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Yes, and that's the way it should be! I think you misinterpreted the way the abortOnFailure flag works for the waitForVisible command. The false flag only gives the method the character to be evaluated by the test-runner as a non-breaking step. But that doesn't mean it doesn't keep count of that step as being a failed step.

Note: A similar thing happens in the assert/verify case (where verify is a non-breaking assertion, similar to the abortOnFailure: false parameter for waitForElementVisible).

I can see where one would get that impression though. If you read the API call's description it said:

If the element fails to be present and visible in the specified amount of time, the test fails. You can change this by setting abortOnFailure to false.

Which leaves you thinking that perhaps the test will end up passing, even though the waitForVisible command failed. But... the Parameters section of the API call comes to our aid, removing that false assumption:

By the default if the element is not found the test will fail. Set this to false if you wish for the test to continue even if the assertion fails. To set this globally you can define a property abortOnAssertionFailure in your globals.

Lastly... where the DOCs might fail you, the code will never lie: