  * client re-uploads a one-time key at an id Synapse already holds → a permanent
  * `400 M_UNKNOWN: … already exists` upload-conflict storm (and, downstream,
- * undecryptable to-device/media keys). `persist()` grants based on engagement / PWA
- * install and shows no prompt; denial/absence is non-fatal.
+ * undecryptable to-device/media keys). Chromium/WebKit answer `persist()` at once
+ * (engagement / PWA install); Firefox shows a permission prompt and the promise
+ * stays pending until it's answered. Denial/absence is non-fatal.
  */
+const PERSIST_WAIT_MS = 1500;
+
 export const requestPersistentStorage = async (): Promise<boolean> => {
   try {
     if (!navigator.storage?.persist) return false;
@@ -39,7 +42,15 @@ export const requestPersistentStorage = async (): Promise<boolean> => {
 
 export const initClient = async (session: Session): Promise<MatrixClient> => {
   // Protect the crypto store from eviction before we create and write to it.
-  await requestPersistentStorage();
+  // [Gitea #303] Never block startup on the answer: Firefox prompts and leaves
+  // the promise pending until the user responds, which froze the app on
+  // "Heating up". KE-1 only needs the request made; give it 1.5 s at most.
+  await Promise.race([
+    requestPersistentStorage(),
+    new Promise<boolean>((resolve) => {
+      setTimeout(() => resolve(false), PERSIST_WAIT_MS);
+    }),
+  ]);
 
   const indexedDBStore = new IndexedDBStore({
     indexedDB: globalThis.indexedDB,