When linkifying HTML messages, give priority to explicit link tags

changelog.d/2291.bugfix

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Make sure explicit links in messages take priority over links found by linkification (urls, emails, phone numbers, etc.)

features/messages/impl/src/main/kotlin/io/element/android/features/messages/impl/timeline/factories/event/TimelineItemContentMessageFactory.kt

@@ -268,12 +268,16 @@ class TimelineItemContentMessageFactory @Inject constructor(
         }
         // Find and set as URLSpans any links present in the text
         LinkifyCompat.addLinks(this, Linkify.WEB_URLS or Linkify.PHONE_NUMBERS or Linkify.EMAIL_ADDRESSES)
-        // Restore old spans if they don't conflict with the new ones
+        // Restore old spans, remove new ones if there is a conflict
         for ((urlSpan, location) in oldURLSpans) {
             val (start, end) = location
-            if (getSpans<URLSpan>(start, end).isEmpty()) {
-                setSpan(urlSpan, start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE)
+            val addedSpans = getSpans<URLSpan>(start, end).orEmpty()
+            if (addedSpans.isNotEmpty()) {
+                for (span in addedSpans) {
+                    removeSpan(span)
+                }
             }
+            setSpan(urlSpan, start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE)
         }
         return this
     }

features/messages/impl/src/test/kotlin/io/element/android/features/messages/impl/timeline/factories/event/TimelineItemContentMessageFactoryTest.kt

@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 
 package io.element.android.features.messages.impl.timeline.factories.event
 
+import android.net.Uri
 import android.text.SpannableString
+import android.text.SpannableStringBuilder
 import android.text.Spanned
 import android.text.style.URLSpan
 import androidx.core.text.buildSpannedString
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.media.ImageInfo
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.media.MediaSource
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.media.ThumbnailInfo
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.media.VideoInfo
+import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.permalink.PermalinkData
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.timeline.item.event.AudioMessageType
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.timeline.item.event.EmoteMessageType
 import io.element.android.libraries.matrix.api.timeline.item.event.FileMessageType
@@ -641,6 +644,31 @@ class TimelineItemContentMessageFactoryTest {
         assertThat((result as TimelineItemEmoteContent).formattedBody).isEqualTo(SpannableString("* Bob formatted"))
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `a message with existing URLSpans keeps it after linkification`() = runTest {
+        val expectedSpanned = SpannableStringBuilder().apply {
+            append("Test ")
+            inSpans(URLSpan("https://www.example.org")) {
+                append("me@matrix.org")
+            }
+        }
+        val sut = createTimelineItemContentMessageFactory(
+            htmlConverterTransform = { expectedSpanned },
+            permalinkParser = FakePermalinkParser { PermalinkData.FallbackLink(Uri.EMPTY) }
+        )
+        val result = sut.create(
+            content = createMessageContent(
+                type = TextMessageType(
+                    body = "Test [me@matrix.org](https://www.example.org)",
+                    formatted = FormattedBody(MessageFormat.HTML, "Test <a href=\"https://www.example.org\">me@matrix.org</a>")
+                )
+            ),
+            senderDisambiguatedDisplayName = "Bob",
+            eventId = AN_EVENT_ID,
+        )
+        assertThat((result as TimelineItemTextContent).formattedBody).isEqualTo(expectedSpanned)
+    }
+
     private fun createMessageContent(
         body: String = "Body",
         inReplyTo: InReplyTo? = null,
@@ -660,12 +688,13 @@ class TimelineItemContentMessageFactoryTest {
     private fun createTimelineItemContentMessageFactory(
         featureFlagService: FeatureFlagService = FakeFeatureFlagService(),
         htmlConverterTransform: (String) -> CharSequence = { it },
+        permalinkParser: FakePermalinkParser = FakePermalinkParser(),
     ) = TimelineItemContentMessageFactory(
         fileSizeFormatter = FakeFileSizeFormatter(),
         fileExtensionExtractor = FileExtensionExtractorWithoutValidation(),
         featureFlagService = featureFlagService,
         htmlConverterProvider = FakeHtmlConverterProvider(htmlConverterTransform),
-        permalinkParser = FakePermalinkParser(),
+        permalinkParser = permalinkParser,
     )
 
     private fun createStickerContent(