Merge pull request 'fix(plugin-kit): the SQLite reader never opened anything on Linux' (#78) from worktree-plugin-kit-sqlite-uri-fix into main

Reviewed-on: #78

.gitea/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -275,3 +275,31 @@ jobs:
         run: bun run build
       - name: Typecheck
         run: bun run lint
+
+  # web/bun.nix and sdk/bun.nix are GENERATED from their bun.lock (bun2nix) and committed; the Nix
+  # build fetches node_modules from nothing else. They regenerate only on a local `bun install` that
+  # runs lifecycle scripts — never under CI's `--ignore-scripts`, and never on a merge or rebase,
+  # which happily carries a lockfile change past a bun.nix generated before it. That is not
+  # theoretical: web/bun.nix sat stale on main for 553 commits (2026-07-27 → 2026-08-05) with
+  # `nix build .#punktfunk-web` broken, and was repaired only by accident when an advisory bump
+  # happened to rerun a real `bun install`.
+  #
+  # Deliberately UNFILTERED and in ci.yml rather than nix.yml: it needs no Nix, takes well under a
+  # minute, and the whole point is that the drift arrives through commits that look unrelated to
+  # Nix. The Nix-toolchain gates (flake eval + building the bun packages) live in nix.yml.
+  bun-nix:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    container:
+      image: oven/bun:1
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+    steps:
+      # oven/bun ships neither git nor a real node, and the slim base has no CA bundle —
+      # actions/checkout needs all three (see the web job).
+      - name: Install git + node + CA certs
+        run: apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates git nodejs
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      # Regenerates each bun.nix from its committed bun.lock and diffs, and checks that the
+      # bun2nix version pin agrees across flake.nix and both package.json files (bun.nix has no
+      # schema stability across bun2nix releases). Fix with: scripts/ci/check-bun-nix.sh --fix
+      - name: bun.nix drift gate
+        run: sh scripts/ci/check-bun-nix.sh

.gitea/workflows/nix.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+# Nix packaging gate. Until this existed, NOTHING in CI ever evaluated flake.nix: the word "nix"
+# appeared in exactly one workflow file, and only in a comment about bun2nix breaking a Windows
+# step. Every Nix regression therefore reached main invisibly and was found by hand on a Nix box —
+# `nix build .#punktfunk-web` was broken for 553 commits before anyone noticed (see the bun-nix job
+# in ci.yml for that story).
+#
+# Two tiers, because a full `nix flake check` builds the whole Rust workspace with crane and would
+# run for an hour on every push:
+#
+#   * eval  — `nix flake check --no-build`: instantiates every package, app, check, devShell and
+#             the NixOS module without building them. Catches the failures that actually happen to
+#             this flake — a renamed file, a callPackage argument that no longer exists, a syntax
+#             error, a package attribute dropped from packages.nix.
+#   * bun   — actually BUILDS punktfunk-web + punktfunk-scripting. These are the two derivations
+#             whose inputs churn constantly (every dependency bump moves a lockfile) and they cost
+#             minutes, not hours, because neither compiles Rust. This is the end-to-end proof that
+#             the generated bun.nix really does materialise a working node_modules offline — it
+#             covers what the ci.yml drift gate cannot, e.g. a tarball the registry no longer
+#             serves, or the codegen going quietly message-less (see packages.nix's inlang note).
+#
+# The Rust packages (punktfunk-host, punktfunk-client) and punktfunk-gamescope are NOT built here.
+# They are the expensive ones and their inputs are already gated by the `rust` job in ci.yml; build
+# them by hand on a Nix box, or with the `build-rust` dispatch input below.
+#
+# ⚠ pull_request is deliberately present. flatpak.yml shipped with push-only triggers and manifest
+# breakage reached main invisibly for weeks — do not "simplify" this workflow by dropping it.
+# ⚠ The two path lists are duplicated on purpose: a YAML anchor would be tidier, but Gitea's
+# workflow parser is not a place to bet on anchor support. Keep them in step by hand.
+name: nix
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    paths:
+      - "flake.nix"
+      - "flake.lock"
+      - "packaging/nix/**"
+      - "**/bun.lock"
+      - "**/bun.nix"
+      - "**/package.json"
+      - "Cargo.lock"
+      - "Cargo.toml"
+      - "rust-toolchain.toml"
+      - ".gitea/workflows/nix.yml"
+      - "scripts/ci/check-bun-nix.sh"
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - "flake.nix"
+      - "flake.lock"
+      - "packaging/nix/**"
+      - "**/bun.lock"
+      - "**/bun.nix"
+      - "**/package.json"
+      - "Cargo.lock"
+      - "Cargo.toml"
+      - "rust-toolchain.toml"
+      - ".gitea/workflows/nix.yml"
+      - "scripts/ci/check-bun-nix.sh"
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      build-rust:
+        description: "Also build punktfunk-host + punktfunk-client (slow: full Rust workspace)"
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+
+jobs:
+  flake:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    container:
+      # NOT nixos/nix. That image contains nix and essentially nothing else — in particular no
+      # /bin/sleep, and Gitea's act_runner starts every job container with
+      # `entrypoint=["/bin/sleep","10800"]`. The container therefore never starts:
+      #   failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: unable to start container
+      #   process: exec: "/bin/sleep": stat /bin/sleep: no such file or directory
+      # and — the part that makes this expensive to debug — every step is then reported as
+      # `cancelled` rather than failed, which reads exactly like a superseded run.
+      #
+      # node:22-bookworm instead: a full Debian with coreutils (so the entrypoint exists) and a
+      # real node (so actions/checkout works with no pre-checkout install dance), and audit.yml
+      # already pulls it on this fleet, so it is proven to resolve here. Nix is installed below.
+      image: node:22-bookworm
+    timeout-minutes: 90
+    env:
+      # The flake needs both experimental features. Also baked into the installer's --extra-conf
+      # below; this covers any step that shells out before that config is read.
+      NIX_CONFIG: "experimental-features = nix-command flakes"
+      # Absolute path rather than $GITHUB_PATH: one less runner behaviour to assume.
+      NIX: /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin/nix
+      # `--init none` installs Nix with NO daemon running, but the installer still writes a profile
+      # script that exports NIX_REMOTE=daemon. Anything that sources it (any `-l` login shell) then
+      # dies on `cannot connect to socket at '/nix/var/nix/daemon-socket/socket'` — which is exactly
+      # how the installer's own self-test fails during this step, harmlessly, and would be a
+      # confusing first thing to read in the log. The steps below never source that profile, but pin
+      # the empty value so a future step cannot reintroduce it. Empty = talk to the local store
+      # directly, which works because the job runs as root (MEASURED: "Store URL: local, Trusted: 1",
+      # and a real `nix build` of a trivial derivation succeeds).
+      NIX_REMOTE: ""
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      # The Determinate installer needs curl + xz; git so nix can read the flake from the checkout.
+      # (node:22-bookworm is the full image and already has all three — this is belt-and-braces
+      # against a future slim-image swap, and costs one cached apt call.)
+      - name: Installer prerequisites
+        run: apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates curl xz-utils git
+
+      # `--init none` is the container mode: no systemd, no daemon. Running as root, nix then talks
+      # to the store directly. Determinate Nix is also what the Nix box (.21) runs, so CI and the
+      # hand-verification box stay on the same distribution.
+      - name: Install Nix
+        run: |
+          curl -fsSL https://install.determinate.systems/nix -o /tmp/nix-installer.sh
+          sh /tmp/nix-installer.sh install linux --init none --no-confirm \
+            --extra-conf "experimental-features = nix-command flakes"
+          "$NIX" --version
+
+      # Nix reads the flake through libgit2 and refuses a checkout owned by another uid
+      # ("detected dubious ownership"), which is the normal case for a container job.
+      - name: Trust the checkout
+        run: git config --global --add safe.directory "$PWD"
+
+      # Diagnostics. This fleet ran a runner out of disk on 2026-08-06 (the ci.yml `web` job died
+      # with "no space left on device" mid-`bun install`), and a Nix build is the heaviest thing
+      # here — so record the headroom, or a future failure is a guess.
+      - name: Environment
+        run: df -h / /nix /tmp || true
+
+      # Evaluates + instantiates every flake output without building any of it.
+      - name: nix flake check (eval only)
+        run: |
+          "$NIX" flake check --no-build --show-trace
+
+      # The bun packages, built for real. This is the leg that would have caught the stale
+      # web/bun.nix end to end: the derivation's offline `bun install` runs against a store cache
+      # built strictly from bun.nix, so a lockfile that cache does not cover fails here.
+      # Path-filtered, so it runs only when the packaging or a lockfile actually moves. If it ever
+      # starts going red on runner disk rather than on real defects, demote it to the dispatch
+      # opt-in below rather than leaving an infra-red gate on the board.
+      - name: Build the bun packages
+        run: |
+          "$NIX" build --print-build-logs .#punktfunk-web .#punktfunk-scripting
+
+      # Both launchers exec pkgs.bun from the store; confirm they were produced and are real entry
+      # points rather than dangling wrappers.
+      - name: Smoke the built launchers
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          web=$("$NIX" path-info .#punktfunk-web)
+          scripting=$("$NIX" path-info .#punktfunk-scripting)
+          test -x "$web/bin/punktfunk-web-server" || { echo "no punktfunk-web-server in $web" >&2; exit 1; }
+          test -x "$scripting/bin/punktfunk-scripting" || { echo "no punktfunk-scripting in $scripting" >&2; exit 1; }
+          # The console must be the bun bundle, not a node one — the same assertion packages.nix
+          # makes at build time, re-checked on the installed output.
+          grep -q 'Bun\.serve' "$web/share/punktfunk-web/.output/server/index.mjs" \
+            || { echo "installed console is not a bun bundle" >&2; exit 1; }
+          echo "bun packages OK: $web  $scripting"
+
+      # Opt-in only: the full Rust workspace through crane, which is the hour-long leg.
+      # `github.event.inputs.*` (string) rather than `inputs.*` — the portable spelling.
+      - name: Build the Rust packages (dispatch opt-in)
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.build-rust == 'true' }}
+        run: |
+          "$NIX" build --print-build-logs .#punktfunk-host .#punktfunk-client

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/App.kt

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.Scaffold
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
 import androidx.compose.runtime.CompositionLocalProvider
+import androidx.compose.runtime.compositionLocalOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.DisposableEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ import android.widget.Toast
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.link.DeepLinkResult
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.link.DeepLinks
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.link.HostResolution
+import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.SessionEndReason
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.security.KnownHostStore
 import io.unom.punktfunk.models.ActiveSession
 import io.unom.punktfunk.models.Tab
@@ -61,6 +63,11 @@ fun App(forceGamepadUi: Boolean = false) {
     // so the stream screen never re-reads the store behind its own connect's back.
     var session by remember { mutableStateOf<ActiveSession?>(null) }
     var tab by remember { mutableStateOf(Tab.Connect) }
+    // Set when a session ends because its game exited and it began as a library launch: the host
+    // whose library the console shell should come back to. Held HERE because the shell's own
+    // navigation state does not outlive the stream. Cleared once the shell has consumed it, so a
+    // later manual Back out of the library is not undone by a stale value.
+    var reopenLibraryHostId by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
 
     // Console (gamepad) mode mirrors the Apple client: the setting AND (a pad is attached OR this is
     // a TV OR the dev force flag). Flips live as controllers connect/disconnect.
@@ -98,6 +105,15 @@ fun App(forceGamepadUi: Boolean = false) {
         }
     }
 
+    // The console backdrop's colour family, published once from the live settings rather than
+    // threaded through every screen that draws a backdrop. Because it is read from the SAME
+    // `settings` state the gamepad settings screen writes, stepping the Background row recolours
+    // the field behind that very row.
+    val palette = GamepadPalette.named(settings.uiPalette)
+    CompositionLocalProvider(
+        LocalGamepadPalette provides palette,
+        LocalGamepadInk provides GamepadInk.of(palette),
+    ) {
     AnimatedContent(
         targetState = session,
         transitionSpec = {
@@ -107,7 +123,20 @@ fun App(forceGamepadUi: Boolean = false) {
     ) { active ->
         if (active != null) {
             // Immersive: the stream takes the whole screen, no bottom bar.
-            StreamScreen(active, onDisconnect = { session = null })
+            StreamScreen(active) { reason ->
+                // A game launched from a library exiting is a normal finish, and the player is
+                // almost certainly after the next title — so send them back to that library rather
+                // than all the way out to host selection. The console shell's own screen state does
+                // not survive the stream (StreamScreen replaces it in the composition, discarding
+                // its `remember`s), so the intent is hoisted here and handed back on the way in.
+                reopenLibraryHostId =
+                    if (reason == SessionEndReason.GAME_EXITED && active.launchedFromLibrary) {
+                        active.hostId
+                    } else {
+                        null
+                    }
+                session = null
+            }
         } else if (gamepadUi) {
             GamepadShell(
                 settings = settings,
@@ -115,6 +144,8 @@ fun App(forceGamepadUi: Boolean = false) {
                 onConnected = { session = it },
                 deepLink = pendingLink,
                 onDeepLinkHandled = { activity?.pendingDeepLink = null },
+                reopenLibraryHostId = reopenLibraryHostId,
+                onReopenLibraryHandled = { reopenLibraryHostId = null },
             )
         } else {
             // Adaptive nav: a bottom bar on phones; on tablets / large windows a side NavigationRail
@@ -201,8 +232,16 @@ fun App(forceGamepadUi: Boolean = false) {
             }
         }
     }
+    }
 }
 
+/**
+ * The console backdrop's colour family for everything under [App] — provided from the live
+ * settings so a change on the gamepad settings screen recolours every backdrop at once. Defaults
+ * to the brand violet, which is also what a preview or a test composition gets.
+ */
+val LocalGamepadPalette = compositionLocalOf { GamepadPalette.named("violet") }
+
 /** Which console screen the gamepad shell is showing. */
 private enum class GamepadScreen { Home, Settings, Library }
 
@@ -218,11 +257,32 @@ fun GamepadShell(
     onConnected: (ActiveSession) -> Unit,
     deepLink: String? = null,
     onDeepLinkHandled: () -> Unit = {},
+    /**
+     * Open this saved host's library instead of Home on the way in — set when a game launched from
+     * it has just exited. Null (the default) starts on Home exactly as before.
+     */
+    reopenLibraryHostId: String? = null,
+    onReopenLibraryHandled: () -> Unit = {},
 ) {
     val context = LocalContext.current
     var screen by remember { mutableStateOf(GamepadScreen.Home) }
     var libraryHost by remember { mutableStateOf<io.unom.punktfunk.kit.security.KnownHost?>(null) }
 
+    // Consume the "come back to this library" intent once, on entry. Keyed on the id so a second
+    // game exit re-fires it; the parent clears it immediately, so a manual Back stays backed out.
+    // A host that has since been forgotten simply leaves us on Home rather than failing.
+    LaunchedEffect(reopenLibraryHostId) {
+        val id = reopenLibraryHostId ?: return@LaunchedEffect
+        // Navigate BEFORE acknowledging: acknowledging clears the parent's state, which re-keys
+        // this effect and cancels the coroutine running it. Nothing suspends in between today, so
+        // either order happens to work — but this one cannot be broken by a later edit that adds a
+        // suspending call. A host that has since been forgotten just leaves us on Home.
+        KnownHostStore(context).all()
+            .firstOrNull { it.id == id }
+            ?.let { libraryHost = it; screen = GamepadScreen.Library }
+        onReopenLibraryHandled()
+    }
+
     // On a TV, shrink the 10-foot UI so its elements aren't oversized. Density-aware: expand the
     // effective dp footprint to at least CONSOLE_TV_MIN_WIDTH_DP (→ smaller elements) ONLY when the
     // panel reports fewer dp than that; a low-density TV that's already spacious, and every phone /

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectOverlay.kt

@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ internal fun ConnectTakeover(
     onCancel: () -> Unit,
     onRetry: () -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val copy = connectCopy(phase)
     val timedOut = phase is ConnectPhase.WakeTimedOut
 
@@ -212,7 +213,7 @@ internal fun ConnectTakeover(
                     Icon(
                         Icons.Filled.Bedtime,
                         contentDescription = null,
-                        tint = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.9f),
+                        tint = ink.fg(0.9f),
                         modifier = Modifier.size(46.dp),
                     )
                 }
@@ -221,14 +222,14 @@ internal fun ConnectTakeover(
             }
             Text(
                 copy.title,
-                color = Color.White,
+                color = ink.fg,
                 fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
                 fontSize = 24.sp,
                 textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
             )
             Text(
                 copy.subtitle,
-                color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.65f),
+                color = ink.fg(0.65f),
                 fontSize = 14.sp,
                 textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
                 fontFamily = if (copy.monoSubtitle) FontFamily.Monospace else FontFamily.Default,
@@ -249,6 +250,7 @@ internal fun ConnectTakeover(
  */
 @Composable
 private fun PulsingSpinner() {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val transition = rememberInfiniteTransition(label = "connectPulse")
     val pulse by transition.animateFloat(
         initialValue = 0f,
@@ -262,14 +264,14 @@ private fun PulsingSpinner() {
             for (i in 0..1) {
                 val p = (pulse + i * 0.5f) % 1f
                 drawCircle(
-                    color = Color(0xFF8678F5).copy(alpha = (1f - p) * 0.35f),
+                    color = ink.accent.copy(alpha = (1f - p) * 0.35f),
                     radius = maxR * (0.42f + p * 0.58f),
                     style = Stroke(width = 2.dp.toPx()),
                 )
             }
         }
         CircularProgressIndicator(
-            color = Color.White,
+            color = ink.fg,
             strokeWidth = 3.dp,
             modifier = Modifier.size(54.dp),
         )

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/ConnectScreen.kt

@@ -168,8 +168,7 @@ fun ConnectScreen(
             lnpPrompt = false
             // The browse started while blocked (its sockets failed or received nothing) — restart it
             // now that the grant makes them work.
-            discovery.stop()
-            discovery.start()
+            discovery.restart()
         } else {
             lnpPrompt = true // rationale + "Open settings" (a permanently-denied request returns instantly)
         }
@@ -191,12 +190,27 @@ fun ConnectScreen(
     // or otherwise notify the app — this observer is what turns the grant into a live discovery.
     DisposableEffect(Unit) {
         val lifecycle = (context as? LifecycleOwner)?.lifecycle
+        // Whether we've actually been away. ON_RESUME also fires on first entry, right after the
+        // effect below starts the browse — restarting it there would be pure churn.
+        var wasPaused = false
         val obs = LifecycleEventObserver { _, event ->
-            if (event == Lifecycle.Event.ON_RESUME && !lnpGranted && hasLocalNetworkPermission(context)) {
-                lnpGranted = true
-                lnpPrompt = false
-                discovery.stop()
-                discovery.start()
+            when (event) {
+                Lifecycle.Event.ON_PAUSE -> wasPaused = true
+                Lifecycle.Event.ON_RESUME -> {
+                    if (!lnpGranted && hasLocalNetworkPermission(context)) {
+                        lnpGranted = true
+                        lnpPrompt = false
+                        discovery.restart()
+                    } else if (wasPaused) {
+                        // Coming back from the background: the browse may have been sitting idle
+                        // (or had its multicast socket torn out from under it) while we were away,
+                        // and its own re-query interval has kept doubling. Re-arm and ask again,
+                        // so returning to the screen is enough — no app restart.
+                        discovery.restart()
+                    }
+                    wasPaused = false
+                }
+                else -> {}
             }
         }
         lifecycle?.addObserver(obs)
@@ -1009,20 +1023,28 @@ fun ConnectScreen(
             // rather than looking idle/empty. Suppressed while local network access is denied —
             // a spinner would be a lie there (the browse can't receive anything); the banner above
             // owns that state.
-            if (lnpGranted && !connecting && discovered.isEmpty()) {
+            // Scan again is offered whether or not anything turned up: the case that sends people
+            // here is ONE expected host missing, not an empty list, and a browse that quietly went
+            // deaf (blocked when it started, or backed off to its hour-long re-query) looks
+            // exactly like a network without that host on it.
+            if (lnpGranted && !connecting) {
                 item(span = { GridItemSpan(maxLineSpan) }) {
                     Row(
                         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().padding(vertical = 12.dp),
                         horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.Center,
                         verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
                     ) {
-                        CircularProgressIndicator(modifier = Modifier.size(16.dp), strokeWidth = 2.dp)
-                        Spacer(Modifier.width(8.dp))
-                        Text(
-                            "Searching the local network…",
-                            style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
-                            color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant,
-                        )
+                        if (discovered.isEmpty()) {
+                            CircularProgressIndicator(modifier = Modifier.size(16.dp), strokeWidth = 2.dp)
+                            Spacer(Modifier.width(8.dp))
+                            Text(
+                                "Searching the local network…",
+                                style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
+                                color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant,
+                            )
+                            Spacer(Modifier.width(8.dp))
+                        }
+                        TextButton(onClick = { discovery.restart() }) { Text("Scan again") }
                     }
                 }
             }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadAddHostScreen.kt

@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ fun GamepadAddHostScreen(
     suggestedMacs: List<String> = emptyList(),
     onSave: ((KnownHost) -> Unit)? = null,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val context = LocalContext.current
     val isTv = remember { isTvDevice(context) }
     val isEdit = editHost != null
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ fun GamepadAddHostScreen(
                             Text(
                                 "Hosts on this network appear automatically — add one by address for everything else.",
                                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
-                                color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.55f),
+                                color = ink.fg(0.55f),
                                 modifier = Modifier.widthIn(max = 520.dp).padding(bottom = 8.dp),
                             )
                         }
@@ -306,6 +307,7 @@ private fun TvAddHostForm(
     onAdd: () -> Unit,
     onDismiss: () -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     BackHandler(onBack = onDismiss)
     val firstFocus = remember { FocusRequester() }
     Box(Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {
@@ -319,11 +321,11 @@ private fun TvAddHostForm(
                 .verticalScroll(rememberScrollState()),
             verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(16.dp),
         ) {
-            Text(title, style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineMedium, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.White)
+            Text(title, style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineMedium, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = ink.fg)
             Text(
                 "Hosts on this network appear automatically — add one by address for everything else.",
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
-                color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.55f),
+                color = ink.fg(0.55f),
             )
             OutlinedTextField(
                 value = name, onValueChange = onName, singleLine = true,
@@ -362,6 +364,7 @@ private fun rowCols(row: Int): Int = if (row < KB_ACTIONS_ROW) KB_CHAR_ROWS[row]
 
 @Composable
 private fun FieldRow(f: Field, focused: Boolean, editing: Boolean, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val visuals = animateConsoleFocus(active = focused || editing, editing = editing)
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(14.dp)
     Row(
@@ -375,25 +378,26 @@ private fun FieldRow(f: Field, focused: Boolean, editing: Boolean, onClick: () -
             .padding(horizontal = 16.dp, vertical = 14.dp),
         verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
     ) {
-        Text(f.label, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge, fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold, color = Color.White)
+        Text(f.label, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge, fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold, color = ink.fg)
         Spacer(Modifier.weight(1f))
         Text(
             f.value.ifEmpty { f.placeholder },
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium.copy(fontFamily = FontFamily.Monospace),
-            color = if (f.value.isEmpty()) Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.35f) else Color.White,
+            color = if (f.value.isEmpty()) ink.fg(0.35f) else ink.fg,
             maxLines = 1,
             overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
         )
-        if (editing) Text(" |", color = Color(0xFF8678F5))
+        if (editing) Text(" |", color = ink.accent)
     }
 }
 
 @Composable
 private fun AddActionRow(label: String, enabled: Boolean, focused: Boolean, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val visuals = animateConsoleFocus(active = focused)
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(14.dp)
     val labelColor by animateColorAsState(
-        if (enabled) Color(0xFF8678F5) else Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.35f),
+        if (enabled) ink.accent else ink.fg(0.35f),
         tween(160),
         label = "addLabel",
     )
@@ -425,6 +429,7 @@ private fun KeyboardGrid(
     bottomInset: Dp = 0.dp, // empty frame at the bottom of the glass for the floating legend to sit over
     onKey: (Int, Int) -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(20.dp)
     val gap = if (compact) 5.dp else 7.dp
     Column(
@@ -433,7 +438,7 @@ private fun KeyboardGrid(
             .widthIn(max = 640.dp)
             .clip(shape)
             .background(Color(0x1FFFFFFF))
-            .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.12f), shape)
+            .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.12f), shape)
             .padding(start = 12.dp, end = 12.dp, top = if (compact) 8.dp else 12.dp, bottom = 12.dp + bottomInset),
         verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(gap),
     ) {
@@ -454,14 +459,15 @@ private fun KeyboardGrid(
 
 @Composable
 private fun Keycap(label: String, focused: Boolean, compact: Boolean, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     // Fast tweens: the keyboard cursor hops many keys per second under hold-to-repeat, so the
     // trailing key must have faded before the cursor is two keys away — quick, but no longer a snap.
     val bg by animateColorAsState(
-        if (focused) Color(0xFF8678F5) else Color(0x14FFFFFF),
+        if (focused) ink.accent else ink.glass,
         tween(90),
         label = "keyBg",
     )
-    val fg by animateColorAsState(if (focused) Color.Black else Color.White, tween(90), label = "keyFg")
+    val fg by animateColorAsState(if (focused) Color.Black else ink.fg, tween(90), label = "keyFg")
     Box(
         modifier = modifier
             .height(if (compact) 34.dp else 44.dp)

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadChrome.kt

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas
 import androidx.compose.foundation.background
 import androidx.compose.foundation.border
 import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
+import androidx.compose.foundation.horizontalScroll
+import androidx.compose.foundation.rememberScrollState
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Arrangement
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.PaddingValues
@@ -23,6 +25,9 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.offset
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.size
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.width
+import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.LazyRow
+import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.itemsIndexed
+import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.rememberLazyListState
 import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.CircleShape
 import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.RoundedCornerShape
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.Icons
@@ -31,7 +36,9 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.Icon
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
+import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
+import androidx.compose.runtime.remember
 import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
 import androidx.compose.ui.draw.clip
@@ -65,9 +72,12 @@ import kotlin.math.sin
 // connected-controller status chip. One look across every screen is what makes the console UI read
 // as a coherent mode rather than a set of themed pages.
 
-/** One drifting colour blob of the aurora field. Integer [sx]/[sy] keep the loop seamless at wrap. */
+/**
+ * One drifting blob of the aurora field: where it sits, how far it wanders, and how fast. Integer
+ * [sx]/[sy] keep the loop seamless at wrap. The COLOUR is the palette's, taken from its ramp at
+ * draw time, so the field always shows several of that palette's tones at once.
+ */
 private class AuroraBlob(
-    val color: Color,
     val baseX: Float,
     val baseY: Float,
     val driftX: Float,
@@ -80,50 +90,80 @@ private class AuroraBlob(
 )
 
 private val auroraBlobs = listOf(
-    AuroraBlob(Color(0xFF877AF5), 0.30f, 0.26f, 0.16f, 0.10f, 1, 1, 0.0f, 0.62f, 0.55f), // brand violet
-    AuroraBlob(Color(0xFF3E33B8), 0.78f, 0.68f, 0.13f, 0.14f, 1, 2, 2.4f, 0.68f, 0.58f), // deep indigo
-    AuroraBlob(Color(0xFF9E4CCC), 0.16f, 0.82f, 0.12f, 0.09f, 2, 1, 4.1f, 0.52f, 0.42f), // plum
-    AuroraBlob(Color(0xFF3862DB), 0.72f, 0.14f, 0.10f, 0.08f, 1, 3, 1.2f, 0.48f, 0.40f), // cool blue
+    AuroraBlob(0.30f, 0.26f, 0.16f, 0.10f, 1, 1, 0.0f, 0.62f, 0.55f),
+    AuroraBlob(0.78f, 0.68f, 0.13f, 0.14f, 1, 2, 2.4f, 0.68f, 0.58f),
+    AuroraBlob(0.16f, 0.82f, 0.12f, 0.09f, 2, 1, 4.1f, 0.52f, 0.42f),
+    AuroraBlob(0.72f, 0.14f, 0.10f, 0.08f, 1, 3, 1.2f, 0.48f, 0.40f),
 )
 
 /**
- * The living console backdrop: soft violet-family blobs drifting over black on slow, seamless loops,
- * finished with a centre-pooling vignette and top/bottom legibility scrims. A Compose approximation
- * of the Apple client's MeshGradient aurora — same brand family, same "ambience, never content" role.
+ * The living console backdrop: soft blobs from the palette's ramp drifting over its ground on
+ * slow, seamless loops, finished with a centre-pooling vignette and top/bottom legibility scrims.
+ * A Compose approximation of the Apple client's MeshGradient aurora — same colour families, same
+ * "ambience, never content" role, and the same [GamepadPalette] setting recolours both.
+ *
+ * [calm] is what the FORM screens wear: the pools dim onto the ground so the glass rows keep real
+ * colour and luminance without the launcher's contrast. Motion is identical either way on purpose
+ * — only the contrast differs, so moving between screens can't make the field jump.
+ *
+ * Honours the system's "remove animations" accessibility setting by freezing at a fixed phase, the
+ * same courtesy the Apple client pays Reduce Motion.
  */
 @Composable
-fun GamepadAuroraBackground(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
+fun GamepadAuroraBackground(modifier: Modifier = Modifier, calm: Boolean = false) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
+    val palette = LocalGamepadPalette.current
+    val animated = animationsEnabled()
     val transition = rememberInfiniteTransition(label = "aurora")
-    // A full 0..2π sweep over ~96 s; integer per-blob multipliers make sin/cos continuous at the wrap
-    // so the field never visibly jumps when the animation restarts.
-    val angle by transition.animateFloat(
+    // A full 0..2π sweep over ~96 s; integer per-blob multipliers make sin/cos continuous at the
+    // wrap so the field never visibly jumps when the animation restarts.
+    val swept by transition.animateFloat(
         initialValue = 0f,
         targetValue = (2 * PI).toFloat(),
         animationSpec = infiniteRepeatable(tween(96_000, easing = LinearEasing), RepeatMode.Restart),
         label = "angle",
     )
+    val angle = if (animated) swept else 0f
+    val tones = palette.blobColors
+    val ground = palette.groundColor
+    // Where the scrims tend, and how hard. Mixing a PALE field toward white at the dark field's
+    // strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient, so a pale palette gets under
+    // half — the same scrim strength the desktop console's shader carries.
+    val scrim = if (palette.light) ink.fg else Color.Black
+    val strength = if (palette.light) 0.45f else 1f
     Canvas(modifier) {
-        drawRect(Color.Black)
+        drawRect(ground)
         val span = max(size.width, size.height)
-        for (b in auroraBlobs) {
+        for ((i, b) in auroraBlobs.withIndex()) {
             val cx = (b.baseX + b.driftX * sin(angle * b.sx + b.phase)) * size.width
             val cy = (b.baseY + b.driftY * cos(angle * b.sy + b.phase)) * size.height
             val r = span * b.radiusFrac
+            // Calm scales each blob's contribution rather than dimming the whole canvas: the
+            // ground stays put and only the pools come down to meet it, which is the same "lower
+            // the contrast, keep the colour" the desktop console's `calm` uniform does.
+            val alpha = if (calm) b.alpha * 0.62f else b.alpha
             drawCircle(
                 brush = Brush.radialGradient(
-                    colors = listOf(b.color.copy(alpha = b.alpha), Color.Transparent),
+                    colors = listOf(tones[i].copy(alpha = alpha), Color.Transparent),
                     center = Offset(cx, cy),
                     radius = r,
                 ),
                 center = Offset(cx, cy),
                 radius = r,
-                blendMode = BlendMode.Plus,
+                // Additive only works over a DARK ground; over a pale one every blob
+                // saturates to white and the field turns grey. Pale palettes tint instead.
+                blendMode = if (palette.light) BlendMode.SrcOver else BlendMode.Plus,
             )
         }
-        // Cinematic vignette: pool light centre, sink the corners.
+        // Cinematic vignette: pool light centre, settle the corners toward the scrim. Halved under
+        // calm: a launcher's cards sit in the pooled centre, but a form screen's rows run out
+        // toward the edges, where crushing them just eats the list.
         drawRect(
             Brush.radialGradient(
-                colors = listOf(Color.Transparent, Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.44f)),
+                colors = listOf(
+                    Color.Transparent,
+                    scrim.copy(alpha = (if (calm) 0.22f else 0.44f) * strength),
+                ),
                 center = Offset(size.width / 2, size.height / 2),
                 radius = span * 0.92f,
             ),
@@ -131,43 +171,108 @@ fun GamepadAuroraBackground(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
         // Top/bottom legibility scrim for the pinned title + hint bar.
         drawRect(
             Brush.verticalGradient(
-                0.0f to Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.40f),
-                0.30f to Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.05f),
-                0.70f to Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.06f),
-                1.0f to Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.42f),
+                0.0f to scrim.copy(alpha = 0.40f * strength),
+                0.30f to scrim.copy(alpha = 0.05f * strength),
+                0.70f to scrim.copy(alpha = 0.06f * strength),
+                1.0f to scrim.copy(alpha = 0.42f * strength),
             ),
         )
     }
 }
 
 /**
- * The calm backdrop for the console FORM screens (settings, add-host) — deliberately still and quiet
- * (unlike the launcher's drifting aurora), a deep indigo base with two soft brand glows so the glass
- * rows have some colour + luminance to sit on. Mirrors the Apple client's GamepadFormBackground.
+ * `false` when the user has turned animations off system-wide (Developer options' animator duration
+ * scale, or the accessibility "Remove animations" switch, which sets the same global). Read once
+ * per composition — it needs a settings trip to the system, and it changes about never.
+ */
+@Composable
+private fun animationsEnabled(): Boolean {
+    val context = LocalContext.current
+    return remember {
+        runCatching {
+            android.provider.Settings.Global.getFloat(
+                context.contentResolver,
+                android.provider.Settings.Global.ANIMATOR_DURATION_SCALE,
+                1f,
+            ) != 0f
+        }.getOrDefault(true)
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The backdrop for the console FORM screens (settings, add-host). It used to be a STILL deep-indigo
+ * base with two soft glows; it is now the launcher's own living field at `calm`, which keeps that
+ * colour and luminance under the glass rows, honours the palette setting on every screen rather
+ * than only the launcher, and leaves nothing in the console UI backed by a static image. Mirrors
+ * the Apple client's GamepadFormBackground, which made the same substitution.
  */
 @Composable
 fun GamepadFormBackground(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
-    Canvas(modifier) {
-        val span = max(size.width, size.height)
-        drawRect(Color(0xFF131126))
-        drawCircle(
-            brush = Brush.radialGradient(
-                colors = listOf(Color(0xE6635AAE), Color.Transparent),
-                center = Offset(size.width * 0.24f, size.height * 0.12f),
-                radius = span * 0.7f,
-            ),
-            center = Offset(size.width * 0.24f, size.height * 0.12f),
-            radius = span * 0.7f,
-        )
-        drawCircle(
-            brush = Brush.radialGradient(
-                colors = listOf(Color(0xBF343E96), Color.Transparent),
-                center = Offset(size.width * 0.82f, size.height * 0.9f),
-                radius = span * 0.7f,
-            ),
-            center = Offset(size.width * 0.82f, size.height * 0.9f),
-            radius = span * 0.7f,
-        )
+    GamepadAuroraBackground(modifier, calm = true)
+}
+
+/**
+ * The horizontal section switcher above a console list. Purely presentational — the SCREEN owns
+ * which tab is selected and what the shoulders do. Scrollable so a narrow phone in landscape never
+ * has to squeeze the pills, and the selected one is always brought into view whether it was reached
+ * by shoulder button or tap.
+ */
+@Composable
+fun ConsoleTabStrip(
+    titles: List<String>,
+    selected: Int,
+    onSelect: (Int) -> Unit,
+    modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
+    /**
+     * The strip itself holds the cursor (the caller moved focus UP out of its list). Draws a ring
+     * on the selected pill so it's clear left/right now walks sections rather than values — the
+     * route a D-pad remote, which has no shoulder buttons, needs.
+     */
+    focused: Boolean = false,
+) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
+    val listState = rememberLazyListState()
+    LaunchedEffect(selected) {
+        runCatching { listState.animateScrollToItem(selected.coerceAtLeast(0)) }
+    }
+    LazyRow(
+        state = listState,
+        modifier = modifier,
+        contentPadding = PaddingValues(horizontal = ConsoleEdgeInset),
+        horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(6.dp),
+    ) {
+        itemsIndexed(titles) { i, title ->
+            val active = i == selected
+            val background by animateColorAsState(
+                if (active) ink.accent(0.85f) else ink.glass,
+                tween(180),
+                label = "tabBg",
+            )
+            // Not `ink` — that name is the palette's, and shadowing it here cost a compile.
+            val labelColor by animateColorAsState(
+                if (active) ink.onAccent else ink.fg(0.55f),
+                tween(180),
+                label = "tabInk",
+            )
+            val ring by animateColorAsState(
+                ink.fg(if (active && focused) 0.85f else 0f),
+                tween(180),
+                label = "tabRing",
+            )
+            Text(
+                title,
+                style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelLarge,
+                fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold,
+                color = labelColor,
+                maxLines = 1,
+                modifier = Modifier
+                    .clip(RoundedCornerShape(50))
+                    .background(background)
+                    .border(1.5.dp, ring, RoundedCornerShape(50))
+                    .clickable { onSelect(i) }
+                    .padding(horizontal = 14.dp, vertical = 7.dp),
+            )
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -176,7 +281,7 @@ fun GamepadFormBackground(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
  * sits in the SAME spot across Home / Settings / Add-Host and appears pinned while the content behind
  * it cross-fades between screens.
  */
-val ConsoleLegendInset = PaddingValues(start = 24.dp, bottom = 24.dp)
+val ConsoleLegendInset = PaddingValues(start = 24.dp, end = 24.dp, bottom = 24.dp)
 
