From 80eb678892e7eaa84c61623f43789672ace264dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: spaced4ndy <8711996+spaced4ndy@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:31:12 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] ui: prefer selecting relays from different operators when
 creating channel (#6668)

---
 .../Shared/Views/NewChat/AddChannelView.swift | 43 ++++++++++++++++---
 .../common/views/newchat/AddChannelView.kt    | 40 ++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 72 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/AddChannelView.swift b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/AddChannelView.swift
index 66cfd0c7b9..d7709ea31c 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/AddChannelView.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/AddChannelView.swift
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ struct AddChannelView: View {
         creationInProgress = true
         Task {
             do {
-                let enabledRelays = try await getEnabledRelays()
+                let enabledRelays = try await chooseRandomRelays()
                 let relayIds = enabledRelays.compactMap { $0.chatRelayId }
                 guard !relayIds.isEmpty else {
                     await MainActor.run {
@@ -201,13 +201,44 @@ struct AddChannelView: View {
         }
     }
 
-    // TODO [relays] move random relay selection to backend; prefer selecting relays from different operators
-    private func getEnabledRelays() async throws -> [UserChatRelay] {
+    private let maxRelays = 3
+
+    private func chooseRandomRelays() async throws -> [UserChatRelay] {
         let servers = try await getUserServers()
-        let all = servers.flatMap { op in
-            op.chatRelays.filter { $0.enabled && !$0.deleted && $0.chatRelayId != nil }
+        // Operator relays are grouped per operator; custom relays (nil operator)
+        // are treated independently to maximize trust distribution.
+        var operatorGroups: [[UserChatRelay]] = []
+        var customRelays: [UserChatRelay] = []
+        for op in servers {
+            let relays = op.chatRelays.filter { $0.enabled && !$0.deleted && $0.chatRelayId != nil }
+            guard !relays.isEmpty else { continue }
+            if op.operator != nil {
+                operatorGroups.append(relays.shuffled())
+            } else {
+                customRelays = relays.shuffled()
+            }
         }
-        return Array(all.shuffled().prefix(3))
+        var selected: [UserChatRelay] = []
+        // Prefer at least one custom relay when available -
+        // user's own infrastructure for trust distribution.
+        if let relay = customRelays.first {
+            selected.append(relay)
+            customRelays.removeFirst()
+            if selected.count >= maxRelays { return selected }
+        }
+        // Round-robin across shuffled groups to distribute relays across operators.
+        var groups = operatorGroups + customRelays.map { [$0] }
+        groups.shuffle()
+        let maxDepth = groups.map(\.count).max() ?? 0
+        for depth in 0..<maxDepth {
+            for group in groups {
+                if depth < group.count {
+                    selected.append(group[depth])
+                    if selected.count >= maxRelays { return selected }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return selected
     }
 
     private func checkHasRelays() async -> Bool {
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/AddChannelView.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/AddChannelView.kt
index c5085586ba..fc5b2f0640 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/AddChannelView.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/AddChannelView.kt
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ fun AddChannelView(chatModel: ChatModel, close: () -> Unit, closeAll: () -> Unit
         creationInProgress.value = true
         withBGApi {
           try {
-            val enabledRelays = getEnabledRelays()
+            val enabledRelays = chooseRandomRelays()
             val relayIds = enabledRelays.mapNotNull { it.chatRelayId }
             if (relayIds.isEmpty()) {
               withContext(Dispatchers.Main) {
@@ -159,12 +159,42 @@ fun AddChannelView(chatModel: ChatModel, close: () -> Unit, closeAll: () -> Unit
   }
 }
 
-private suspend fun getEnabledRelays(): List<UserChatRelay> {
+private const val maxRelays = 3
+
+private suspend fun chooseRandomRelays(): List<UserChatRelay> {
   val servers = getUserServers(rh = null) ?: return emptyList()
-  val all = servers.flatMap { op ->
-    op.chatRelays.filter { it.enabled && !it.deleted && it.chatRelayId != null }
+  // Operator relays are grouped per operator; custom relays (null operator)
+  // are treated independently to maximize trust distribution.
+  val operatorGroups = mutableListOf<List<UserChatRelay>>()
+  var customRelays = mutableListOf<UserChatRelay>()
+  for (op in servers) {
+    val relays = op.chatRelays.filter { it.enabled && !it.deleted && it.chatRelayId != null }
+    if (relays.isEmpty()) continue
+    if (op.operator != null) {
+      operatorGroups.add(relays.shuffled())
+    } else {
+      customRelays = relays.shuffled().toMutableList()
+    }
   }
-  return all.shuffled().take(3)
+  val selected = mutableListOf<UserChatRelay>()
+  // Prefer at least one custom relay when available -
+  // user's own infrastructure for trust distribution.
+  if (customRelays.isNotEmpty()) {
+    selected.add(customRelays.removeAt(0))
+    if (selected.size >= maxRelays) return selected
+  }
+  // Round-robin across shuffled groups to distribute relays across operators.
+  val groups = (operatorGroups + customRelays.map { listOf(it) }).shuffled()
+  val maxDepth = groups.maxOfOrNull { it.size } ?: 0
+  for (depth in 0 until maxDepth) {
+    for (group in groups) {
+      if (depth < group.size) {
+        selected.add(group[depth])
+        if (selected.size >= maxRelays) return selected
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return selected
 }
 
 private suspend fun checkHasRelays(): Boolean {