diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamView.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamView.swift
index 91bac85..a72792e 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamView.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamView.swift
@@ -197,6 +197,17 @@ public final class StreamLayerView: NSView {
                 self?.releaseCapture()
             })
         }
+        // Becoming key RETRIES a still-pending session-start auto-capture — the case where a
+        // session began (reconnect) while this window wasn't key yet, so engageCapture(fromClick:
+        // false) was refused by its key-window guard and, with no retry, capture stayed off and
+        // input dead. This is a no-op once capture engaged (pendingAutoCapture is cleared) and
+        // after a manual ⌘⎋/focus-loss release (the flag is already false), so it does NOT
+        // resurrect the deliberately-rejected "auto-grab on every activation" behavior.
+        windowObservers.append(NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
+            forName: NSWindow.didBecomeKeyNotification, object: window, queue: .main
+        ) { [weak self] _ in
+            self?.attemptPendingCapture()
+        })
         attemptPendingCapture()
     }
 
@@ -301,8 +312,13 @@ public final class StreamLayerView: NSView {
 
     private func attemptPendingCapture() {
         guard pendingAutoCapture, window != nil, bounds.width > 0 else { return }
-        pendingAutoCapture = false // one shot, even if the engage below is refused
         engageCapture(fromClick: false)
+        // Clear the one-shot only once it ACTUALLY engaged. If the engage was refused — the
+        // app/window isn't key yet (common right after a reconnect), or the cursor grab raced
+        // app activation — leave it armed so didBecomeKey (or the next layout pass) retries.
+        // This stays scoped to session start: a later manual release (⌘⎋, focus loss) doesn't
+        // re-arm it, so it never resurrects auto-grab-on-activation.
+        if captured { pendingAutoCapture = false }
     }
 
     private func engageCapture(fromClick: Bool) {
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamViewIOS.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamViewIOS.swift
index 9268376..5bea2c8 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamViewIOS.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/StreamViewIOS.swift
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@ public final class StreamViewController: UIViewController {
         self.connection = connection
         loadViewIfNeeded()
         #if os(iOS)
+        // Fresh session: drop any resign/foreground capture-restore state left over from a
+        // prior session (stop() doesn't clear it). Otherwise a stale `true` could later
+        // re-engage capture on a foreground that the new session never asked for.
+        wasCapturedOnResign = false
         // Read the LIVE mode per touch batch — an accepted requestMode() mid-stream
         // changes the letterbox, and touches must follow it.
         streamView.currentHostMode = { [weak connection] in
@@ -247,7 +251,10 @@ public final class StreamViewController: UIViewController {
         observers.append(NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
             forName: UIApplication.didBecomeActiveNotification, object: nil, queue: .main
         ) { [weak self] _ in
-            guard let self, self.wasCapturedOnResign, self.captureEnabled, self.connection != nil
+            // inputCapture != nil: don't try to restore before this session's capture is wired
+            // up — setForwarding would silently no-op on the nil handlers and leave input dead.
+            guard let self, self.wasCapturedOnResign, self.captureEnabled,
+                  self.connection != nil, self.inputCapture != nil
             else { return }
             self.setCaptured(true)
         })
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic.rs b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic.rs
index fe0df30..3e21f69 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/quic.rs
@@ -1100,6 +1100,26 @@ pub async fn clock_sync(
 pub mod endpoint {
     use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 
+    /// Shared QUIC transport tuning for BOTH the host and client endpoints. Keep-alive is the
+    /// load-bearing setting: with quinn's defaults it is OFF, so any quiet stretch on the
+    /// connection (no input, audio muted or stalled, a capture hiccup, a mode change) lets the
+    /// idle timer run out and quinn closes the session — surfacing to the embedder as
+    /// `next_au` → Closed. The native equivalent of Moonlight's ENet keepalive: a small PING
+    /// every `KEEP_ALIVE` keeps the path warm. The interval sits well under `MAX_IDLE` so
+    /// several keepalives can be lost back-to-back (a wifi roam, a brief blip) without a false
+    /// close, while a genuinely dead peer is still detected within `MAX_IDLE`.
+    fn stream_transport() -> Arc<quinn::TransportConfig> {
+        use std::time::Duration;
+        const MAX_IDLE: Duration = Duration::from_secs(20);
+        const KEEP_ALIVE: Duration = Duration::from_secs(4);
+        let mut t = quinn::TransportConfig::default();
+        t.max_idle_timeout(Some(
+            quinn::IdleTimeout::try_from(MAX_IDLE).expect("20s is a valid QUIC idle timeout"),
+        ));
+        t.keep_alive_interval(Some(KEEP_ALIVE));
+        Arc::new(t)
+    }
+
     /// Server endpoint with a fresh self-signed certificate (tests/dev — production hosts
     /// persist an identity and use [`server_with_identity`] so clients can pin it).
     pub fn server(addr: std::net::SocketAddr) -> anyhow_result::Result<quinn::Endpoint> {
@@ -1142,7 +1162,8 @@ pub mod endpoint {
             .map_err(|e| anyhow_result::Error::msg(format!("server config: {e}")))?;
         let quic_cfg = quinn::crypto::rustls::QuicServerConfig::try_from(rustls_cfg)
             .map_err(|e| anyhow_result::Error::msg(format!("quic server config: {e}")))?;
-        let server_config = quinn::ServerConfig::with_crypto(Arc::new(quic_cfg));
+        let mut server_config = quinn::ServerConfig::with_crypto(Arc::new(quic_cfg));
+        server_config.transport_config(stream_transport()); // keep-alive — see stream_transport
         Ok(quinn::Endpoint::server(server_config, addr)?)
     }
 
@@ -1233,8 +1254,10 @@ pub mod endpoint {
             };
             let quic_cfg = quinn::crypto::rustls::QuicClientConfig::try_from(rustls_cfg)
                 .map_err(|e| anyhow_result::Error::msg(format!("quic client config: {e}")))?;
+            let mut client_cfg = quinn::ClientConfig::new(Arc::new(quic_cfg));
+            client_cfg.transport_config(stream_transport()); // keep-alive — see stream_transport
             let mut ep = quinn::Endpoint::client("0.0.0.0:0".parse().unwrap())?;
-            ep.set_default_client_config(quinn::ClientConfig::new(Arc::new(quic_cfg)));
+            ep.set_default_client_config(client_cfg);
             Ok(ep)
         })();
         (ep, observed)