 /** The shared horizontal inset for a console screen's heading (matches the legend's left edge). */
 val ConsoleEdgeInset = 24.dp
@@ -187,6 +292,7 @@ val ConsoleEdgeInset = 24.dp
  */
 @Composable
 fun ConsoleHeader(title: String, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, horizontalInset: Boolean = true) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     // `horizontalInset = false` when the caller's container already pads to ConsoleEdgeInset (e.g. a
     // LazyColumn contentPadding) — so the heading lands at the SAME 24dp on every screen either way.
     val h = if (horizontalInset) ConsoleEdgeInset else 0.dp
@@ -194,7 +300,7 @@ fun ConsoleHeader(title: String, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, horizontalInset:
         title,
         style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineMedium,
         fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
-        color = Color.White,
+        color = ink.fg,
         maxLines = 1,
         overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
         modifier = modifier.padding(start = h, end = h, top = 18.dp, bottom = 10.dp),
@@ -251,21 +357,22 @@ class ConsoleFocusVisuals(val scale: Float, val background: Color, val border: C
  */
 @Composable
 fun animateConsoleFocus(active: Boolean, editing: Boolean = false): ConsoleFocusVisuals {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val scale by animateFloatAsState(
         targetValue = if (active) 1f else 0.98f,
         animationSpec = spring(dampingRatio = 0.7f, stiffness = Spring.StiffnessMediumLow),
         label = "consoleScale",
     )
     val background by animateColorAsState(
-        if (active) Color(0x336656F2) else Color(0x14FFFFFF),
+        if (active) ink.accent(0.20f) else ink.glass,
         tween(160),
         label = "consoleBg",
     )
     val border by animateColorAsState(
         when {
-            editing -> Color(0xB38678F5)
-            active -> Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.28f)
-            else -> Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.06f)
+            editing -> ink.accent(0.70f)
+            active -> ink.fg(0.28f)
+            else -> ink.fg(0.06f)
         },
         tween(160),
         label = "consoleBorder",
@@ -280,18 +387,19 @@ fun animateConsoleFocus(active: Boolean, editing: Boolean = false): ConsoleFocus
  */
 @Composable
 fun ConsoleSwitch(on: Boolean, focused: Boolean, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val travel by animateFloatAsState(
         targetValue = if (on) 1f else 0f,
         animationSpec = spring(dampingRatio = 0.8f, stiffness = 600f),
         label = "switchKnob",
     )
     val track by animateColorAsState(
-        if (on) Color(0xFF6656F2) else Color(0x26FFFFFF),
+        if (on) ink.accent else Color(0x26FFFFFF),
         tween(200),
         label = "switchTrack",
     )
     val outline by animateColorAsState(
-        Color.White.copy(alpha = if (focused) 0.45f else 0.15f),
+        ink.fg(if (focused) 0.45f else 0.15f),
         tween(160),
         label = "switchOutline",
     )
@@ -313,7 +421,7 @@ fun ConsoleSwitch(on: Boolean, focused: Boolean, modifier: Modifier = Modifier)
                 .offset { IntOffset(((trackW - knob - pad * 2).toPx() * travel).roundToInt(), 0) }
                 .size(knob)
                 .clip(CircleShape)
-                .background(Color.White),
+                .background(ink.fg),
         )
     }
 }
@@ -321,6 +429,7 @@ fun ConsoleSwitch(on: Boolean, focused: Boolean, modifier: Modifier = Modifier)
 /** A round face-button badge: a coloured disc with the button letter, like a controller's face. */
 @Composable
 fun GamepadButtonGlyph(glyph: Char, color: Color, size: androidx.compose.ui.unit.Dp = 26.dp) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Box(
         modifier = Modifier
             .size(size)
@@ -330,7 +439,7 @@ fun GamepadButtonGlyph(glyph: Char, color: Color, size: androidx.compose.ui.unit
     ) {
         Text(
             glyph.toString(),
-            color = Color.White,
+            color = ink.fg,
             fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
             fontSize = (size.value * 0.52f).sp,
             textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
@@ -341,11 +450,12 @@ fun GamepadButtonGlyph(glyph: Char, color: Color, size: androidx.compose.ui.unit
 /** The D-pad-centre "select" button — a green (confirm) disc with a ring; the TV-remote glyph for A. */
 @Composable
 private fun SelectGlyph(size: androidx.compose.ui.unit.Dp = 26.dp) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Box(
         modifier = Modifier.size(size).clip(CircleShape).background(PadGlyph.A),
         contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
     ) {
-        Box(Modifier.size(size * 0.46f).clip(CircleShape).border(2.dp, Color.White, CircleShape))
+        Box(Modifier.size(size * 0.46f).clip(CircleShape).border(2.dp, ink.fg, CircleShape))
     }
 }
 
@@ -410,6 +520,7 @@ internal fun PsFaceGlyph(glyph: Char, size: androidx.compose.ui.unit.Dp = 26.dp)
  */
 @Composable
 internal fun SelectButtonGlyph(style: Gamepad.PadStyle, size: androidx.compose.ui.unit.Dp = 26.dp) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Box(
         Modifier.size(size).clip(CircleShape).background(PadButtonFace),
         contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
@@ -421,17 +532,17 @@ internal fun SelectButtonGlyph(style: Gamepad.PadStyle, size: androidx.compose.u
                 val corner = RoundedCornerShape(2.dp)
                 Box(
                     Modifier.size(size * 0.32f).align(Alignment.TopEnd)
-                        .border(1.4.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.9f), corner),
+                        .border(1.4.dp, ink.fg(0.9f), corner),
                 )
                 Box(
                     Modifier.size(size * 0.32f).align(Alignment.BottomStart)
                         .clip(corner).background(PadButtonFace)
-                        .border(1.4.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.9f), corner),
+                        .border(1.4.dp, ink.fg(0.9f), corner),
                 )
             }
             Gamepad.PadStyle.NINTENDO -> Text(
                 "−",
-                color = Color.White,
+                color = ink.fg,
                 fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
                 fontSize = (size.value * 0.62f).sp,
                 textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
@@ -440,7 +551,7 @@ internal fun SelectButtonGlyph(style: Gamepad.PadStyle, size: androidx.compose.u
                 Modifier
                     .size(width = size * 0.58f, height = size * 0.30f)
                     .clip(RoundedCornerShape(50))
-                    .border(1.6.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.9f), RoundedCornerShape(50)),
+                    .border(1.6.dp, ink.fg(0.9f), RoundedCornerShape(50)),
             )
         }
     }
@@ -452,6 +563,7 @@ internal fun SelectButtonGlyph(style: Gamepad.PadStyle, size: androidx.compose.u
  */
 @Composable
 fun GamepadHintBar(hints: List<GamepadHint>, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, hazeState: HazeState? = null) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     // On a TV D-pad remote (no A/B/X/Y), auto-swap the two universal pad glyphs every screen uses:
     // A (confirm) → the select ring, B (back/cancel) → a back glyph. Screen-specific glyphs like the
     // home's Up/Down handle themselves. A real pad instead picks its glyph FAMILY (Xbox letters /
@@ -464,14 +576,19 @@ fun GamepadHintBar(hints: List<GamepadHint>, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, haze
     // With a haze source, blur the content behind the pill (real backdrop blur, API 31+; a translucent
     // scrim below) + a light tint; otherwise fall back to a solid frosted fill.
     val frosted = if (hazeState != null) {
-        modifier.clip(shape).hazeEffect(hazeState).background(Color(0x4014122A))
+        modifier.clip(shape).hazeEffect(hazeState).background(ink.shade(0.25f))
     } else {
-        modifier.clip(shape).background(Color(0x8C14122A))
+        modifier.clip(shape).background(ink.shade(0.55f))
     }
     Row(
         modifier = frosted
-            .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.14f), shape)
-            .padding(horizontal = 16.dp, vertical = 10.dp),
+            .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.14f), shape)
+            .padding(horizontal = 16.dp, vertical = 10.dp)
+            // The pill still hugs its content when it fits; when it doesn't (a narrow phone, or a
+            // screen whose legend grew a cell) it scrolls rather than running off the edge and
+            // silently eating the last hint — which is exactly what the settings screen's new
+            // Section cell did on a 360 dp phone.
+            .horizontalScroll(rememberScrollState()),
         verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
         horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(11.dp),
     ) {
@@ -497,7 +614,7 @@ fun GamepadHintBar(hints: List<GamepadHint>, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, haze
                 Text(
                     h.text,
                     style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelLarge,
-                    color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.9f),
+                    color = ink.fg(0.9f),
                     maxLines = 1,
                     softWrap = false, // never char-wrap a label when several hints crowd a narrow pill
                 )
@@ -509,24 +626,25 @@ fun GamepadHintBar(hints: List<GamepadHint>, modifier: Modifier = Modifier, haze
 /** "Which pad is driving this UI" — a quiet chip in the console top bar with the controller's name. */
 @Composable
 fun ControllerStatusChip(name: String, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Row(
         modifier = modifier
             .clip(RoundedCornerShape(50))
-            .background(Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.08f))
+            .background(ink.fg(0.08f))
             .padding(horizontal = 12.dp, vertical = 7.dp),
         verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
     ) {
         Icon(
             Icons.Filled.SportsEsports,
             contentDescription = null,
-            tint = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.75f),
+            tint = ink.fg(0.75f),
             modifier = Modifier.size(16.dp),
         )
         Spacer(Modifier.width(7.dp))
         Text(
             name,
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelMedium,
-            color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.75f),
+            color = ink.fg(0.75f),
             maxLines = 1,
         )
     }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadDialogs.kt

@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ fun GamepadDialog(
     actions: List<DialogAction>,
     body: @Composable ColumnScope.() -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     // Focus the primary action; buttons are stacked full-width, navigated up/down (fits long labels
     // like "Request access" without the cramped-row wrapping a horizontal layout caused).
     var focus by remember { mutableIntStateOf(actions.indexOfFirst { it.primary }.coerceAtLeast(0)) }
@@ -117,11 +118,11 @@ fun GamepadDialog(
                 .heightIn(max = maxCardHeight)
                 .clip(RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
                 .background(Color(0xF01A1730))
-                .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
+                .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
                 .padding(28.dp),
             verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(14.dp),
         ) {
-            Text(title, style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.White)
+            Text(title, style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = ink.fg)
             Column(
                 Modifier.weight(1f, fill = false).verticalScroll(rememberScrollState()),
                 verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(10.dp),
@@ -139,6 +140,7 @@ fun GamepadDialog(
 @OptIn(ExperimentalFoundationApi::class)
 @Composable
 private fun DialogButton(label: String, focused: Boolean, primary: Boolean, enabled: Boolean, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val scale by animateFloatAsState(
         if (focused) 1.02f else 1f,
         spring(dampingRatio = 0.7f, stiffness = Spring.StiffnessMediumLow),
@@ -152,19 +154,19 @@ private fun DialogButton(label: String, focused: Boolean, primary: Boolean, enab
     // Focus sweeps up/down the stack — cross-fade the fills so it glides instead of snapping.
     val bg by animateColorAsState(
         when {
-            focused -> Color(0xFF6656F2)
-            primary -> Color(0x336656F2)
-            else -> Color(0x14FFFFFF)
+            focused -> ink.accent
+            primary -> ink.accent(0.20f)
+            else -> ink.glass
         },
         tween(160),
         label = "btnBg",
     )
     val fg by animateColorAsState(
         when {
-            !enabled -> Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.35f)
-            focused -> Color.White
-            primary -> Color(0xFF8678F5)
-            else -> Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.85f)
+            !enabled -> ink.fg(0.35f)
+            focused -> ink.fg
+            primary -> ink.accent
+            else -> ink.fg(0.85f)
         },
         tween(160),
         label = "btnFg",
@@ -198,7 +200,8 @@ private fun DialogButton(label: String, focused: Boolean, primary: Boolean, enab
 /** Body text helper — a dimmed paragraph. */
 @Composable
 private fun DialogText(text: String) {
-    Text(text, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium, color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.7f))
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
+    Text(text, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium, color = ink.fg(0.7f))
 }
 
 /**
@@ -271,6 +274,7 @@ fun GamepadPinHostsDialog(
     onToggle: (KnownHost) -> Unit,
     onDismiss: () -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     // 0..hosts.lastIndex = host rows, hosts.size = the Done button (with no hosts, index 0 IS
     // Done, so it starts focused).
     var focus by remember { mutableIntStateOf(0) }
@@ -304,7 +308,7 @@ fun GamepadPinHostsDialog(
                 .heightIn(max = maxCardHeight)
                 .clip(RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
                 .background(Color(0xF01A1730))
-                .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
+                .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
                 .padding(28.dp),
             verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(14.dp),
         ) {
@@ -312,7 +316,7 @@ fun GamepadPinHostsDialog(
                 "Pin “$profileName”",
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall,
                 fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
-                color = Color.White,
+                color = ink.fg,
                 maxLines = 1,
                 overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
             )
@@ -350,6 +354,7 @@ fun GamepadPinHostsDialog(
 @OptIn(ExperimentalFoundationApi::class)
 @Composable
 private fun PinHostRow(label: String, on: Boolean, focused: Boolean, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val visuals = animateConsoleFocus(active = focused)
     // Inside the dialog's scroll region, like DialogButton: a focused row scrolled out of a short
     // landscape window pulls itself into view.
@@ -376,7 +381,7 @@ private fun PinHostRow(label: String, on: Boolean, focused: Boolean, onClick: ()
             label,
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge,
             fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold,
-            color = Color.White,
+            color = ink.fg,
             maxLines = 1,
             overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
         )
@@ -518,6 +523,7 @@ fun GamepadRequestAccessDialog(pt: PendingTrust, onRequestAccess: () -> Unit, on
 
 @Composable
 fun GamepadAwaitingApprovalDialog(hostLabel: String, onCancel: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     GamepadDialog(
         title = "Waiting for approval",
         onDismiss = onCancel,
@@ -525,8 +531,8 @@ fun GamepadAwaitingApprovalDialog(hostLabel: String, onCancel: () -> Unit) {
     ) {
         val deviceName = Build.MODEL ?: "this device"
         Row(verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically, horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(12.dp)) {
-            CircularProgressIndicator(modifier = Modifier.size(20.dp), strokeWidth = 2.dp, color = Color.White)
-            Text("Approve this device on $hostLabel.", color = Color.White)
+            CircularProgressIndicator(modifier = Modifier.size(20.dp), strokeWidth = 2.dp, color = ink.fg)
+            Text("Approve this device on $hostLabel.", color = ink.fg)
         }
         DialogText(
             "Open the host's console (or web UI) and approve “$deviceName”. It connects automatically " +
@@ -542,6 +548,7 @@ fun GamepadAwaitingApprovalDialog(hostLabel: String, onCancel: () -> Unit) {
  */
 @Composable
 fun GamepadPairPinDialog(pt: PendingTrust, identity: ClientIdentity?, onPaired: (String) -> Unit, onDismiss: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val scope = rememberCoroutineScope()
     val digits = remember(pt) { mutableStateListOf(0, 0, 0, 0) }
     var slot by remember(pt) { mutableIntStateOf(0) } // 0..3 = digit slots, 4 = Pair button
@@ -587,16 +594,16 @@ fun GamepadPairPinDialog(pt: PendingTrust, identity: ClientIdentity?, onPaired:
         Column(
             Modifier.padding(24.dp).widthIn(max = 460.dp).heightIn(max = maxCardHeight)
                 .clip(RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
-                .background(Color(0xF01A1730)).border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
+                .background(Color(0xF01A1730)).border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.12f), RoundedCornerShape(24.dp))
                 .verticalScroll(rememberScrollState())
                 .padding(28.dp),
             horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
             verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(18.dp),
         ) {
-            Text("Pair with PIN", style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.White)
+            Text("Pair with PIN", style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = ink.fg)
             Text(
                 "Enter the 4-digit PIN shown on the host — D-pad ↑↓ sets a digit, ←→ moves.",
-                style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium, color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.7f), textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
+                style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium, color = ink.fg(0.7f), textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
             )
             Row(horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(12.dp)) {
                 repeat(4) { i -> PinSlot(digits[i], focused = slot == i && !pairing) }
@@ -615,13 +622,14 @@ fun GamepadPairPinDialog(pt: PendingTrust, identity: ClientIdentity?, onPaired:
 
 @Composable
 private fun PinSlot(value: Int, focused: Boolean) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(12.dp)
     Box(
         Modifier.size(54.dp, 66.dp).clip(shape)
-            .background(if (focused) Color(0x336656F2) else Color(0x14FFFFFF))
-            .border(if (focused) 2.dp else 1.dp, if (focused) Color(0xFF8678F5) else Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.1f), shape),
+            .background(if (focused) ink.accent(0.20f) else ink.glass)
+            .border(if (focused) 2.dp else 1.dp, if (focused) ink.accent else ink.fg(0.1f), shape),
         contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
     ) {
-        Text(value.toString(), fontSize = 30.sp, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.White, fontFamily = FontFamily.Monospace)
+        Text(value.toString(), fontSize = 30.sp, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = ink.fg, fontFamily = FontFamily.Monospace)
     }
 }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadHome.kt

@@ -247,9 +247,10 @@ fun GamepadHome(
 /** One dark-glass landscape console tile — bigger and bolder than the touch grid's HostCard. */
 @Composable
 private fun GamepadHostTile(tile: HomeTile, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(26.dp)
     val wash = if (tile.filled) {
-        Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(Color(0x336656F2), Color(0x14100C2A)))
+        Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(ink.accent(0.20f), Color(0x14100C2A)))
     } else {
         Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(Color(0x1AFFFFFF), Color(0x0DFFFFFF)))
     }
@@ -258,7 +259,7 @@ private fun GamepadHostTile(tile: HomeTile, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
             .fillMaxWidth()
             .clip(shape)
             .background(wash)
-            .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.16f), shape)
+            .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.16f), shape)
             .padding(22.dp),
     ) {
         Row(Modifier.fillMaxWidth(), verticalAlignment = Alignment.Top) {
@@ -269,7 +270,7 @@ private fun GamepadHostTile(tile: HomeTile, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
                     Icon(
                         Icons.Filled.Lock,
                         contentDescription = "Paired",
-                        tint = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.7f),
+                        tint = ink.fg(0.7f),
                         modifier = Modifier.padding(end = 6.dp).size(15.dp),
                     )
                 }
@@ -286,14 +287,14 @@ private fun GamepadHostTile(tile: HomeTile, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
             tile.title,
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.titleLarge,
             fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
-            color = Color.White,
+            color = ink.fg,
             maxLines = 1,
             overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
         )
         Text(
             tile.subtitle,
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
-            color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.55f),
+            color = ink.fg(0.55f),
             maxLines = 1,
             overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
         )
@@ -302,9 +303,10 @@ private fun GamepadHostTile(tile: HomeTile, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
 
 @Composable
 private fun MonogramBadge(tile: HomeTile) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(15.dp)
     val fill = if (tile.filled) {
-        Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(Color(0xFF6656F2), Color(0xFF8678F5)))
+        Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(ink.accent, ink.accent))
     } else {
         Brush.verticalGradient(listOf(Color(0x296656F2), Color(0x296656F2)))
     }
@@ -316,18 +318,18 @@ private fun MonogramBadge(tile: HomeTile) {
             tile.connecting -> CircularProgressIndicator(
                 modifier = Modifier.size(24.dp),
                 strokeWidth = 2.dp,
-                color = Color.White,
+                color = ink.fg,
             )
             tile.isAdd -> Icon(
                 Icons.Filled.Add,
                 contentDescription = null,
-                tint = if (tile.filled) Color.White else Color(0xFF8678F5),
+                tint = if (tile.filled) ink.fg else ink.accent,
             )
             else -> Text(
                 tile.title.trim().firstOrNull()?.uppercaseChar()?.toString() ?: "•",
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.titleLarge,
                 fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
-                color = if (tile.filled) Color.White else Color(0xFF8678F5),
+                color = if (tile.filled) ink.fg else ink.accent,
             )
         }
     }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadInk.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package io.unom.punktfunk
+
+import androidx.compose.runtime.compositionLocalOf
+import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
+
+// The ink the console (gamepad) UI draws with under the chosen background palette.
+//
+// The console screens were white-on-dark throughout with the brand violet hardcoded as the accent.
+// Both had to become palette-derived at once: a pale field needs dark text or it is unreadable,
+// and a violet focus wash on a copper field is exactly the clash this exists to fix.
+//
+// Published as a CompositionLocal rather than passed down, so a leaf (a row, a hint pill, a card)
+// can ask for the right colour without every caller in between knowing about palettes. The Apple
+// client uses an environment value and `pf-console-ui` a thread-local for the same reason.
+
+/** Everything about the console's look that follows the chosen palette. */
+class GamepadInk(
+    /** Primary text/glyph colour. */
+    val fg: Color,
+    /** Focus wash, selected tab pill, switch track — the palette's own accent. */
+    val accent: Color,
+    /** What reads ON the accent (a filled pill's label, a switch knob). */
+    val onAccent: Color,
+    /** The base fill every glass surface starts from, at its resting opacity. */
+    val glass: Color,
+    /** What a wash laid UNDER text tends toward: black on a dark field, white on a pale one. */
+    val shade: Color,
+    /**
+     * How hard those washes go. A pale field needs far less — mixing toward white at the dark
+     * field's strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient.
+     */
+    val shadeScale: Float,
+    /** True when the field is pale, for the few places that branch rather than blend. */
+    val isLight: Boolean,
+) {
+    /** The foreground at [alpha]. */
+    fun fg(alpha: Float): Color = fg.copy(alpha = alpha)
+
+    /** The accent at [alpha]. */
+    fun accent(alpha: Float): Color = accent.copy(alpha = alpha)
+
+    /** A wash under text: [alpha] is the dark-field strength, scaled for a pale one. */
+    fun shade(alpha: Float): Color = shade.copy(alpha = alpha * shadeScale)
+
+    companion object {
+        fun of(p: GamepadPalette): GamepadInk {
+            val accent = p.accentColor
+            // Chosen by luminance, not by `light`: an accent is picked for contrast against the
+            // GLASS, not against the field.
+            val accentLuma =
+                0.2126 * p.accent.first + 0.7152 * p.accent.second + 0.0722 * p.accent.third
+            val onAccent = if (accentLuma > 0.55) Color.Black else Color.White
+            if (!p.light) {
+                return GamepadInk(
+                    fg = Color.White,
+                    accent = accent,
+                    onAccent = onAccent,
+                    glass = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.08f),
+                    shade = Color.Black,
+                    shadeScale = 1f,
+                    isLight = false,
+                )
+            }
+            val (gr, gg, gb) = p.ground
+            return GamepadInk(
+                // Tinted toward the palette's own ground so it doesn't read as a foreign grey.
+                fg = Color((gr * 0.16).toFloat(), (gg * 0.14).toFloat(), (gb * 0.20).toFloat()),
+                accent = accent,
+                onAccent = onAccent,
+                // More body than the dark glass carries: white frost over a bright gradient has
+                // far less separating it from its backdrop than dark glass over a dark one.
+                glass = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.55f),
+                shade = Color.White,
+                shadeScale = 0.45f,
+                isLight = true,
+            )
+        }
+
+        /** The shipped dark look — what a preview or a test composition gets. */
+        val DARK = of(GamepadPalette.named("violet"))
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The ink of the palette currently drawing, for everything under [App]. Provided from the live
+ * settings alongside [LocalGamepadPalette], so a change on the gamepad settings screen re-inks
+ * every console surface at once.
+ */
+val LocalGamepadInk = compositionLocalOf { GamepadInk.DARK }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadNav.kt

@@ -152,8 +152,9 @@ fun GamepadNavEffect(
  * keyboard). Same hysteresis + hold-to-repeat as [GamepadNavEffect] but on both axes — the dominant
  * stick axis (or the pressed D-pad/HAT) commits a [NavDir], and it re-arms only after the stick
  * returns near centre (so a flick is one step). [onActivate] is A / center, [onTertiary] is X,
- * [onSecondary] is Y. B is left to MainActivity's BACK remap → the screen's BackHandler (so B "peels
- * one layer": close the keyboard, then the screen).
+ * [onSecondary] is Y, and [onShoulder] is L1 (-1) / R1 (+1) — a step SIDEWAYS out of the list, which
+ * the settings screen uses for its section tabs. B is left to MainActivity's BACK remap → the
+ * screen's BackHandler (so B "peels one layer": close the keyboard, then the screen).
  */
 @Composable
 fun GamepadNavEffect2D(
@@ -162,6 +163,7 @@ fun GamepadNavEffect2D(
     onActivate: () -> Unit,
     onTertiary: () -> Unit = {},
     onSecondary: () -> Unit = {},
+    onShoulder: (Int) -> Unit = {},
 ) {
     val activity = LocalContext.current as? MainActivity ?: return
     val state = remember { NavInputState() }
@@ -169,6 +171,7 @@ fun GamepadNavEffect2D(
     val currentOnActivate by rememberUpdatedState(onActivate)
     val currentOnTertiary by rememberUpdatedState(onTertiary)
     val currentOnSecondary by rememberUpdatedState(onSecondary)
+    val currentOnShoulder by rememberUpdatedState(onShoulder)
 
     DisposableEffect(active) {
         // Stable probe refs so onDispose only releases the slot if WE still own it — during a
@@ -196,7 +199,10 @@ fun GamepadNavEffect2D(
                 KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ENTER, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_NUMPAD_ENTER -> { if (edge) currentOnActivate(); true }
                 KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BUTTON_X -> { if (edge) currentOnTertiary(); true }
                 KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BUTTON_Y -> { if (edge) currentOnSecondary(); true }
-                else -> false // B / shoulders → MainActivity (B remaps to BACK → BackHandler)
+                // Edge-only, no auto-repeat: a held shoulder shouldn't spin through the tabs.
+                KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BUTTON_L1 -> { if (edge) currentOnShoulder(-1); true }
+                KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BUTTON_R1 -> { if (edge) currentOnShoulder(1); true }
+                else -> false // B → MainActivity (remapped to BACK → BackHandler)
             }
         }
         if (active) {

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadPalette.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+package io.unom.punktfunk
+
+import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
+
+// The console (gamepad) UI's background colour families, and the ink each one calls for.
+//
+// A palette is a short ordered ramp of DISTINCT hues, not one hue at several brightnesses. The
+// field samples that ramp so several tones show at once and pool into each other, the way a real
+// gradient poster does. An earlier version rotated ONE field's hue per palette, which is why every
+// non-default palette read flat and monotone.
+//
+// A palette also owns the UI sitting on it: [accent] is the focus wash / selected pill / switch
+// colour, and [light] flips the ink so a pale field gets dark text instead of white.
+//
+// The table, [ramp] and [CELL_RAMP] are mirrored in `pf-console-ui`'s `library.rs` (Rust) and the
+// Apple client's `GamepadPalette.swift` under the same ids, so one `ui_palette` value is one look
+// on every client. Keep the three copies in step: a palette added here without the others is a
+// value the other clients silently render as Violet.
+
+/** One background colour family. */
+class GamepadPalette(
+    /** The stored `ui_palette` value ([Settings.uiPalette]). */
+    val id: String,
+    /** What the settings row shows. */
+    val name: String,
+    /**
+     * The colour ramp, dark end first. Empty = the brand default's explicit field, kept
+     * bit-identical to what every install already sees.
+     */
+    val stops: List<Triple<Double, Double, Double>>,
+    /** The field's ground — what it settles onto and what the calm mix lifts toward. */
+    val ground: Triple<Double, Double, Double>,
+    /** The UI accent: focus wash, selected tab pill, switch track. */
+    val accent: Triple<Double, Double, Double>,
+    /** A pale field: the UI flips to dark ink and the legibility scrims go white. */
+    val light: Boolean,
+) {
+    /** Four drifting blob colours, spread across the ramp so the field shows several hues. */
+    val blobColors: List<Color> by lazy {
+        val s = stops.ifEmpty { VIOLET_BLOBS }
+        (0..3).map { color(ramp(s, 0.15 + 0.25 * it)) }
+    }
+
+    /** The field's ground as a Compose colour. */
+    val groundColor: Color by lazy { color(ground) }
+
+    /** The accent as a Compose colour. */
+    val accentColor: Color by lazy { color(accent) }
+
+    companion object {
+        /**
+         * Where each of the 16 mesh cells samples the ramp on the clients that draw a mesh. Kept
+         * here so the three ports stay one table even though this client approximates the field
+         * with blobs.
+         */
+        val CELL_RAMP = listOf(
+            0.10, -0.06, 0.04, -0.12,
+            -0.08, 0.14, -0.10, 0.06,
+            0.06, -0.12, 0.16, -0.04,
+            -0.10, 0.08, -0.06, 0.12,
+        )
+
+        /** The brand default's blob ramp — the colours the pre-palette field used. */
+        private val VIOLET_BLOBS = listOf(
+            Triple(0.53, 0.47, 0.96), Triple(0.24, 0.20, 0.72), Triple(0.62, 0.30, 0.80),
+            Triple(0.22, 0.38, 0.86), Triple(0.53, 0.47, 0.96),
+        )
+
+        /**
+         * The twelve shipped palettes: the brand default, five more dark fields, then six pale
+         * ones. Cycling order runs dark → light, so stepping the row walks the range one way.
+         */
+        val ALL = listOf(
+            // --- dark fields (white ink) ---
+            GamepadPalette(
+                "violet", "Violet", emptyList(),
+                ground = Triple(0.075, 0.060, 0.160),
+                accent = Triple(0.525, 0.471, 0.961), light = false,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Deep indigo climbing through violet into a hot magenta.
+                "nebula", "Nebula",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.07, 0.05, 0.20), Triple(0.26, 0.14, 0.54), Triple(0.52, 0.20, 0.72),
+                    Triple(0.82, 0.26, 0.62), Triple(0.98, 0.46, 0.68),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.055, 0.040, 0.135),
+                accent = Triple(0.95, 0.42, 0.72), light = false,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Ink-blue water: teal → cerulean → a violet undertow.
+                "abyss", "Abyss",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.02, 0.10, 0.17), Triple(0.04, 0.28, 0.42), Triple(0.07, 0.46, 0.63),
+                    Triple(0.16, 0.38, 0.78), Triple(0.26, 0.22, 0.58),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.018, 0.070, 0.130),
+                accent = Triple(0.26, 0.76, 0.92), light = false,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Banked coals: plum embers → crimson → burnt orange → gold.
+                "ember", "Ember",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.16, 0.03, 0.10), Triple(0.45, 0.06, 0.12), Triple(0.72, 0.18, 0.06),
+                    Triple(0.90, 0.42, 0.08), Triple(0.95, 0.68, 0.18),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.090, 0.035, 0.040),
+                accent = Triple(0.98, 0.62, 0.26), light = false,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Forest floor into moss and a lime break.
+                "moss", "Moss",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.03, 0.11, 0.09), Triple(0.06, 0.27, 0.20), Triple(0.09, 0.45, 0.31),
+                    Triple(0.28, 0.61, 0.28), Triple(0.58, 0.77, 0.31),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.025, 0.085, 0.070),
+                accent = Triple(0.48, 0.86, 0.46), light = false,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Neutral, but never flat: barely-there saturation that still travels from a cool
+                // charcoal to a warm stone.
+                "graphite", "Graphite",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.06, 0.07, 0.11), Triple(0.15, 0.18, 0.25), Triple(0.30, 0.31, 0.35),
+                    Triple(0.45, 0.42, 0.38), Triple(0.60, 0.56, 0.49),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.055, 0.055, 0.070),
+                accent = Triple(0.78, 0.80, 0.86), light = false,
+            ),
+            // --- pale fields (dark ink) ---
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // The holographic foil: rose → lilac → periwinkle → aqua, with a white bloom.
+                "holo", "Holo",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.99, 0.72, 0.90), Triple(0.80, 0.60, 0.98), Triple(0.58, 0.62, 0.99),
+                    Triple(0.55, 0.86, 0.98), Triple(0.94, 0.98, 1.00),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.96, 0.92, 0.99),
+                accent = Triple(0.42, 0.28, 0.86), light = true,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // The poster sunset: periwinkle → magenta → scarlet → tangerine → gold.
+                "sunset", "Sunset",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.55, 0.45, 0.92), Triple(0.86, 0.31, 0.66), Triple(0.97, 0.26, 0.34),
+                    Triple(0.99, 0.51, 0.18), Triple(1.00, 0.80, 0.22),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.98, 0.74, 0.34),
+                accent = Triple(0.64, 0.13, 0.44), light = true,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Peach into blush and lilac — the softest of the set.
+                "bloom", "Bloom",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(1.00, 0.86, 0.72), Triple(0.99, 0.73, 0.79), Triple(0.95, 0.65, 0.89),
+                    Triple(0.82, 0.68, 0.96), Triple(0.73, 0.79, 0.99),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.99, 0.90, 0.89),
+                accent = Triple(0.72, 0.24, 0.55), light = true,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // First light: pale gold → coral → lilac.
+                "dawn", "Dawn",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(1.00, 0.92, 0.70), Triple(1.00, 0.80, 0.62), Triple(0.99, 0.66, 0.62),
+                    Triple(0.90, 0.62, 0.78), Triple(0.77, 0.69, 0.95),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(1.00, 0.93, 0.82),
+                accent = Triple(0.82, 0.33, 0.28), light = true,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Sea glass: mint → aqua → a pale sky.
+                "mint", "Mint",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.82, 0.98, 0.90), Triple(0.62, 0.94, 0.88), Triple(0.55, 0.88, 0.95),
+                    Triple(0.63, 0.82, 0.99), Triple(0.82, 0.87, 1.00),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.90, 0.98, 0.96),
+                accent = Triple(0.04, 0.42, 0.40), light = true,
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette(
+                // Near-white, but iridescent rather than flat — rose, sky, mint and cream in turn.
+                "opal", "Opal",
+                listOf(
+                    Triple(0.98, 0.92, 0.96), Triple(0.87, 0.93, 0.99), Triple(0.91, 0.99, 0.95),
+                    Triple(0.99, 0.96, 0.88), Triple(0.94, 0.90, 0.99),
+                ),
+                ground = Triple(0.97, 0.96, 0.99),
+                accent = Triple(0.36, 0.32, 0.44), light = true,
+            ),
+        )
+
+        /**
+         * The palette stored under [id], falling back to the brand default — an unknown name is a
+         * palette a newer client shipped, not a reason to draw nothing.
+         */
+        fun named(id: String): GamepadPalette = ALL.firstOrNull { it.id == id } ?: ALL[0]
+
+        /** Sample an ordered colour ramp at [t] ∈ [0, 1] (linear between neighbouring stops). */
+        fun ramp(
+            stops: List<Triple<Double, Double, Double>>,
+            t: Double,
+        ): Triple<Double, Double, Double> {
+            if (stops.isEmpty()) return Triple(0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
+            if (stops.size == 1) return stops[0]
+            val x = t.coerceIn(0.0, 1.0) * (stops.size - 1)
+            val i = x.toInt().coerceAtMost(stops.size - 2)
+            val f = x - i
+            val (ar, ag, ab) = stops[i]
+            val (br, bg, bb) = stops[i + 1]
+            return Triple(ar + (br - ar) * f, ag + (bg - ag) * f, ab + (bb - ab) * f)
+        }
+
+        fun color(c: Triple<Double, Double, Double>): Color =
+            Color(c.first.toFloat(), c.second.toFloat(), c.third.toFloat())
+    }
+}

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadSettingsScreen.kt

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableIntStateOf
+import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateMapOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.remember
 import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue
@@ -63,10 +64,35 @@ import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.security.KnownHostStore
 // The gamepad-driven settings screen — the Android mirror of the Apple client's GamepadSettingsView:
 // the couch-relevant subset of the touch settings restyled as a console page and fully navigable with
 // a controller: up/down moves the focus bar, left/right steps the focused value, A cycles/toggles it,
-// B closes. Both write the same SharedPreferences, so values round-trip with the touch settings.
+// L1/R1 change SECTION, B closes. Both write the same SharedPreferences, so values round-trip with
+// the touch settings.
+//
+// The rows are split across SECTION TABS ([GpTab]) — a shoulder press on a pad, a tap on a phone.
+// They used to be one long scroll with inline `Group · Subgroup` headers, which on a TV meant
+// walking past Display and Audio to reach the controller settings. The tab names match the desktop
+// console's and the Apple client's, so a setting is found under the same word wherever you look.
+
+/**
+ * The settings screen's sections. Order IS the strip order and the L1/R1 cycle order; the names
+ * match `pf-console-ui`'s `TABS` and the Apple client's `GpSettingsTab`.
+ */
+enum class GpTab(val title: String) {
+    STREAM("Stream"),
+    VIDEO("Video"),
+    AUDIO("Audio"),
+    CONTROLLER("Controller"),
+    INTERFACE("Interface"),
+    PROFILES("Profiles"),
+}
 
 internal class GpRow(
     val id: String,
+    val tab: GpTab,
+    /**
+     * A sub-heading above this row, for the few tabs that hold more than one group. Most rows have
+     * none: the tab pill already names the section, and repeating it would be a second label
+     * saying the same word.
+     */
     val header: String?,
     val label: String,
     val value: String,
@@ -133,10 +159,34 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
     // path there is this screen's own Controller-optimized UI toggle, which swaps in the standard
     // interface remote-navigably. The strings branch on it.
     val tv = remember { isTvDevice(context) }
-    val rows = buildSettingsRows(s, hasBodyVibrator, av1Capable, ::update) +
+    val allRows = buildSettingsRows(s, hasBodyVibrator, av1Capable, ::update) +
         buildProfileRows(profiles, savedHosts, tv) { pinProfile = it }
+    // Which section is showing, and where each one's focus was when it was last left — a detour
+    // into another tab shouldn't lose your place.
+    var tab by remember { mutableStateOf(GpTab.STREAM) }
+    // True while the STRIP holds the cursor rather than the list. Up from the first row moves
+    // here and Down goes back — the only route to the sections on a D-pad remote, which has no
+    // shoulder buttons at all (and is exactly what a TV box ships with).
+    var tabFocused by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
+    val tabFocus = remember { mutableStateMapOf<GpTab, Int>() }
+    val rows = allRows.filter { it.tab == tab }
     var focus by remember { mutableIntStateOf(0) }
-    if (focus > rows.lastIndex) focus = rows.lastIndex
+    if (focus > rows.lastIndex) focus = rows.lastIndex.coerceAtLeast(0)
+
+    // L1/R1 — one section along, wrapping (the strip is a ring, like A's value cycle).
+    fun selectTab(next: GpTab) {
+        if (next == tab) return
+        tabFocus[tab] = focus
+        tab = next
+        // Clamp: a tab's length follows the hardware and the catalog, so a remembered index can
+        // outlive the row it pointed at.
+        focus = (tabFocus[next] ?: 0)
+            .coerceIn(0, (allRows.count { it.tab == next } - 1).coerceAtLeast(0))
+    }
+    fun stepTab(delta: Int) {
+        val all = GpTab.entries
+        selectTab(all[((all.indexOf(tab) + delta) % all.size + all.size) % all.size])
+    }
     // The direction the focused value last stepped (+1 forward / -1 back) — drives which way the
     // value text slides in its AnimatedContent, so the motion matches the button press.
     var adjustDir by remember { mutableIntStateOf(1) }
@@ -151,20 +201,28 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
         active = navActive && pinProfile == null,
         onDirection = { dir ->
             when (dir) {
-                NavDir.UP -> if (focus > 0) focus--
-                NavDir.DOWN -> if (focus < rows.lastIndex) focus++
-                // A disabled row is INERT, not just dim — the step is refused instead of writing a
-                // setting that has nothing to act on (see `liveRow`).
-                NavDir.LEFT -> { adjustDir = -1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.adjust(-1) }
-                NavDir.RIGHT -> { adjustDir = 1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.adjust(1) }
+                NavDir.UP -> if (focus > 0) focus-- else tabFocused = true
+                NavDir.DOWN -> if (tabFocused) tabFocused = false else if (focus < rows.lastIndex) focus++
+                // On the strip, left/right walks sections; on a row it steps the value. A disabled
+                // row is INERT, not just dim — the step is refused instead of writing a setting
+                // that has nothing to act on (see `liveRow`).
+                NavDir.LEFT ->
+                    if (tabFocused) stepTab(-1) else { adjustDir = -1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.adjust(-1) }
+                NavDir.RIGHT ->
+                    if (tabFocused) stepTab(1) else { adjustDir = 1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.adjust(1) }
             }
         },
-        onActivate = { adjustDir = 1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.activate() },
+        // A on the strip drops into the section you picked, which is what "confirm" means there.
+        onActivate = {
+            if (tabFocused) tabFocused = false else { adjustDir = 1; liveRow(rows, focus)?.activate() }
+        },
+        // The shoulders work from either place — a real pad never has to visit the strip.
+        onShoulder = { delta -> stepTab(delta) },
     )
     // Keep the focused row on screen, but only SCROLL when it's actually off-screen — so entering the
     // screen (focus on the first row) leaves the "Settings" heading visible instead of jumping past it.
     // +1 accounts for the heading being item 0.
-    LaunchedEffect(focus) {
+    LaunchedEffect(focus, tab) {
         runCatching {
             val itemIndex = focus + 1
             val info = listState.layoutInfo
@@ -183,9 +241,21 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
         // where a fixed title + a fixed detail/legend strip ate most of the (short) height.
         Box(Modifier.fillMaxSize().hazeSource(hazeState)) {
             GamepadFormBackground(Modifier.fillMaxSize())
+            Column(Modifier.fillMaxSize().systemBarsPadding()) {
+            // The strip is PINNED while the rows scroll under it: it is this screen's primary
+            // navigation now, and a switcher you have to scroll back up to find isn't one. The
+            // title stays in the scrolling list (landscape has no height to spare, and the
+            // selected pill already says which section you are in).
+            ConsoleTabStrip(
+                titles = GpTab.entries.map { it.title },
+                selected = GpTab.entries.indexOf(tab),
+                onSelect = { tabFocused = false; selectTab(GpTab.entries[it]) },
+                modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().padding(top = 8.dp, bottom = 2.dp),
+                focused = tabFocused,
+            )
             LazyColumn(
                 state = listState,
-                modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize().systemBarsPadding(),
+                modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(),
                 contentPadding = PaddingValues(start = 24.dp, end = 24.dp, top = 8.dp, bottom = 104.dp),
                 verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(6.dp),
             ) {
@@ -196,12 +266,19 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
                 ConsoleHeader("Default settings", horizontalInset = false)
             }
             itemsIndexed(rows, key = { _, r -> r.id }) { index, row ->
-                SettingRowView(row, focused = index == focus, adjustDir = adjustDir, onClick = {
-                    // Same inertness as the pad path above — tapping a dimmed row focuses it (so
-                    // its detail explains itself) but never flips it.
-                    if (focus != index) focus = index
-                    else if (row.enabled) { adjustDir = 1; row.activate() }
-                })
+                SettingRowView(
+                    row,
+                    focused = index == focus && !tabFocused,
+                    adjustDir = adjustDir,
+                    onClick = {
+                        // Same inertness as the pad path above — tapping a dimmed row focuses it
+                        // (so its detail explains itself) but never flips it.
+                        tabFocused = false
+                        if (focus != index) focus = index
+                        else if (row.enabled) { adjustDir = 1; row.activate() }
+                    },
+                )
+            }
             }
             }
         }
@@ -218,8 +295,23 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
             // a profile row doesn't adjust, it opens the pin picker, and the "No profiles yet"
             // placeholder does nothing at all — advertising ↔/A on those would be a lie.
             val focused = rows.getOrNull(focus)
+            // The shoulders always change section, so that cell leads on every row. Tappable too,
+            // like the others — a user without a working pad can still reach every tab.
+            // Advertise the shoulders only where they EXIST: a TV remote has none (its route is Up
+            // into the strip) and a touch user taps a pill, so on those the cell would be both a
+            // lie and the reason a 360 dp legend runs out of room. Defaults to the pad case off an
+            // Activity (preview/tests), like GamepadHintBar's own glyph choice.
+            val padIsGamepad = (LocalContext.current as? MainActivity)?.lastPadIsGamepad ?: true
+            val sections = listOfNotNull(
+                GamepadHint('⇄', Color(0xFF9A93C7), "Section", onClick = { stepTab(1) })
+                    .takeIf { padIsGamepad },
+            )
             GamepadHintBar(
-                when {
+                if (tabFocused) listOf(
+                    GamepadHint('↔', Color(0xFF9A93C7), "Section"),
+                    PadGlyph.hint('A', "Open") { tabFocused = false },
+                    PadGlyph.hint('B', "Done", onClick = onBack),
+                ) else sections + when {
                     focused != null && !focused.enabled -> listOf(
                         PadGlyph.hint('B', "Done", onClick = onBack),
                     )
@@ -254,6 +346,7 @@ fun GamepadSettingsScreen(
 
