[tvOS] Menu button pops a native stack screen before the app can handle it, with no way to opt out

Description

On tvOS, pressing Menu on a screen pushed onto a native stack pops that screen. The app has no way to opt out of it, and the press never reaches JS - neither BackHandler nor useTVEventHandler sees it, even after calling TVEventControl.enableTVMenuKey(). This makes the usual TV pattern impossible, where back first does something inside the screen: move focus to a toolbar, close an overlay, cancel an edit mode.

The pop is UIKit's built-in tvOS UINavigationController behavior, inherited by RNSNavigationController. The same code works at stack depth 1, and works on Android TV, so it only shows up once a screen is pushed on tvOS.

Anything that lets the app opt out of the automatic pop would be enough - for example a prop on the stack or a screen that stops RNSNavigationController from popping on a Menu press.

Steps to reproduce

1. In a react-native-tvos app, set up a native stack with two screens.
2. On both screens, call TVEventControl.enableTVMenuKey() and add a hardwareBackPress listener that returns true.
3. Run on a tvOS Simulator or an Apple TV.
4. On the first screen, press Menu. The listener runs and nothing is dismissed - as expected.
5. Push the second screen and press Menu again.

Expected: the second screen behaves like the first - it stays, and the listener runs.

Actual: UIKit pops the screen, and the listener never runs.

Snack or a link to a repository

https://github.com/maksym-kershengolts-zattoo/tvos-menu-key-native-stack-repro

Screens version

4.25.2

React Native version

0.86.0-2

Platforms

tvOS

JavaScript runtime

None

Workflow

None

Build type

None

Device

None

Device model

No response

Acknowledgements

Yes