I have a tab-based SwiftUI app that uses .sheet() to present a View that contains email and passwords fields. If I type into those fields then background and foreground the app, the fields are cleared, which makes it impossible to use a password manager. If instead, the view is inlined within the .sheet()‘s content, the fields are not cleared.

Unexpectedly, removing either the TabView or NavigationStack results in the fields not being cleared. It seems that TabView and NavigationStack trigger .sheet()‘s content to be recreated such that the view’s state is lost.

What’s going on here and what’s the right way to achieve the desired result?

Repro steps:

1. tap “Form 1”
2. type something into the email and password fields
3. background the app
4. foreground the app

Expect: field values are retained

Actual: field values are reset

Tapping “Form 2”, where the view’s contents are inlined, works as expected.

Demo app:

import SwiftUI

struct ContentView: View {
    @State var isShowingForm1 = false
    @State var isShowingForm2 = false
    @State var email = ""
    @State var password = ""

    var body: some View {
        TabView {
            NavigationStack {
                List {
                    Button("Form 1") {
                        isShowingForm1 = true
                    }
                    .sheet(isPresented: $isShowingForm1) {
                        FormView()
                            .padding()
                    }

                    Button("Form 2") {
                        isShowingForm2 = true
                    }
                    .sheet(isPresented: $isShowingForm2) {
                        VStack {
                            TextField("Email", text: $email)
                            SecureField("Password", text: $password)
                        }
                        .padding()
                    }
                }
            }
            .tabItem {
                Label("Tab1", systemImage: "circle")
            }
        }
    }
}

struct FormView: View {
    @State var email = ""
    @State var password = ""

    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            TextField("Email", text: $email)
            SecureField("Password", text: $password)
        }
    }
}