 @Composable
 private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick: () -> Unit) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val visuals = animateConsoleFocus(active = focused)
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(14.dp)
     // The chevrons keep their layout slot and only fade, so the value never jumps sideways when
@@ -265,7 +358,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
         label = "chevrons",
     )
     val valueColor by animateColorAsState(
-        Color.White.copy(alpha = if (focused) 1f else 0.6f),
+        ink.fg(if (focused) 1f else 0.6f),
         tween(160),
         label = "valueColor",
     )
@@ -274,7 +367,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
             Text(
                 row.header.uppercase(),
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelMedium,
-                color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.45f),
+                color = ink.fg(0.45f),
                 letterSpacing = 1.4.sp,
                 modifier = Modifier.padding(start = 16.dp, top = 14.dp, bottom = 4.dp),
             )
@@ -300,7 +393,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
                     fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold,
                     // A disabled row (the "No profiles yet" placeholder) dims but stays focusable,
                     // so its detail line can still explain what would go here.
-                    color = Color.White.copy(alpha = if (row.enabled) 1f else 0.45f),
+                    color = ink.fg(if (row.enabled) 1f else 0.45f),
                     maxLines = 1,
                 )
                 Spacer(Modifier.weight(1f))
@@ -308,7 +401,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
                     // A toggle is a switch, not text — the sliding knob + tinting track IS the value.
                     ConsoleSwitch(on = row.toggled, focused = focused)
                 } else {
-                    Text("‹ ", color = Color.White, modifier = Modifier.graphicsLayer { alpha = chevronAlpha })
+                    Text("‹ ", color = ink.fg, modifier = Modifier.graphicsLayer { alpha = chevronAlpha })
                     // The value slides in the direction it was stepped and its width animates, so
                     // cycling a choice reads as motion through a list rather than a text swap.
                     AnimatedContent(
@@ -329,7 +422,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
                             overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
                         )
                     }
-                    Text(" ›", color = Color.White, modifier = Modifier.graphicsLayer { alpha = chevronAlpha })
+                    Text(" ›", color = ink.fg, modifier = Modifier.graphicsLayer { alpha = chevronAlpha })
                 }
             }
             // The focused row carries its own one-line description — no dedicated (space-eating)
@@ -342,7 +435,7 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
                 Text(
                     row.detail,
                     style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodySmall,
-                    color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.6f),
+                    color = ink.fg(0.6f),
                     maxLines = 2,
                     modifier = Modifier.padding(top = 6.dp),
                 )
@@ -353,7 +446,8 @@ private fun SettingRowView(row: GpRow, focused: Boolean, adjustDir: Int, onClick
 
 /** Build the console settings rows from the current [Settings], writing through [update].
  * [hasBodyVibrator] gates the "Rumble on this phone" row (absent on TVs); [av1Capable] gates the
- * AV1 codec entry (see `codecOptionsFor`). */
+ * AV1 codec entry (see `codecOptionsFor`). Every row declares its [GpTab]; the screen shows one
+ * tab at a time. */
 internal fun buildSettingsRows(
     s: Settings,
     hasBodyVibrator: Boolean,
@@ -361,12 +455,12 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
     update: (Settings) -> Unit,
 ): List<GpRow> {
     fun <T> choice(
-        id: String, header: String?, label: String, detail: String,
+        id: String, tab: GpTab, header: String?, label: String, detail: String,
         options: List<Pair<T, String>>, current: T, enabled: Boolean = true, write: (T) -> Unit,
     ): GpRow {
         val idx = options.indexOfFirst { it.first == current }
         return GpRow(
-            id, header, label,
+            id, tab, header, label,
             value = options.getOrNull(idx)?.second ?: "—",
             detail = detail,
             enabled = enabled,
@@ -385,10 +479,10 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
         )
     }
     fun toggle(
-        id: String, header: String?, label: String, detail: String,
+        id: String, tab: GpTab, header: String?, label: String, detail: String,
         value: Boolean, enabled: Boolean = true, write: (Boolean) -> Unit,
     ): GpRow = GpRow(
-        id, header, label,
+        id, tab, header, label,
         value = if (value) "On" else "Off",
         detail = detail,
         enabled = enabled,
@@ -397,36 +491,13 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
         toggled = value,
     )
 
-    // Grouped and ordered by the cross-client category map (General / Display / Audio /
-    // Controllers), with the same sub-section names the touch settings and the desktop clients use,
-    // so a setting sits in the same place whichever surface you found it on. The ROWS stay the
-    // couch-relevant subset: a pad can't drive a touch-input picker, and adding one for the sake of
-    // symmetry would be parity in name only.
+    // Grouped by the cross-client tab map (Stream / Video / Audio / Controller / Interface /
+    // Profiles), so a setting sits under the same word whichever client you found it on. The ROWS
+    // stay the couch-relevant subset: a pad can't drive a touch-input picker, and adding one for
+    // the sake of symmetry would be parity in name only.
     return listOf(
         choice(
-            "hud", "General · Statistics", "Statistics overlay",
-            "How much the overlay shows: Compact (one line) → Normal → Detailed (full HUD). " +
-                "A 3-finger tap cycles the tiers live.",
-            STATS_VERBOSITY_OPTIONS, s.statsVerbosity,
-        ) { update(s.copy(statsVerbosity = it)) },
-        toggle(
-            "autoWake", "General · Session", "Auto-wake on connect",
-            "Wake a saved host with Wake-on-LAN when it isn't seen on the network, then connect.",
-            s.autoWakeEnabled,
-        ) { update(s.copy(autoWakeEnabled = it)) },
-        toggle(
-            "library", "General · Library", "Game library",
-            "Browse a paired host's games with Y (experimental).",
-            s.libraryEnabled,
-        ) { update(s.copy(libraryEnabled = it)) },
-        toggle(
-            "gamepadUI", "General · Interface", "Controller-optimized UI",
-            "Turn off to use the touch interface even with a controller connected.",
-            s.gamepadUiEnabled,
-        ) { update(s.copy(gamepadUiEnabled = it)) },
-
-        choice(
-            "resolution", "Display · Resolution", "Resolution",
+            "resolution", GpTab.STREAM, null, "Resolution",
             "The host creates a virtual display at exactly this size — no scaling. " +
                 "Custom sizes are typed in the touch settings.",
             // A custom size (typed in the touch settings) leads the list so it stays visible and
@@ -440,55 +511,56 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
             s.width to s.height,
         ) { (w, h) -> update(s.copy(width = w, height = h)) },
         choice(
-            "refresh", null, "Refresh rate", "Frame rate the host renders and streams at.",
+            "refresh", GpTab.STREAM, null, "Refresh rate",
+            "Frame rate the host renders and streams at.",
             REFRESH_OPTIONS, s.hz,
         ) { update(s.copy(hz = it)) },
-
         choice(
-            "bitrate", "Display · Quality", "Bitrate",
+            "bitrate", GpTab.STREAM, null, "Bitrate",
             "Automatic uses the host's default. A host's options (Up on its tile) can measure the " +
                 "link and set an informed value.",
             BITRATE_OPTIONS, s.bitrateKbps,
         ) { update(s.copy(bitrateKbps = it)) },
         choice(
-            "codec", null, "Video codec",
-            "A preference — the host falls back if it can't encode this one.",
-            codecOptionsFor(s.codec, av1Capable), s.codec,
-        ) { update(s.copy(codec = it)) },
-        toggle(
-            "hdr", null, "10-bit HDR",
-            "HDR10 — engages when the host sends HDR content and this display supports it.",
-            s.hdrEnabled,
-        ) { update(s.copy(hdrEnabled = it)) },
-
-        toggle(
-            "lowLatency", "Display · Decoding", "Low-latency mode",
-            "The fast pipeline (async decode + system tuning). On by default — turn off to fall back if the stream stutters or glitches.",
-            s.lowLatencyMode,
-        ) { update(s.copy(lowLatencyMode = it)) },
-
-        choice(
-            "compositor", "Display · Host output", "Compositor",
+            "compositor", GpTab.STREAM, "Host output", "Compositor",
             "Which compositor drives the virtual output — honored only if available on the host.",
             COMPOSITOR_OPTIONS.mapIndexed { i, lbl -> i to lbl }, s.compositor,
         ) { update(s.copy(compositor = it)) },
 
         choice(
-            "audio", "Audio", "Audio channels", "The speaker layout requested from the host.",
+            "codec", GpTab.VIDEO, null, "Video codec",
+            "A preference — the host falls back if it can't encode this one.",
+            codecOptionsFor(s.codec, av1Capable), s.codec,
+        ) { update(s.copy(codec = it)) },
+        toggle(
+            "hdr", GpTab.VIDEO, null, "10-bit HDR",
+            "HDR10 — engages when the host sends HDR content and this display supports it.",
+            s.hdrEnabled,
+        ) { update(s.copy(hdrEnabled = it)) },
+        toggle(
+            "lowLatency", GpTab.VIDEO, "Decoding", "Low-latency mode",
+            "The fast pipeline (async decode + system tuning). On by default — turn off to fall back if the stream stutters or glitches.",
+            s.lowLatencyMode,
+        ) { update(s.copy(lowLatencyMode = it)) },
+
+        choice(
+            "audio", GpTab.AUDIO, null, "Audio channels",
+            "The speaker layout requested from the host.",
             AUDIO_CHANNEL_OPTIONS, s.audioChannels,
         ) { update(s.copy(audioChannels = it)) },
         toggle(
-            "mic", null, "Microphone", "Send this device's microphone to the host's virtual mic.",
+            "mic", GpTab.AUDIO, null, "Microphone",
+            "Send this device's microphone to the host's virtual mic.",
             s.micEnabled,
         ) { update(s.copy(micEnabled = it)) },
         toggle(
-            "echoCancel", null, "Echo cancellation",
+            "echoCancel", GpTab.AUDIO, null, "Echo cancellation",
             "Filter the stream's own audio out of the mic pickup. Applies while the microphone is on.",
             s.echoCancel,
         ) { update(s.copy(echoCancel = it)) },
 
         toggle(
-            "padForward", "Controllers", "Forward controllers",
+            "padForward", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "Forward controllers",
             "Send this device's controllers to the host. Turn it off when your controller " +
                 "already reaches the host another way — USB passthrough such as VirtualHere — " +
                 "so games don't see two of them.",
@@ -499,18 +571,18 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
         // had the capability (`GpRow.enabled`) and used it only for the profiles placeholder, so
         // the pad rows kept stepping settings that had nothing to act on.
         choice(
-            "padType", null, "Controller type",
+            "padType", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "Controller type",
             "The virtual pad the host creates — Automatic matches this controller.",
             GAMEPAD_OPTIONS, s.gamepad, enabled = s.gamepadForwarding,
         ) { update(s.copy(gamepad = it)) },
         choice(
-            "systemButtons", null, "Guide button",
+            "systemButtons", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "Guide button",
             "Where the guide (Xbox/PS) and share presses go while streaming — Automatic " +
                 "sends them to the host whenever this device delivers them.",
             SYSTEM_BUTTON_OPTIONS, s.systemButtons, enabled = s.gamepadForwarding,
         ) { update(s.copy(systemButtons = it)) },
         choice(
-            "guideGesture", null, "Hold Select for guide",
+            "guideGesture", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "Hold Select for guide",
             "Hold Select alone to press the host's guide button — keep holding for a " +
                 "Gaming-Mode host's quick-access menu. A Select tap still goes through.",
             GUIDE_GESTURE_OPTIONS, s.guideGesture, enabled = s.gamepadForwarding,
@@ -518,7 +590,7 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
     ) + listOfNotNull(
         if (hasBodyVibrator) {
             toggle(
-                "phoneRumble", null, "Rumble on this phone",
+                "phoneRumble", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "Rumble on this phone",
                 "Also play controller 1's rumble on this phone's own vibration motor — " +
                     "for clip-on pads without rumble motors.",
                 s.rumbleOnPhone,
@@ -530,7 +602,7 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
         // NOT gated on the vibrator (the bug A2 fixed in the touch settings): an SC2 capture has
         // nothing to do with this device's motor, and a TV box is where it matters most.
         toggle(
-            "sc2", null, "Steam Controller 2 passthrough",
+            "sc2", GpTab.CONTROLLER, "Passthrough", "Steam Controller 2 passthrough",
             "Capture a Steam Controller 2 (wired, Puck dongle, or paired Bluetooth) and stream " +
                 "it as-is — Steam on the host drives it like the physical pad.",
             s.sc2Capture, enabled = s.gamepadForwarding,
@@ -540,20 +612,53 @@ internal fun buildSettingsRows(
         // back to — could turn on SC2 passthrough but not the Sony one. Same no-vibrator-gate
         // reasoning: this capture renders feedback on the CONTROLLER's motors, not this device's.
         toggle(
-            "dsCapture", null, "DualSense / DualShock passthrough (USB)",
+            "dsCapture", GpTab.CONTROLLER, null, "DualSense / DualShock passthrough (USB)",
             "Drive a USB-connected Sony pad directly — rumble on any phone, plus adaptive " +
                 "triggers, lightbar and gyro.",
             s.dsCapture, enabled = s.gamepadForwarding,
         ) { update(s.copy(dsCapture = it)) },
+
+        // The palette leads Interface: it is the one row whose effect you can see while you step
+        // it (the backdrop behind this very list recolours), so it wants to be the first thing
+        // found in the section.
+        choice(
+            "palette", GpTab.INTERFACE, null, "Background",
+            "The colour family this backdrop drifts through — it changes as you step, so pick by " +
+                "looking. Appearance only.",
+            GamepadPalette.ALL.map { it.id to it.name },
+            GamepadPalette.named(s.uiPalette).id,
+        ) { update(s.copy(uiPalette = it)) },
+        choice(
+            "hud", GpTab.INTERFACE, null, "Statistics overlay",
+            "How much the overlay shows: Compact (one line) → Normal → Detailed (full HUD). " +
+                "A 3-finger tap cycles the tiers live.",
+            STATS_VERBOSITY_OPTIONS, s.statsVerbosity,
+        ) { update(s.copy(statsVerbosity = it)) },
+        toggle(
+            "autoWake", GpTab.INTERFACE, null, "Auto-wake on connect",
+            "Wake a saved host with Wake-on-LAN when it isn't seen on the network, then connect.",
+            s.autoWakeEnabled,
+        ) { update(s.copy(autoWakeEnabled = it)) },
+        toggle(
+            "library", GpTab.INTERFACE, null, "Game library",
+            "Browse a paired host's games with Y (experimental).",
+            s.libraryEnabled,
+        ) { update(s.copy(libraryEnabled = it)) },
+        toggle(
+            "gamepadUI", GpTab.INTERFACE, null, "Controller-optimized UI",
+            "Turn off to use the touch interface even with a controller connected.",
+            s.gamepadUiEnabled,
+        ) { update(s.copy(gamepadUiEnabled = it)) },
     )
 }
 
+
 /**
  * The trailing Profiles section — the Android mirror of the desktop console's (design §5.2a, §5.4):
  * one row per catalog profile, valued with how many saved hosts pin it, activating into the
  * pin-to-hosts picker. Read-only beyond pinning: profiles are created and edited in the standard
  * interface, so an empty catalog shows one dimmed placeholder explaining where they come from
- * instead of a dead-looking empty header. On a TV that phrasing changes: "touch interface" points
+ * instead of a dead-looking empty tab. On a TV that phrasing changes: "touch interface" points
  * nowhere useful on a touchless device, so the strings name the actual route — the
  * Controller-optimized UI toggle a few rows up, which swaps the standard interface in
  * (d-pad-navigable; the profile editor lives there on every device, unlike tvOS where none exists).
@@ -574,7 +679,8 @@ private fun buildProfileRows(
         return listOf(
             GpRow(
                 id = "noProfiles",
-                header = "Profiles",
+                tab = GpTab.PROFILES,
+                header = null,
                 label = "No profiles yet",
                 value = "",
                 detail = "Profiles bundle stream settings for different uses — pinned ones become " +
@@ -586,12 +692,13 @@ private fun buildProfileRows(
             ),
         )
     }
-    return profiles.mapIndexed { i, p ->
+    return profiles.map { p ->
         // Counted straight off the host records, so it agrees with what the carousel renders.
         val pins = savedHosts.count { p.id in it.pinnedProfileIds }
         GpRow(
             id = "profile:${p.id}",
-            header = if (i == 0) "Profiles" else null,
+            tab = GpTab.PROFILES,
+            header = null,
             label = p.name,
             value = when (pins) {
                 0 -> "Not pinned"

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/LibraryScreen.kt

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ fun LibraryScreen(
     onBack: () -> Unit,
     navActive: Boolean = true,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     BackHandler(onBack = onBack)
     val context = LocalContext.current
     val scope = rememberCoroutineScope()
@@ -145,7 +146,14 @@ fun LibraryScreen(
                                     launching = false
                                     if (handle != 0L) {
                                         onLaunched(
-                                            ActiveSession(handle, settings, host.clipboardSync),
+                                            ActiveSession(
+                                                handle,
+                                                settings,
+                                                host.clipboardSync,
+                                                hostId = host.id,
+                                                // Where to come back to when this game exits.
+                                                launchedFromLibrary = true,
+                                            ),
                                         )
                                     }
                                     else Toast.makeText(
@@ -170,8 +178,8 @@ fun LibraryScreen(
                     horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
                     verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(14.dp),
                 ) {
-                    CircularProgressIndicator(color = Color.White)
-                    Text("Launching…", color = Color.White, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge)
+                    CircularProgressIndicator(color = ink.fg)
+                    Text("Launching…", color = ink.fg, style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge)
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -195,17 +203,19 @@ fun LibraryScreen(
 
 @Composable
 private fun LoadingState() {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Column(horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally, verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(14.dp)) {
-        CircularProgressIndicator(color = Color.White)
-        Text("Loading library…", color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.7f), style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge)
+        CircularProgressIndicator(color = ink.fg)
+        Text("Loading library…", color = ink.fg(0.7f), style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge)
     }
 }
 
 @Composable
 private fun MessageState(text: String) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     Text(
         text,
-        color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.75f),
+        color = ink.fg(0.75f),
         style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyLarge,
         textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
         modifier = Modifier.padding(horizontal = 24.dp),
@@ -219,6 +229,7 @@ private fun Coverflow(
     navActive: Boolean,
     onLaunch: (GameEntry) -> Unit,
 ) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     BoxWithConstraints(Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {
         // Fit a 2:3 poster into the height the detail line leaves; clamp so it never dwarfs the screen.
         val coverHeight = (maxHeight * 0.72f).coerceAtMost(360.dp)
@@ -241,7 +252,22 @@ private fun Coverflow(
             onActivate = { games.getOrNull(navTarget)?.let(onLaunch) },
         )
 
+        // Design D4: the launcher entries lead the strip (the client groups them at parse time).
+        // A coverflow is one-dimensional, so instead of a second focus rail the heading names the
+        // group the cursor is in and changes as it crosses the boundary. Only drawn when the
+        // library actually has both groups — otherwise the screen is exactly what it was.
+        val bothGroups = games.any { it.isLauncher } && games.any { !it.isLauncher }
         Column(Modifier.fillMaxSize(), verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Center) {
+            if (bothGroups) {
+                Text(
+                    if (current?.isLauncher == true) "LAUNCHERS" else "GAMES",
+                    style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelSmall,
+                    color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.45f),
+                    letterSpacing = 2.sp,
+                    textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
+                    modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().padding(bottom = 8.dp),
+                )
+            }
             HorizontalPager(
                 state = pagerState,
                 pageSize = PageSize.Fixed(coverWidth),
@@ -299,15 +325,16 @@ private fun Coverflow(
                     current?.title ?: " ",
                     style = MaterialTheme.typography.titleLarge,
                     fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,
-                    color = Color.White,
+                    color = ink.fg,
                     maxLines = 1,
                     overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
                 )
                 if (current != null) {
                     Text(
-                        if (current.isCustom) "CUSTOM" else "STEAM",
+                        if (current.isLauncher) "${current.storeLabel.uppercase()} \u00B7 LAUNCHER"
+                        else current.storeLabel.uppercase(),
                         style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelMedium,
-                        color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.5f),
+                        color = ink.fg(0.5f),
                         letterSpacing = 2.sp,
                     )
                 }
@@ -319,6 +346,7 @@ private fun Coverflow(
 /** One cover: walks the art candidates (portrait → header → hero) then a text placeholder. */
 @Composable
 private fun Poster(game: GameEntry, loader: ImageLoader, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
+    val ink = LocalGamepadInk.current
     val candidates = game.art.posterCandidates
     var idx by remember(game.id) { mutableStateOf(0) }
     val shape = RoundedCornerShape(16.dp)
@@ -326,7 +354,7 @@ private fun Poster(game: GameEntry, loader: ImageLoader, modifier: Modifier = Mo
         modifier = modifier
             .clip(shape)
             .background(Color(0xFF241F3D))
-            .border(1.dp, Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.12f), shape),
+            .border(1.dp, ink.fg(0.12f), shape),
         contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
     ) {
         if (idx < candidates.size) {
@@ -339,24 +367,29 @@ private fun Poster(game: GameEntry, loader: ImageLoader, modifier: Modifier = Mo
                 onError = { idx++ }, // this candidate failed — try the next, or fall to the placeholder
             )
         } else {
+            // A launcher rarely has poster art. Naming the launcher says "opens Steam"; the title
+            // would read as "a game whose cover failed to load".
             Text(
-                game.title,
+                if (game.isLauncher) game.storeLabel else game.title,
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.titleMedium,
                 fontWeight = FontWeight.SemiBold,
-                color = Color.White.copy(alpha = 0.75f),
+                color = ink.fg(0.75f),
                 textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
                 modifier = Modifier.padding(12.dp),
             )
         }
-        // Store badge, top-start.
+        // Store badge, top-start — brand-filled for a launcher entry (design D4).
         Box(Modifier.fillMaxSize().padding(8.dp), contentAlignment = Alignment.TopStart) {
             Text(
-                if (game.isCustom) "Custom" else "Steam",
+                game.storeLabel,
                 style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelSmall,
-                color = Color.White,
+                color = ink.fg,
                 modifier = Modifier
                     .clip(RoundedCornerShape(50))
-                    .background(Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.5f))
+                    .background(
+                        if (game.isLauncher) MaterialTheme.colorScheme.primary
+                        else Color.Black.copy(alpha = 0.5f),
+                    )
                     .padding(horizontal = 8.dp, vertical = 3.dp),
             )
         }

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/Settings.kt

@@ -105,6 +105,16 @@ data class Settings(
      * client's `libraryEnabled`.
      */
     val libraryEnabled: Boolean = true,
+    /**
+     * Which colour family the console (gamepad) UI's living backdrop drifts through — the
+     * cross-client `ui_palette` key: `"violet"` (the brand default), `"tide"`, `"forest"`,
+     * `"ember"`, `"rose"`, `"graphite"`. See [GamepadPalette], whose table and maths mirror the
+     * desktop console's and the Apple client's under the same names. Presentation only: nothing
+     * about a stream depends on it, so it is a device preference and never part of a profile.
+     * An unknown value reads as the default rather than failing — a newer client may have shipped
+     * a palette this build doesn't know.
+     */
+    val uiPalette: String = "violet",
     /**
      * "Low-latency mode" — the master switch over the latency pipeline: the async decode loop
      * (native; burst-feed + present-newest-per-vsync, the Apple client's discipline), decoder ranking
@@ -284,6 +294,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
             ?: if (prefs.getBoolean(K_TRACKPAD, true)) TouchMode.TRACKPAD else TouchMode.POINTER,
         gamepadUiEnabled = prefs.getBoolean(K_GAMEPAD_UI, true),
         libraryEnabled = prefs.getBoolean(K_LIBRARY, true),
+        uiPalette = prefs.getString(K_UI_PALETTE, "violet") ?: "violet",
         lowLatencyMode = prefs.getBoolean(K_LOW_LATENCY, true),
         presentPriority = prefs.getString(K_PRESENT_PRIORITY, "latency") ?: "latency",
         smoothBuffer = prefs.getInt(K_SMOOTH_BUFFER, 0),
@@ -323,6 +334,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
             .putString(K_TOUCH_MODE, s.touchMode.name)
             .putBoolean(K_GAMEPAD_UI, s.gamepadUiEnabled)
             .putBoolean(K_LIBRARY, s.libraryEnabled)
+            .putString(K_UI_PALETTE, s.uiPalette)
             .putBoolean(K_LOW_LATENCY, s.lowLatencyMode)
             .putString(K_PRESENT_PRIORITY, s.presentPriority)
             .putInt(K_SMOOTH_BUFFER, s.smoothBuffer)
@@ -361,6 +373,7 @@ class SettingsStore(context: Context) {
         const val K_TOUCH_MODE = "touch_mode"
         const val K_GAMEPAD_UI = "gamepad_ui_enabled"
         const val K_LIBRARY = "library_enabled"
+        const val K_UI_PALETTE = "ui_palette"
 
         /**
          * Bumped AGAIN to restart every install at the new default (ON). History: the original
@@ -424,6 +437,96 @@ fun nativeDisplayMode(context: Context): Triple<Int, Int, Int> {
     return Triple(maxOf(w, h), minOf(w, h), hz)
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sentinel [Settings.width]/[Settings.height] meaning "the native mode, narrowed so the picture
+ * clears the display cutout and the rounded corners" — resolved at connect by [safeDisplayMode],
+ * exactly as `0` is resolved by [nativeDisplayMode]. Negative, so it can never collide with a real
+ * size; distinct from the UI's `-1` "Custom…" sentinel.
+ */
+const val SAFE_AREA_MODE = -2
+
+/**
+ * Safe-area stream geometry — the pure part, so it is unit-testable without a Display.
+ *
+ * The phone clips the picture in HARDWARE: the cutout (notch / punch-hole) and the four rounded
+ * corners eat whatever the stream draws under them. [StreamScreen] deliberately draws edge-to-edge
+ * (`LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_ALWAYS`) and centres the video at its own aspect ratio
+ * (`Modifier.aspectRatio`), so which pixels survive is decided purely by the mode's aspect:
+ *
+ *  * A 16:9 mode on a 20:9 phone pillarboxes, and those black bars land exactly on the unsafe
+ *    regions — which is why the presets have always "just worked".
+ *  * The NATIVE mode has the panel's own aspect, so it fills every pixel, cutout and corners
+ *    included. That is the mode that loses its corners.
+ *
+ * So asking the host for a mode narrower by the unsafe inset is the entire fix: the existing
+ * aspect-fit centres it inside the safe region, and pointer mapping follows for free (MouseInput
+ * derives the picture rect from the live video size, not from the window).
+ */
+object SafeArea {
+    /** The host rejects odd dimensions and anything under 320 px wide (`validate_dimensions`). */
+    const val MIN_WIDTH = 320
+
+    /**
+     * [nativeWidth] reduced by [perSideInsetPx] on each side, even-floored and clamped to the
+     * host's floor. Height is deliberately untouched: under aspect-fit only one axis can bind, and
+     * on a landscape phone that axis is always the horizontal one — insetting height as well would
+     * shrink the picture without uncovering anything.
+     */
+    fun insetWidth(nativeWidth: Int, perSideInsetPx: Int): Int {
+        val inset = perSideInsetPx.coerceAtLeast(0)
+        return (nativeWidth - inset * 2).coerceAtLeast(MIN_WIDTH) / 2 * 2
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The per-side inset, in pixels, that the **landscape** stream must clear on this display.
+ *
+ * Two contributions, and the larger wins:
+ *  * **The cutout.** [DisplayCutout] is rotation-aware, so in landscape the housing shows up on
+ *    `left`/`right`. The settings screen may be portrait though, where the very same housing is
+ *    reported on `top`/`bottom` and the horizontal insets read zero — which would compute "no inset
+ *    needed" for exactly the devices that need one. The stream is always landscape, so a vertical
+ *    inset now becomes a horizontal one then: fall back to it.
+ *  * **The rounded corners.** These are NOT part of the cutout insets. For a FULL-HEIGHT picture the
+ *    horizontal clearance a corner of radius `r` needs is exactly `r`: at the topmost row the
+ *    display boundary sits at `x = r`, so anything left of that is clipped. Not conservative — it is
+ *    the precise requirement for a picture that spans the full height.
+ *
+ * `0` when the display has neither, which makes the safe mode identical to the native one.
+ */
+private fun displaySideInsetPx(context: Context): Int {
+    val display = probeDisplay(context) ?: return 0
+    var inset = 0
+    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
+        display.cutout?.let { cut ->
+            val horizontal = maxOf(cut.safeInsetLeft, cut.safeInsetRight)
+            val vertical = maxOf(cut.safeInsetTop, cut.safeInsetBottom)
+            inset = maxOf(inset, if (horizontal > 0) horizontal else vertical)
+        }
+    }
+    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.S) {
+        for (position in intArrayOf(
+            android.view.RoundedCorner.POSITION_TOP_LEFT,
+            android.view.RoundedCorner.POSITION_TOP_RIGHT,
+            android.view.RoundedCorner.POSITION_BOTTOM_LEFT,
+            android.view.RoundedCorner.POSITION_BOTTOM_RIGHT,
+        )) {
+            display.getRoundedCorner(position)?.let { inset = maxOf(inset, it.radius) }
+        }
+    }
+    return inset
+}
+
+/**
+ * The native mode narrowed to clear the cutout and the rounded corners — the [SAFE_AREA_MODE]
+ * resolution, as a landscape `(width, height, hz)`. Same height and refresh as [nativeDisplayMode];
+ * only the width moves.
+ */
+fun safeDisplayMode(context: Context): Triple<Int, Int, Int> {
+    val (w, h, hz) = nativeDisplayMode(context)
+    return Triple(SafeArea.insetWidth(w, displaySideInsetPx(context)), h, hz)
+}
+
 /**
  * True when this device's display can actually present HDR10, so we should advertise HDR to the
  * host. On an SDR panel we advertise `0` instead — the host then sends a proper 8-bit BT.709 stream
@@ -458,12 +561,21 @@ fun displaySupportsHdr(context: Context): Boolean {
     return supported
 }
 
-/** Resolve [Settings] (with its 0=native placeholders) to the concrete mode to request. */
+/**
+ * Resolve [Settings] (with its `0`=native and [SAFE_AREA_MODE] placeholders) to the concrete mode to
+ * request. The safe-area sentinel is checked first because it resolves BOTH axes together — it is one
+ * mode, not an independent width and height, and mixing half of it with a native height would ask
+ * for a size neither sentinel means.
+ */
 fun Settings.effectiveMode(context: Context): Triple<Int, Int, Int> {
-    val native = nativeDisplayMode(context)
-    val w = if (width > 0) width else native.first
-    val h = if (height > 0) height else native.second
-    val hz = if (hz > 0) hz else native.third
+    val base = if (width == SAFE_AREA_MODE && height == SAFE_AREA_MODE) {
+        safeDisplayMode(context)
+    } else {
+        nativeDisplayMode(context)
+    }
+    val w = if (width > 0) width else base.first
+    val h = if (height > 0) height else base.second
+    val hz = if (hz > 0) hz else base.third
     return Triple(w, h, hz)
 }
 
@@ -517,9 +629,10 @@ val RENDER_SCALE_OPTIONS = RenderScale.PRESETS.map { it to RenderScale.label(it)
 
 // ---- UI option tables (value, label). The first entry is always the "auto/native" default. ----
 
-/** (width, height, label). `(0,0)` = native display. */
+/** (width, height, label). `(0,0)` = native display; [SAFE_AREA_MODE] = native minus the cutout. */
 val RESOLUTION_OPTIONS = listOf(
     Triple(0, 0, "Native display"),
+    Triple(SAFE_AREA_MODE, SAFE_AREA_MODE, "Native display (safe area)"),
     Triple(1280, 720, "1280 × 720"),
     Triple(1920, 1080, "1920 × 1080"),
     Triple(2560, 1440, "2560 × 1440"),

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SettingsScreen.kt

@@ -603,6 +603,10 @@ private fun GeneralSettings(s: Settings, update: (Settings) -> Unit) {
 @Composable
 private fun DisplaySettings(s: Settings, update: (Settings) -> Unit, context: android.content.Context) {
     val (nw, nh, nhz) = nativeDisplayMode(context)
+    // The safe-area row carries its resolved size the same way the native row does. On a display with
+    // no cutout and square corners this equals the native mode — the row stays, honestly showing that
+    // it changes nothing here, rather than silently vanishing on some devices and not others.
+    val (sw, sh, _) = safeDisplayMode(context)
     // "Custom…" picked while the stored size is still a preset — keeps the size fields visible
     // until an edit actually makes it custom (or a preset is re-picked). Custom itself is detected
     // from the stored size, never flagged (see [isCustomResolution]), so nothing new persists.
@@ -611,7 +615,13 @@ private fun DisplaySettings(s: Settings, update: (Settings) -> Unit, context: an
     SettingsGroup("Resolution") {
         SettingDropdown(
             label = "Resolution",
-            options = RESOLUTION_OPTIONS.map { (w, h, lbl) -> (w to h) to (if (w == 0) "$lbl ($nw × $nh)" else lbl) } +
+            options = RESOLUTION_OPTIONS.map { (w, h, lbl) ->
+                (w to h) to when (w) {
+                    0 -> "$lbl ($nw × $nh)"
+                    SAFE_AREA_MODE -> "$lbl ($sw × $sh)"
+                    else -> lbl
+                }
+            } +
                 // The (-1, -1) sentinel can't collide with a real size; once a custom size is
                 // stored its label carries the live value, like the native row carries ($nw × $nh).
                 ((-1 to -1) to if (s.isCustomResolution()) "Custom (${s.width} × ${s.height})" else "Custom…"),
@@ -620,7 +630,10 @@ private fun DisplaySettings(s: Settings, update: (Settings) -> Unit, context: an
             caption = "The host makes a display exactly this size — no scaling. Native follows " +
                 "this device's panel.",
         ) { (w, h) ->
-            if (w < 0) {
+            // ONLY -1 is "Custom…". The other negative value is the safe-area sentinel, which is a
+            // stored mode like any preset — a blanket `w < 0` here would open the custom fields for it
+            // and overwrite it with a concrete size.
+            if (w == -1) {
                 // Seed from the current *effective* size so the fields start from something
                 // sensible (the resolved native mode, not the 0 × 0 placeholder).
                 customPicked = true

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/StreamScreen.kt

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.GamepadRouter
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.deviceBodyVibrator
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.NativeBridge
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.Sc2Capture
+import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.SessionEndReason
 import io.unom.punktfunk.kit.VideoDecoders
 import io.unom.punktfunk.models.ActiveSession
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.delay
  * the connect that produced this handle.
  */
 @Composable
-fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
+fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onSessionEnded: (SessionEndReason) -> Unit) {
     val handle = session.handle
     val initialSettings = session.settings
     val micEnabled = initialSettings.micEnabled
@@ -200,12 +201,32 @@ fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
         while (true) {
             delay(1000)
             if (NativeBridge.nativeSessionEnded(handle)) {
-                Toast.makeText(
-                    context,
-                    "Connection lost — the host may be asleep. Wake it to reconnect.",
-                    Toast.LENGTH_LONG,
-                ).show()
-                onDisconnect()
+                // WHY it ended decides what the user is told. This used to show the "host may be
+                // asleep" line for EVERY ending — including a game the player had just quit and a
+                // session the host ended on purpose — which reads as a failure report for
+                // something nobody did wrong. Only a connection that actually died says that now.
+                val reason = SessionEndReason.fromNative(NativeBridge.nativeEndReason(handle))
+                when (reason) {
+                    SessionEndReason.LOST ->
+                        Toast.makeText(
+                            context,
+                            "Connection lost — the host may be asleep. Wake it to reconnect.",
+                            Toast.LENGTH_LONG,
+                        ).show()
+                    SessionEndReason.HOST_ERROR ->
+                        Toast.makeText(
+                            context,
+                            "The host ended the session with an error.",
+                            Toast.LENGTH_LONG,
+                        ).show()
+                    // Deliberate endings — the player quit the game, the host was stopped, or we
+                    // closed it. Leaving the stream IS the feedback; a toast would only add noise.
+                    SessionEndReason.GAME_EXITED,
+                    SessionEndReason.HOST_ENDED,
+                    SessionEndReason.LOCAL,
+                    SessionEndReason.NONE -> {}
+                }
+                onSessionEnded(reason)
                 return@LaunchedEffect
             }
         }
@@ -330,7 +351,7 @@ fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
         // the keep-alive linger), unlike a host-ended / backgrounded drop. The router debounces it
         // (must be held ~1.5 s) and fires onExitChord on its main-thread timer, so leave the stream
         // the same way the Back gesture does.
-        activity?.requestStreamExit = { NativeBridge.nativeDisconnectQuit(handle); onDisconnect() }
+        activity?.requestStreamExit = { NativeBridge.nativeDisconnectQuit(handle); onSessionEnded(SessionEndReason.LOCAL) }
         router.onExitChord = { activity?.requestStreamExit?.invoke() }
         // Show a "hold to quit" hint the moment the chord completes (the router debounces the actual
         // exit); it clears when the buttons release early or the hold elapses. Runs on the main thread.
@@ -617,7 +638,7 @@ fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
     }
 
