diff --git a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectScreen.kt b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectScreen.kt
index 2225f82..1ac162b 100644
--- a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectScreen.kt
+++ b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectScreen.kt
@@ -212,11 +212,12 @@ fun ConnectScreen(
         }
     }
 
-    // Wake-aware connect. If the target is a saved host with a learned MAC that ISN'T currently
-    // advertising (asleep/off), wake it and WAIT for it to reappear on mDNS (WakeController shows the
-    // "Waking…" overlay) before dialing — discovery stays running meanwhile so we can see it come
-    // back. A fire-and-forget packet + the connect timeout wasn't enough for a cold boot. Otherwise
-    // dial straight through.
+    // Wake-aware connect. If auto-wake is on (Settings.autoWakeEnabled) and the target is a saved
+    // host with a learned MAC that ISN'T currently advertising (asleep/off, or just missing from
+    // mDNS), wake it and WAIT for it to reappear on mDNS (WakeController shows the "Waking…" overlay)
+    // before dialing — discovery stays running meanwhile so we can see it come back. A fire-and-forget
+    // packet + the connect timeout wasn't enough for a cold boot. Otherwise (auto-wake off, no MAC, or
+    // already seen live) dial straight through.
     fun doConnect(targetHost: String, targetPort: Int, name: String, pinHex: String?) {
         if (identity == null) {
             status = "Identity not ready yet — try again in a moment"
@@ -230,7 +231,7 @@ fun ConnectScreen(
         fun liveAdvert(): DiscoveredHost? =
             if (kh != null) discovered.firstOrNull { kh.matches(it) }
             else discovered.firstOrNull { it.host == targetHost && it.port == targetPort }
-        if (macs.isNotEmpty() && liveAdvert() == null) {
+        if (settings.autoWakeEnabled && macs.isNotEmpty() && liveAdvert() == null) {
             waker.start(
                 hostName = name,
                 connectsAfter = true,
diff --git a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/MainActivity.kt b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/MainActivity.kt
index 4beb5fe..b2764cf 100644
--- a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/MainActivity.kt
@@ -51,8 +51,12 @@ class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
      * Whether the last console input came from a real gamepad (face buttons / stick) vs. a TV D-pad
      * remote (which has no A/B/X/Y). The console UI reads this to show glyphs the user recognises — pad
      * face buttons, or a select glyph + arrows for a remote. Compose observes it (a snapshot state).
+     * Defaults to the remote glyphs on a TV (its D-pad remote is the typical first input, and often the
+     * only one) and to gamepad glyphs everywhere else (the console UI on a phone/tablet only activates
+     * via a real controller, so a TV-remote glyph would be a wrong first impression there) — set from
+     * [onCreate] once a [Context] is available, then kept live by real input.
      */
-    var lastPadIsGamepad by mutableStateOf(false)
+    var lastPadIsGamepad by mutableStateOf(true)
         private set
 
     /** The panel's highest-refresh display mode (0 = unknown/unsupported), resolved once at startup. */
@@ -60,6 +64,7 @@ class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
 
     override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
+        lastPadIsGamepad = !isTvDevice(this)
         resolveHighRefreshMode()
         setConsoleHighRefreshRate(true) // the console UI wants max refresh; streaming manages its own
         // Dark, transparent system bars regardless of the system theme — our UI is always dark, so
diff --git a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt
index 9ddfbdc..8ed1280 100644
--- a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt
+++ b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt
@@ -62,6 +62,15 @@ data class Settings(
      * lock and HDMI game-mode signalling stay on regardless — they're harmless.
      */
     val lowLatencyMode: Boolean = true,
+    /**
+     * Wake-on-LAN a saved host before connecting when it isn't currently seen on mDNS. On (default):
+     * a connect to a host with a learned MAC that isn't advertising sends a magic packet and waits
+     * for it to reappear (see [WakeController]) before dialing. Off: always dial straight through,
+     * skipping the mDNS-presence check entirely — for a host that's actually up but not visible on
+     * mDNS (a flaky discovery path, a VLAN/subnet that blocks multicast, etc.), where auto-wake would
+     * otherwise misfire and wait out its timeout despite the host already being reachable.
+     */
+    val autoWakeEnabled: Boolean = true,
 )
 
 /** [Settings.touchMode] values; persisted by name. */
@@ -91,6 +100,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
         gamepadUiEnabled = prefs.getBoolean(K_GAMEPAD_UI, true),
         libraryEnabled = prefs.getBoolean(K_LIBRARY, true),
         lowLatencyMode = prefs.getBoolean(K_LOW_LATENCY, true),
+        autoWakeEnabled = prefs.getBoolean(K_AUTO_WAKE, true),
     )
 
     fun save(s: Settings) {
@@ -110,6 +120,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
             .putBoolean(K_GAMEPAD_UI, s.gamepadUiEnabled)
             .putBoolean(K_LIBRARY, s.libraryEnabled)
             .putBoolean(K_LOW_LATENCY, s.lowLatencyMode)
+            .putBoolean(K_AUTO_WAKE, s.autoWakeEnabled)
             .apply()
     }
 
@@ -129,6 +140,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
         const val K_GAMEPAD_UI = "gamepad_ui_enabled"
         const val K_LIBRARY = "library_enabled"
         const val K_LOW_LATENCY = "low_latency_mode"
+        const val K_AUTO_WAKE = "auto_wake_enabled"
 
         /** Legacy Boolean the enum replaced — read once as the migration default, never written. */
         const val K_TRACKPAD = "trackpad_mode"
diff --git a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SettingsScreen.kt b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SettingsScreen.kt
index d9f596a..5d5ae1c 100644
--- a/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SettingsScreen.kt
+++ b/clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SettingsScreen.kt
@@ -394,6 +394,14 @@ private fun InterfaceSettings(s: Settings, update: (Settings) -> Unit) {
             checked = s.libraryEnabled,
             onCheckedChange = { on -> update(s.copy(libraryEnabled = on)) },
         )
+        ToggleRow(
+            title = "Auto-wake on connect",
+            subtitle = "Send Wake-on-LAN and wait for a saved host to reappear on mDNS before " +
+                "connecting. Turn off if a host that's already on isn't seen on mDNS, so connects " +
+                "go straight through instead of waiting out the wake timeout.",
+            checked = s.autoWakeEnabled,
+            onCheckedChange = { on -> update(s.copy(autoWakeEnabled = on)) },
+        )
         ToggleRow(
             title = "Stats overlay",
             subtitle = "Show FPS, throughput and latency while streaming (3-finger tap toggles it live)",