diff --git a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/ChatList/ChatPreviewView.swift b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/ChatList/ChatPreviewView.swift
index 59b92a265b..6017508961 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/ChatList/ChatPreviewView.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/ChatList/ChatPreviewView.swift
@@ -352,7 +352,10 @@ struct ChatPreviewView: View {
         if chatModel.draftChatId == chat.id, let draft = chatModel.draft {
             let (t, hasSecrets) = messageDraft(draft)
             chatPreviewLayout(t, draft: true, hasFilePreview: hasFilePreview, hasSecrets: hasSecrets)
-        } else if cItem?.content.hasMsgContent != true, let previewText = chatPreviewInfoText() {
+        } else if cItem?.content.msgContent == nil, let previewText = chatPreviewInfoText() {
+            // only a no-content item (a group/connection event) shows the status text; a message —
+            // including caption-less media — falls through to render its content (thumbnail shown
+            // separately), e.g. a pending invitee's photo shows "image" instead of "reviewed by admins"
             chatPreviewInfoTextLayout(previewText)
         } else if let cItem = cItem {
             let (t, hasSecrets) = chatItemPreview(cItem)
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/chatlist/ChatPreviewView.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/chatlist/ChatPreviewView.kt
index fbc4c7e336..cd781ae869 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/chatlist/ChatPreviewView.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/chatlist/ChatPreviewView.kt
@@ -246,7 +246,10 @@ fun ChatPreviewView(
         inlineContent = inlineTextContent,
         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth()
       )
-    } else if (ci?.content?.hasMsgContent != true && previewText != null) {
+    } else if (ci?.content?.msgContent == null && previewText != null) {
+      // only a no-content item (a group/connection event) shows the status text; a message —
+      // including caption-less media — falls through to render its content (the media thumbnail is
+      // shown separately), e.g. a pending invitee's photo shows "image" instead of "reviewed by admins"
       Text(previewText.first, color = previewText.second)
     } else if (ci != null && showChatPreviews) {
       val (text: CharSequence, inlineTextContent) = when {