     // Back gesture = a deliberate exit → signal the quit so the host tears down now (no linger).
-    BackHandler { NativeBridge.nativeDisconnectQuit(handle); onDisconnect() }
+    BackHandler { NativeBridge.nativeDisconnectQuit(handle); onSessionEnded(SessionEndReason.LOCAL) }
 
     // Leaving the app (Home, task switch, screen off) MUST end the session. Android does not
     // suspend a process for going to background, so without this the native worker kept running and
@@ -625,14 +646,14 @@ fun StreamScreen(session: ActiveSession, onDisconnect: () -> Unit) {
     // host still saw a live client and held the session (and its display + encoder) open until the
     // OS eventually reclaimed the process, which on a TV box is effectively never.
     //
-    // Route it through `onDisconnect()` so the composable's `onDispose` above runs the one real
+    // Route it through `onSessionEnded()` so the composable's `onDispose` above runs the one real
     // teardown path. Deliberately NOT a `nativeDisconnectQuit`: backgrounding isn't a user "quit",
     // so the host should linger the display and make coming straight back a fast reconnect.
     DisposableEffect(handle) {
         val lifecycle = (context as? LifecycleOwner)?.lifecycle
         val obs = LifecycleEventObserver { _, event ->
             if (event == Lifecycle.Event.ON_STOP) {
-                onDisconnect()
+                onSessionEnded(SessionEndReason.LOCAL)
             }
         }
         lifecycle?.addObserver(obs)

clients/android/app/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/models/UiModels.kt

@@ -61,6 +61,16 @@ data class ActiveSession(
      * from "a different host" (a notice; a URL may never preempt a live session).
      */
     val hostId: String? = null,
+    /**
+     * This session was started by launching a title from [hostId]'s library, rather than by
+     * connecting to the host's desktop.
+     *
+     * Decides where the client goes when the session ENDS: a title launched out of a library
+     * belongs back in that library when its game exits — one press from the next one — not on the
+     * host-selection screen. Only meaningful together with a
+     * [io.unom.punktfunk.kit.SessionEndReason.GAME_EXITED] ending.
+     */
+    val launchedFromLibrary: Boolean = false,
 )
 
 /** Trust state of a host, shown as a colored pill on its card. */

clients/android/app/src/test/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/GamepadPaletteTest.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+package io.unom.punktfunk
+
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+
+// The console UI's background palettes. These assertions are the CONTRACT the Rust
+// (`pf-console-ui::library`) and Swift (`GamepadPalette.swift`) ports reproduce — the same ids in
+// the same order, the same light/dark split, the same ramp — so one `ui_palette` value is one look
+// on every client.
+class GamepadPaletteTest {
+
+    private fun luma(c: Triple<Double, Double, Double>) =
+        0.2126 * c.first + 0.7152 * c.second + 0.0722 * c.third
+
+    /** Hue angle in degrees, or null for something too grey to have one. */
+    private fun hue(c: Triple<Double, Double, Double>): Double? {
+        val (r, g, b) = c
+        val max = maxOf(r, g, b)
+        val min = minOf(r, g, b)
+        val d = max - min
+        if (d < 0.04) return null
+        val h = when (max) {
+            r -> 60.0 * (((g - b) / d) % 6.0)
+            g -> 60.0 * ((b - r) / d + 2.0)
+            else -> 60.0 * ((r - g) / d + 4.0)
+        }
+        return (h + 360.0) % 360.0
+    }
+
+    /** Ids, order and the light/dark split are the cross-client contract. */
+    @Test
+    fun tableMatchesTheOtherClients() {
+        assertEquals(
+            listOf(
+                "violet", "nebula", "abyss", "ember", "moss", "graphite",
+                "holo", "sunset", "bloom", "dawn", "mint", "opal",
+            ),
+            GamepadPalette.ALL.map { it.id },
+        )
+        // Dark fields lead, pale ones follow, so stepping the row walks one direction.
+        val firstLight = GamepadPalette.ALL.indexOfFirst { it.light }
+        assertEquals(6, firstLight)
+        assertTrue(GamepadPalette.ALL.drop(firstLight).all { it.light })
+        // An unknown name is a newer client's palette, not an error.
+        assertEquals("violet", GamepadPalette.named("chartreuse").id)
+        assertEquals("violet", GamepadPalette.named("").id)
+        // The brand default keeps the shipped field rather than a generated ramp.
+        assertTrue(GamepadPalette.named("violet").stops.isEmpty())
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * A palette must read as SEVERAL hues, not one hue at several brightnesses — that was exactly
+     * the complaint about the hue-rotation model this replaced.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun everyPaletteIsMultiTone() {
+        for (p in GamepadPalette.ALL) {
+            val stops = p.stops.ifEmpty { continue }
+            val hues = stops.mapNotNull { hue(it) }
+            assertTrue("${p.id}: too few coloured stops", hues.size >= 3)
+            var spread = 0.0
+            for (a in hues) {
+                for (b in hues) {
+                    val d = Math.abs(a - b) % 360.0
+                    spread = maxOf(spread, minOf(d, 360.0 - d))
+                }
+            }
+            // Graphite and Opal are deliberately near-neutral; the rest must travel.
+            val floor = if (p.id == "graphite" || p.id == "opal") 20.0 else 45.0
+            assertTrue("${p.id} spans only $spread° of hue", spread >= floor)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** A pale palette really is pale — its ink flips, so a mislabelled one is unreadable. */
+    @Test
+    fun palettesAreHonestAboutLightness() {
+        for (p in GamepadPalette.ALL) {
+            if (p.light) {
+                assertTrue("${p.id}'s ground is dark", luma(p.ground) > 0.6)
+                assertTrue("${p.id}'s accent is too pale", luma(p.accent) < 0.45)
+            } else {
+                assertTrue("${p.id}'s ground is light", luma(p.ground) < 0.2)
+                assertTrue("${p.id}'s accent is too dark", luma(p.accent) > 0.25)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** The ramp is the shared sampling rule the Rust and Swift ports reproduce. */
+    @Test
+    fun rampInterpolatesBetweenStops() {
+        val stops = listOf(
+            Triple(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), Triple(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), Triple(1.0, 1.0, 1.0),
+        )
+        assertEquals(Triple(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0.0))
+        assertEquals(Triple(1.0, 1.0, 1.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 1.0))
+        assertEquals(Triple(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0.5))
+        assertEquals(0.5, GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0.25).first, 1e-9)
+        // Out of range clamps rather than throwing.
+        assertEquals(Triple(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, -3.0))
+        assertEquals(Triple(1.0, 1.0, 1.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 9.0))
+        assertEquals(Triple(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), GamepadPalette.ramp(emptyList(), 0.5))
+    }
+
+    /** The ink a palette calls for: white on a dark field, near-black on a pale one. */
+    @Test
+    fun inkFollowsTheField() {
+        val dark = GamepadInk.of(GamepadPalette.named("violet"))
+        assertTrue(!dark.isLight)
+        assertEquals(1f, dark.fg.red, 1e-6f)
+        assertEquals(1f, dark.shadeScale, 1e-6f)
+
+        val light = GamepadInk.of(GamepadPalette.named("holo"))
+        assertTrue(light.isLight)
+        assertTrue("pale fields need dark ink", light.fg.red < 0.3f)
+        // A pale field's scrims must pull far less, or they bleach the gradient.
+        assertTrue(light.shadeScale < 0.5f)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Every settings row lands in exactly one tab — a row missing from the tab map is a setting
+     * that became unreachable on a TV, which is precisely what this screen exists to prevent.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun everySettingsRowHasATab() {
+        val rows = buildSettingsRows(Settings(), hasBodyVibrator = true, av1Capable = true) {}
+        assertTrue(rows.isNotEmpty())
+        assertEquals(rows.size, rows.map { it.id }.toSet().size)
+        // Profiles is built separately (from the catalog), so no settings row claims it.
+        assertTrue(rows.none { it.tab == GpTab.PROFILES })
+        for (t in listOf(GpTab.STREAM, GpTab.VIDEO, GpTab.AUDIO, GpTab.CONTROLLER, GpTab.INTERFACE)) {
+            assertTrue("$t is empty", rows.any { it.tab == t })
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** The Background row steps the shared `ui_palette` key and wraps on A, like every choice row. */
+    @Test
+    fun backgroundRowStepsTheSharedKey() {
+        var s = Settings()
+        fun rows() = buildSettingsRows(s, hasBodyVibrator = false, av1Capable = false) { s = it }
+        fun palette() = rows().first { it.id == "palette" }
+
+        assertEquals("violet", s.uiPalette)
+        assertEquals("Violet", palette().value)
+        assertTrue("already the first = thud", !palette().adjust(-1))
+        assertTrue(palette().adjust(1))
+        assertEquals(GamepadPalette.ALL[1].id, s.uiPalette)
+
+        // A from the last entry wraps home.
+        s = s.copy(uiPalette = GamepadPalette.ALL.last().id)
+        palette().activate()
+        assertEquals("violet", s.uiPalette)
+
+        // A store written by a newer client shows the palette that is actually drawing.
+        s = s.copy(uiPalette = "chartreuse")
+        assertEquals("Violet", palette().value)
+    }
+}

clients/android/app/src/test/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/SafeAreaTest.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package io.unom.punktfunk
+
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+
+/**
+ * Pure JVM test of the safe-area stream geometry ([SafeArea]) and the sentinel that selects it —
+ * the width-only inset that keeps the picture clear of the cutout and the rounded corners.
+ * Run: `./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest`.
+ */
+class SafeAreaTest {
+    @Test
+    fun insetsBothSidesAndStaysHostValid() {
+        // A punch-hole phone: 2400 px wide, 96 px of unsafe edge per side → 2208.
+        assertEquals(2400 - 96 * 2, SafeArea.insetWidth(2400, 96))
+        // Odd results even-floor — the host rejects odd dimensions outright, and an inset
+        // subtraction lands odd about half the time.
+        assertEquals(0, SafeArea.insetWidth(2401, 95) % 2)
+        // No cutout and square corners → the native width, unchanged.
+        assertEquals(2400, SafeArea.insetWidth(2400, 0))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun absurdInsetsCannotDriveTheModeUnderTheHostFloor() {
+        assertEquals(SafeArea.MIN_WIDTH, SafeArea.insetWidth(1280, 5000))
+        // A negative reading is treated as no inset rather than widening past the panel.
+        assertEquals(1280, SafeArea.insetWidth(1280, -40))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun safeModeIsNarrowerThanNativeWheneverThereIsAnInset() {
+        val native = 2556
+        assertTrue(SafeArea.insetWidth(native, 60) < native)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun theSentinelIsAPresetAndNeverReadsAsCustom() {
+        // The safe-area mode is a stored preset, not a typed size: `isCustomResolution` must be
+        // false for it, or the touch settings would open the custom width/height fields on it and
+        // the gamepad screen would prepend a bogus "Custom · -2 × -2" row.
+        val s = Settings(width = SAFE_AREA_MODE, height = SAFE_AREA_MODE)
+        assertTrue(!s.isCustomResolution())
+        // And it must be distinct from the UI's own "Custom…" sentinel (-1).
+        assertTrue(SAFE_AREA_MODE != -1)
+        assertTrue(RESOLUTION_OPTIONS.any { it.first == SAFE_AREA_MODE && it.second == SAFE_AREA_MODE })
+    }
+}

clients/android/app/src/test/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/screenshots/ScreenshotTest.kt

@@ -106,6 +106,14 @@ class ScreenshotTest {
     @Test
     fun connectingConsole() = shootRoot("connecting-console") { ConnectConsoleScene() }
 
+    @Test
+    fun consoleSettings() = shootRoot("console-settings") { ConsoleSettingsScene() }
+
+    /** A PALE palette: the whole UI flips to dark ink on white frost, which only a shot proves. */
+    @Test
+    fun consoleSettingsLight() =
+        shootRoot("console-settings-light") { ConsoleSettingsScene(paletteId = "holo") }
+
     @Test
     fun trust() = shootScreen("trust") {
         HostsScene()

clients/android/app/src/test/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/screenshots/ShotScenes.kt

@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ import io.unom.punktfunk.BrandDark
 import io.unom.punktfunk.ConnectModal
 import io.unom.punktfunk.ConnectPhase
 import io.unom.punktfunk.ConnectTakeover
+import androidx.compose.runtime.CompositionLocalProvider
+import io.unom.punktfunk.GamepadInk
+import io.unom.punktfunk.GamepadPalette
+import io.unom.punktfunk.GamepadSettingsScreen
+import io.unom.punktfunk.LocalGamepadInk
+import io.unom.punktfunk.LocalGamepadPalette
 import io.unom.punktfunk.Settings
 import io.unom.punktfunk.TouchMode
 import io.unom.punktfunk.SettingsCategory
@@ -406,3 +412,25 @@ internal fun WakeTimedOutScene() =
 @Composable
 internal fun ConnectConsoleScene() =
     ConnectTakeover(ConnectPhase.Connecting("Living Room PC"), onCancel = {}, onRetry = {})
+
+/**
+ * The real console settings screen — the section tab strip, the glass rows, the focused row's
+ * unfolded detail, and the living (calmed) backdrop behind them. The touch [SettingsScene] can't
+ * stand in for it: this is a different screen with different navigation, and the strip is the part
+ * a layout regression would eat first.
+ */
+@Composable
+internal fun ConsoleSettingsScene(paletteId: String = "violet") {
+    // The scene calls the screen directly, so it has to publish the palette locals `App` would
+    // normally provide — without them a light palette would render with the default DARK ink and
+    // the shot would silently prove nothing.
+    val palette = GamepadPalette.named(paletteId)
+    CompositionLocalProvider(
+        LocalGamepadPalette provides palette,
+        LocalGamepadInk provides GamepadInk.of(palette),
+    ) {
+        GamepadSettingsScreen(
+            initial = SHOT_SETTINGS.copy(uiPalette = paletteId), onChange = {}, onBack = {},
+        )
+    }
+}

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/NativeBridge.kt

@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@ object NativeBridge {
      */
     external fun nativeSessionEnded(handle: Long): Boolean
 
+    /**
+     * WHY the session ended, as a [SessionEndReason] ordinal — decode with
+     * [SessionEndReason.fromNative]. `0` (NONE) before it ends, or on a `0` handle.
+     *
+     * The companion to [nativeSessionEnded], which only says THAT it ended. Both are needed: the
+     * flag to leave a dead stream, this to decide what to tell the user. A player quitting their
+     * game and a host falling off the network both end the session, and with no way to separate
+     * them the watchdog said "the host may be asleep" for all of them — wrong for every deliberate
+     * ending. Cheap (one atomic load); UI-safe.
+     */
+    external fun nativeEndReason(handle: Long): Int
+
     /**
      * Run the SPAKE2 PIN ceremony, presenting [certPem]/[keyPem]. Returns the host's verified
      * fingerprint (64-hex) to persist + pin, or `""` on failure (wrong PIN / MITM / unreachable).

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/SessionEndReason.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package io.unom.punktfunk.kit
+
+/**
+ * Why a stream session ended — the Kotlin mirror of `punktfunk_core::client::PunktfunkEndReason`,
+ * read via [NativeBridge.nativeEndReason].
+ *
+ * The distinction that matters to a UI is **normal vs alarming**, and it is not a spectrum: a
+ * player quitting their game and a host falling off the network both arrive as "the session
+ * ended". With no way to tell them apart this client showed one message for all of them — and it
+ * was the alarming one ("Connection lost — the host may be asleep"), in front of players who had
+ * just quit their own game.
+ *
+ * Ordinals are an ABI contract with the Rust side: append only, never renumber.
+ */
+enum class SessionEndReason {
+    /** Not ended, or ended before a reason could be observed. Also the fallback for an unknown value. */
+    NONE,
+
+    /** This client closed the session — the user pressed back or stop. Nothing to report. */
+    LOCAL,
+
+    /**
+     * The host's launched game exited. A normal finish, and the one reason worth acting on: go back
+     * to the library the title was launched from, so the next one is a tap away.
+     */
+    GAME_EXITED,
+
+    /** The host ended the session deliberately (an operator "End", or it simply finished). Normal. */
+    HOST_ENDED,
+
+    /** The host closed reporting a failure of its own. Worth showing; the host's log has the detail. */
+    HOST_ERROR,
+
+    /**
+     * The connection died rather than being closed: idle timeout, reset, the network going away.
+     * This — and only this — is the "the host may be asleep, wake it" case.
+     */
+    LOST;
+
+    /**
+     * Is this an ordinary outcome rather than something to alarm the user about?
+     *
+     * The question nearly every caller actually asks. [LOCAL], [GAME_EXITED] and [HOST_ENDED] were
+     * all meant to happen. [NONE] counts as normal — no evidence of trouble is not evidence of it.
+     */
+    val isNormal: Boolean
+        get() = this != HOST_ERROR && this != LOST
+
+    companion object {
+        /**
+         * Decode the JNI byte. An unrecognized value becomes [NONE] rather than throwing: this
+         * crosses an ABI where the native side may be newer than this code.
+         */
+        fun fromNative(v: Int): SessionEndReason = entries.getOrNull(v) ?: NONE
+    }
+}

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/discovery/HostDiscovery.kt

@@ -132,6 +132,27 @@ class HostDiscovery(context: Context) {
         handler.post(poll)
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Tear the browse down and start a fresh one. This is the manual rescan, and the recovery path
+     * for a browse that started while blocked (permission not yet granted, multicast filtered) or
+     * that never started at all ([start] gives up when `nativeDiscoveryStart` returns 0, and
+     * nothing else would ever retry it).
+     *
+     * It also puts a query back on the wire: `mdns-sd` re-queries on a doubling backoff that caps
+     * at an hour, so a long-lived browse is effectively passive — a host that appeared since, or
+     * whose announcement was lost to multicast, may never be asked for again.
+     *
+     * The currently-shown host set is left alone across the swap (rather than blinking empty via
+     * [stop]'s notification); the first poll of the new browse publishes the fresh set.
+     */
+    fun restart() {
+        val keep = onChange
+        onChange = null
+        stop()
+        onChange = keep
+        start()
+    }
+
     fun stop() {
         if (!running && nativeHandle == 0L) return
         running = false

clients/android/kit/src/main/kotlin/io/unom/punktfunk/kit/library/Library.kt

@@ -37,9 +37,51 @@ data class Artwork(val portrait: String?, val header: String?, val hero: String?
     val posterCandidates: List<String> get() = listOfNotNull(portrait, header, hero)
 }
 
-/** One title in the unified library. [id] is store-qualified (`steam:<appid>` / `custom:<id>`). */
-data class GameEntry(val id: String, val store: String, val title: String, val art: Artwork) {
+/**
+ * One title in the unified library. [id] is store-qualified (`steam:<appid>` / `custom:<id>`).
+ *
+ * [role] is `"game"` (the default, and what an older host omits) or `"launcher"` — an entry that
+ * opens the launcher itself (Steam Big Picture, Heroic) rather than a title. Kept a plain nullable
+ * String on purpose: the host owns the vocabulary, and an unknown future value must degrade to a
+ * game rather than break the decode (design D4).
+ */
+data class GameEntry(
+    val id: String,
+    val store: String,
+    val title: String,
+    val art: Artwork,
+    val role: String? = null,
+) {
     val isCustom: Boolean get() = store == "custom"
+
+    /** Whether this entry opens a launcher rather than a game. */
+    val isLauncher: Boolean get() = role == "launcher"
+
+    /**
+     * Display name for the store badge — the same table the other clients use
+     * (`pf-console-ui::library::store_label`). Before this the UI said "Steam" for every non-custom
+     * entry, which a Lutris or GOG title made a lie.
+     */
+    val storeLabel: String get() = when (store) {
+        "steam" -> "Steam"
+        "custom" -> "Custom"
+        "heroic" -> "Heroic"
+        "lutris" -> "Lutris"
+        "epic" -> "Epic"
+        "gog" -> "GOG"
+        "xbox" -> "Xbox"
+        else -> "Game"
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Design D4: launcher entries lead the shelf, keeping the host's title order within each group.
+ * Applied once where the library is fetched, so no screen has to remember the rule — and a library
+ * without launcher entries comes back untouched.
+ */
+fun List<GameEntry>.launchersFirst(): List<GameEntry> {
+    val launchers = filter { it.isLauncher }
+    return if (launchers.isEmpty()) this else launchers + filterNot { it.isLauncher }
 }
 
 /** Fetch outcome — three states so the UI can guide setup (the common case is "not paired yet"). */
@@ -108,10 +150,11 @@ object LibraryClient {
                         header = resolveArt(str(art, "header"), base),
                         hero = resolveArt(str(art, "hero"), base),
                     ),
+                    role = str(o, "role"),
                 ),
             )
         }
-        return out
+        return out.launchersFirst()
     }
 
     /** A present, non-null, non-blank JSON string field, else null. */

clients/android/native/src/session/connect.rs

@@ -404,6 +404,31 @@ pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeSessionEnde
     })
 }
 
+/// `NativeBridge.nativeEndReason(handle): Int` — WHY the session ended, as a
+/// `punktfunk_core::client::PunktfunkEndReason` byte (Kotlin mirrors it in `SessionEndReason`).
+///
+/// Companion to `nativeSessionEnded`, which only says THAT it ended. Kotlin's watchdog needs both:
+/// the flag to leave a dead stream, and this to decide what — if anything — to tell the user. A
+/// player quitting their game and a host dropping off the network both end the session, and until
+/// this existed the watchdog worded them identically ("the host may be asleep"), which is wrong for
+/// every deliberate ending. `0` (NONE) on a `0` handle or before the session ends. Cheap (one
+/// atomic load); safe on the UI thread.
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern "system" fn Java_io_unom_punktfunk_kit_NativeBridge_nativeEndReason(
+    _env: JNIEnv,
+    _this: JObject,
+    handle: jlong,
+) -> jint {
+    jni_guard(0, || {
+        if handle == 0 {
+            return 0;
+        }
+        // SAFETY: live handle per the nativeConnect/nativeClose contract.
+        let h = unsafe { &*(handle as *const SessionHandle) };
+        h.client.end_reason() as jint
+    })
+}
+
 /// `NativeBridge.nativePair(host, port, certPem, keyPem, pin, name): String` — run the SPAKE2 PIN
 /// ceremony, presenting our persistent identity. On success returns the host's verified fingerprint
 /// (64-hex) to persist + pin; on any failure (wrong PIN / MITM / host reject / unreachable) returns

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/ContentView.swift

@@ -206,6 +206,20 @@ struct ContentView: View {
             model.setStatsVerbosity(StatsVerbosity(rawValue: raw) ?? .normal)
         }
         #if os(iOS) || os(tvOS)
+        // Coming back to the app re-arms the LAN browse. The home's `onAppear`/`onDisappear` do
+        // NOT fire across background/foreground, and a browse the system suspended while we were
+        // away does not resume on its own — so the host grid came back empty and stayed empty
+        // until the app was relaunched. No-op unless the browse is already running (mid-session
+        // the home has deliberately torn it down).
+        //
+        // Mobile only: macOS never suspends the process, and its `scenePhase` flips on every
+        // window focus change — re-arming there would rebuild the browser each time you alt-tab.
+        // A Mac browse that genuinely breaks is caught by `HostDiscovery`'s own sweep instead.
+        .onChange(of: scenePhase) { _, phase in
+            if phase == .active { discovery.refreshIfRunning() }
+        }
+        #endif
+        #if os(iOS) || os(tvOS)
         // Backgrounding driver. Only .background/.active matter; .inactive (a transient peek) is
         // ignored so neither branch fires for a Control-Center pull.
         //
@@ -335,6 +349,16 @@ struct ContentView: View {
             active: fullscreenForSession && model.connection != nil,
             isFullscreen: $isFullscreen))
         #endif
+        // A game launched from the library just exited, so the session ended on purpose: put the
+        // player back in that host's library rather than on host selection. Set on the outer Group
+        // (like the sheets below) so it survives the streaming → home transition the disconnect
+        // drives, and consumed here — the model hands the host over once and we clear it, so a
+        // later manual dismiss of the library can't be undone by a stale value.
+        .onChange(of: model.returnToLibrary) { _, host in
+            guard let host else { return }
+            model.returnToLibrary = nil
+            libraryTarget = host
+        }
         // On the outer Group so the sheet survives the trust-prompt → home transition
         // (the "Pair with PIN instead" path disconnects first — the host's accept loop
         // is sequential, a pairing connection would queue behind the live session).
@@ -512,6 +536,9 @@ struct ContentView: View {
                 waker: waker,
                 gamepadUI: gamepadUIActive,
                 onCancelConnect: { model.disconnect() })
+                // The takeover mounts OUTSIDE the gamepad screens (it covers the whole home), so
+                // it publishes the palette's ink itself rather than inheriting it.
+                .gamepadPaletteInk()
         }
     }
 

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/ConnectOverlay.swift

@@ -47,12 +47,16 @@ struct ConnectOverlay: View {
         return nil
     }
 
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
+
     var body: some View {
         if let phase {
             ZStack {
                 if gamepadUI {
-                    // Console: an opaque, living aurora over everything.
-                    Color.black.ignoresSafeArea()
+                    // Console: an opaque, living aurora over everything, in the chosen palette.
+                    // The takeover's own text rides `ink`, so a pale palette flips it here too —
+                    // without that this is the one console screen that stays white-on-white.
+                    ink.isLight ? Color.white.ignoresSafeArea() : Color.black.ignoresSafeArea()
                     GamepadScreenBackground().ignoresSafeArea()
                     Color.clear.contentShape(Rectangle()).onTapGesture {}
                     content(phase).padding(40).frame(maxWidth: 460)
@@ -70,7 +74,8 @@ struct ConnectOverlay: View {
                         .padding(40)
                 }
             }
-            .environment(\.colorScheme, .dark)
+            // The console takeover follows the palette; the default UI's modal stays dark.
+            .environment(\.colorScheme, gamepadUI && ink.isLight ? .light : .dark)
             .transition(.opacity)
             #if os(iOS) || os(macOS)
             .background { ConnectControllerInput(waker: waker, onCancelConnect: onCancelConnect) }

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadAddHostView.swift

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import SwiftUI
 #if os(iOS) || os(macOS) || os(tvOS)
 
 struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     @Environment(\.dismiss) private var dismiss
     let onAdd: (StoredHost) -> Void
 
@@ -47,12 +48,12 @@ struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
             VStack(spacing: 4) {
                 Text("Add Host")
                     .font(.geist(gamepadTitleSize(compact: compact), .bold, relativeTo: .title))
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 if !compact {
                     Text("Hosts on this network appear automatically — add one by address "
                         + "for everything else.")
                         .font(.geist(GamepadFormMetrics.detailFont, relativeTo: .caption))
-                        .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.55))
+                        .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.55))
                         .multilineTextAlignment(.center)
                         .frame(maxWidth: GamepadFormMetrics.rowMaxWidth * 0.72)
                 }
@@ -73,6 +74,9 @@ struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
         }
         // No aurora — the same clean Liquid-Glass-over-dark base as the gamepad settings screen.
         .background { GamepadFormBackground() }
+        // Publish the palette's ink to this screen (text, glass, accent, scrims) — a
+        // pale palette flips all of them, and no leaf should have to read the setting.
+        .gamepadPaletteInk()
         // A port can't exceed 5 digits — cap while typing so the row can't grow absurd.
         .onChange(of: port) { _, value in
             if value.count > 5 { port = String(value.prefix(5)) }
@@ -143,7 +147,7 @@ struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
         Button { dismiss() } label: {
             Image(systemName: "xmark")
                 .font(.system(size: GamepadFormMetrics.closeFont, weight: .semibold))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 .frame(width: GamepadFormMetrics.closeSide, height: GamepadFormMetrics.closeSide)
                 .glassBackground(Circle(), interactive: true)
                 .contentShape(Circle())
@@ -180,22 +184,22 @@ struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
             if row.isAction {
                 Label("Add Host", systemImage: "plus.circle.fill")
                     .font(.geist(m.labelFont, .semibold, relativeTo: .body))
-                    .foregroundStyle(canAdd ? Color.brand : .white.opacity(0.35))
+                    .foregroundStyle(canAdd ? ink.accent : ink.fg(0.35))
                     .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
             } else {
                 Text(row.label)
                     .font(.geist(m.labelFont, .semibold, relativeTo: .body))
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 Spacer(minLength: 12)
                 Text(row.value.isEmpty ? row.placeholder : row.value)
                     .font(.geistFixed(m.valueFont, .medium))
-                    .foregroundStyle(row.value.isEmpty ? .white.opacity(0.35) : .white)
+                    .foregroundStyle(row.value.isEmpty ? ink.fg(0.35) : ink.fg)
                     .lineLimit(1)
                     .truncationMode(.head) // keep the end of a long address visible while typing
                 if editing == row.id {
                     // The live-edit caret: this row is what the keyboard tray is typing into.
                     Rectangle()
-                        .fill(Color.brand)
+                        .fill(ink.accent)
                         .frame(width: 2, height: m.labelFont + 2)
                 }
             }
@@ -206,12 +210,12 @@ struct GamepadAddHostView: View {
         // takes the brand wash, and the edited row keeps its brand caret border.
         .consoleGlass(
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: m.rowCorner, style: .continuous),
-            tint: (focused || editing == row.id) ? Color.brand.opacity(0.30) : nil,
+            tint: (focused || editing == row.id) ? ink.accent(0.30) : nil,
             interactive: focused)
         .overlay {
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: m.rowCorner, style: .continuous)
                 .strokeBorder(
-                    editing == row.id ? Color.brand.opacity(0.7) : .white.opacity(focused ? 0.28 : 0.06),
+                    editing == row.id ? ink.accent(0.7) : ink.fg(focused ? 0.28 : 0.06),
                     lineWidth: 1)
         }
         .scaleEffect(focused ? 1.0 : 0.98)

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadChrome.swift

@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ struct GamepadHint: Identifiable {
 /// worn as a self-contained Liquid Glass pill (like the top-bar controller chip) so it floats over
 /// the backdrop instead of dissolving into it.
 struct GamepadHintBar: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     let hints: [GamepadHint]
 
     // 10-foot legend on tvOS, in-hand sizes elsewhere.
@@ -108,26 +109,35 @@ struct GamepadHintBar: View {
                 HStack(spacing: 7) {
                     Image(systemName: hint.glyph)
                         .font(.system(size: Self.glyphFont))
-                        .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                        .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                     Text(hint.text)
                 }
                 .fixedSize() // keep glyph + label together; never truncate a hint mid-word
             }
         }
         .font(.geist(Self.textFont, .semibold, relativeTo: .subheadline))
-        .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.85))
+        .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.85))
         .padding(Self.pad)
         .consoleGlass(Capsule())
-        .overlay(Capsule().strokeBorder(.white.opacity(0.12), lineWidth: 1))
+        .overlay(Capsule().strokeBorder(ink.fg(0.12), lineWidth: 1))
     }
 }
 
-/// The console backdrop: a living aurora in the brand's violet family, drifting slowly over black
-/// so it reads as ambience behind the cards, never as content. On iOS 18 / macOS 15+ it's an
-/// animated `MeshGradient` — a continuous silk of colour whose control points wander on slow,
-/// out-of-phase sinusoids — finished with an elliptical vignette (pools light in the centre, sinks
-/// the corners) and a top/bottom legibility scrim. Older OSes fall back to the original drifting
-/// radial-blob field, unchanged, so nothing regresses.
+/// The console backdrop: a living aurora drifting slowly over black so it reads as ambience behind
+/// the cards, never as content. On iOS 18 / macOS 15+ it's an animated `MeshGradient` — a continuous
+/// silk of colour whose control points wander on slow, out-of-phase sinusoids — finished with an
+/// elliptical vignette (pools light in the centre, sinks the corners) and a top/bottom legibility
+/// scrim. Older OSes fall back to the original drifting radial-blob field, unchanged, so nothing
+/// regresses.
+///
+/// `calm` is what the FORM screens (settings, add-host) wear: the same living field with its pools
+/// dimmed onto its own corner colour, so those screens keep real colour under their Liquid Glass
+/// rows without the launcher's contrast. They used to sit on a still gradient; nothing in the
+/// gamepad UI is backed by a static image now. Motion is identical in both modes on purpose — only
+/// the contrast differs, so a screen change can't make the field jump.
+///
+/// `GamepadPalette` recolours the whole thing (the shared `ui_palette` setting) by transforming the
+/// COLOURS, not by stacking a filter — see GamepadPalette.swift for why.
 ///
 /// Deliberately pure SwiftUI, no `.metal`: these sources build under both SwiftPM (`swift run`/
 /// tests) and the Xcode project's synchronized folders, and a compiled metallib is only reliably
@@ -136,77 +146,90 @@ struct GamepadHintBar: View {
 /// can't inflate the caller's layout past the safe area (see the layout note in GamepadHomeView's
 /// header). Honors Reduce Motion by freezing the field at a fixed phase.
 struct GamepadScreenBackground: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
+    /// Quiet the field for a form screen (see the type comment).
+    var calm = false
+
     @Environment(\.accessibilityReduceMotion) private var reduceMotion
+    @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.uiPalette) private var paletteID = "violet"
 
     var body: some View {
+        let palette = GamepadPalette.named(paletteID)
         Group {
             if reduceMotion {
-                composite(at: 0)
+                composite(at: 0, palette: palette)
             } else {
                 // 30 Hz is plenty for a field that drifts centimetres per minute, and halves the
                 // redraw cost of a battery-fed couch device vs. the display's native rate.
                 TimelineView(.animation(minimumInterval: 1.0 / 30.0)) { context in
-                    composite(at: context.date.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate)
+                    composite(at: context.date.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate, palette: palette)
                 }
             }
         }
         .ignoresSafeArea()
     }
 
-    /// The colour field under a very slow warm/cool hue sway, an elliptical vignette, and the
-    /// title/hints legibility scrim.
-    private func composite(at t: TimeInterval) -> some View {
-        ZStack {
-            Color.black
-            colorField(at: t)
+    /// The colour field under a very slow warm/cool hue sway, the calm flattening, an elliptical
+    /// vignette, and the title/hints legibility scrim — in that order, matching the console
+    /// shader's `composite` so the two platforms' backdrops stay the same picture.
+    private func composite(at t: TimeInterval, palette: GamepadPalette) -> some View {
+        // Where the scrims tend, and how hard. Mixing a PALE field toward white at the dark
+        // field's strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient, so a pale palette
+        // gets under half — the same `u_scrim.a` the console shader carries.
+        let scrim: Color = palette.light ? ink.fg : .black
+        let strength = palette.light ? 0.45 : 1.0
+        return ZStack {
+            Self.color(palette.ground)
+            colorField(at: t, palette: palette)
                 // ±8° over ~5 min — the whole field very slowly warms and cools.
                 .hueRotation(.degrees(sin(t * 0.021) * 8))
-            // Cinematic vignette: darker toward the edges so the cards sit in the pooled light.
-            // Soft (extends past the frame) so the corners deepen rather than crush to black.
+                // Calm = col·0.6 + ground·0.4: over the ground, `.opacity` IS the multiply…
+                .opacity(calm ? 0.6 : 1)
+            if calm {
+                // …and a plusLighter wash of the palette's own ground IS the add. Chosen so the
+                // ground lands exactly where it was and the bright pools come down to meet it.
+                Self.color(palette.ground)
+                    .opacity(0.4)
+                    .blendMode(.plusLighter)
+            }
+            // Cinematic vignette: the edges settle toward the scrim so the cards sit in the
+            // pooled light. Soft (extends past the frame) so the corners deepen rather than
+            // crush. Halved under calm: a launcher's cards sit in the pooled centre, but a form
+            // screen's rows run out toward the edges, where crushing them just eats the list.
             EllipticalGradient(
-                colors: [.clear, .black.opacity(0.42)],
+                colors: [.clear, scrim.opacity((calm ? 0.21 : 0.42) * strength)],
                 center: .center, startRadiusFraction: 0.25, endRadiusFraction: 1.15)
             // Legibility grounding for the pinned title (top) and hint pill (bottom). This one
-            // darkens the aurora itself (it's the backdrop's bottom layer — nothing behind it to
-            // blur), so it stays a gradient, just a light one now.
+            // works on the field itself (it's the backdrop's bottom layer — nothing behind it to
+            // blur), so it stays a gradient, just a light one.
             LinearGradient(
                 stops: [
-                    .init(color: .black.opacity(0.38), location: 0),
-                    .init(color: .black.opacity(0.06), location: 0.32),
-                    .init(color: .black.opacity(0.08), location: 0.68),
-                    .init(color: .black.opacity(0.40), location: 1),
+                    .init(color: scrim.opacity(0.38 * strength), location: 0),
+                    .init(color: scrim.opacity(0.06 * strength), location: 0.32),
+                    .init(color: scrim.opacity(0.08 * strength), location: 0.68),
+                    .init(color: scrim.opacity(0.40 * strength), location: 1),
                 ],
                 startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom)
         }
     }
 
-    @ViewBuilder private func colorField(at t: TimeInterval) -> some View {
+    @ViewBuilder private func colorField(at t: TimeInterval, palette: GamepadPalette) -> some View {
         if #available(iOS 18, macOS 15, tvOS 18, *) {
             MeshGradient(
                 width: 4, height: 4,
                 points: Self.meshPoints(at: t),
-                colors: Self.meshColors,
+                colors: palette.meshColors.map(Self.color),
                 smoothsColors: true)
         } else {
-            LegacyBlobField(t: t)
+            LegacyBlobField(t: t, palette: palette)
         }
     }
 
     // MARK: - MeshGradient aurora (iOS 18 / macOS 15+)
 
-    /// Sixteen mesh colours (row-major, 4×4): dark-violet corners sink the frame, the edges carry
-    /// mid-tone violets, and the four interior points hold the bright brand family — a violet and a
-    /// blue-violet up top, a magenta-violet and a violet below — so warm pools on the left, cool on
-    /// the right, and the silk shifts temperature as those interior points drift.
-    private static let meshColors: [Color] = {
-        let corner = Color(red: 0.075, green: 0.060, blue: 0.160)
-        return [
-            corner, Color(red: 0.34, green: 0.27, blue: 0.72), Color(red: 0.30, green: 0.26, blue: 0.74), corner,
-            Color(red: 0.42, green: 0.20, blue: 0.54), Color(red: 0.49, green: 0.39, blue: 0.95), Color(red: 0.28, green: 0.31, blue: 0.84), Color(red: 0.16, green: 0.26, blue: 0.64),
-            Color(red: 0.45, green: 0.23, blue: 0.60), Color(red: 0.53, green: 0.31, blue: 0.75), Color(red: 0.35, green: 0.35, blue: 0.91), Color(red: 0.19, green: 0.28, blue: 0.70),
-            corner, Color(red: 0.22, green: 0.18, blue: 0.54), Color(red: 0.24, green: 0.20, blue: 0.58), corner,
-        ]
-    }()
+    static func color(_ c: SIMD3<Double>) -> Color {
+        Color(red: c.x, green: c.y, blue: c.z)
+    }
 
     /// The 4×4 control points at time `t`: every boundary point is PINNED to the frame (so the mesh
     /// always fills edge-to-edge — a drifting edge point would shrink the mesh and expose the black
@@ -233,15 +256,18 @@ struct GamepadScreenBackground: View {
 }
 
