[Bug]: Date Header Not Showing for First Message in 1-on-1 Chat

[akshay-finoit]

Actual behaviour

When sending a text message as the first message in a 1-on-1 chat, the date header ("To Date") that typically groups messages by date does not appear.

• If more messages are sent afterward, the date header starts appearing as expected.
• This issue is consistently reproducible when starting a fresh chat session.
• This is also reproduced in Demo App.

Expected behaviour

The date header should be visible immediately after the first message is sent, to indicate the date of the conversation — just like it does for subsequent messages.

Steps to reproduce

1) Launch the app.
2) Tap the "+" button to start a new 1-on-1 chat.
3) Select a user to chat with.
4) Send a text message as the first message.
5) Observe that the message is sent but no date header appears.
6) Send additional messages and note that the date header begins to display correctly.

Which packages are you using?

StreamChat, StreamChatUI

Which SDK version are you using?

4.80.0

Which iOS version is the issue reproducible?

18.3 (Likely reproducible on other versions as well)

Which iPhone Device is the issue reproducible?

iPhone 13 Pro

Which Xcode version are you using?

XCode 16.2

[laevandus]

Hi @akshay-finoit, if you set Components.default.messageListDateSeparatorEnabled = true then date header is shown.

[akshay-finoit]

Thanks for the response, @laevandus

I’ve confirmed that
Components.default.messageListDateSeparatorEnabled = true
is set in both my app and the Demo App. Despite that, the issue still persists.

The date separator appears correctly when there are multiple messages or messages across multiple days. However, if there's only a single message—created using the flow I described—it doesn't show up. I was able to reproduce the same behavior in the Demo App as well.

Would appreciate any insights on this. Thanks and regards!

[akshay-finoit]

Hello,
Just in case you need a video, here it is - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1See5gLBLgwLENPwxpyw9To5Eb48Y-IWZ/view?usp=sharing
You can check the date header didn't showed up until image was sent (sometimes it show after second message). But for the first message it doesn't show up

[laevandus]

Hi @akshay-finoit, when I was testing with the demo app then the header appeared immediately when sending the very first message. I can see in your recording that it seems to only appear after scrolling inside the channel view.

[akshay-finoit]

Thanks for the response, @laevandus.
I checked again — sometimes the first message does appear after scrolling, but other times it doesn't show up at all. I've attached a video below for reference.
Video Link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LcKlsIvdcIEEuD4SvdrD4kE9KiLs-gsx/view?usp=sharing

Is there anything we can do on our side to address this, or is this something that would need to be fixed on Stream Chat's end?
Thanks and Regards