 /// Pre-18/15 fallback for `GamepadScreenBackground`: the original drifting radial-blob field — four
-/// soft colour blobs on slow Lissajous paths, additively blended. Kept verbatim so older OSes see
-/// exactly the aurora they shipped with (the mesh path is the upgrade for OS 18/15+).
+/// soft colour blobs on slow Lissajous paths, additively blended. Geometry and motion are verbatim
+/// so older OSes see exactly the aurora they shipped with (the mesh path is the upgrade for OS
+/// 18/15+); only the blob COLOURS now pass through the palette, so an older device honours the
+/// setting too instead of being stuck on violet.
 private struct LegacyBlobField: View {
     let t: TimeInterval
+    let palette: GamepadPalette
 
     /// One drifting color blob: a base position + drift ellipse (unit coordinates), angular speeds
-    /// (rad/s — periods of 30–90 s), and a radius that slowly breathes.
+    /// (rad/s — periods of 30–90 s), and a radius that slowly breathes. The COLOUR comes from the
+    /// palette's ramp at draw time (see `blobColors`), so an older OS honours the setting too.
     private struct Blob {
-        let color: Color
         let center: CGPoint
         let drift: CGSize
         let speed: (x: Double, y: Double)
@@ -252,20 +278,16 @@ private struct LegacyBlobField: View {
     }
 
     private static let blobs: [Blob] = [
-        Blob(color: Color(red: 0.53, green: 0.47, blue: 0.96), // brand violet
-             center: CGPoint(x: 0.30, y: 0.24), drift: CGSize(width: 0.16, height: 0.10),
+        Blob(center: CGPoint(x: 0.30, y: 0.24), drift: CGSize(width: 0.16, height: 0.10),
              speed: (0.111, 0.083), phase: (0.0, 1.9),
              radius: 0.52, breathe: (0.07, 0.061), opacity: 0.52),
-        Blob(color: Color(red: 0.24, green: 0.20, blue: 0.72), // deep indigo
-             center: CGPoint(x: 0.78, y: 0.66), drift: CGSize(width: 0.13, height: 0.14),
+        Blob(center: CGPoint(x: 0.78, y: 0.66), drift: CGSize(width: 0.13, height: 0.14),
              speed: (0.071, 0.096), phase: (2.4, 0.7),
              radius: 0.58, breathe: (0.08, 0.049), opacity: 0.55),
-        Blob(color: Color(red: 0.62, green: 0.30, blue: 0.80), // plum
-             center: CGPoint(x: 0.16, y: 0.82), drift: CGSize(width: 0.12, height: 0.09),
+        Blob(center: CGPoint(x: 0.16, y: 0.82), drift: CGSize(width: 0.12, height: 0.09),
              speed: (0.089, 0.067), phase: (4.1, 3.2),
              radius: 0.44, breathe: (0.09, 0.078), opacity: 0.42),
-        Blob(color: Color(red: 0.22, green: 0.38, blue: 0.86), // cool blue
-             center: CGPoint(x: 0.70, y: 0.12), drift: CGSize(width: 0.10, height: 0.08),
+        Blob(center: CGPoint(x: 0.70, y: 0.12), drift: CGSize(width: 0.10, height: 0.08),
              speed: (0.059, 0.104), phase: (1.2, 5.0),
              radius: 0.40, breathe: (0.06, 0.055), opacity: 0.38),
     ]
@@ -275,26 +297,31 @@ private struct LegacyBlobField: View {
             let side = max(geo.size.width, geo.size.height)
             ZStack {
                 ForEach(Self.blobs.indices, id: \.self) { i in
-                    blobView(Self.blobs[i], in: geo.size, side: side)
+                    blobView(Self.blobs[i], tone: palette.blobColors[i], in: geo.size, side: side)
                 }
             }
             .drawingGroup()
         }
     }
 
-    private func blobView(_ blob: Blob, in size: CGSize, side: CGFloat) -> some View {
+    private func blobView(
+        _ blob: Blob, tone: SIMD3<Double>, in size: CGSize, side: CGFloat
+    ) -> some View {
         let x = blob.center.x + blob.drift.width * CGFloat(sin(t * blob.speed.x + blob.phase.x))
         let y = blob.center.y + blob.drift.height * CGFloat(cos(t * blob.speed.y + blob.phase.y))
         let r = side * blob.radius
             * (1 + blob.breathe.amount * CGFloat(sin(t * blob.breathe.speed + blob.phase.x)))
+        let color = GamepadScreenBackground.color(tone)
         return Circle()
             .fill(RadialGradient(
-                colors: [blob.color, blob.color.opacity(0)],
+                colors: [color, color.opacity(0)],
                 center: .center, startRadius: 0, endRadius: r / 2))
             .frame(width: r, height: r)
             .position(x: x * size.width, y: y * size.height)
             .opacity(blob.opacity)
-            .blendMode(.plusLighter)
+            // Additive only works over a DARK ground; over a pale one every blob saturates to
+            // white and the field turns grey. Pale palettes tint instead.
+            .blendMode(palette.light ? .normal : .plusLighter)
     }
 }
 
@@ -304,15 +331,17 @@ private struct LegacyBlobField: View {
 /// the tray's text sits on a softly blurred backdrop that dissolves into the rows.
 struct GamepadTrayScrim: View {
     let edge: VerticalEdge
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
 
     var body: some View {
         let fromEdge: UnitPoint = edge == .top ? .top : .bottom
         let toContent: UnitPoint = edge == .top ? .bottom : .top
         Rectangle()
             .fill(.ultraThinMaterial)
-            // These trays always sit on the dark console UI; force dark so the material frosts dark
-            // (white text stays legible) regardless of the system appearance.
-            .environment(\.colorScheme, .dark)
+            // Force the frost to match the PALETTE, not the system appearance: the tray exists
+            // to keep the pinned title legible, so it has to frost dark under white ink and
+            // light under dark ink.
+            .environment(\.colorScheme, ink.isLight ? .light : .dark)
             // Fade the whole blur out toward the content so it dissolves rather than ending on a line.
             .mask {
                 LinearGradient(
@@ -330,27 +359,16 @@ struct GamepadTrayScrim: View {
     }
 }
 
-/// The calm backdrop for the gamepad UI's form screens (settings, add-host) — NOT the launcher's
-/// drifting aurora (this stays still and quiet), but deliberately NOT near-black either: Liquid
-/// Glass refracts whatever sits behind it, so over black the rows turn invisible. A deep indigo
-/// base plus two soft, static violet/indigo glows give the glass real colour and luminance to lens,
-/// so the rows read as glass while the screen stays restful.
+/// The backdrop for the gamepad UI's form screens (settings, add-host). It used to be a STILL pair
+/// of glows over a deep indigo base — deliberately not near-black, because Liquid Glass refracts
+/// whatever sits behind it and over black the rows turn invisible. It is now the launcher's own
+/// living field at `calm`, which keeps that luminance under the glass, keeps the palette setting
+/// honoured on every screen rather than only the launcher, and leaves nothing in the gamepad UI
+/// backed by a static image. Kept as its own type because that is what the form screens ask for by
+/// name; the console (`pf-console-ui`) made the same substitution behind its `Bg::Form`.
 struct GamepadFormBackground: View {
     var body: some View {
-        ZStack {
-            Color(red: 0.075, green: 0.062, blue: 0.150)
-            // Violet lift top-leading, cooler indigo bottom-trailing — resolution-independent
-            // (fraction radii) so the glow scale tracks the window on any screen.
-            EllipticalGradient(
-                colors: [Color(red: 0.40, green: 0.31, blue: 0.68).opacity(0.9), .clear],
-                center: UnitPoint(x: 0.26, y: 0.14),
-                startRadiusFraction: 0, endRadiusFraction: 0.78)
-            EllipticalGradient(
-                colors: [Color(red: 0.20, green: 0.24, blue: 0.58).opacity(0.75), .clear],
-                center: UnitPoint(x: 0.82, y: 0.9),
-                startRadiusFraction: 0, endRadiusFraction: 0.78)
-        }
-        .ignoresSafeArea()
+        GamepadScreenBackground(calm: true)
     }
 }
 
@@ -373,6 +391,7 @@ struct ConsoleBareButtonStyle: ButtonStyle {
 /// chip in the launcher's top bar. Callers observe GamepadManager already, so this re-renders
 /// when the pad or its battery state changes.
 struct ControllerStatusChip: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     let controller: GamepadManager.DiscoveredController
 
     // Legible from the couch on tvOS, quiet in hand elsewhere.
@@ -397,15 +416,15 @@ struct ControllerStatusChip: View {
                 Image(systemName: batterySymbol(level))
                     .font(.system(size: Self.font))
                     .foregroundStyle(level <= 0.2 && !controller.isCharging
-                        ? AnyShapeStyle(.red) : AnyShapeStyle(.white.opacity(0.7)))
+                        ? AnyShapeStyle(.red) : AnyShapeStyle(ink.fg(0.7)))
             }
         }
         .font(.geist(Self.font, .medium, relativeTo: .caption))
-        .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.7))
+        .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.7))
         .padding(.horizontal, Self.hPad)
         .padding(.vertical, Self.vPad)
-        .background(Capsule().fill(.white.opacity(0.08)))
-        .overlay(Capsule().strokeBorder(.white.opacity(0.12), lineWidth: 1))
+        .background(Capsule().fill(ink.fg(0.08)))
+        .overlay(Capsule().strokeBorder(ink.fg(0.12), lineWidth: 1))
     }
 
     private func batterySymbol(_ level: Float) -> String {

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadHomeView.swift

@@ -23,14 +23,15 @@ import SwiftUI
 #if os(iOS) || os(macOS) || os(tvOS)
 import GameController
 
-/// One navigable tile: a saved host, a discovered-but-unsaved one, or the trailing Add Host
-/// action. Hashable so it can be the carousel's scroll-position identity.
+/// One navigable tile: a saved host, a discovered-but-unsaved one, or one of the trailing
+/// actions. Hashable so it can be the carousel's scroll-position identity.
 private enum GamepadHomeTarget: Hashable {
     /// A saved host's own tile, or one of its pinned host+profile cards (§5.2a) — which on a
     /// controller-first surface are THE profile affordance: focus and press, no menus.
     case saved(UUID, profile: String?)
     case discovered(String)
     case addHost
+    case rescan
 }
 
 /// A fully-resolved launcher tile — display fields + the activate action, built fresh each render
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ private struct HomeTile: Identifiable {
 }
 
 struct GamepadHomeView: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     @ObservedObject var store: HostStore
     @ObservedObject var model: SessionModel
     @ObservedObject var discovery: HostDiscovery
@@ -114,6 +116,9 @@ struct GamepadHomeView: View {
                 .padding(.top, compact ? 4 : 8)
         }
         .background { GamepadScreenBackground() }
+        // Publish the palette's ink to this screen (text, glass, accent, scrims) — a
+        // pale palette flips all of them, and no leaf should have to read the setting.
+        .gamepadPaletteInk()
         .onAppear { discovery.start() }
         .onDisappear { discovery.stop() }
         // Reachability sweep (mDNS-independent) so routed/VPN hosts that never advertise still show
@@ -185,7 +190,7 @@ struct GamepadHomeView: View {
             statusChip(hidden: true)
             Text("Select a Host")
                 .font(.geist(gamepadTitleSize(compact: compact), .bold, relativeTo: .title))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 .lineLimit(1)
                 .minimumScaleFactor(0.75)
                 .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
@@ -262,10 +267,14 @@ struct GamepadHomeView: View {
 
     private var hints: [GamepadHint] {
         let selected = tiles.first { $0.id == selection }
+        let action: String? = switch selected?.id {
+        case .addHost: "Add Host"
+        case .rescan: "Rescan"
+        default: nil
+        }
         var hints = [GamepadHint(
             glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonA, fallback: "a.circle"),
-            text: selected?.id == .addHost ? "Add Host"
-                : (selected?.canWake == true ? "Wake & Connect" : "Connect"))]
+            text: action ?? (selected?.canWake == true ? "Wake & Connect" : "Connect"))]
         if libraryEnabled, selected?.hasLibrary == true {
             hints.append(.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonY, fallback: "y.circle"), text: "Library"))
         }
@@ -325,7 +334,15 @@ struct GamepadHomeView: View {
             subtitle: "Register a host by address",
             icon: "plus",
             activate: { showAddHost = true })
-        return saved + discovered + [add]
+        // A controller surface has no toolbar and no pull-to-refresh, so the rescan the field
+        // asked for is a tile like any other — one press from wherever the stick already is.
+        let rescan = HomeTile(
+            id: .rescan,
+            title: "Rescan",
+            subtitle: discovery.isScanning ? "Scanning…" : "Look for hosts on this network",
+            icon: "arrow.clockwise",
+            activate: { discovery.refresh() })
+        return saved + discovered + [add, rescan]
     }
 
     /// Only saved hosts have a library — matches the touch grid, where "Browse Library…" is a
@@ -342,6 +359,7 @@ struct GamepadHomeView: View {
 /// touch grid's `HostCardView`. Renders only its base look; the centered-tile pop is layered on by
 /// the caller's `.scrollTransition` so it always tracks the real scroll position.
 private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     let tile: HomeTile
     let size: CGSize
 
@@ -381,7 +399,7 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
                     if tile.isPaired {
                         Image(systemName: "lock.fill")
                             .font(.system(size: Self.statusFont, weight: .semibold))
-                            .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.5))
+                            .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.5))
                     }
                     if tile.isOnline {
                         Circle()
@@ -394,7 +412,7 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
             Spacer(minLength: 0)
             Text(tile.title)
                 .font(.geist(Self.titleFont, .bold, relativeTo: .title2))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 .lineLimit(1)
                 .minimumScaleFactor(0.7)
             if let profile = tile.profile {
@@ -404,7 +422,7 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
             }
             Text(tile.subtitle)
                 .font(.geist(Self.subtitleFont, relativeTo: .caption))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.55))
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.55))
                 .lineLimit(1)
                 .padding(.top, 2)
         }
@@ -414,12 +432,12 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
         // Add-Host tiles stay neutral glass with a dashed edge. Glass clips to the shape itself.
         .consoleGlass(
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: Self.corner, style: .continuous),
-            tint: tile.filled ? Color.brand.opacity(0.20) : nil)
+            tint: tile.filled ? ink.accent(0.20) : nil)
         .overlay {
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: Self.corner, style: .continuous)
                 .strokeBorder(
                     LinearGradient(
-                        colors: [.white.opacity(0.22), .white.opacity(0.04)],
+                        colors: [ink.fg(0.22), ink.fg(0.04)],
                         startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom),
                     style: StrokeStyle(lineWidth: 1, dash: tile.filled ? [] : [6, 5]))
         }
@@ -431,15 +449,15 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
         return ZStack {
             shape.fill(tile.filled
                 ? AnyShapeStyle(LinearGradient(
-                    colors: [Color.brand, Color.brand.opacity(0.68)],
+                    colors: [ink.accent, ink.accent(0.68)],
                     startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom))
-                : AnyShapeStyle(Color.brand.opacity(0.16)))
+                : AnyShapeStyle(ink.accent(0.16)))
             if tile.isConnecting {
-                ProgressView().tint(.white)
+                ProgressView().tint(ink.fg)
             } else if let icon = tile.icon {
                 Image(systemName: icon)
                     .font(.system(size: Self.iconFont, weight: .semibold))
-                    .foregroundStyle(Color.brand)
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.accent)
             } else if let mark = osIconImage(for: tile.osChain) {
                 // The OS mark stands in for the initial (template asset — tints like the text it
                 // replaces), and carries the label, since nothing else on the tile names the OS.
@@ -447,18 +465,18 @@ private struct GamepadHostTile: View {
                     .resizable()
                     .scaledToFit()
                     .frame(width: Self.monogramFont, height: Self.monogramFont)
-                    .foregroundStyle(tile.filled ? .white : Color.brand)
+                    .foregroundStyle(tile.filled ? ink.fg : ink.accent)
                     .accessibilityLabel(tile.osChain ?? "")
             } else {
                 Text(monogram(tile.title))
                     .font(.geistFixed(Self.monogramFont, .bold))
-                    .foregroundStyle(tile.filled ? .white : Color.brand)
+                    .foregroundStyle(tile.filled ? ink.fg : ink.accent)
             }
         }
         .frame(width: Self.badgeSide, height: Self.badgeSide)
         .overlay {
             if !tile.filled {
-                shape.strokeBorder(Color.brand.opacity(0.5), lineWidth: 1)
+                shape.strokeBorder(ink.accent(0.5), lineWidth: 1)
             }
         }
     }

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadInk.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+// The ink the gamepad UI draws with under the chosen background palette.
+//
+// The console screens were white-on-dark throughout with the brand violet hardcoded as the
+// accent. Both had to become palette-derived at once: a pale field needs dark text or it is
+// unreadable, and a violet focus wash on a copper field is exactly the clash this exists to fix.
+//
+// Handed down the view tree as an environment value rather than passed to each screen, so a
+// leaf (a row, a hint pill, a card) can ask for the right colour without every caller in between
+// knowing about palettes. `pf-console-ui` does the same thing with a thread-local `Ink`.
+
+import PunktfunkShared
+import SwiftUI
+
+#if os(iOS) || os(macOS) || os(tvOS)
+
+struct GamepadInk: Equatable, Sendable {
+    /// Primary text/glyph colour.
+    let fg: Color
+    /// Focus wash, selected tab pill, switch track, caret — the palette's own accent.
+    let accent: Color
+    /// What reads ON the accent (a filled pill's label).
+    let onAccent: Color
+    /// The base fill every glass surface starts from.
+    let glass: Color
+    /// What a wash laid UNDER text tends toward: black on a dark field, white on a pale one.
+    let shade: Color
+    /// How hard those washes go. A pale field needs far less — mixing toward white at the dark
+    /// field's strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient.
+    let shadeScale: Double
+    /// True when the field is pale, for the few places that need to branch rather than blend
+    /// (a material's `colorScheme`, a shadow's presence).
+    let isLight: Bool
+
+    /// The foreground at `alpha`.
+    func fg(_ alpha: Double) -> Color { fg.opacity(alpha) }
+    /// The accent at `alpha`.
+    func accent(_ alpha: Double) -> Color { accent.opacity(alpha) }
+    /// A wash under text: `alpha` is the dark-field strength, scaled for a pale one.
+    func shade(_ alpha: Double) -> Color { shade.opacity(alpha * shadeScale) }
+
+    static func of(_ p: GamepadPalette) -> GamepadInk {
+        let accent = Color(red: p.accent.x, green: p.accent.y, blue: p.accent.z)
+        let accentLuma = 0.2126 * p.accent.x + 0.7152 * p.accent.y + 0.0722 * p.accent.z
+        // Chosen by luminance, not by `light`: an accent is picked for contrast against the
+        // GLASS, not against the field.
+        let onAccent: Color = accentLuma > 0.55 ? .black : .white
+        guard p.light else {
+            return GamepadInk(
+                fg: .white, accent: accent, onAccent: onAccent,
+                glass: Color(red: 0.086, green: 0.086, blue: 0.125),
+                shade: .black, shadeScale: 1, isLight: false)
+        }
+        return GamepadInk(
+            // Tinted toward the palette's own ground so it doesn't read as a foreign grey.
+            fg: Color(red: p.ground.x * 0.16, green: p.ground.y * 0.14, blue: p.ground.z * 0.20),
+            accent: accent, onAccent: onAccent,
+            glass: .white,
+            shade: .white, shadeScale: 0.45, isLight: true)
+    }
+
+    /// The shipped dark look — what a preview or a test composition gets.
+    static let dark = GamepadInk.of(GamepadPalette.named("violet"))
+}
+
+private struct GamepadInkKey: EnvironmentKey {
+    static let defaultValue = GamepadInk.dark
+}
+
+extension EnvironmentValues {
+    /// The ink of the palette currently drawing. Set once, high up (see `GamepadInkModifier`).
+    var gamepadInk: GamepadInk {
+        get { self[GamepadInkKey.self] }
+        set { self[GamepadInkKey.self] = newValue }
+    }
+}
+
+extension View {
+    /// Resolve the stored `ui_palette` and publish its ink to everything below. Applied by the
+    /// gamepad screens' common root so no individual view has to read the setting.
+    func gamepadPaletteInk() -> some View { modifier(GamepadInkModifier()) }
+}
+
+private struct GamepadInkModifier: ViewModifier {
+    @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.uiPalette) private var paletteID = "violet"
+
+    func body(content: Content) -> some View {
+        content.environment(\.gamepadInk, GamepadInk.of(GamepadPalette.named(paletteID)))
+    }
+}
+
+#endif

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadKeyboard.swift

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import SwiftUI
 #if os(iOS) || os(macOS)
 
 struct GamepadKeyboard: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     @Binding var text: String
     /// Restricts typed characters (e.g. digits for a port field); backspace always works.
     var allowed: CharacterSet?
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ struct GamepadKeyboard: View {
         }
         .overlay {
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 22, style: .continuous)
-                .strokeBorder(.white.opacity(0.12), lineWidth: 1)
+                .strokeBorder(ink.fg(0.12), lineWidth: 1)
         }
         .sensoryFeedback(.selection, trigger: cursor)
         .sensoryFeedback(.impact(weight: .light), trigger: pressTick)
@@ -110,11 +111,11 @@ struct GamepadKeyboard: View {
                     .font(.geist(15, .semibold, relativeTo: .callout))
             }
         }
-        .foregroundStyle(focused ? Color.black : .white)
+        .foregroundStyle(focused ? Color.black : ink.fg)
         .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, minHeight: compact ? 34 : 42)
         .background {
             RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 9, style: .continuous)
-                .fill(focused ? AnyShapeStyle(Color.brand) : AnyShapeStyle(.white.opacity(0.08)))
+                .fill(focused ? AnyShapeStyle(ink.accent) : AnyShapeStyle(ink.fg(0.08)))
         }
         .animation(.smooth(duration: 0.12), value: focused)
         .contentShape(Rectangle())

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/GamepadMenuList.swift

@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ struct GamepadMenuList<Item: Identifiable, Row: View>: View where Item.ID: Hasha
     let onActivate: (Item) -> Void
     /// B → back/dismiss; nil disables it.
     var onBack: (() -> Void)?
+    /// L1 (`-1`) / R1 (`+1`) — a step SIDEWAYS out of the list: the settings screen's section
+    /// tabs. Wired on tvOS too, where the focus engine owns up/down but leaves the shoulders
+    /// to the poll. nil ⇒ the shoulders do nothing.
+    var onShoulder: ((Int) -> Void)?
     /// Whether this list currently owns controller input — same handoff contract as
     /// GamepadCarousel's `isActive` (a covered screen must stop polling the shared pad).
     var isActive: Bool = true
@@ -159,6 +163,7 @@ struct GamepadMenuList<Item: Identifiable, Row: View>: View where Item.ID: Hasha
             case .up, .down: break
             }
         }
+        input.onShoulder = { forward in onShoulder?(forward ? 1 : -1) }
         #else
         input.onMove = { direction in
             switch direction {
@@ -170,6 +175,7 @@ struct GamepadMenuList<Item: Identifiable, Row: View>: View where Item.ID: Hasha
         }
         input.onConfirm = { activate() }
         input.onBack = onBack
+        input.onShoulder = { forward in onShoulder?(forward ? 1 : -1) }
         #endif
     }
 

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/HomeView.swift

@@ -53,7 +53,18 @@ struct HomeView: View {
         NavigationStack {
             Group {
                 if store.hosts.isEmpty && discoveredUnsaved.isEmpty {
-                    emptyState
+                    #if os(tvOS)
+                    emptyState // no pull-to-refresh on a remote; the action row carries Refresh
+                    #else
+                    // Inside a ScrollView purely so the pull gesture works on the ONE screen
+                    // where a rescan matters most: the one that found nothing.
+                    ScrollView {
+                        emptyState
+                            .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
+                            .containerRelativeFrame(.vertical)
+                    }
+                    .refreshable { await discovery.rescan() }
+                    #endif
                 } else {
                     ScrollView {
                         if !store.hosts.isEmpty {
@@ -94,6 +105,7 @@ struct HomeView: View {
                             } label: {
                                 Label("Settings", systemImage: "gearshape")
                             }
+                            refreshButton
                         }
                         .padding(.top, 24)
                         // One FULL-WIDTH focus target for any downward move out of the grid.
@@ -106,6 +118,9 @@ struct HomeView: View {
                         .focusSection()
                         #endif
                     }
+                    #if !os(tvOS)
+                    .refreshable { await discovery.rescan() }
+                    #endif
                 }
             }
             .navigationTitle("Punktfunk")
@@ -151,6 +166,7 @@ struct HomeView: View {
                 if showsArrangeMenu {
                     ToolbarItem(placement: .topBarTrailing) { arrangeMenu }
                 }
+                ToolbarItem(placement: .topBarTrailing) { refreshButton }
                 ToolbarItem(placement: .topBarTrailing) { addHostButton }
                 #else
                 if showsArrangeMenu {
@@ -159,6 +175,10 @@ struct HomeView: View {
                             .help("Sort and group the host list")
                     }
                 }
+                ToolbarItem(placement: .primaryAction) {
+                    refreshButton
+                        .help("Scan the network for hosts again")
+                }
                 ToolbarItem(placement: .primaryAction) {
                     addHostButton
                         .help("Add a host")
@@ -324,13 +344,20 @@ struct HomeView: View {
         ContentUnavailableView {
             Label("No Hosts", systemImage: "rectangle.connected.to.line.below")
         } description: {
-            Text("Add your punktfunk host with the + button.")
+            Text("Add your punktfunk host with the + button, or scan the network again.")
         } actions: {
             Button("Add Host") { showAddHost = true }
                 .glassProminentButtonStyle()
                 #if os(iOS)
                 .controlSize(.large)
                 #endif
+            // The screen a host SHOULD have appeared on is where a rescan is worth offering
+            // outright rather than hiding behind a pull gesture.
+            Button("Scan Again") { discovery.refresh() }
+                .disabled(discovery.isScanning)
+                #if os(iOS)
+                .controlSize(.large)
+                #endif
             #if os(tvOS)
             Button("Settings") { showSettings = true }
             #endif
@@ -345,6 +372,18 @@ struct HomeView: View {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Re-run mDNS discovery from scratch. Discovery heals itself now (`HostDiscovery`'s sweep),
+    /// so this is the fallback the field asked for — and the fastest way past the iOS
+    /// local-network permission gate, which only a NEW browser can clear.
+    private var refreshButton: some View {
+        Button {
+            discovery.refresh()
+        } label: {
+            Label("Refresh", systemImage: "arrow.clockwise")
+        }
+        .disabled(discovery.isScanning)
+    }
+
     #if !os(tvOS)
     /// One host has no order and nothing to divide, so the control stays out of the way until
     /// there is a list to arrange.

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryCoverflowView.swift

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import SwiftUI
 import GameController
 
 struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     let games: [GameEntry]
     let imageSession: URLSession?
     var onLaunch: ((String) -> Void)?
@@ -46,18 +47,24 @@ struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
                 .padding(.vertical, compact ? 6 : 10)
         }
         .background { GamepadScreenBackground() }
+        // Publish the palette's ink to this screen (text, glass, accent, scrims) — a
+        // pale palette flips all of them, and no leaf should have to read the setting.
+        .gamepadPaletteInk()
     }
 
     @ViewBuilder private func content(for size: CGSize) -> some View {
         // Fit the tallest poster into the height the detail line + paddings leave (the hints are a
         // safe-area inset, already out of this budget) — capped so it never dwarfs a large iPad and
         // clamped by width on a narrow screen.
-        let reserved: CGFloat = compact ? 72 : 96 // detail line + spacers
+        let reserved: CGFloat = (compact ? 72 : 96) + (showsGroupHeading ? 26 : 0)
         let coverHeight = min(360, min(max(140, size.height - reserved), size.width * 0.9))
         let coverWidth = coverHeight * 2 / 3
 
         VStack(spacing: 0) {
             Spacer(minLength: 4)
+            if showsGroupHeading {
+                groupHeading.padding(.bottom, 6)
+            }
             carousel(coverWidth: coverWidth, coverHeight: coverHeight)
             detailPanel
                 .padding(.top, 12)
@@ -89,10 +96,12 @@ struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
         PosterImage(candidates: game.art.posterCandidates, title: game.title, session: imageSession)
             .frame(width: width, height: height)
             .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 16, style: .continuous))
-            .overlay(alignment: .topLeading) { StoreBadge(isCustom: game.isCustom) }
+            .overlay(alignment: .topLeading) {
+                StoreBadge(label: game.storeLabel, isLauncher: game.isLauncher)
+            }
             .overlay {
                 RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 16, style: .continuous)
-                    .strokeBorder(.white.opacity(0.12), lineWidth: 1)
+                    .strokeBorder(ink.fg(0.12), lineWidth: 1)
             }
             .shadow(color: .black.opacity(0.5), radius: 16, y: 12)
             .scrollTransition { content, phase in
@@ -112,21 +121,42 @@ struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
             }
     }
 
+    /// Does this library have both groups? Only then does the heading earn its row — a
+    /// launcher-less library gets exactly the layout it had before design D4.
+    private var showsGroupHeading: Bool {
+        games.contains(where: \.isLauncher) && games.contains { !$0.isLauncher }
+    }
+
+    /// Which group the cursor is in. A coverflow is one-dimensional, so instead of a second focus
+    /// rail (a whole new up/down nav model for two or three tiles) the heading names the group and
+    /// changes as the selection crosses the boundary — the launcher entries lead the strip.
+    private var groupHeading: some View {
+        let selected = games.first { $0.id == selection }
+        return Text(selected?.isLauncher == true ? "LAUNCHERS" : "GAMES")
+            .font(.geist(11, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption2))
+            .tracking(1.4)
+            .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.45))
+    }
+
     /// The centered title + store tag — empty (not hidden) so the layout doesn't jump.
     @ViewBuilder private var detailPanel: some View {
         let game = games.first { $0.id == selection }
         VStack(spacing: 6) {
             Text(game?.title ?? " ")
                 .font(.geist(compact ? 22 : 25, .bold, relativeTo: .title))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 .lineLimit(1)
                 .minimumScaleFactor(0.75)
                 .multilineTextAlignment(.center)
             if let game {
-                Text(game.isCustom ? "CUSTOM" : "STEAM")
-                    .font(.geist(11, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption2))
-                    .tracking(1.2)
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.5))
+                // main's richer store label, in the palette's ink.
+                Text(
+                    game.isLauncher
+                        ? "\(game.storeLabel.uppercased()) · LAUNCHER" : game.storeLabel.uppercased()
+                )
+                .font(.geist(11, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption2))
+                .tracking(1.2)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.5))
             }
         }
         .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
@@ -139,7 +169,10 @@ struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
     private var hints: [GamepadHint] {
         var hints: [GamepadHint] = []
         if onLaunch != nil {
-            hints.append(.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonA, fallback: "a.circle"), text: "Launch"))
+            // You *open* a launcher and *launch* a game — the hint follows the focused entry.
+            let opens = games.first { $0.id == selection }?.isLauncher == true
+            hints.append(
+                .init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonA, fallback: "a.circle"), text: opens ? "Open" : "Launch"))
         }
         hints.append(.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonB, fallback: "b.circle"), text: "Close"))
         return hints

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryView.swift

@@ -80,21 +80,47 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
     }
 
     private var grid: some View {
-        ScrollView {
-            LazyVGrid(columns: columns, spacing: 18) {
-                ForEach(games) { game in
-                    if let onLaunch {
-                        Button { onLaunch(game.id) } label: { GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession) }
-                            .buttonStyle(.plain)
-                    } else {
-                        GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession)
-                    }
+        // Design D4: launcher entries get their own section above the titles, never interleaved.
+        // Both headers appear only when both groups exist, so a library without launcher entries
+        // renders exactly as it did before.
+        let launchers = games.filter(\.isLauncher)
+        let titles = games.filter { !$0.isLauncher }
+        let both = !launchers.isEmpty && !titles.isEmpty
+        return ScrollView {
+            VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 18) {
+                if !launchers.isEmpty {
+                    if both { sectionHeader("Launchers") }
+                    tiles(launchers)
+                }
+                if !titles.isEmpty {
+                    if both { sectionHeader("Games") }
+                    tiles(titles)
                 }
             }
             .padding()
         }
     }
 
+    private func tiles(_ entries: [GameEntry]) -> some View {
+        LazyVGrid(columns: columns, spacing: 18) {
+            ForEach(entries) { game in
+                if let onLaunch {
+                    Button { onLaunch(game.id) } label: { GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession) }
+                        .buttonStyle(.plain)
+                } else {
+                    GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func sectionHeader(_ text: String) -> some View {
+        Text(text)
+            .font(.geist(12, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption))
+            .tracking(1.1)
+            .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+    }
+
     private var columns: [GridItem] {
         #if os(tvOS)
         let minW: CGFloat = 220
@@ -152,12 +178,15 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
             return
         }
         do {
+            // `launchersFirst` groups launcher entries ahead of titles once, here, so the grid and
+            // the gamepad coverflow both inherit the D4 ordering.
             games = try await LibraryClient.fetch(
                 address: current.address,
                 port: current.effectiveMgmtPort,
                 certPEM: identity.certPEM,
                 keyPEM: identity.keyPEM,
-                hostFingerprint: current.pinnedSHA256)
+                hostFingerprint: current.pinnedSHA256
+            ).launchersFirst
             imageSession?.finishTasksAndInvalidate()
             imageSession = try LibraryImageLoader.session(
                 address: current.address,
@@ -185,7 +214,9 @@ private struct GameCard: View {
                 .aspectRatio(2.0 / 3.0, contentMode: .fit)
                 .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
                 .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 10, style: .continuous))
-                .overlay(alignment: .topLeading) { StoreBadge(isCustom: game.isCustom) }
+                .overlay(alignment: .topLeading) {
+                    StoreBadge(label: game.storeLabel, isLauncher: game.isLauncher)
+                }
             Text(game.title)
                 .font(.geist(12, relativeTo: .caption))
                 .lineLimit(2)

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryWidgets.swift

@@ -12,14 +12,21 @@ import AppKit
 /// The store-provenance badge (Steam vs. a user-curated custom entry) overlaid on a poster —
 /// shared by the touch grid's `GameCard` and the gamepad coverflow's cover cell.
 struct StoreBadge: View {
-    let isCustom: Bool
+    /// Which store surfaced the entry, already resolved to a display name (`GameEntry.storeLabel`).
+    let label: String
+    /// A launcher entry (design D4) gets the brand fill, so "opens Steam" is legible at poster size
+    /// without reading the title.
+    var isLauncher: Bool = false
 
     var body: some View {
-        Text(isCustom ? "Custom" : "Steam")
+        Text(label)
             .font(.geist(11, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption2))
+            .foregroundStyle(isLauncher ? AnyShapeStyle(.white) : AnyShapeStyle(.primary))
             .padding(.horizontal, 6)
             .padding(.vertical, 3)
-            .background(.ultraThinMaterial, in: Capsule())
+            .background(
+                isLauncher ? AnyShapeStyle(Color.brand) : AnyShapeStyle(.ultraThinMaterial),
+                in: Capsule())
             .padding(6)
     }
 }

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Session/SessionModel.swift

@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ final class SessionModel: ObservableObject {
     @Published private(set) var connection: PunktfunkConnection?
     /// The host this session is for (a value copy; identity = id).
     @Published private(set) var activeHost: StoredHost?
+    /// The library entry this session was launched with (`connect(launchID:)`), or nil if the user
+    /// just connected to the host's desktop. Kept because where the client should go when the
+    /// session ends depends on where it came FROM: a title launched out of the library belongs back
+    /// in that library when its game exits, not on the host-selection screen.
+    private var launchedTitleID: String?
+    /// Set when a session ended because its game exited and it began as a library launch: the host
+    /// whose library to reopen. The view layer consumes it and sets it back to nil.
+    @Published var returnToLibrary: StoredHost?
     /// The settings THIS session runs on — the globals with its profile overlaid, resolved once at
     /// connect (design/client-settings-profiles.md §4.2). Also mirrored into `SessionSettings` for
     /// the readers that live in PunktfunkKit and can't see this model.
@@ -249,6 +257,7 @@ final class SessionModel: ObservableObject {
         guard phase == .idle else { return }
         phase = .connecting
         activeHost = host
+        launchedTitleID = launchID
         errorMessage = nil
         settings = effective
         statsVerbosity = StatsVerbosity(rawValue: effective.statsVerbosity) ?? .normal
@@ -607,6 +616,8 @@ final class SessionModel: ObservableObject {
         }
         connection = nil
         activeHost = nil
+        // Read by `sessionEnded` BEFORE it calls us, so clearing here can't rob it of the answer.
+        launchedTitleID = nil
         phase = .idle
         fps = 0
         mbps = 0
@@ -626,10 +637,36 @@ final class SessionModel: ObservableObject {
 
     /// Called (via the main actor) when the pump hits end-of-session.
     func sessionEnded() {
-        guard connection != nil else { return }
+        guard let conn = connection else { return }
         let name = activeHost?.displayName ?? "host"
+        // WHY it ended, asked while the connection is still up — `disconnect` tears it down.
+        let reason = conn.sessionEndReason
+        // Where a game exit sends us: back into the library this title was launched from, so the
+        // next one is a tap away. Only for a launch that CAME from the library — a game exiting in
+        // a plain desktop session has no library to return to.
+        let host = activeHost
+        let cameFromLibrary = launchedTitleID != nil
         disconnect(deliberate: false) // host/network ended it — keep the linger for a reconnect
-        errorMessage = "Session ended by \(name)."
+        switch reason {
+        case .gameExited:
+            // The player quit their own game. Not a failure, and they are probably after the next
+            // title — so no banner, and back to the library it came from.
+            if cameFromLibrary, let host {
+                returnToLibrary = host
+            }
+        case .hostEnded, .local:
+            // Someone asked for this: an operator "End" on the host, or our own close racing in.
+            // Say it plainly, without the error framing.
+            errorMessage = "\(name) ended the session."
+        case .hostError:
+            errorMessage = "\(name) ended the session with an error."
+        case .lost:
+            errorMessage = "Lost the connection to \(name)."
+        case .none:
+            // No verdict (an older core, or the close raced the read): keep the wording this path
+            // has always used rather than inventing one.
+            errorMessage = "Session ended by \(name)."
+        }
     }
 
     /// Resize overlay START (main actor — from the Match-window follower's `onResizeTarget`): the

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Settings/GamepadSettingsView.swift

@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@
 // the thumb it's the last option); A always cycles forward, wrapping, so every option is reachable
 // with one button. Toggles read left = off, right = on — refusing a no-op with the same thud.
 //
-// The trailing Profiles section (design/client-settings-profiles.md §5.2a/§5.4) is the pin manager
+// The rows are split across SECTION TABS (`GpSettingsTab`) — L1/R1 on a pad, a tap elsewhere. They
+// used to be one long scroll with inline group headers, which meant thumbing past Video and Audio
+// to reach the controller settings; a tab is one shoulder press, and each tab remembers where its
+// focus was. The tab names match the desktop console's and the Android client's, so a setting is
+// found under the same word wherever you look for it.
+//
+// The trailing Profiles tab (design/client-settings-profiles.md §5.2a/§5.4) is the pin manager
 // for this controller-first surface: a row per catalog profile opens the pin-to-hosts picker — an
 // in-place swap of the row list (B peels back, the "one layer" rule GamepadAddHostView set) with
 // one toggle row per saved host, writing `StoredHost.pinnedProfileIDs` via HostStore.setPinned.
@@ -27,7 +33,19 @@ import GameController
 import CoreHaptics
 #endif
 
+/// The settings screen's sections. Order IS the strip order and the L1/R1 cycle order; the names
+/// match `pf-console-ui`'s `TABS` and the Android client's `GpTab`.
+enum GpSettingsTab: String, CaseIterable, Hashable {
+    case stream = "Stream"
+    case video = "Video"
+    case audio = "Audio"
+    case controller = "Controller"
+    case interface = "Interface"
+    case profiles = "Profiles"
+}
+
 struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     @Environment(\.dismiss) private var dismiss
     /// The saved-host store — the pin picker writes `setPinned` through it and the profile rows
     /// count pins from its live hosts. Threaded in from GamepadHomeView like the home screen
@@ -55,6 +73,9 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.hudPlacement) private var hudPlacement = HUDPlacement.topTrailing.rawValue
     @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.libraryEnabled) private var libraryEnabled = true
     @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.gamepadUIEnabled) private var gamepadUIEnabled = true
+    /// The gamepad UI's background colour family — the backdrop BEHIND this screen re-colours as
+    /// the row steps, which is why the picker lives here and not in a sheet.
+    @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.uiPalette) private var paletteID = "violet"
     @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.autoWake) private var autoWakeEnabled = true
     @AppStorage(DefaultsKey.presentPriority) private var presentPriority =
         SettingsOptions.presentPriorityDefault
@@ -74,12 +95,23 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     #if os(iOS)
     /// `.compact` in a landscape phone window — tighter chrome so more rows fit.
     @Environment(\.verticalSizeClass) private var vSizeClass
+    /// `.regular` only on an iPad-class window — see `showsSectionHint`.
+    @Environment(\.horizontalSizeClass) private var hSizeClass
 
     private var compact: Bool { vSizeClass == .compact }
     #else
     private let compact = false // no size classes on macOS; the sheet is sized generously
     #endif
     @State private var focusID: String?
+    /// The section showing. The pin picker ignores it — that layer replaces the whole list.
+    @State private var tab: GpSettingsTab = .stream
+    /// Where each tab's focus was when it was last left, so a detour doesn't lose your place.
+    @State private var tabFocus: [GpSettingsTab: String] = [:]
+    @Namespace private var tabHighlight
+    #if os(tvOS)
+    /// Real focus on the strip — the tvOS route to the sections (see `tabStrip`).
+    @FocusState private var focusedTab: GpSettingsTab?
+    #endif
     /// The pin-to-hosts picker's profile — non-nil swaps the row list for one toggle row per
     /// saved host (§5.2a); B (Menu on tvOS) peels back to the settings rows.
     @State private var pinTarget: StreamProfile?
@@ -93,7 +125,8 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             focusID: $focusID,
             onAdjust: { row, delta in adjust(id: row.id, by: delta) },
             onActivate: { activate(id: $0.id) },
-            onBack: { back() }
+            onBack: { back() },
+            onShoulder: { step(tabBy: $0) }
         ) { row, focused in
             rowView(row, focused: focused)
                 .frame(maxWidth: GamepadFormMetrics.rowMaxWidth)
@@ -101,20 +134,25 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
         }
         .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
         .safeAreaInset(edge: .top, spacing: 0) {
-            Text(title)
-                .font(.geist(gamepadTitleSize(compact: compact), .bold, relativeTo: .title))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
-                .padding(.top, gamepadTitleTopPadding(compact: compact))
-                .padding(.bottom, compact ? 4 : 8)
-                .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
-                .overlay(alignment: .trailing) { closeButton.padding(.trailing, 20) }
-                .background { GamepadTrayScrim(edge: .top) }
+            VStack(spacing: compact ? 4 : 8) {
+                Text(title)
+                    .font(.geist(gamepadTitleSize(compact: compact), .bold, relativeTo: .title))
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
+                    .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
+                    .overlay(alignment: .trailing) { closeButton.padding(.trailing, 20) }
+                // The picker is one layer deeper — its rows aren't sections of anything, so the
+                // strip would be a control that does nothing while it's up.
+                if pinTarget == nil { tabStrip }
+            }
+            .padding(.top, gamepadTitleTopPadding(compact: compact))
+            .padding(.bottom, compact ? 4 : 8)
+            .background { GamepadTrayScrim(edge: .top) }
         }
         .safeAreaInset(edge: .bottom, alignment: .leading, spacing: 0) {
             VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 8) {
                 Text(focusedDetail)
                     .font(.geist(GamepadFormMetrics.detailFont, relativeTo: .caption))
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.55))
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.fg(0.55))
                     .lineLimit(2, reservesSpace: true)
                     .animation(.smooth(duration: 0.2), value: focusID)
                 GamepadHintBar(hints: hints)
@@ -127,9 +165,13 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, alignment: .leading)
             .background { GamepadTrayScrim(edge: .bottom) }
         }
-        // No aurora here — the settings read as clean Liquid Glass over a quiet dark base, so the
-        // glass rows are the only material on the screen.
+        // The launcher's living field, calmed (GamepadFormBackground) — the glass rows keep real
+        // colour and luminance to lens without the launcher's contrast, and the palette setting
+        // applies here too, so this screen previews the row you're stepping.
         .background { GamepadFormBackground() }
+        // Publish the palette's ink to this screen (text, glass, accent, scrims) — a
+        // pale palette flips all of them, and no leaf should have to read the setting.
+        .gamepadPaletteInk()
         .onAppear {
             gamepads.refresh()
             gamepads.startDiscovery()
@@ -137,13 +179,108 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
         .onDisappear { gamepads.stopDiscovery() }
     }
 
+    /// The section switcher. Horizontally scrollable so a narrow phone in landscape never has to
+    /// squeeze six pills — the selected one is always scrolled into view, whether it was reached
+    /// by shoulder button, tap, or (tvOS) the focus engine.
+    private var tabStrip: some View {
+        ScrollViewReader { proxy in
+            ScrollView(.horizontal) {
+                HStack(spacing: 6) {
+                    ForEach(GpSettingsTab.allCases, id: \.self) { t in
+                        #if os(tvOS)
+                        // Focusable, because L1/R1 is NOT a route here: a Siri Remote has no
+                        // extended gamepad profile, so it never reaches GamepadMenuList's poll.
+                        // As focusable Buttons the pills are simply above the rows, and moving
+                        // focus up onto one switches section — the standard tvOS tab bar.
+                        Button { select(tab: t) } label: { pill(t) }
+                            .buttonStyle(ConsoleBareButtonStyle())
+                            .focused($focusedTab, equals: t)
+                            .id(t)
+                        #else
+                        pill(t)
+                            .contentShape(Capsule())
+                            .onTapGesture { select(tab: t) }
+                            .id(t)
+                        #endif
+                    }
+                }
+                .padding(.horizontal, 24)
+            }
+            .scrollIndicators(.never)
+            .animation(.smooth(duration: 0.22), value: tab)
+            .onChange(of: tab) { _, t in
+                withAnimation(.easeOut(duration: 0.2)) { proxy.scrollTo(t) }
+            }
+            #if os(tvOS)
+            .onChange(of: focusedTab) { _, t in
+                // Focus IS selection on a tab bar; nil means focus dropped back into the rows.
+                if let t { select(tab: t) }
+            }
+            #endif
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func pill(_ t: GpSettingsTab) -> some View {
+        let selected = t == tab
+        return Text(t.rawValue)
+            .font(.geist(compact ? 12 : 13, .semibold, relativeTo: .footnote))
+            .foregroundStyle(selected ? ink.fg : ink.fg(0.55))
+            .padding(.horizontal, 13)
+            .padding(.vertical, 7)
+            .background {
+                // One shared capsule that MOVES between pills, rather than one per pill fading
+                // in and out — the highlight travels the way the press did.
+                if selected {
+                    Capsule()
+                        .fill(ink.accent(0.85))
+                        .matchedGeometryEffect(id: "tab", in: tabHighlight)
+                }
+            }
+    }
+
+    /// Whether the legend advertises the shoulder shortcut. Held back on an iPhone, whose legend
+    /// is already at its width and would push "Done" off the edge — the strip is visible and
+    /// tappable there anyway. Never on tvOS: a Siri Remote has no shoulders, and its route to the
+    /// sections is the focus engine (see `tabStrip`).
+    private var showsSectionHint: Bool {
+        #if os(tvOS)
+        false
+        #elseif os(iOS)
+        hSizeClass == .regular
+        #else
+        true
+        #endif
+    }
+
+    /// L1/R1 — one section along, wrapping (the strip is a ring, like A's value cycle).
+    private func step(tabBy delta: Int) {
+        guard pinTarget == nil else { return }
+        let all = GpSettingsTab.allCases
+        guard let i = all.firstIndex(of: tab) else { return }
+        let n = all.count
+        select(tab: all[((i + delta) % n + n) % n])
+    }
+
+    private func select(tab next: GpSettingsTab) {
+        guard next != tab else { return }
+        tabFocus[tab] = focusID
+        // Restore where this tab was, if that row is still in it (a row can come and go with the
+        // hardware it depends on); otherwise the focus list seeds its first row. Resolved against
+        // `allRows` rather than `rows` so it doesn't depend on `tab`'s write being visible yet.
+        let landing = tabFocus[next].flatMap { id in
+            allRows.contains { $0.tab == next && $0.id == id } ? id : nil
+        }
+        tab = next
+        focusID = landing
+    }
+
     /// Touch/click fallback for closing — the controller path is B, a hardware keyboard's Esc
     /// rides the cancel action.
     private var closeButton: some View {
         Button { dismiss() } label: {
             Image(systemName: "xmark")
                 .font(.system(size: GamepadFormMetrics.closeFont, weight: .semibold))
-                .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                 .frame(width: GamepadFormMetrics.closeSide, height: GamepadFormMetrics.closeSide)
                 .glassBackground(Circle(), interactive: true)
                 .contentShape(Circle())
@@ -166,12 +303,19 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     /// layer" rule), and a hostless picker has nothing to pin, so only Back remains.
     private var hints: [GamepadHint] {
         guard pinTarget != nil else {
+            // The shoulders change section, so that cell leads — where it fits and where the
+            // shoulders exist at all (see `showsSectionHint`).
+            let sections: [GamepadHint] = showsSectionHint
+                ? [.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.leftShoulder, fallback: "l1.rectangle.roundedbottom"),
+                         text: "Section")]
+                : []
             // A dimmed row takes neither, so offering them would be the same lie the row itself
             // used to tell — only Done remains, and the detail line says what to turn on first.
             guard rows.first(where: { $0.id == focusID })?.enabled ?? true else {
-                return [.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonB, fallback: "b.circle"), text: "Done")]
+                return sections
+                    + [.init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonB, fallback: "b.circle"), text: "Done")]
             }
-            return [
+            return sections + [
                 .init(glyph: "arrow.left.and.right", text: "Adjust"),
                 .init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonA, fallback: "a.circle"), text: "Change"),
                 .init(glyph: buttonGlyph(\.buttonB, fallback: "b.circle"), text: "Done"),
@@ -201,30 +345,24 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
 
     private func rowView(_ row: Row, focused: Bool) -> some View {
         let m = GamepadFormMetrics.self
+        // No section header: the tab strip names the section now, and repeating it above the
+        // first row of every tab was just a second label saying the same word.
         return VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 6) {
-            if let header = row.header {
-                Text(header)
-                    .font(.geist(m.headerFont, .semibold, relativeTo: .caption))
-                    .tracking(1.4)
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white.opacity(0.45))
-                    .padding(.leading, m.rowHPad)
-                    .padding(.top, 14)
-            }
             HStack(spacing: 14) {
                 Image(systemName: row.icon)
                     .font(.system(size: m.iconFont))
-                    .foregroundStyle(focused ? Color.brand : .white.opacity(0.55))
+                    .foregroundStyle(focused ? ink.accent : ink.fg(0.55))
                     .frame(width: m.iconWidth)
                 Text(row.label)
                     .font(.geist(m.labelFont, .semibold, relativeTo: .body))
-                    .foregroundStyle(.white)
+                    .foregroundStyle(ink.fg)
                     .lineLimit(1)
                 Spacer(minLength: 12)
                 HStack(spacing: 9) {
                     Image(systemName: "chevron.left")
                         .font(.system(size: m.chevronFont, weight: .semibold))
                         .foregroundStyle(
-                            .white.opacity(focused && row.adjustable && row.enabled ? 0.6 : 0))
+                            ink.fg(focused && row.adjustable && row.enabled ? 0.6 : 0))
                     // Keyed by the value so a change slides the new option in instead of
                     // hard-swapping the string — a QUIET horizontal slip following the user's
                     // motion (a right-step enters from the right), crossfading over ~14 pt.
@@ -235,7 +373,7 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
                     ZStack {
                         Text(row.value)
                             .font(.geist(m.valueFont, .medium, relativeTo: .callout))
-                            .foregroundStyle(focused ? .white : .white.opacity(0.6))
+                            .foregroundStyle(focused ? ink.fg : ink.fg(0.6))
                             .lineLimit(1)
                             .id(row.value)
                             .transition(.asymmetric(
@@ -246,7 +384,7 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
                     Image(systemName: "chevron.right")
                         .font(.system(size: m.chevronFont, weight: .semibold))
                         .foregroundStyle(
-                            .white.opacity(focused && row.adjustable && row.enabled ? 0.6 : 0))
+                            ink.fg(focused && row.adjustable && row.enabled ? 0.6 : 0))
                 }
             }
             // Contents only — the glass and border below stay at full strength, so a dimmed row
@@ -257,11 +395,11 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             // Every row is Liquid Glass; the focused one takes a brand wash and reacts to press.
             .consoleGlass(
                 RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: m.rowCorner, style: .continuous),
-                tint: focused ? Color.brand.opacity(0.30) : nil,
+                tint: focused ? ink.accent(0.30) : nil,
                 interactive: focused)
             .overlay {
                 RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: m.rowCorner, style: .continuous)
-                    .strokeBorder(.white.opacity(focused ? 0.28 : 0.06), lineWidth: 1)
+                    .strokeBorder(ink.fg(focused ? 0.28 : 0.06), lineWidth: 1)
             }
             .scaleEffect(focused ? 1.0 : 0.98)
             .animation(.smooth(duration: 0.18), value: focused)
@@ -276,8 +414,9 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
 
     private struct Row: Identifiable {
         let id: String
-        /// Section header drawn above this row (the first row of each group carries it).
-        var header: String?
+        /// Which section tab this row belongs to. Every row has exactly one, and `rows` shows
+        /// only the current tab's — see `allRows`.
+        var tab: GpSettingsTab = .stream
         let icon: String
         let label: String
         let value: String
@@ -313,10 +452,17 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
         row.activate()
     }
 
+    /// What the focus list actually shows: the current tab's rows — or the pin picker's, which
+    /// replaces the whole list while it's up (same screen, one layer deeper, so the focus list's
+    /// controller wiring and the tvOS focus engine carry over as is).
     private var rows: [Row] {
-        // The pin picker replaces the whole list while it's up — same screen, one layer deeper,
-        // so the focus list's controller wiring (and the tvOS focus engine) carries over as is.
         if let profile = pinTarget { return pinRows(for: profile) }
+        return allRows.filter { $0.tab == tab }
+    }
+
+    /// Every row on the screen, tagged with its section. Built as one list (not per tab) so the
+    /// platform-conditional insertions below can still place a row RELATIVE to another by id.
+    private var allRows: [Row] {
         let resolution = resolutionOptions
         let refresh = SettingsOptions.refreshRates(including: hz)
             .map { (label: "\($0) Hz", tag: $0) }
@@ -324,7 +470,7 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
         let controllers = SettingsOptions.controllerOptions(gamepads)
         var list: [Row] = [
             choiceRow(
-                id: "resolution", header: "Stream", icon: "aspectratio",
+                id: "resolution", tab: .stream, icon: "aspectratio",
                 label: "Resolution",
                 detail: "The host creates a virtual display at exactly this size — no scaling.",
                 options: resolution, current: "\(width)x\(height)"
@@ -335,53 +481,48 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
                 height = parts[1]
             },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "refresh", icon: "gauge.with.needle", label: "Refresh rate",
+                id: "refresh", tab: .stream, icon: "gauge.with.needle", label: "Refresh rate",
                 detail: "Rates this display can actually show.",
                 options: refresh, current: hz
             ) { hz = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "bitrate", icon: "speedometer", label: "Bitrate",
+                id: "bitrate", tab: .stream, icon: "speedometer", label: "Bitrate",
                 detail: "Automatic uses the host's default (20 Mbps). "
                     + "Run a speed test from the touch UI for an informed value.",
                 options: bitrate, current: bitrateKbps
             ) { bitrateKbps = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "compositor", icon: "macwindow", label: "Compositor",
+                id: "compositor", tab: .stream, icon: "macwindow", label: "Compositor",
                 detail: "Which compositor drives the virtual output — honored only if "
                     + "available on the host.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.compositors, current: compositor
             ) { compositor = $0 },
-            toggleRow(
-                id: "autoWake", icon: "power", label: "Auto-wake on connect",
-                detail: "Send Wake-on-LAN to a sleeping saved host and wait for it before "
-                    + "streaming. Off connects straight through.",
-                value: $autoWakeEnabled),
-
             choiceRow(
-                id: "codec", header: "Video", icon: "film", label: "Video codec",
+                id: "codec", tab: .video, icon: "film", label: "Video codec",
                 detail: "A preference — the host falls back if it can't encode this one "
                     + "(10-bit and 4:4:4 are HEVC-only).",
                 options: SettingsOptions.codecs, current: codec
             ) { codec = $0 },
             toggleRow(
-                id: "hdr", icon: "sun.max", label: "10-bit HDR",
+                id: "hdr", tab: .video, icon: "sun.max", label: "10-bit HDR",
                 detail: "HDR10 — engages when the host sends HDR content and this display "
                     + "supports it.",
                 value: $hdrEnabled),
             toggleRow(
-                id: "chroma", icon: "textformat", label: "Full chroma (4:4:4)",
+                id: "chroma", tab: .video, icon: "textformat", label: "Full chroma (4:4:4)",
                 detail: "Sharper text and UI at more bandwidth — needs host opt-in and "
                     + "hardware decode.",
                 value: $enable444),
             choiceRow(
-                id: "presentPriority", icon: "rectangle.stack", label: "Prioritize",
+                id: "presentPriority", tab: .video, icon: "rectangle.stack", label: "Prioritize",
                 detail: "Lowest latency shows each frame the moment the display can take it; "
                     + "Smoothness buffers a few frames to even out network hiccups. Applies "
                     + "from the next session.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.presentPriorities, current: presentPriority
             ) { presentPriority = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "smoothBuffer", icon: "square.stack.3d.up", label: "Smoothness buffer",
+                id: "smoothBuffer", tab: .video, icon: "square.stack.3d.up",
+                label: "Smoothness buffer",
                 detail: "How many frames Smoothness holds — each adds about a refresh of "
                     + "display latency and absorbs about a refresh of jitter. Only applies "
                     + "when prioritizing smoothness.",
@@ -389,22 +530,22 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             ) { smoothBuffer = $0 },
 
             choiceRow(
-                id: "audio", header: "Audio", icon: "speaker.wave.2", label: "Audio channels",
+                id: "audio", tab: .audio, icon: "speaker.wave.2", label: "Audio channels",
                 detail: "The speaker layout requested from the host.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.audioChannels, current: audioChannels
             ) { audioChannels = $0 },
             toggleRow(
-                id: "mic", icon: "mic", label: "Microphone",
+                id: "mic", tab: .audio, icon: "mic", label: "Microphone",
                 detail: "Send this device's microphone to the host's virtual mic.",
                 value: $micEnabled),
             toggleRow(
-                id: "echoCancel", icon: "waveform", label: "Echo cancellation",
+                id: "echoCancel", tab: .audio, icon: "waveform", label: "Echo cancellation",
                 detail: "Cancel the audio this device plays out of the mic signal — stops "
                     + "speaker setups feeding the game back to the host.",
                 value: $echoCancel),
 
             toggleRow(
-                id: "padForward", header: "Controller", icon: "gamecontroller",
+                id: "padForward", tab: .controller, icon: "gamecontroller",
                 label: "Forward controllers",
                 detail: "Send this device's controllers to the host. Turn it off when your "
                     + "controller already reaches the host another way — USB passthrough such "
@@ -415,26 +556,28 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             // `.disabled(!effective.gamepadForwarding)`. This screen could not express it until
             // `Row.enabled` existed, so it alone left them live and steppable.
             choiceRow(
-                id: "pad", icon: "gamecontroller", label: "Use controller",
+                id: "pad", tab: .controller, icon: "gamecontroller", label: "Use controller",
                 detail: "Which pad is forwarded to the host, as player 1.",
                 options: controllers, current: gamepads.preferredID,
                 enabled: gamepadForwarding
             ) { gamepads.preferredID = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "padType", icon: "dpad", label: "Controller type",
+                id: "padType", tab: .controller, icon: "dpad", label: "Controller type",
                 detail: "The virtual pad the host creates — Automatic matches this controller.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.padTypes, current: gamepadType,
                 enabled: gamepadForwarding
             ) { gamepadType = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "systemButtons", icon: "house.circle", label: "Guide button",
+                id: "systemButtons", tab: .controller, icon: "house.circle",
+                label: "Guide button",
                 detail: "Where the guide (Xbox/PS) and share presses go while streaming — "
                     + "Automatic sends them to the host whenever this device delivers them.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.systemButtons, current: systemButtons,
                 enabled: gamepadForwarding
             ) { systemButtons = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "guideGesture", icon: "hand.point.up.left", label: "Hold Select for guide",
+                id: "guideGesture", tab: .controller, icon: "hand.point.up.left",
+                label: "Hold Select for guide",
                 detail: "Hold Select alone to press the host's guide button — keep holding "
                     + "for a Gaming-Mode host's quick-access menu. A tap still goes through.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.guideGestures, current: guideGesture,
@@ -442,33 +585,47 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             ) { guideGesture = $0 },
 
             choiceRow(
-                id: "hud", header: "Interface", icon: "chart.bar", label: "Statistics overlay",
+                id: "palette", tab: .interface, icon: "paintpalette", label: "Background",
+                detail: "The colour family this backdrop drifts through — it changes as you "
+                    + "step, so pick by looking. Appearance only.",
+                options: GamepadPalette.all.map { (label: $0.name, tag: $0.id) },
+                current: GamepadPalette.named(paletteID).id
+            ) { paletteID = $0 },
+            toggleRow(
+                id: "autoWake", tab: .interface, icon: "power", label: "Auto-wake on connect",
+                detail: "Send Wake-on-LAN to a sleeping saved host and wait for it before "
+                    + "streaming. Off connects straight through.",
+                value: $autoWakeEnabled),
+            choiceRow(
+                id: "hud", tab: .interface, icon: "chart.bar", label: "Statistics overlay",
                 detail: "How much to show while streaming — Compact is a one-line pill, "
                     + "Detailed adds the latency stage breakdown.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.statsVerbosities, current: statsVerbosityRaw
             ) { statsVerbosityRaw = $0 },
             choiceRow(
-                id: "hudPlacement", icon: "rectangle.inset.topright.filled", label: "Overlay position",
+                id: "hudPlacement", tab: .interface, icon: "rectangle.inset.topright.filled",
+                label: "Overlay position",
                 detail: "Which corner the statistics overlay sits in.",
                 options: SettingsOptions.hudPlacements, current: hudPlacement
             ) { hudPlacement = $0 },
             toggleRow(
-                id: "library", icon: "square.grid.2x2", label: "Game library",
+                id: "library", tab: .interface, icon: "square.grid.2x2", label: "Game library",
                 detail: "Browse and launch the host's games with \(buttonName(\.buttonY, "Y")).",
                 value: $libraryEnabled),
             toggleRow(
-                id: "gamepadUI", icon: "hand.tap", label: "Controller-optimized UI",
+                id: "gamepadUI", tab: .interface, icon: "hand.tap",
+                label: "Controller-optimized UI",
                 detail: "Turn off to use the touch interface even with a controller connected.",
                 value: $gamepadUIEnabled),
         ]
         #if os(macOS)
         // The windowed safe-present toggle slots in after "Smoothness buffer" (staying inside
-        // the Video group) — macOS only, mirroring the touch SettingsView's Presentation row
+        // the Video tab) — macOS only, mirroring the touch SettingsView's Presentation row
         // (the DCP swapID-panic mitigation; see DefaultsKey.windowedSafePresent).
         if let at = list.firstIndex(where: { $0.id == "smoothBuffer" }) {
             list.insert(
                 toggleRow(
-                    id: "windowedSafePresent", icon: "macwindow.badge.plus",
+                    id: "windowedSafePresent", tab: .video, icon: "macwindow.badge.plus",
                     label: "Safe windowed presentation",
                     detail: "Windowed streams present in step with the compositor — avoids a "
                         + "macOS display-driver crash on high-refresh displays, at a small "
@@ -478,14 +635,14 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
         }
         #endif
         #if os(iOS)
-        // The device-rumble mirror slots in after "Controller type" (staying inside the
-        // Controller group — the next row carries the "Interface" header). iPhone only in
-        // practice: hidden where the device itself can't play haptics (iPad).
+        // The device-rumble mirror slots in after "Controller type", inside the Controller tab.
+        // iPhone only in practice: hidden where the device itself can't play haptics (iPad).
         if CHHapticEngine.capabilitiesForHardware().supportsHaptics,
             let at = list.firstIndex(where: { $0.id == "padType" }) {
             list.insert(
                 toggleRow(
-                    id: "deviceRumble", icon: "iphone.radiowaves.left.and.right",
+                    id: "deviceRumble", tab: .controller,
+                    icon: "iphone.radiowaves.left.and.right",
                     label: "Rumble on this iPhone",
                     detail: "Also play player 1's rumble on the phone's own Taptic Engine — "
                         + "for clip-on pads without rumble motors.",
@@ -505,17 +662,17 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     private var profileRows: [Row] {
         guard !profiles.profiles.isEmpty else {
             return [Row(
-                id: "noProfiles", header: "Profiles", icon: "slider.horizontal.3",
+                id: "noProfiles", tab: .profiles, icon: "slider.horizontal.3",
                 label: "No profiles yet", value: "",
                 detail: emptyCatalogDetail,
                 adjustable: false,
                 adjust: { _ in false }, activate: {})]
         }
-        return profiles.profiles.enumerated().map { i, profile in
+        return profiles.profiles.map { profile in
             let pins = store.hosts
                 .filter { ($0.pinnedProfileIDs ?? []).contains(profile.id) }.count
             return Row(
-                id: "profile-\(profile.id)", header: i == 0 ? "Profiles" : nil,
+                id: "profile-\(profile.id)", tab: .profiles,
                 icon: "slider.horizontal.3", label: profile.name,
                 value: pins == 0 ? "Not pinned" : "Pinned to \(pins) host\(pins == 1 ? "" : "s")",
                 detail: profileDetail,
@@ -537,7 +694,8 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     private func pinRows(for profile: StreamProfile) -> [Row] {
         guard !store.hosts.isEmpty else {
             return [Row(
-                id: "noHosts", icon: "desktopcomputer", label: "No saved hosts yet",
+                id: "noHosts", tab: .profiles, icon: "desktopcomputer",
+                label: "No saved hosts yet",
                 value: "",
                 detail: "Pair with a host first, then pin this profile to it.",
                 adjustable: false,
@@ -547,7 +705,7 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
             let hostID = host.id
             let pinned = (host.pinnedProfileIDs ?? []).contains(profile.id)
             return Row(
-                id: "pinHost-\(hostID.uuidString)", icon: "desktopcomputer",
+                id: "pinHost-\(hostID.uuidString)", tab: .profiles, icon: "desktopcomputer",
                 label: host.displayName,
                 value: pinned ? "Pinned" : "Off",
                 detail: "A pinned profile appears as its own card on the host — one press "
@@ -609,13 +767,13 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     // MARK: - Row builders
 
     private func choiceRow<T: Equatable>(
-        id: String, header: String? = nil, icon: String, label: String, detail: String,
+        id: String, tab: GpSettingsTab, icon: String, label: String, detail: String,
         options: [(label: String, tag: T)], current: T, enabled: Bool = true,
         write: @escaping (T) -> Void
     ) -> Row {
         let index = options.firstIndex { $0.tag == current }
         return Row(
-            id: id, header: header, icon: icon, label: label,
+            id: id, tab: tab, icon: icon, label: label,
             value: index.map { options[$0].label } ?? "—",
             detail: detail,
             enabled: enabled,
@@ -638,11 +796,11 @@ struct GamepadSettingsView: View {
     }
 
     private func toggleRow(
-        id: String, header: String? = nil, icon: String, label: String, detail: String,
+        id: String, tab: GpSettingsTab, icon: String, label: String, detail: String,
         value: Binding<Bool>, enabled: Bool = true
     ) -> Row {
         Row(
-            id: id, header: header, icon: icon, label: label,
+            id: id, tab: tab, icon: icon, label: label,
             value: value.wrappedValue ? "On" : "Off",
             detail: detail,
             enabled: enabled,

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Settings/SettingsOptions.swift

@@ -171,14 +171,26 @@ enum SettingsOptions {
 
     /// This device's native mode first, then the presets, deduped by dimensions (native wins a
     /// tie).
+    ///
+    /// On iOS the native row is followed by its **safe-area** variant, which is the same mode
+    /// narrowed so the picture clears the sensor housing and the rounded corners — see
+    /// [`SafeDisplay`] for why a narrower mode is the whole fix. It is emitted unconditionally and
+    /// left to the dedup below: on a device with no housing the two modes are identical, the
+    /// duplicate is dropped, and no pointless row appears.
     @MainActor
     static func resolutionModes() -> [(name: String, w: Int, h: Int)] {
         var native: [(name: String, w: Int, h: Int)] = []
         #if os(iOS) || os(tvOS)
         let bounds = UIScreen.main.nativeBounds // portrait-oriented pixels (tvOS: the TV mode)
-        native = [("This device",
-                   Int(max(bounds.width, bounds.height)),
-                   Int(min(bounds.width, bounds.height)))]
+        let nativeW = Int(max(bounds.width, bounds.height))
+        let nativeH = Int(min(bounds.width, bounds.height))
+        native = [("This device", nativeW, nativeH)]
+        #if os(iOS)
+        let safe = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: nativeW, nativeHeight: nativeH,
+            sideInsetPoints: mainWindowSideInset(), scale: UIScreen.main.nativeScale)
+        native.append(("This device (safe area)", safe.width, safe.height))
+        #endif
         #else
         if let screen = NSScreen.main {
             let scale = screen.backingScaleFactor
@@ -191,6 +203,26 @@ enum SettingsOptions {
         return (native + resolutionPresets).filter { seen.insert("\($0.w)x\($0.h)").inserted }
     }
 
+    #if os(iOS)
+    /// The key window's per-side safe-area inset in points, resolved for the LANDSCAPE stream even
+    /// when this settings screen is currently portrait (see `SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints`).
+    ///
+    /// Zero when no window is up yet — the safe mode then equals the native one and `resolutionModes`
+    /// dedups the row away, which is the right answer for a device we can't measure.
+    @MainActor
+    private static func mainWindowSideInset() -> Double {
+        let insets = UIApplication.shared.connectedScenes
+            .compactMap { $0 as? UIWindowScene }
+            .flatMap(\.windows)
+            .first { $0.isKeyWindow }?
+            .safeAreaInsets
+        guard let insets else { return 0 }
+        return SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(
+            left: Double(insets.left), right: Double(insets.right), top: Double(insets.top),
+            isPhone: UIDevice.current.userInterfaceIdiom == .phone)
+    }
+    #endif
+
     /// Refresh rates the device can actually display (no point asking the host to render frames
     /// the screen can't show), plus any stored custom value so it stays selectable.
     @MainActor

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Support/GlassStyle.swift

@@ -80,6 +80,12 @@ private struct ConsoleGlass<S: Shape>: ViewModifier {
     let shape: S
     var tint: Color?
     var interactive = false
+    /// The console surface follows the background palette: a PALE field needs the material to
+    /// frost light and the glass to read as white, or the dark ink on top of it disappears.
+    /// Defaults to the dark ink, so every non-gamepad caller is unchanged.
+    @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
+
+    private var scheme: ColorScheme { ink.isLight ? .light : .dark }
 
     func body(content: Content) -> some View {
         #if os(tvOS)
@@ -89,16 +95,16 @@ private struct ConsoleGlass<S: Shape>: ViewModifier {
         // the 10-foot platform). The tint rides an overlay so the focused row keeps its wash.
         content.background {
             shape.fill(.ultraThinMaterial)
-                .environment(\.colorScheme, .dark)
+                .environment(\.colorScheme, scheme)
                 .overlay {
                     if let tint { shape.fill(tint) }
                 }
         }
         #else
         if #available(iOS 26, macOS 26, *) {
-            content.glassEffect(glass, in: shape)
+            content.glassEffect(glass, in: shape).environment(\.colorScheme, scheme)
         } else {
-            content.background { shape.fill(.ultraThinMaterial).environment(\.colorScheme, .dark) }
+            content.background { shape.fill(.ultraThinMaterial).environment(\.colorScheme, scheme) }
         }
         #endif
     }

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/HostDiscovery.swift

@@ -9,6 +9,25 @@
 //
 // iOS/tvOS gate Bonjour browsing on Info.plist `NSBonjourServices` listing `_punktfunk._udp`
 // (Config/Info.plist) — without it the system blocks the browse and nothing is returned.
+//
+// SELF-HEALING is what the bookkeeping below is for. Neither Network.framework primitive
+// recovers on its own, and all three failure modes read as "the host isn't there":
+//
+//   - `browseResultsChangedHandler` fires only when the result SET changes. A service that is
+//     found but whose resolve fails is never re-offered — from the browser's point of view
+//     nothing changed — so one unlucky resolve hid that host for the life of the process.
+//   - `NWConnection` has no timeout. A resolve that cannot complete (v6-only advert against our
+//     IPv4 pin, Wi-Fi still associating, host mid-reboot) parks in `.preparing`/`.waiting`
+//     forever instead of failing, so the retry path above was never even reached.
+//   - `NWBrowser` parks in `.waiting` when the browse is blocked. On iOS that is where the LOCAL
+//     NETWORK PRIVACY gate lands the first launch after install: the browse starts, the system
+//     puts up its "find and connect to devices on your local network" prompt, and the browser
+//     waits. Granting permission does NOT revive that browser — only a new one sees the grant.
+//
+// Every one of those presented as "restarting the app fixes it", which is what field reports
+// described. A 1 Hz `sweep` therefore times out stuck resolves, retries failed ones on a backoff
+// and re-arms a browser that stopped working; `refresh()` forces the same recovery immediately,
+// behind the UI's pull-to-refresh and Refresh button.
 
 #if canImport(Network)
 import Foundation
@@ -48,12 +67,50 @@ public struct DiscoveredHost: Identifiable, Sendable, Equatable {
 public final class HostDiscovery: ObservableObject {
     /// Currently-visible hosts, deduped by `id`, sorted by name. Main-actor.
     @Published public private(set) var hosts: [DiscoveredHost] = []
+    /// True for a moment after a rescan is kicked off, so a Refresh control can show that it did
+    /// something on the surfaces with no pull-to-refresh spinner of their own (macOS, tvOS).
+    @Published public private(set) var isScanning = false
 
     private var browser: NWBrowser?
-    /// Keyed by the service endpoint's description (a stable, Sendable handle we can capture
-    /// into the resolve callbacks without smuggling non-Sendable Network types across hops).
-    private var resolved: [String: DiscoveredHost] = [:]
+    /// Every service the browser currently reports, keyed by the endpoint's description (a stable,
+    /// Sendable handle we can capture into the resolve callbacks without smuggling non-Sendable
+    /// Network types across hops). Held — not just diffed — so a retry can re-resolve a service
+    /// the browser will never report again (see the file header).
+    private var services: [String: NWBrowser.Result] = [:]
+    /// The transport address a completed resolve produced, per service key. The rest of a
+    /// `DiscoveredHost` comes from the advert's TXT, which is re-read on every browse report.
+    private var addresses: [String: (host: String, port: UInt16)] = [:]
     private var connections: [String: NWConnection] = [:]
+    /// Deadline for each in-flight resolve — `NWConnection` has none of its own.
+    private var deadlines: [String: Date] = [:]
+    /// Consecutive failed resolves per service, and when the next attempt is allowed.
+    private var failures: [String: Int] = [:]
+    private var retryAt: [String: Date] = [:]
+    /// Services whose address should be re-resolved even though we already have one — set by
+    /// `refresh()`. The old address keeps showing until the new one lands, so a rescan never
+    /// blinks the list empty; without this a manual Refresh silently skipped every host it had
+    /// already resolved, which is exactly the host whose address may have moved.
+    private var staleAddresses: Set<String> = []
+    /// Consecutive non-ready browser states, and when to tear it down and re-arm. nil = healthy.
+    private var browserFailures = 0
+    private var browserRearmAt: Date?
+    /// Bumped on every re-arm so callbacks from a superseded browser — and from the resolves it
+    /// started — are ignored instead of clobbering the current generation's bookkeeping.
+    private var generation = 0
+    /// The 1 Hz maintenance tick. Nothing else re-drives a stuck resolve or a sick browser.
+    private var sweep: Task<Void, Never>?
+    private var scanningUntil: Date?
+
+    /// A LAN resolve answers in milliseconds; this only has to outlast a slow Wi-Fi wake.
+    private static let resolveTimeout: TimeInterval = 6
+    /// How long `isScanning` holds — and `rescan()` waits — after a manual refresh.
+    private static let scanSettle: TimeInterval = 1.5
+    /// 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s … capped at 30s, for the resolve retry and the browser re-arm alike. Long
+    /// enough that a genuinely-down network doesn't spin the main queue, short enough that a host
+    /// coming back is picked up while the user is still looking at the screen.
+    private static func backoff(_ failures: Int) -> TimeInterval {
+        min(pow(2, Double(max(0, failures - 1))), 30)
+    }
 
     public init() {}
 
@@ -63,34 +120,73 @@ public final class HostDiscovery: ObservableObject {
         guard !debugPinned else { return } // a seeded advert set outranks the live LAN
         #endif
         guard browser == nil else { return }
-        let browser = NWBrowser(
-            for: .bonjourWithTXTRecord(type: "_punktfunk._udp", domain: nil),
-            using: NWParameters())
-        browser.browseResultsChangedHandler = { results, _ in
-            MainActor.assumeIsolated { [weak self] in self?.reconcile(results) }
-        }
-        browser.stateUpdateHandler = { state in
-            // A failed browser never recovers on its own; tear down and re-arm so transient
-            // network changes (Wi-Fi flip, VPN) don't leave discovery silently dead.
-            MainActor.assumeIsolated { [weak self] in
-                if case .failed = state { self?.restart() }
-            }
-        }
-        self.browser = browser
-        browser.start(queue: .main)
+        armBrowser()
+        startSweep()
     }
 
     /// Stop browsing and drop all discovered state.
     public func stop() {
+        sweep?.cancel()
+        sweep = nil
+        generation &+= 1
         browser?.cancel()
         browser = nil
         for conn in connections.values { conn.cancel() }
         connections.removeAll()
-        resolved.removeAll()
+        deadlines.removeAll()
+        services.removeAll()
+        addresses.removeAll()
+        failures.removeAll()
+        retryAt.removeAll()
+        staleAddresses.removeAll()
+        browserFailures = 0
+        browserRearmAt = nil
+        scanningUntil = nil
+        if isScanning { isScanning = false }
         if !hosts.isEmpty { hosts = [] }
     }
 
+    /// Force a rescan now: re-arm the browser and retry every service whose resolve had failed,
+    /// clearing the backoffs so nothing is left waiting. This is the manual escape hatch for the
+    /// failure modes in the file header — and the only thing that clears the iOS local-network
+    /// permission gate without an app restart, since only a NEW browser sees a permission the
+    /// user granted after the old one started.
+    ///
+    /// Also starts discovery if it wasn't running, so a Refresh button does the obvious thing.
+    public func refresh() {
+        #if DEBUG
+        guard !debugPinned else { return } // as in `start()` — the harness's set is the truth
+        #endif
+        isScanning = true
+        scanningUntil = Date().addingTimeInterval(Self.scanSettle)
+        failures.removeAll()
+        retryAt.removeAll()
+        staleAddresses = Set(services.keys)
+        browserFailures = 0
+        armBrowser()
+        startSweep()
+        pump()
+    }
+
+    /// `refresh()` for a `.refreshable` gesture: holds briefly so the control's spinner reflects a
+    /// browse that had time to answer instead of blinking out instantly.
+    public func rescan() async {
+        refresh()
+        try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: UInt64(Self.scanSettle * 1_000_000_000))
+    }
+
+    /// `refresh()`, but only when discovery is already running — the app-foreground hook. iOS
+    /// suspends a backgrounded process's browse and `onAppear`/`onDisappear` don't fire across
+    /// background/foreground, so a browse that died while suspended stayed dead on return; this
+    /// re-arms it without starting a browse on a screen that deliberately isn't browsing
+    /// (mid-session, where the home tore discovery down).
+    public func refreshIfRunning() {
+        guard browser != nil else { return }
+        refresh()
+    }
+
     deinit {
+        sweep?.cancel()
         browser?.cancel()
         for conn in connections.values { conn.cancel() }
     }
@@ -124,48 +220,103 @@ public final class HostDiscovery: ObservableObject {
     }
     #endif
 
-    private func restart() {
-        stop()
-        start()
+    // MARK: - Browser
+
+    /// Build and start a fresh browser, retiring the previous one and every resolve it started.
+    /// Those resolves' callbacks are gated on `generation`, so they must not be left holding map
+    /// entries — `pump()` restarts them against the new generation.
+    private func armBrowser() {
+        generation &+= 1
+        browser?.cancel()
+        for conn in connections.values { conn.cancel() }
+        connections.removeAll()
+        deadlines.removeAll()
+        browserRearmAt = nil
+
+        let generation = self.generation
+        let browser = NWBrowser(
+            for: .bonjourWithTXTRecord(type: "_punktfunk._udp", domain: nil),
+            using: NWParameters())
+        browser.browseResultsChangedHandler = { results, _ in
+            MainActor.assumeIsolated { [weak self] in
+                guard let self, generation == self.generation else { return }
+                self.reconcile(results)
+            }
+        }
+        browser.stateUpdateHandler = { state in
+            MainActor.assumeIsolated { [weak self] in
+                guard let self, generation == self.generation else { return }
+                self.browserStateChanged(state)
+            }
+        }
+        self.browser = browser
+        browser.start(queue: .main)
     }
 
-    /// Diff the browser's current result set against what we're tracking: drop departed
-    /// services, resolve newly-seen ones.
-    private func reconcile(_ results: Set<NWBrowser.Result>) {
-        let live = Set(results.map { Self.key($0) })
-        for key in resolved.keys where !live.contains(key) { resolved[key] = nil }
-        for key in connections.keys where !live.contains(key) {
-            connections[key]?.cancel()
-            connections[key] = nil
+    /// A browser that stops working never recovers on its own, and it has two ways to stop:
+    /// `.failed` (dead) and `.waiting` (blocked — a network change, or the iOS local-network
+    /// permission gate described in the file header). Schedule a re-arm for both, on a backoff:
+    /// re-arming synchronously on `.failed` alone both missed the permission case entirely and
+    /// could spin the main queue on a browser that fails instantly every time.
+    private func browserStateChanged(_ state: NWBrowser.State) {
+        switch state {
+        case .ready:
+            browserFailures = 0
+            browserRearmAt = nil
+        case .failed, .waiting:
+            guard browserRearmAt == nil else { return } // one re-arm already scheduled
+            browserFailures += 1
+            browserRearmAt = Date().addingTimeInterval(Self.backoff(browserFailures))
+        default:
+            break // .setup / .cancelled — nothing to heal
         }
+    }
+
+    /// Diff the browser's current result set against what we're tracking: drop departed services,
+    /// record the rest — re-reading the advert every time, so a host that re-keys, moves or flips
+    /// its pairing policy republishes under the same name and the card follows it — then resolve
+    /// whatever still needs an address.
+    private func reconcile(_ results: Set<NWBrowser.Result>) {
+        var live: Set<String> = []
         for result in results {
             let key = Self.key(result)
-            if resolved[key] == nil, connections[key] == nil { resolve(result) }
+            live.insert(key)
+            services[key] = result
         }
+        for key in Array(services.keys) where !live.contains(key) { forget(key) }
         publish()
+        pump()
+    }
+
+    private func forget(_ key: String) {
+        connections[key]?.cancel()
+        connections[key] = nil
+        deadlines[key] = nil
+        services[key] = nil
+        addresses[key] = nil
+        failures[key] = nil
+        retryAt[key] = nil
+        staleAddresses.remove(key)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Resolve
+
+    /// Start the resolves that are due: every live service with no address yet, nothing in flight,
+    /// and past its retry time.
+    private func pump() {
+        let now = Date()
+        for (key, result) in services {
+            guard addresses[key] == nil || staleAddresses.contains(key) else { continue }
+            guard connections[key] == nil else { continue }
+            if let at = retryAt[key], at > now { continue }
+            resolve(key, result)
+        }
     }
 
     /// Resolve one service to IP:port via a short UDP connection (it reaches `.ready` once the
-    /// path is established — no data is sent), reading the TXT up front so the callback only
-    /// captures Sendable values + the endpoint key.
-    private func resolve(_ result: NWBrowser.Result) {
-        let key = Self.key(result)
-        let name = Self.instanceName(result.endpoint)
-        var fp: String?
-        var pair: String?
-        var id: String?
-        var macs: [String] = []
-        var osChain = ""
-        if case let .bonjour(txt) = result.metadata {
-            fp = Self.entry(txt, "fp")
-            pair = Self.entry(txt, "pair")
-            id = Self.entry(txt, "id")
-            macs = (Self.entry(txt, "mac") ?? "")
-                .split(separator: ",")
-                .map { $0.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces) }
-                .filter { !$0.isEmpty }
-            osChain = sanitizeOsChain(Self.entry(txt, "os") ?? "")
-        }
+    /// path is established — no data is sent). The TXT is NOT read here: it comes from the browse
+    /// result at publish time, so a re-advertised host doesn't need a fresh resolve to be re-read.
+    private func resolve(_ key: String, _ result: NWBrowser.Result) {
         // Resolve over IPv4 only: Network.framework prefers IPv6 (RFC 6724), and the host's OS
         // mDNS responder often answers AAAA for its hostname even though the punktfunk host stack
         // (control QUIC + data UDP) binds IPv4 sockets exclusively — a v6-resolved address would
@@ -177,44 +328,125 @@ public final class HostDiscovery: ObservableObject {
         }
         let conn = NWConnection(to: result.endpoint, using: params)
         connections[key] = conn
+        deadlines[key] = Date().addingTimeInterval(Self.resolveTimeout)
+        let generation = self.generation
         conn.stateUpdateHandler = { state in
             MainActor.assumeIsolated { [weak self] in
-                guard let self, let conn = self.connections[key] else { return }
+                // Look the connection back up rather than capturing it — capturing it here would
+                // retain the connection through its own handler.
+                guard let self, generation == self.generation,
+                      let conn = self.connections[key] else { return }
                 switch state {
                 case .ready:
-                    if case let .hostPort(host, port)? = conn.currentPath?.remoteEndpoint,
-                       let address = Self.hostString(host) {
-                        self.resolved[key] = DiscoveredHost(
-                            id: (id?.isEmpty == false) ? id! : name,
-                            name: name, host: address, port: port.rawValue,
-                            fingerprintHex: fp, requiresPairing: pair == "required",
-                            allowsTofu: pair == "optional", macAddresses: macs,
-                            osChain: osChain)
-                        self.publish()
-                    }
-                    conn.cancel()
+                    let endpoint = conn.currentPath?.remoteEndpoint
                     self.connections[key] = nil
+                    self.deadlines[key] = nil
+                    conn.cancel()
+                    if case let .hostPort(host, port)? = endpoint,
+                       let address = Self.hostString(host) {
+                        self.addresses[key] = (address, port.rawValue)
+                        self.failures[key] = nil
+                        self.retryAt[key] = nil
+                        self.staleAddresses.remove(key)
+                        self.publish()
+                    } else {
+                        // Ready but no usable remote — a failed attempt, not a finished one.
+                        self.resolveFailed(key)
+                    }
                 case .failed, .cancelled:
                     self.connections[key] = nil
+                    self.deadlines[key] = nil
+                    self.resolveFailed(key)
                 default:
-                    break
+                    break // .preparing / .waiting — the sweep's deadline is what ends these
                 }
             }
         }
         conn.start(queue: .main)
     }
 
-    /// Publish the resolved set, deduped by `id` (a host on several interfaces / re-advertising
-    /// collapses to one row), sorted by name.
+    private func resolveFailed(_ key: String) {
+        let count = (failures[key] ?? 0) + 1
+        failures[key] = count
+        retryAt[key] = Date().addingTimeInterval(Self.backoff(count))
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Sweep
+
+    private func startSweep() {
+        sweep?.cancel()
+        sweep = Task { [weak self] in
+            while !Task.isCancelled {
+                try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
+                guard !Task.isCancelled, let self else { return }
+                self.tick()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func tick() {
+        let now = Date()
+        // Time out the resolves that parked. Without this they never end, and `pump()` skips a
+        // service that has a connection in flight — so that host stayed invisible indefinitely.
+        for key in deadlines.filter({ $0.value <= now }).keys {
+            connections[key]?.cancel()
+            connections[key] = nil
+            deadlines[key] = nil
+            resolveFailed(key)
+        }
+        if let at = browserRearmAt, at <= now { armBrowser() }
+        pump()
+        if let until = scanningUntil, until <= now {
+            scanningUntil = nil
+            isScanning = false
+        }
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Publish
+
+    /// Publish the live adverts that have an address, deduped by `id` (a host on several
+    /// interfaces / re-advertising collapses to one row), sorted by name.
     private func publish() {
         var byID: [String: DiscoveredHost] = [:]
-        for host in resolved.values { byID[host.id] = host }
+        for key in services.keys.sorted() {
+            guard let result = services[key], let address = addresses[key] else { continue }
+            let host = Self.host(from: result, address: address.host, port: address.port)
+            byID[host.id] = host
+        }
         let next = byID.values.sorted {
             $0.name.localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare($1.name) == .orderedAscending
         }
         if next != hosts { hosts = next }
     }
 
+    /// Join a browse result's advert (instance name + TXT) to a resolved address.
+    private static func host(
+        from result: NWBrowser.Result, address: String, port: UInt16
+    ) -> DiscoveredHost {
+        let name = instanceName(result.endpoint)
+        var fp: String?
+        var pair: String?
+        var id: String?
+        var macs: [String] = []
+        var osChain = ""
+        if case let .bonjour(txt) = result.metadata {
+            fp = entry(txt, "fp")
+            pair = entry(txt, "pair")
+            id = entry(txt, "id")
+            macs = (entry(txt, "mac") ?? "")
+                .split(separator: ",")
+                .map { $0.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces) }
+                .filter { !$0.isEmpty }
+            osChain = sanitizeOsChain(entry(txt, "os") ?? "")
+        }
+        return DiscoveredHost(
+            id: (id?.isEmpty == false) ? id! : name,
+            name: name, host: address, port: port,
+            fingerprintHex: fp, requiresPairing: pair == "required",
+            allowsTofu: pair == "optional", macAddresses: macs,
+            osChain: osChain)
+    }
+
     private static func key(_ result: NWBrowser.Result) -> String {
         "\(result.endpoint)"
     }

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/LibraryClient.swift

@@ -38,12 +38,46 @@ public struct LaunchSpec: Codable, Hashable, Sendable {
 /// One title in the unified library. `id` is store-qualified: `steam:<appid>` / `custom:<id>`.
 public struct GameEntry: Codable, Hashable, Identifiable, Sendable {
     public var id: String
-    public var store: String // "steam" | "custom"
+    public var store: String // "steam" | "custom" | "lutris" | "heroic" | "epic" | "gog" | "xbox"
     public var title: String
     public var art: Artwork
     public var launch: LaunchSpec?
+    /// `"game"` (the default, and what an older host omits) or `"launcher"` — an entry that opens
+    /// the launcher itself (Steam Big Picture, Heroic) rather than a title. Deliberately a plain
+    /// optional String: the host owns the vocabulary, and an unknown future value must never fail
+    /// the whole library decode. Anything that isn't `"launcher"` is a game (design D4).
+    public var role: String?
 
     public var isCustom: Bool { store == "custom" }
+
+    /// Whether this entry opens a launcher rather than a game.
+    public var isLauncher: Bool { role == "launcher" }
+
+    /// Display name for the store badge — the same table the Rust clients use
+    /// (`pf-console-ui::library::store_label`). Before this existed the badge said "Steam" for
+    /// every non-custom entry, which a Lutris or GOG title made a lie.
+    public var storeLabel: String {
+        switch store {
+        case "steam": return "Steam"
+        case "custom": return "Custom"
+        case "heroic": return "Heroic"
+        case "lutris": return "Lutris"
+        case "epic": return "Epic"
+        case "gog": return "GOG"
+        case "xbox": return "Xbox"
+        default: return "Game"
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+public extension Array where Element == GameEntry {
+    /// Design D4: launcher entries lead the shelf, and the host's title order survives within each
+    /// group. Applied once where the library is fetched, so no individual view has to remember
+    /// the rule — and a library without launcher entries comes back untouched.
+    var launchersFirst: [GameEntry] {
+        let launchers = filter(\.isLauncher)
+        return launchers.isEmpty ? self : launchers + filter { !$0.isLauncher }
+    }
 }
 
 /// Errors surfaced to the UI so it can guide setup (the common case is "not paired yet").

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/PunktfunkConnection.swift

@@ -1430,6 +1430,49 @@ public final class PunktfunkConnection {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Why a stream session ended — the Swift mirror of `PunktfunkEndReason` (ABI v17).
+    ///
+    /// The distinction that matters to a UI is normal vs alarming, and it is not a spectrum: a
+    /// player quitting their game and a host falling off the network both arrive as "the session
+    /// ended". Without this every client wrote one message for all of them, and every client chose
+    /// an error.
+    public enum SessionEndReason: UInt8, Sendable {
+        /// Not ended, or ended before a reason could be observed. Also the fallback for an
+        /// unrecognized value — the core may be newer than this code.
+        case none = 0
+        /// This client closed the session. Nothing to report: the UI initiated it.
+        case local = 1
+        /// The host's launched game exited. A normal finish, and the one reason worth acting on:
+        /// go back to the library the title was launched from.
+        case gameExited = 2
+        /// The host ended the session deliberately (an operator "End", or it simply finished).
+        case hostEnded = 3
+        /// The host closed reporting a failure of its own.
+        case hostError = 4
+        /// The connection died rather than being closed: idle timeout, reset, network gone. This —
+        /// and only this — is the "the host may be asleep" case.
+        case lost = 5
+
+        /// Is this an ordinary outcome rather than something to alarm the user about? `.none`
+        /// counts as normal: no evidence of trouble is not evidence of it.
+        public var isNormal: Bool { self != .hostError && self != .lost }
+    }
+
+    /// Why this session ended. Only meaningful once it HAS ended (a plane threw `.closed`, or
+    /// `onSessionEnd` fired) — before that it is `.none`.
+    ///
+    /// Read it before tearing the connection down: once `close()` has been requested this reports
+    /// `.none`, which is the safe direction (the caller falls back to its normal handling).
+    public var sessionEndReason: SessionEndReason {
+        guard let h = liveHandle() else { return .none }
+        var out: UInt8 = 0
+        guard punktfunk_connection_end_reason(h, &out) == statusOK else { return .none }
+        return SessionEndReason(rawValue: out) ?? .none
+    }
+
+    /// Shorthand for the single most actionable reason: the host's launched game exited.
+    public var endedBecauseGameExited: Bool { sessionEndReason == .gameExited }
+
     deinit { close() }
 
     /// Snapshot the handle unless close is pending (callers hold their plane lock).

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Views/StreamView.swift

@@ -538,14 +538,25 @@ public final class StreamLayerView: NSView {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Tell the host who renders the pointer (the §8 mid-stream render flip): we draw it only
-    /// while the DESKTOP model is engaged (the local OS cursor wears the host shape); under
-    /// the capture model — and while released — the host composites it into the video (full
-    /// fidelity, the pre-channel look). One edge-detected reconciler, called from every
+    /// Tell the host who renders the pointer (the §8 mid-stream render flip). The host may
+    /// composite one into the video ONLY while we are holding a grabbed, hidden pointer — the
+    /// capture model, engaged. That is the one state with no local cursor on screen.
+    ///
+    /// Every other state leaves a normal OS cursor visible over the video: the desktop model
+    /// draws it wearing the host's shape, and a RELEASED view shows the plain arrow. A
+    /// host-composited pointer then appears *underneath* it as a second cursor — and, because a
+    /// released view forwards no motion, one that never moves. On glass that reads as a frozen
+    /// duplicate stuck wherever the host pointer was last left (verified: `client_draws=false
+    /// blended=true live=(-1, 622)` — parked on the streamed output's left edge while the user
+    /// moved their own cursor around freely).
+    ///
+    /// So "released" counts as WE draw it: the host stops compositing, the client keeps
+    /// receiving shape/state over the channel (the forwarder only ticks on this side of the
+    /// flip), and re-engaging is seamless. One edge-detected reconciler, called from every
     /// transition (chord, engage/release, session start).
     private func reconcileCursorRender() {
         guard cursorChannelActive, let connection else { return }
-        let clientDraws = captured && desktopMouse
+        let clientDraws = !captured || desktopMouse
         guard sentClientDraws != clientDraws else { return }
         sentClientDraws = clientDraws
         connection.setCursorRender(clientDraws: clientDraws)

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Views/StreamViewIOS.swift

@@ -225,6 +225,15 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
     /// How long an escalated attempt reports `prefersPointerLocked == false` before flipping back,
     /// so the system observes a real transition instead of coalescing the flip away.
     private static let pointerLockForcedOffHold: TimeInterval = 0.05
+    /// Attempts spent in the QUIET tail (see `scheduleQuietRelock()`), reset with the burst.
+    private var pointerRelockQuietAttempt = 0
+    /// When the quiet tail re-asks, measured from the drop. The visible burst above spends its whole
+    /// budget inside ~0.6 s — and the pointer-lock cooldown the platform applies right after its own
+    /// Escape gesture is about a second, so every one of those attempts asks while the answer can
+    /// only be no. These land AFTER it. They are "quiet" because unlike the burst they do not hide
+    /// the cursor or mute motion: the pointer behaves exactly as it does today while they run, so
+    /// stretching the recovery costs the user nothing if it also fails.
+    private static let pointerRelockQuietDelays: [TimeInterval] = [1.2, 2.4]
     #endif
 
     /// Reads whether the scene's pointer is actually locked right now; nil = state
@@ -340,12 +349,80 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
         // SwiftUI places us in the hierarchy AFTER start()'s setCaptured(true), and may reparent us
         // later — re-anchor the chain here so a lock requested before we had a parent still lands.
         updatePointerLockChain()
+        anchorKeyResponder()
     }
 
     public override func didMove(toParent parent: UIViewController?) {
         super.didMove(toParent: parent)
         updatePointerLockChain() // chain shape changed — re-anchor (or no-op if not yet in a window)
     }
+
+    /// Put THIS controller on the responder chain for hardware key presses.
+    ///
+    /// Nothing of ours is otherwise a first responder during a normal stream: keys arrive on the
+    /// GameController (`GCKeyboard`) path, which is a parallel HID feed that does not consume the
+    /// UIKit event, and `StreamLayerUIView` only becomes first responder to summon the SOFT
+    /// keyboard (it is `UIKeyInput`, so making it one for any other reason would raise the on-screen
+    /// keyboard mid-game). With no responder of ours in the chain, every hardware key press reaches
+    /// UIKit unclaimed — and an unclaimed press is what lets the system apply its own default for
+    /// that key. `pressesBegan` below is where we claim Escape; this is what gets it delivered.
+    ///
+    /// A controller is not `UIKeyInput`, so being first responder raises no keyboard. Deferred to
+    /// the soft keyboard whenever the view has taken over, so the three-finger-swipe keyboard is
+    /// unaffected.
+    ///
+    /// Only while captured — the whole claim is scoped to "the stream owns the keyboard", and
+    /// holding the chain outside that would sit in front of SwiftUI's focus for no reason. Safe to
+    /// call from anywhere: `start()` engages capture BEFORE SwiftUI puts us in a window (where
+    /// `becomeFirstResponder` cannot succeed), so `viewDidAppear` calls it again to catch up.
+    private func anchorKeyResponder() {
+        guard captured, !streamView.isFirstResponder, !isFirstResponder else { return }
+        becomeFirstResponder()
+    }
+
+    public override var canBecomeFirstResponder: Bool { true }
+
+    /// Claim Escape while the stream owns the keyboard, so the SYSTEM never gets to act on it.
+    ///
+    /// This is the fix for "Escape hands the mouse back to iPadOS": the platform releases the
+    /// scene's pointer lock on an Escape that nothing claimed — the same "let me out" the web
+    /// Pointer Lock API mandates. Every recovery attempt before this one fought that release AFTER
+    /// the fact (a re-lock burst, then a click), and the platform's post-Escape cooldown means the
+    /// burst is refused by construction. Claiming the press means there is nothing to recover from.
+    ///
+    /// Escape is forwarded to the host on the GCKeyboard path, which is untouched by this — that
+    /// path never sees the UIKit responder chain, so the host still receives the keystroke and
+    /// in-game menus still open. Only the system's own interpretation is suppressed.
+    ///
+    /// Strictly scoped: only while `captured` (the stream owns input), and only Escape. Anything
+    /// else — including every key while the pointer is released — goes to `super` untouched, so
+    /// Escape still dismisses sheets, exits full screen and does everything else it should whenever
+    /// we are not holding the keyboard. The deliberate ways out are unaffected: ⌘⎋ and ⌃⌥⇧Q are
+    /// recognized on the GCKeyboard path and clear `captured` themselves.
+    public override func pressesBegan(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
+        let unclaimed = presses.filter { !claimsPress($0) }
+        if !unclaimed.isEmpty || presses.isEmpty {
+            super.pressesBegan(unclaimed, with: event)
+        }
+    }
+
+    public override func pressesEnded(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
+        let unclaimed = presses.filter { !claimsPress($0) }
+        if !unclaimed.isEmpty || presses.isEmpty {
+            super.pressesEnded(unclaimed, with: event)
+        }
+    }
+
+    public override func pressesCancelled(_ presses: Set<UIPress>, with event: UIPressesEvent?) {
+        // Never swallowed: a cancelled press is the system taking the key away from us, and
+        // dropping it here would strand UIKit's own bookkeeping for a press we did claim.
+        super.pressesCancelled(presses, with: event)
+    }
+
+    /// Is this press one the stream owns outright (Escape while captured)?
+    private func claimsPress(_ press: UIPress) -> Bool {
+        captured && press.key?.keyCode == .keyboardEscape
+    }
     #endif
 
     #if os(tvOS)
@@ -478,6 +555,7 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             if !down, self.wantsPointerLock, self.pointerLockWasEngaged,
                 !self.pointerRelockPending, self.pointerLockEngaged() != true {
                 self.pointerRelockAttempt = 0
+                self.pointerRelockQuietAttempt = 0 // a real gesture buys a fresh tail too
                 self.updatePointerLockChain() // a reparent since the drop would break the walk to us
                 self.requestPointerRelock()
             }
@@ -749,10 +827,16 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             guard captureEnabled, !captured, connection != nil else { return }
             inputCapture?.setForwarding(true, suppressClick: fromClick)
             captured = true
+            // Claim the responder chain for as long as we own the keyboard — `pressesBegan` has to
+            // be delivered to us before it can keep Escape away from the system.
+            anchorKeyResponder()
         } else {
             guard captured else { return }
             inputCapture?.setForwarding(false)
             captured = false
+            // Hand the chain back: released means Escape is the system's again, and staying first
+            // responder for a stream that no longer owns input would sit in front of SwiftUI focus.
+            if isFirstResponder { resignFirstResponder() }
         }
         setNeedsUpdateOfPrefersPointerLocked()
         updatePointerLockChain() // (re)anchor the SwiftUI ancestors so the lock actually resolves
@@ -782,6 +866,7 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             pointerLockWasEngaged = true
             pointerRelockPending = false
             pointerRelockAttempt = 0
+            pointerRelockQuietAttempt = 0 // granted — any scheduled tail finds nothing to do
         } else if wantsPointerLock, pointerLockWasEngaged {
             requestPointerRelock()
         } else {
@@ -790,6 +875,7 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             if !wantsPointerLock { pointerLockWasEngaged = false }
             pointerRelockPending = false
             pointerRelockAttempt = 0
+            pointerRelockQuietAttempt = 0
         }
         let useGCMouse = captured && locked
         // Lock dropped (or capture ended) while the GCMouse path held a button down: once
@@ -830,10 +916,12 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             pointerRelockAttempt = 0
         }
         guard pointerRelockAttempt < Self.pointerRelockAttemptLimit else {
-            // Out of budget: fall back to exactly today's behavior — the iPadOS cursor comes back
-            // and a click into the video re-captures. The caller invalidates the interaction, so
-            // the cursor can never stay hidden on a lock the system won't grant.
+            // Out of VISIBLE budget: give the cursor straight back (the caller invalidates the
+            // interaction, so it can never stay hidden on a lock the system won't grant) and hand
+            // off to the quiet tail, which keeps asking after the platform's post-Escape cooldown
+            // without costing the user anything while it does.
             pointerRelockPending = false
+            scheduleQuietRelock()
             return
         }
         pointerRelockAttempt += 1
@@ -881,6 +969,43 @@ public final class StreamViewController: StreamViewControllerBase {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    /// Keep asking for the lock after the visible burst has given up — past the cooldown the
+    /// platform applies to its own Escape gesture, which is the window the burst spends entirely.
+    ///
+    /// Deliberately NOT a longer burst. `pointerRelockPending` hides the cursor and mutes absolute
+    /// motion, which is only tolerable for the couple of frames a fast re-grab takes; holding that
+    /// for seconds would trade a released pointer for a frozen one. These attempts leave the
+    /// pointer fully usable — if they all fail the user sees exactly today's behaviour, and a click
+    /// is still the immediate way back.
+    ///
+    /// Each attempt presents a real false→true transition (the same escalation the burst uses on
+    /// its later tries) because re-asserting a value the system already holds is what didn't take.
+    /// A grant arrives as a `didChange` → `syncPointerLock`, which resets the counters, so a
+    /// successful attempt silently ends the tail.
+    private func scheduleQuietRelock() {
+        guard pointerRelockQuietAttempt < Self.pointerRelockQuietDelays.count else { return }
+        let delay = Self.pointerRelockQuietDelays[pointerRelockQuietAttempt]
+        pointerRelockQuietAttempt += 1
+        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + delay) { [weak self] in
+            guard let self else { return }
+            // Still wanted, still ours to want, and still not held — otherwise the tail is moot.
+            guard self.wantsPointerLock, self.pointerLockWasEngaged,
+                self.pointerLockEngaged() != true,
+                self.view.window?.windowScene?.activationState == .foregroundActive
+            else { return }
+            self.pointerLockForcedOff = true
+            self.setNeedsUpdateOfPrefersPointerLocked()
+            self.updatePointerLockChain()
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + Self.pointerLockForcedOffHold) {
+                [weak self] in
+                guard let self else { return }
+                self.pointerLockForcedOff = false
+                self.setNeedsUpdateOfPrefersPointerLocked()
+                self.scheduleQuietRelock() // no-op once the delays are spent, or once granted
+            }
+        }
+    }
     #endif
 
     deinit {

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkShared/DefaultsKeys.swift

@@ -179,6 +179,14 @@ public enum DefaultsKey {
     /// layout (the console launcher, gamepad-navigable settings, a coverflow-style library)
     /// whenever a gamepad is connected. On by default; see `GamepadUIEnvironment.isActive`.
     public static let gamepadUIEnabled = "punktfunk.gamepadUIEnabled"
+    /// Which colour family the gamepad UI's living backdrop drifts through — a
+    /// `GamepadPalette` id ("violet" = the brand default, then "tide"/"forest"/"ember"/
+    /// "rose"/"graphite"). The cross-client `ui_palette` key: the desktop console and the
+    /// Android client carry the same table under the same names. Presentation only, so it is
+    /// a device preference and never part of a stream profile. An unknown value reads as the
+    /// default rather than failing — a newer client may have shipped a palette this build
+    /// doesn't know.
+    public static let uiPalette = "punktfunk.uiPalette"
     /// iPhone: ALSO play the rumble the host addresses to controller 1 (wire pad 0) on this
     /// device's own Taptic Engine — for phone-clip pads that ship without rumble motors, where
     /// the phone body is the only actuator in the player's hands. Off by default (opt-in); read

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkShared/GamepadPalette.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+// The gamepad UI's background colour families, and the ink each one calls for.
+//
+// A palette is a short ordered ramp of DISTINCT hues, not one hue at several brightnesses. The
+// 4×4 mesh samples that ramp diagonally with a per-cell offset (`cellRamp`), so neighbouring
+// cells land on different parts of it and the colours pool and swirl the way a real gradient
+// poster does; the mesh's existing control-point drift then moves those pools around. An earlier
+// version rotated ONE field's hue per palette, which is why every non-default palette read flat.
+//
+// A palette also owns the UI sitting on it: `accent` is the focus wash / selected pill / switch
+// colour, and `light` flips the ink so a pale field gets dark text instead of white.
+//
+// The table, `ramp` and `cellRamp` are mirrored in `pf-console-ui`'s `library.rs` (Rust) and the
+// Android client's `GamepadPalette.kt` (Kotlin) under the same ids, so one `ui_palette` value is
+// one look on every client. Keep the three copies in step: a palette added here without the
+// others is a value the other clients silently render as Violet.
+//
+// It lives in PunktfunkShared rather than next to the views because that is the target the tests
+// can reach — the arithmetic below is the part that has to agree across three languages.
+
+import Foundation
+import simd
+
+public struct GamepadPalette: Identifiable, Equatable, Sendable {
+    /// The stored `ui_palette` value (`DefaultsKey.uiPalette`).
+    public let id: String
+    /// What the settings row shows.
+    public let name: String
+    /// The colour ramp, dark end first. Empty = use `violetMesh` verbatim (the brand default,
+    /// kept bit-identical to what every install already sees).
+    public let stops: [SIMD3<Double>]
+    /// The field's ground — what the corners settle onto and what the calm mix lifts toward.
+    public let ground: SIMD3<Double>
+    /// The UI accent: focus wash, selected tab pill, switch track, caret.
+    public let accent: SIMD3<Double>
+    /// A pale field: the UI flips to dark ink and the legibility scrims go white.
+    public let light: Bool
+
+    /// Where each of the 16 mesh cells samples the ramp. The base is the diagonal
+    /// `0.5·(x + y)` — top-left is the ramp's dark end, bottom-right its bright one — and the
+    /// per-cell nudges break the banding a pure diagonal would give, so hues pool instead of
+    /// striping.
+    static let cellRamp: [Double] = [
+         0.10, -0.06,  0.04, -0.12,
+        -0.08,  0.14, -0.10,  0.06,
+         0.06, -0.12,  0.16, -0.04,
+        -0.10,  0.08, -0.06,  0.12,
+    ]
+
+    /// The brand default's 16 mesh colours, row-major 4×4: dark-violet corners sink the frame,
+    /// the edges carry mid-tone violets, and the interior holds the bright brand family.
+    public static let violetMesh: [SIMD3<Double>] = {
+        let corner = SIMD3(0.075, 0.060, 0.160)
+        return [
+            corner, SIMD3(0.34, 0.27, 0.72), SIMD3(0.30, 0.26, 0.74), corner,
+            SIMD3(0.42, 0.20, 0.54), SIMD3(0.49, 0.39, 0.95), SIMD3(0.28, 0.31, 0.84), SIMD3(0.16, 0.26, 0.64),
+            SIMD3(0.45, 0.23, 0.60), SIMD3(0.53, 0.31, 0.75), SIMD3(0.35, 0.35, 0.91), SIMD3(0.19, 0.28, 0.70),
+            corner, SIMD3(0.22, 0.18, 0.54), SIMD3(0.24, 0.20, 0.58), corner,
+        ]
+    }()
+
+    /// The brand default's blob ramp — the four colours the pre-18/15 legacy field used, kept so
+    /// `violet` is unchanged on older OSes too.
+    static let violetBlobs: [SIMD3<Double>] = [
+        SIMD3(0.53, 0.47, 0.96), SIMD3(0.24, 0.20, 0.72), SIMD3(0.62, 0.30, 0.80),
+        SIMD3(0.22, 0.38, 0.86), SIMD3(0.53, 0.47, 0.96),
+    ]
+
+    /// The twelve shipped palettes: the brand default, five more dark fields, then six pale
+    /// ones. Cycling order runs dark → light, so stepping the row walks the whole range one way.
+    public static let all: [GamepadPalette] = [
+        // --- dark fields (white ink) ---
+        GamepadPalette(
+            id: "violet", name: "Violet", stops: [],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.075, 0.060, 0.160), accent: SIMD3(0.525, 0.471, 0.961), light: false),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Deep indigo climbing through violet into a hot magenta.
+            id: "nebula", name: "Nebula",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.07, 0.05, 0.20), SIMD3(0.26, 0.14, 0.54), SIMD3(0.52, 0.20, 0.72),
+                    SIMD3(0.82, 0.26, 0.62), SIMD3(0.98, 0.46, 0.68)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.055, 0.040, 0.135), accent: SIMD3(0.95, 0.42, 0.72), light: false),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Ink-blue water: teal → cerulean → a violet undertow.
+            id: "abyss", name: "Abyss",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.02, 0.10, 0.17), SIMD3(0.04, 0.28, 0.42), SIMD3(0.07, 0.46, 0.63),
+                    SIMD3(0.16, 0.38, 0.78), SIMD3(0.26, 0.22, 0.58)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.018, 0.070, 0.130), accent: SIMD3(0.26, 0.76, 0.92), light: false),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Banked coals: plum embers → crimson → burnt orange → gold.
+            id: "ember", name: "Ember",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.16, 0.03, 0.10), SIMD3(0.45, 0.06, 0.12), SIMD3(0.72, 0.18, 0.06),
+                    SIMD3(0.90, 0.42, 0.08), SIMD3(0.95, 0.68, 0.18)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.090, 0.035, 0.040), accent: SIMD3(0.98, 0.62, 0.26), light: false),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Forest floor into moss and a lime break.
+            id: "moss", name: "Moss",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.03, 0.11, 0.09), SIMD3(0.06, 0.27, 0.20), SIMD3(0.09, 0.45, 0.31),
+                    SIMD3(0.28, 0.61, 0.28), SIMD3(0.58, 0.77, 0.31)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.025, 0.085, 0.070), accent: SIMD3(0.48, 0.86, 0.46), light: false),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Neutral, but never flat: barely-there saturation that still travels from a cool
+            // charcoal to a warm stone.
+            id: "graphite", name: "Graphite",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.06, 0.07, 0.11), SIMD3(0.15, 0.18, 0.25), SIMD3(0.30, 0.31, 0.35),
+                    SIMD3(0.45, 0.42, 0.38), SIMD3(0.60, 0.56, 0.49)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.055, 0.055, 0.070), accent: SIMD3(0.78, 0.80, 0.86), light: false),
+        // --- pale fields (dark ink) ---
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // The holographic foil: rose → lilac → periwinkle → aqua, with a white bloom.
+            id: "holo", name: "Holo",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.99, 0.72, 0.90), SIMD3(0.80, 0.60, 0.98), SIMD3(0.58, 0.62, 0.99),
+                    SIMD3(0.55, 0.86, 0.98), SIMD3(0.94, 0.98, 1.00)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.96, 0.92, 0.99), accent: SIMD3(0.42, 0.28, 0.86), light: true),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // The poster sunset: periwinkle → magenta → scarlet → tangerine → gold.
+            id: "sunset", name: "Sunset",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.55, 0.45, 0.92), SIMD3(0.86, 0.31, 0.66), SIMD3(0.97, 0.26, 0.34),
+                    SIMD3(0.99, 0.51, 0.18), SIMD3(1.00, 0.80, 0.22)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.98, 0.74, 0.34), accent: SIMD3(0.64, 0.13, 0.44), light: true),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Peach into blush and lilac — the softest of the set.
+            id: "bloom", name: "Bloom",
+            stops: [SIMD3(1.00, 0.86, 0.72), SIMD3(0.99, 0.73, 0.79), SIMD3(0.95, 0.65, 0.89),
+                    SIMD3(0.82, 0.68, 0.96), SIMD3(0.73, 0.79, 0.99)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.99, 0.90, 0.89), accent: SIMD3(0.72, 0.24, 0.55), light: true),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // First light: pale gold → coral → lilac.
+            id: "dawn", name: "Dawn",
+            stops: [SIMD3(1.00, 0.92, 0.70), SIMD3(1.00, 0.80, 0.62), SIMD3(0.99, 0.66, 0.62),
+                    SIMD3(0.90, 0.62, 0.78), SIMD3(0.77, 0.69, 0.95)],
+            ground: SIMD3(1.00, 0.93, 0.82), accent: SIMD3(0.82, 0.33, 0.28), light: true),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Sea glass: mint → aqua → a pale sky.
+            id: "mint", name: "Mint",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.82, 0.98, 0.90), SIMD3(0.62, 0.94, 0.88), SIMD3(0.55, 0.88, 0.95),
+                    SIMD3(0.63, 0.82, 0.99), SIMD3(0.82, 0.87, 1.00)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.90, 0.98, 0.96), accent: SIMD3(0.04, 0.42, 0.40), light: true),
+        GamepadPalette(
+            // Near-white, but iridescent rather than flat — rose, sky, mint and cream in turn.
+            id: "opal", name: "Opal",
+            stops: [SIMD3(0.98, 0.92, 0.96), SIMD3(0.87, 0.93, 0.99), SIMD3(0.91, 0.99, 0.95),
+                    SIMD3(0.99, 0.96, 0.88), SIMD3(0.94, 0.90, 0.99)],
+            ground: SIMD3(0.97, 0.96, 0.99), accent: SIMD3(0.36, 0.32, 0.44), light: true),
+    ]
+
+    /// The palette stored under `id`, falling back to the brand default — an unknown name is a
+    /// palette a newer client shipped, not a reason to draw nothing.
+    public static func named(_ id: String) -> GamepadPalette {
+        all.first { $0.id == id } ?? all[0]
+    }
+
+    /// Sample an ordered colour ramp at `t` ∈ [0, 1] (linear between neighbouring stops).
+    public static func ramp(_ stops: [SIMD3<Double>], _ t: Double) -> SIMD3<Double> {
+        guard let first = stops.first else { return SIMD3(0, 0, 0) }
+        guard stops.count > 1 else { return first }
+        let x = min(max(t, 0), 1) * Double(stops.count - 1)
+        let i = min(Int(x.rounded(.down)), stops.count - 2)
+        let f = x - Double(i)
+        return stops[i] + (stops[i + 1] - stops[i]) * f
+    }
+
+    /// The 16 mesh colours for this palette: the ramp sampled per cell, or `violetMesh` verbatim
+    /// for the brand default.
+    public var meshColors: [SIMD3<Double>] {
+        guard !stops.isEmpty else { return Self.violetMesh }
+        return (0..<16).map { i in
+            let (x, y) = (Double(i % 4) / 3.0, Double(i / 4) / 3.0)
+            return Self.ramp(stops, 0.5 * (x + y) + Self.cellRamp[i])
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Four drifting blob colours for the pre-18/15 legacy field. Spread across the ramp so it
+    /// still shows several hues at once.
+    public var blobColors: [SIMD3<Double>] {
+        let s = stops.isEmpty ? Self.violetBlobs : stops
+        return (0..<4).map { Self.ramp(s, 0.15 + 0.25 * Double($0)) }
+    }
+}

clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkShared/SafeDisplay.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Safe-area stream sizing — the pure geometry behind the "safe area" resolution row.
+//
+// An iPhone clips the picture in HARDWARE: the sensor housing (notch / Dynamic Island) and the four
+// rounded corners eat whatever the stream draws underneath them. The session view is deliberately
+// edge-to-edge (ContentView's `.ignoresSafeArea()` on iOS) and the presenter aspect-FITS the host
+// mode into it, so which pixels survive is decided entirely by the mode's aspect ratio:
+//
+//   * A 16:9 mode on a 19.5:9 phone pillarboxes, and those black bars land exactly on the unsafe
+//     regions. That is why 1080p has always "just worked" and never needed a setting.
+//   * The device's NATIVE mode has the screen's own aspect ratio, so it fills every pixel —
+//     including the ones behind the housing and under the corner radii. That is the mode that
+//     loses its corners, and the reason this file exists.
+//
+// So the fix needs no layout change and no input change: ask the host for a mode that is narrower
+// by the safe-area insets, and the existing aspect-fit centres it inside the safe region. Pointer
+// input keeps mapping correctly for free, because `hostPoint(from:)` derives the video rect from
+// the live host mode (`AVMakeRect(aspectRatio:insideRect:)`) instead of assuming full-bleed.
+//
+// The formula is Moonlight's (its settings' resolution table carries the same row): full native
+// height, width reduced by the left+right safe-area insets. Width-only is not a simplification —
+// under aspect-fit only one axis can bind, and on a landscape phone that axis is always the
+// horizontal one. Insetting the height too would shrink the picture without uncovering anything.
+
+import Foundation
+
+public enum SafeDisplay {
+    /// The host rejects odd dimensions and anything under 320×200 (`validate_dimensions` in
+    /// `pf-encode`), so the computed mode is even-floored and clamped exactly like `RenderScale`.
+    public static let minWidth = 320
+    public static let minHeight = 200
+
+    /// A portrait top inset at or above this many points means a sensor housing rather than a
+    /// status bar. Notched and Dynamic Island iPhones report 44–59 pt; a plain status bar (older
+    /// iPhones, every iPad) reports 20–24 pt. Used only by [`sideInsetPoints`] and only when the
+    /// horizontal insets are unavailable — see there for why that case exists at all.
+    public static let housingTopInsetThreshold: Double = 40
+
+    /// The per-side inset, in points, that the **landscape** stream will be subject to — which is
+    /// not necessarily the inset the caller can read right now.
+    ///
+    /// The stream is always landscape, but the settings screen the resolution row is rendered in may
+    /// be portrait, and `safeAreaInsets` only ever describes the CURRENT orientation. In portrait a
+    /// notched iPhone reports its housing on `top` and reports `left`/`right` as zero, so reading
+    /// the horizontal insets there would compute "no inset needed" for exactly the devices that
+    /// need one.
+    ///
+    /// - In landscape, `max(left, right)` is the answer directly. (iOS symmetrizes the two so
+    ///   content stays centred, so they normally agree; `max` is simply the safe reduction.)
+    /// - In portrait, the housing's portrait TOP inset equals its landscape SIDE inset on every
+    ///   notched/Dynamic Island iPhone — the same physical intrusion, measured on the axis that
+    ///   happens to be vertical at the time — so `top` is the correct stand-in. It is accepted only
+    ///   on phones and only past [`housingTopInsetThreshold`], so an iPad's status bar (or an older
+    ///   iPhone's) never fabricates an inset for a device with nothing to avoid.
+    ///
+    /// Returns 0 when there is no housing to route around, which makes the safe mode identical to
+    /// the native one — and the caller's dedup then drops the duplicate row on its own.
+    public static func sideInsetPoints(
+        left: Double, right: Double, top: Double, isPhone: Bool
+    ) -> Double {
+        let horizontal = max(left, right)
+        if horizontal > 0 { return horizontal }
+        if isPhone, top >= housingTopInsetThreshold { return top }
+        return 0
+    }
+
+    /// The landscape safe-area mode in PIXELS: full native height, width reduced by
+    /// `sideInsetPoints` on each side.
+    ///
+    /// `nativeWidth`/`nativeHeight` are the device's native landscape pixels (the long edge first —
+    /// `UIScreen.main.nativeBounds` is portrait-oriented, so the caller swaps). `scale` converts the
+    /// point-valued insets into those same pixels and must therefore be `nativeScale`, not `scale`:
+    /// with Display Zoom on, the two differ and only the former matches `nativeBounds`.
+    ///
+    /// Even-floored and clamped so the result is directly host-valid — an odd width is rejected
+    /// outright by the encoder, and an inset subtraction lands odd about half the time.
+    public static func mode(
+        nativeWidth: Int, nativeHeight: Int, sideInsetPoints: Double, scale: Double
+    ) -> (width: Int, height: Int) {
+        let insetPixels = max(0, sideInsetPoints) * max(scale, 1) * 2 // both sides
+        let width = Double(nativeWidth) - insetPixels
+        let evenFloor: (Double, Int) -> Int = { value, minimum in
+            max(Int(value.rounded(.down)), minimum) / 2 * 2
+        }
+        return (evenFloor(width, minWidth), evenFloor(Double(nativeHeight), minHeight))
+    }
+}

clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/GamepadPaletteTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+// The gamepad UI's background palettes. These assertions are the CONTRACT the Rust
+// (`pf-console-ui::library`) and Kotlin (`GamepadPalette.kt`) ports reproduce — the same ids in
+// the same order, the same light/dark split, the same ramp — so one `ui_palette` value is one look
+// on every client.
+
+import XCTest
+import simd
+@testable import PunktfunkShared
+
+final class GamepadPaletteTests: XCTestCase {
+    private func luma(_ c: SIMD3<Double>) -> Double {
+        0.2126 * c.x + 0.7152 * c.y + 0.0722 * c.z
+    }
+
+    /// Hue angle in degrees, or nil for something too grey to have one.
+    private func hue(_ c: SIMD3<Double>) -> Double? {
+        let maxV = max(c.x, c.y, c.z)
+        let minV = min(c.x, c.y, c.z)
+        let d = maxV - minV
+        guard d >= 0.04 else { return nil }
+        let h: Double
+        if maxV == c.x {
+            h = 60 * (((c.y - c.z) / d).truncatingRemainder(dividingBy: 6))
+        } else if maxV == c.y {
+            h = 60 * ((c.z - c.x) / d + 2)
+        } else {
+            h = 60 * ((c.x - c.y) / d + 4)
+        }
+        return (h + 360).truncatingRemainder(dividingBy: 360)
+    }
+
+    /// The brand default must still be the SHIPPED field, colour for colour. Every install
+    /// already sees it, and a palette table that quietly restyled the default would be a
+    /// regression dressed as a feature.
+    func testVioletIsTheUntouchedShippedField() {
+        let violet = GamepadPalette.named("violet")
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.all.first?.id, "violet")
+        XCTAssertTrue(violet.stops.isEmpty, "the default is the explicit grid")
+        XCTAssertEqual(violet.meshColors, GamepadPalette.violetMesh)
+        // An unknown name is a newer client's palette, not an error.
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.named("chartreuse").id, "violet")
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.named("").id, "violet")
+    }
+
+    /// Ids, order and the light/dark split are the cross-client contract.
+    func testTableMatchesTheOtherClients() {
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            GamepadPalette.all.map(\.id),
+            ["violet", "nebula", "abyss", "ember", "moss", "graphite",
+             "holo", "sunset", "bloom", "dawn", "mint", "opal"])
+        // Dark fields lead, pale ones follow, so stepping the row walks one direction.
+        let firstLight = GamepadPalette.all.firstIndex { $0.light }
+        XCTAssertEqual(firstLight, 6)
+        XCTAssertTrue(GamepadPalette.all.dropFirst(6).allSatisfy(\.light))
+    }
+
+    /// A palette must read as SEVERAL hues, not one hue at several brightnesses — that was
+    /// exactly the complaint about the hue-rotation model this replaced.
+    func testEveryPaletteIsMultiTone() {
+        for p in GamepadPalette.all {
+            let hues = p.meshColors.compactMap(hue)
+            XCTAssertGreaterThanOrEqual(hues.count, 8, "\(p.id): too few coloured cells")
+            var spread = 0.0
+            for a in hues {
+                for b in hues {
+                    let d = abs(a - b).truncatingRemainder(dividingBy: 360)
+                    spread = max(spread, min(d, 360 - d))
+                }
+            }
+            // Graphite and Opal are deliberately near-neutral; the rest must travel.
+            let floor = (p.id == "graphite" || p.id == "opal") ? 20.0 : 45.0
+            XCTAssertGreaterThanOrEqual(spread, floor, "\(p.id) spans only \(spread)° of hue")
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Every colour stays in gamut, and a pale palette really is pale — its ink flips, so a
+    /// mislabelled one would put dark text on a dark field.
+    func testPalettesAreInGamutAndHonestAboutLightness() {
+        for p in GamepadPalette.all {
+            for c in p.meshColors + p.blobColors {
+                for v in [c.x, c.y, c.z] {
+                    XCTAssertTrue((0...1).contains(v), "\(p.id) \(c)")
+                }
+            }
+            let mean = p.meshColors.map(luma).reduce(0, +) / Double(p.meshColors.count)
+            if p.light {
+                XCTAssertGreaterThan(mean, 0.5, "\(p.id) is flagged light")
+                XCTAssertGreaterThan(luma(p.ground), 0.6, "\(p.id)'s ground is dark")
+                XCTAssertLessThan(luma(p.accent), 0.45, "\(p.id)'s accent is too pale")
+            } else {
+                XCTAssertLessThan(mean, 0.45, "\(p.id) is flagged dark")
+                XCTAssertLessThan(luma(p.ground), 0.2, "\(p.id)'s ground is light")
+                XCTAssertGreaterThan(luma(p.accent), 0.25, "\(p.id)'s accent is too dark")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The ramp is the shared sampling rule the Rust and Kotlin ports reproduce.
+    func testRampInterpolatesBetweenStops() {
+        let stops = [SIMD3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), SIMD3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), SIMD3(1.0, 1.0, 1.0)]
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0), SIMD3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0))
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 1), SIMD3(1.0, 1.0, 1.0))
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0.5), SIMD3(1.0, 0.0, 0.0))
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 0.25).x, 0.5, accuracy: 1e-9)
+        // Out of range clamps rather than trapping.
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, -3), SIMD3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0))
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp(stops, 9), SIMD3(1.0, 1.0, 1.0))
+        XCTAssertEqual(GamepadPalette.ramp([], 0.5), SIMD3(0.0, 0.0, 0.0))
+    }
+}

clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/HostDiscoveryTests.swift

@@ -50,5 +50,21 @@ final class HostDiscoveryTests: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertEqual(host.fingerprintHex, String(repeating: "ab", count: 32))
         XCTAssertFalse(host.host.isEmpty, "a resolved address is required to connect")
         XCTAssertGreaterThan(host.port, 0, "a resolved port is required to connect")
+
+        // A rescan tears the browser down and re-arms it (the only way past the iOS local-network
+        // permission gate without relaunching). The host must come BACK — `refresh()` cancels every
+        // in-flight resolve and invalidates the previous generation's callbacks, so a re-arm that
+        // failed to re-drive them would leave the list permanently empty.
+        await discovery.rescan()
+        var reappeared = false
+        let rescanDeadline = Date().addingTimeInterval(10)
+        while Date() < rescanDeadline {
+            if await discovery.hosts.contains(where: { $0.id == uniqueid }) {
+                reappeared = true
+                break
+            }
+            try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 200_000_000)
+        }
+        XCTAssertTrue(reappeared, "a rescan must re-find a host that is still advertising")
     }
 }

clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/SafeDisplayTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// The safe-area stream mode (SafeDisplay), as pure geometry: Moonlight's formula — full native
+// height, width reduced by the left+right safe insets — plus the host's dimension rules (even, and
+// never under 320×200) and the landscape-inset resolution that makes the row correct even when the
+// settings screen it is rendered on is currently portrait.
+
+import XCTest
+
+import PunktfunkShared
+@testable import PunktfunkKit
+
+final class SafeDisplayTests: XCTestCase {
+    func testLandscapeUsesTheHorizontalInsets() {
+        // Landscape: the housing is on a side and iOS symmetrizes the two, so either one is the
+        // per-side inset.
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(left: 59, right: 59, top: 0, isPhone: true), 59)
+        // Asymmetric (or mid-rotation) readings reduce to the larger — never under-inset.
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(left: 0, right: 44, top: 0, isPhone: true), 44)
+    }
+
+    func testPortraitFallsBackToTheHousingTopInset() {
+        // Portrait on a notched phone: left/right are zero and the housing sits on `top`. Reading
+        // the horizontal insets here would compute "no inset" for exactly the devices that need one,
+        // so the portrait top inset stands in — it is the same physical intrusion.
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(left: 0, right: 0, top: 59, isPhone: true), 59)
+        // A plain status bar is not a housing: an iPad (or a pre-notch iPhone) must not fabricate an
+        // inset for a device with nothing to route around.
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(left: 0, right: 0, top: 24, isPhone: true), 0)
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            SafeDisplay.sideInsetPoints(left: 0, right: 0, top: 59, isPhone: false), 0)
+    }
+
+    func testModeInsetsWidthOnlyAndKeepsFullHeight() {
+        // A Dynamic Island phone: 2556×1179 native, 59 pt per side at nativeScale 3 → 177 px per
+        // side, 354 px total. Height is untouched — under aspect-fit only the horizontal axis binds.
+        let m = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: 2556, nativeHeight: 1179, sideInsetPoints: 59, scale: 3)
+        XCTAssertEqual(m.width, 2202, "2556 − 2×177")
+        XCTAssertEqual(m.height, 1178, "odd native heights even-floor")
+        // The safe mode must be NARROWER than native, or it would still fill the housing.
+        XCTAssertLessThan(m.width, 2556)
+    }
+
+    func testNoHousingYieldsTheNativeModeSoTheRowDedups() {
+        // Zero inset ⇒ identical to native (bar the even-floor). `resolutionModes` dedups by
+        // dimensions, so this is what makes the extra row vanish on a device that has no housing
+        // rather than showing a pointless duplicate.
+        let m = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: 2360, nativeHeight: 1640, sideInsetPoints: 0, scale: 2)
+        XCTAssertEqual(m.width, 2360)
+        XCTAssertEqual(m.height, 1640)
+    }
+
+    func testResultIsAlwaysHostValid() {
+        // Odd widths even-floor: `validate_dimensions` rejects odd outright, and an inset
+        // subtraction lands odd about half the time.
+        let odd = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: 2001, nativeHeight: 1001, sideInsetPoints: 0, scale: 1)
+        XCTAssertEqual(odd.width % 2, 0)
+        XCTAssertEqual(odd.height % 2, 0)
+        // An absurd inset can't drive the mode under the host's floor.
+        let tiny = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: 1280, nativeHeight: 720, sideInsetPoints: 5000, scale: 3)
+        XCTAssertEqual(tiny.width, SafeDisplay.minWidth)
+        XCTAssertEqual(tiny.height, 720)
+        // A negative inset is treated as none rather than widening past the panel.
+        let neg = SafeDisplay.mode(
+            nativeWidth: 1280, nativeHeight: 720, sideInsetPoints: -40, scale: 3)
+        XCTAssertEqual(neg.width, 1280)
+    }
+}

clients/linux/src/app.rs

@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ const CSS: &str = "
 .pf-poster { border-radius: 10px; background: alpha(currentColor, 0.08); }
 .pf-poster-monogram { font-size: 2.4em; font-weight: bold; color: alpha(currentColor, 0.45); }
 .pf-store-badge { color: white; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55); }
+/* Launcher entries (design D4) open the launcher itself. They rarely have poster art, so an
+   art-less one must not read as a game whose cover failed to load: accent face, the launcher
+   named instead of a title monogram, and an accent badge. */
+.pf-poster.pf-launcher { background: alpha(@accent_color, 0.18); }
+.pf-poster-launcher-name { font-size: 1.15em; font-weight: bold; color: alpha(currentColor, 0.85); }
+.pf-store-badge.pf-launcher { color: white; background: @accent_color; }
+.pf-group-heading { font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; color: alpha(currentColor, 0.55); }
 ";
 
 /// Everything the shell shares below the component tree.

clients/linux/src/cli.rs

@@ -204,10 +204,18 @@ pub fn headless_library(target: &str) -> glib::ExitCode {
         });
     match crate::library::fetch_games(&addr, port, &identity, pin) {
         Ok(games) => {
+            // A fourth column, appended: `game` or `launcher` (design D4). Appended rather than
+            // folded into an existing field so anything reading the first three columns is
+            // untouched.
             for g in &games {
-                println!("{}\t{}\t{}", g.id, g.store, g.title);
+                let role = if g.is_launcher() { "launcher" } else { "game" };
+                println!("{}\t{}\t{}\t{}", g.id, g.store, g.title, role);
+            }
+            let launchers = games.iter().filter(|g| g.is_launcher()).count();
+            match launchers {
+                0 => println!("{} game(s)", games.len()),
+                n => println!("{} game(s), {} launcher(s)", games.len() - n, n),
             }
-            println!("{} game(s)", games.len());
             glib::ExitCode::SUCCESS
         }
         Err(e) => {

clients/linux/src/ui_hosts.rs

@@ -674,6 +674,9 @@ pub struct HostsPage {
     saved: FactoryVecDeque<HostCard>,
     discovered: FactoryVecDeque<HostCard>,
     widgets: PageWidgets,
+    /// Forces the mDNS browse to re-query (the header's Refresh button). `None` only if the
+    /// browse never started — the button then just re-renders, which is what it did before.
+    rescan: Option<discovery::Rescan>,
 }
 
 struct PageWidgets {
@@ -693,6 +696,10 @@ pub enum HostsMsg {
     },
     /// Reload the disk store and re-render (fresh pairings, renames, the library gate).
     Refresh,
+    /// Re-query mDNS *and* re-render — the header's Refresh button. Distinct from [`Self::Refresh`],
+    /// which only re-reads local state: after a while `mdns-sd` re-queries about once an hour, so a
+    /// host that appeared since (or whose announcement was lost) needs an actual query to show up.
+    Rescan,
     /// A completed reachability sweep: saved-host key → reachable. Merged into the online pips.
     Probed(HashMap<String, bool>),
     /// Mark the card matching `ConnectRequest::card_key` as connecting; `None` restores.
@@ -841,6 +848,13 @@ impl SimpleComponent for HostsPage {
         add_host_btn.set_tooltip_text(Some("Add host"));
         add_host_btn.set_action_name(Some("win.add-host"));
         header.pack_start(&add_host_btn);
+        let rescan_btn = gtk::Button::from_icon_name("view-refresh-symbolic");
+        rescan_btn.set_tooltip_text(Some("Scan the network for hosts again"));
+        {
+            let sender = sender.clone();
+            rescan_btn.connect_clicked(move |_| sender.input(HostsMsg::Rescan));
+        }
+        header.pack_start(&rescan_btn);
         let menu = gio::Menu::new();
         menu.append(Some("Preferences"), Some("win.preferences"));
         menu.append(Some("Keyboard Shortcuts"), Some("win.shortcuts"));
@@ -867,8 +881,8 @@ impl SimpleComponent for HostsPage {
         }
 
         // Stream mDNS adverts into the model; every add/remove re-evaluates both grids.
+        let (rx, rescan) = discovery::browse();
         {
-            let rx = discovery::browse();
             let sender = sender.clone();
             glib::spawn_future_local(async move {
                 while let Ok(event) = rx.recv().await {
@@ -937,6 +951,7 @@ impl SimpleComponent for HostsPage {
                 disc_heading,
                 searching,
             },
+            rescan: Some(rescan),
         };
         model.rebuild();
 
@@ -954,6 +969,14 @@ impl SimpleComponent for HostsPage {
                 self.rebuild();
             }
             HostsMsg::Refresh => self.rebuild(),
+            HostsMsg::Rescan => {
+                if let Some(rescan) = &self.rescan {
+                    rescan.request();
+                }
+                // Adverts stream in as they answer; re-render now so the local half is current
+                // either way.
+                self.rebuild();
+            }
             HostsMsg::Probed(map) => {
                 self.probed = map;
                 self.rebuild();

clients/linux/src/ui_library.rs

@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ struct State {
     req: ConnectRequest,
     stack: gtk::Stack,
     flow: gtk::FlowBox,
+    /// Launcher entries (design D4) get their own shelf above the games, so a handful of ways to
+    /// open a launcher aren't buried in a 400-title grid. Hidden outright when there are none.
+    launcher_flow: gtk::FlowBox,
+    launchers_group: gtk::Box,
+    /// The "Games" heading — only earns its space once a Launchers shelf is above it.
+    games_heading: gtk::Label,
     error_page: adw::StatusPage,
     /// Per-page poster cache (entry id → texture) — a Retry re-renders without refetching.
     art: RefCell<HashMap<String, gdk::Texture>>,
@@ -94,11 +100,44 @@ fn build(
     flow.connect_child_activated(|_, child| {
         child.activate();
     });
+    // The launcher shelf: same tile geometry as the games grid, its own FlowBox so the two
+    // groups never interleave and each wraps on its own.
+    let launcher_flow = gtk::FlowBox::builder()
+        .selection_mode(gtk::SelectionMode::None)
+        .activate_on_single_click(true)
+        .homogeneous(true)
+        .min_children_per_line(2)
+        .max_children_per_line(6)
+        .column_spacing(12)
+        .row_spacing(18)
+        .valign(gtk::Align::Start)
+        .build();
+    launcher_flow.connect_child_activated(|_, child| {
+        child.activate();
+    });
+    let launchers_heading = gtk::Label::new(Some("Launchers"));
+    launchers_heading.add_css_class("pf-group-heading");
+    launchers_heading.set_halign(gtk::Align::Start);
+    launchers_heading.set_margin_bottom(8);
+    let launchers_group = gtk::Box::new(gtk::Orientation::Vertical, 0);
+    launchers_group.append(&launchers_heading);
+    launchers_group.append(&launcher_flow);
+    launchers_group.set_margin_bottom(24);
+    launchers_group.set_visible(false);
+
+    let games_heading = gtk::Label::new(Some("Games"));
+    games_heading.add_css_class("pf-group-heading");
+    games_heading.set_halign(gtk::Align::Start);
+    games_heading.set_margin_bottom(8);
+    games_heading.set_visible(false);
+
     let content = gtk::Box::new(gtk::Orientation::Vertical, 0);
     content.set_margin_top(24);
     content.set_margin_bottom(24);
     content.set_margin_start(12);
     content.set_margin_end(12);
+    content.append(&launchers_group);
+    content.append(&games_heading);
     content.append(&flow);
     let clamp = adw::Clamp::builder()
         .maximum_size(1100)
@@ -166,6 +205,9 @@ fn build(
         req,
         stack,
         flow,
+        launcher_flow,
+        launchers_group,
+        games_heading,
         error_page,
         art: RefCell::new(HashMap::new()),
         pics: RefCell::new(HashMap::new()),
@@ -224,18 +266,41 @@ fn load(state: &Rc<State>) {
 /// immediately; the rest keep their monogram placeholder until `load_art` delivers.
 fn render(state: &Rc<State>, games: &[GameEntry]) {
     state.flow.remove_all();
+    state.launcher_flow.remove_all();
     state.pics.borrow_mut().clear();
-    for game in games {
+    // Design D4: launchers never interleave with titles. The host already sorts by title, and
+    // `partition` is stable, so each group keeps that order.
+    let (launchers, titles): (Vec<&GameEntry>, Vec<&GameEntry>) =
+        games.iter().partition(|g| g.is_launcher());
+    for game in &launchers {
+        state.launcher_flow.append(&game_card(state, game));
+    }
+    for game in &titles {
         state.flow.append(&game_card(state, game));
     }
+    // A library with no launcher entries looks exactly as it did before this existed.
+    state.launchers_group.set_visible(!launchers.is_empty());
+    state
+        .games_heading
+        .set_visible(!launchers.is_empty() && !titles.is_empty());
 }
 
 /// One poster tile: 2:3 art (~150×225 logical) over the title, with a store badge and a
 /// monogram placeholder underneath the async art. Activation starts a session launching
 /// this title (silent on a pinned host — the normal trust gate applies).
 fn game_card(state: &Rc<State>, game: &GameEntry) -> gtk::FlowBoxChild {
-    let monogram = gtk::Label::new(Some(&initials(&game.title)));
-    monogram.add_css_class("pf-poster-monogram");
+    // A launcher usually ships no poster. Naming the launcher on an accent face says "opens
+    // Steam"; a title monogram on the neutral face would say "a game whose cover didn't load".
+    let launcher = game.is_launcher();
+    let monogram = if launcher {
+        let l = gtk::Label::new(Some(store_label(&game.store)));
+        l.add_css_class("pf-poster-launcher-name");
+        l
+    } else {
+        let l = gtk::Label::new(Some(&initials(&game.title)));
+        l.add_css_class("pf-poster-monogram");
+        l
+    };
     monogram.set_halign(gtk::Align::Center);
     monogram.set_valign(gtk::Align::Center);
     let placeholder = gtk::Box::new(gtk::Orientation::Vertical, 0);
@@ -252,6 +317,9 @@ fn game_card(state: &Rc<State>, game: &GameEntry) -> gtk::FlowBoxChild {
     let badge = gtk::Label::new(Some(store_label(&game.store)));
     badge.add_css_class("pf-pill");
     badge.add_css_class("pf-store-badge");
+    if launcher {
+        badge.add_css_class("pf-launcher");
+    }
     badge.set_halign(gtk::Align::Start);
     badge.set_valign(gtk::Align::Start);
     badge.set_margin_start(6);
@@ -262,6 +330,9 @@ fn game_card(state: &Rc<State>, game: &GameEntry) -> gtk::FlowBoxChild {
     poster.add_overlay(&pic);
     poster.add_overlay(&badge);
     poster.add_css_class("pf-poster");
+    if launcher {
+        poster.add_css_class("pf-launcher");
+    }
     poster.set_overflow(gtk::Overflow::Hidden);
     poster.set_size_request(150, 225);
     poster.set_halign(gtk::Align::Center);

clients/linux/src/ui_trust.rs

@@ -46,8 +46,13 @@ pub fn wake_and_connect(
     let sender = sender.clone();
     glib::spawn_future_local(async move {
         use std::time::Duration;
-        let events = crate::discovery::browse();
+        let (events, rescan) = crate::discovery::browse();
         let mut wait = WakeWait::new();
+        // A waking host starts advertising at a moment we can't predict, and `mdns-sd`'s own
+        // re-query interval has doubled well past a minute by the time a boot finishes — so ask
+        // again periodically instead of waiting to be told. Every 5th tick: often enough that a
+        // host that came up is noticed promptly, rare enough not to hammer multicast.
+        let mut ticks: u32 = 0;
         loop {
             if cancel.get() {
                 waiting.close();
@@ -100,6 +105,10 @@ pub fn wake_and_connect(
                 }
                 None => {}
             }
+            ticks += 1;
+            if ticks % 5 == 0 {
+                rescan.request();
+            }
             glib::timeout_future(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
         }
     });

clients/session/src/console.rs

@@ -343,6 +343,7 @@ impl Service {
                     probe_inflight: Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false)),
                     last_probe: Instant::now() - Duration::from_secs(60),
                     wake_cancel: None,
+                    rescan: None,
                 }
                 .run(stop_w)
             })
@@ -373,11 +374,14 @@ struct ServiceState {
     last_probe: Instant,
     /// Cancels the active wake thread (it owns the model's wake status).
     wake_cancel: Option<Arc<AtomicBool>>,
+    /// Forces the mDNS browse to re-query. Installed by `run`; `None` before it starts.
+    rescan: Option<discovery::Rescan>,
 }
 
 impl ServiceState {
     fn run(mut self, stop: Arc<AtomicBool>) {
-        let discovery_rx = discovery::browse();
+        let (discovery_rx, rescan) = discovery::browse();
+        self.rescan = Some(rescan);
         while !stop.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
             // mDNS churn.
             while let Ok(ev) = discovery_rx.try_recv() {
@@ -512,6 +516,14 @@ impl ServiceState {
             }
             ConsoleCmd::Probe => {
                 self.last_probe = Instant::now() - Duration::from_secs(60);
+                // "Refresh presence" means the mDNS half too, not just the QUIC sweep: the browse
+                // runs for the process's lifetime and `mdns-sd` backs its re-query interval off to
+                // as much as an hour, so a host that appeared since startup may never be asked
+                // for again. (No console screen emits Probe yet — every face button on the home
+                // screen is spoken for — but the plumbing is correct for when one does.)
+                if let Some(r) = &self.rescan {
+                    r.request();
+                }
             }
             ConsoleCmd::SetPin {
                 key,
@@ -791,6 +803,7 @@ fn spawn_fetch(
                                 id: g.id.clone(),
                                 title: g.title.clone(),
                                 store: g.store.clone(),
+                                launcher: g.is_launcher(),
                             })
                             .collect(),
                     );
@@ -831,6 +844,7 @@ fn load_fake(shared: &LibraryShared, path: &str) {
                 id: g.id.clone(),
                 title: g.title.clone(),
                 store: g.store.clone(),
+                launcher: g.is_launcher(),
             })
             .collect(),
     );

clients/windows/src/app/connect.rs

@@ -490,9 +490,13 @@ fn wake_and_connect(
 
     let (ctx, ss, st) = (ctx.clone(), set_screen.clone(), set_status.clone());
     std::thread::spawn(move || {
-        let rx = crate::discovery::browse();
+        let (rx, rescan) = crate::discovery::browse();
         let mut seen: Vec<DiscoveredHost> = Vec::new();
         let mut wait = WakeWait::new();
+        // A waking host starts advertising at a moment we can't predict, and `mdns-sd`'s own
+        // re-query interval has doubled well past a minute by the time a boot finishes — so ask
+        // again periodically instead of waiting to be told (matches the GTK client's wake wait).
+        let mut ticks: u32 = 0;
         loop {
             // Cancel already returned the UI to the host list — stop re-sending and tear down.
             if cancel.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
@@ -555,6 +559,10 @@ fn wake_and_connect(
                 }
                 None => {}
             }
+            ticks += 1;
+            if ticks.is_multiple_of(5) {
+                rescan.request();
+            }
             std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(1));
         }
     });

clients/windows/src/app/hosts.rs

@@ -595,6 +595,22 @@ pub(crate) fn hosts_page(props: &HostsProps, cx: &mut RenderCx) -> Element {
                         move || sa.call(true)
                     })
                     .into()];
+                // Re-query mDNS. The browse runs for the app's lifetime, and `mdns-sd` backs its
+                // re-query interval off to as much as an hour — so a host that appeared since
+                // startup, or whose announcement was lost to multicast, may need an actual ask.
+                actions.push(
+                    icon_btn("Scan the network for hosts again", Symbol::Refresh)
+                        .on_click({
+                            let (c, st) = (ctx.clone(), set_status.clone());
+                            move || {
+                                if let Some(r) = c.shared.rescan.lock().unwrap().as_ref() {
+                                    r.request();
+                                }
+                                st.call("Scanning the network\u{2026}".to_string());
+                            }
+                        })
+                        .into(),
+                );
                 // The couch UI's front door, beside the other page actions. Absent on ARM64,
                 // where the session binary ships without its Skia console.
                 if CONSOLE_UI_AVAILABLE {

clients/windows/src/app/library.rs

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ pub(crate) struct Game {
     pub(crate) id: String,
     pub(crate) title: String,
     pub(crate) store: String,
+    /// This entry opens the launcher itself (Steam Big Picture, Heroic) rather than a title —
+    /// design D4. Reduced from the wire's `role` by `GameEntry::is_launcher`, so "anything that
+    /// isn't `launcher` is a game" is decided in one place for every client.
+    pub(crate) launcher: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Default)]
@@ -135,6 +139,7 @@ pub(crate) fn start_fetch(ctx: &Arc<AppCtx>, set_library: &AsyncSetState<Library
                         id: g.id.clone(),
                         title: g.title.clone(),
                         store: g.store.clone(),
+                        launcher: g.is_launcher(),
                     })
                     .collect(),
             );
@@ -215,6 +220,17 @@ fn initials(title: &str) -> String {
         .collect()
 }
 
+/// A small group label above a tile grid ("Launchers" / "Games"). Only drawn when the page shows
+/// both groups — a single unlabelled grid is what every launcher-less library looked like before.
+fn group_heading(text: &str) -> Element {
+    text_block(text)
+        .font_size(12.0)
+        .semibold()
+        .foreground(ThemeRef::SecondaryText)
+        .margin(edges(2.0, 8.0, 2.0, 2.0))
+        .into()
+}
+
 /// One poster tile: the artwork (or a monogram placeholder while it loads) with the store
 /// badge overlaid top-left, the title below, tap-to-launch across the whole tile.
 fn poster_tile(
@@ -228,13 +244,20 @@ fn poster_tile(
             .stretch(Stretch::UniformToFill)
             .height(poster_h)
             .into(),
+        // A launcher rarely has poster art, and an art-less launcher drawn like an art-less game
+        // reads as "a game whose cover failed to load". So it names its launcher instead of
+        // showing a title monogram, and the frame below picks up the accent stroke.
         None => border(
-            text_block(initials(&game.title))
-                .font_size(28.0)
-                .semibold()
-                .foreground(ThemeRef::SecondaryText)
-                .horizontal_alignment(HorizontalAlignment::Center)
-                .vertical_alignment(VerticalAlignment::Center),
+            text_block(if game.launcher {
+                store_label(&game.store).to_string()
+            } else {
+                initials(&game.title)
+            })
+            .font_size(if game.launcher { 18.0 } else { 28.0 })
+            .semibold()
+            .foreground(ThemeRef::SecondaryText)
+            .horizontal_alignment(HorizontalAlignment::Center)
+            .vertical_alignment(VerticalAlignment::Center),
         )
         .background(ThemeRef::SubtleFill)
         .height(poster_h)
@@ -242,14 +265,27 @@ fn poster_tile(
     };
     let framed = border(grid(vec![
         poster,
-        pill(store_label(&game.store), Pill::Neutral)
-            .horizontal_alignment(HorizontalAlignment::Left)
-            .vertical_alignment(VerticalAlignment::Top)
-            .margin(uniform(6.0))
-            .into(),
+        // `Pill::Info` rather than a solid accent fill — `style.rs` is explicit that
+        // white-on-bright is unreadable here.
+        pill(
+            store_label(&game.store),
+            if game.launcher {
+                Pill::Info
+            } else {
+                Pill::Neutral
+            },
+        )
+        .horizontal_alignment(HorizontalAlignment::Left)
+        .vertical_alignment(VerticalAlignment::Top)
+        .margin(uniform(6.0))
+        .into(),
     ]))
     .corner_radius(8.0)
-    .border_brush(ThemeRef::CardStroke)
+    .border_brush(if game.launcher {
+        ThemeRef::Accent
+    } else {
+        ThemeRef::CardStroke
+    })
     .border_thickness(uniform(1.0));
 
     border(
@@ -332,22 +368,43 @@ pub(crate) fn library_page(props: &LibraryProps, cx: &mut RenderCx) -> Element {
             .into(),
         ),
         LibraryPhase::Ready(games) => {
-            let tiles: Vec<Element> = games
-                .iter()
-                .map(|g| {
-                    let (ctx2, ss, st) = (ctx.clone(), ss.clone(), st.clone());
-                    let (target, id) = (target.clone(), g.id.clone());
-                    poster_tile(
-                        g,
-                        props.state.art.get(&g.id).map(String::as_str),
-                        poster_h,
-                        Box::new(move || {
-                            initiate_launch(&ctx2, target.clone(), id.clone(), &ss, &st)
-                        }),
-                    )
-                })
-                .collect();
-            body.push(tile_grid(tiles, cols, POSTER_GAP));
+            let tile = |g: &Game| -> Element {
+                let (ctx2, ss, st) = (ctx.clone(), ss.clone(), st.clone());
+                let (target, id) = (target.clone(), g.id.clone());
+                poster_tile(
+                    g,
+                    props.state.art.get(&g.id).map(String::as_str),
+                    poster_h,
+                    Box::new(move || initiate_launch(&ctx2, target.clone(), id.clone(), &ss, &st)),
+                )
+            };
+            // Design D4: launcher entries get their own shelf above the titles, never
+            // interleaved. `partition` is stable, so the host's title order survives in each
+            // group. Headings appear only when both groups exist, so a library without launcher
+            // entries renders exactly as it did before.
+            let (launchers, titles): (Vec<&Game>, Vec<&Game>) =
+                games.iter().partition(|g| g.launcher);
+            let both = !launchers.is_empty() && !titles.is_empty();
+            if !launchers.is_empty() {
+                if both {
+                    body.push(group_heading("Launchers"));
+                }
+                body.push(tile_grid(
+                    launchers.iter().map(|g| tile(g)).collect(),
+                    cols,
+                    POSTER_GAP,
+                ));
+            }
+            if !titles.is_empty() {
+                if both {
+                    body.push(group_heading("Games"));
+                }
+                body.push(tile_grid(
+                    titles.iter().map(|g| tile(g)).collect(),
+                    cols,
+                    POSTER_GAP,
+                ));
+            }
         }
     }
 

clients/windows/src/app/mod.rs

@@ -147,6 +147,10 @@ impl PartialEq for Svc {
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub(crate) struct Shared {
     pub(crate) target: Mutex<Target>,
+    /// Forces the app's single LAN browse to re-query — the hosts page's Refresh. Installed by
+    /// the discovery effect below; `None` until then (and if the browse never started, in which
+    /// case Refresh is simply inert rather than a second, competing browse).
+    pub(crate) rescan: Mutex<Option<discovery::Rescan>>,
     /// The live session child (spawn mode) — the status page's Disconnect and the
     /// request-access Cancel kill it. A FRESH handle is installed per spawn.
     pub(crate) session: Mutex<crate::spawn::SessionChild>,
@@ -459,8 +463,10 @@ fn root(cx: &mut RenderCx, ctx: &Arc<AppCtx>) -> Element {
 
     cx.use_effect((), {
         let set_hosts = set_hosts.clone();
+        let ctx = ctx.clone();
         move || {
-            let rx = discovery::browse();
+            let (rx, rescan) = discovery::browse();
+            *ctx.shared.rescan.lock().unwrap() = Some(rescan);
             std::thread::spawn(move || {
                 let mut acc: Vec<DiscoveredHost> = Vec::new();
                 while let Ok(h) = rx.recv_blocking() {

clients/windows/src/discovery.rs

@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 //! results to the UI. Ported verbatim from the GTK client (`mdns-sd` is cross-platform).
 
 use mdns_sd::{ServiceDaemon, ServiceEvent};
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+/// DNS-SD service type punktfunk hosts advertise (host side: `punktfunk_host::discovery`).
+const SERVICE_TYPE: &str = "_punktfunk._udp.local.";
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct DiscoveredHost {
@@ -24,10 +30,25 @@ pub struct DiscoveredHost {
     pub os: String,
 }
 
-/// Browse continuously for the app's lifetime. The thread exits when the receiver is
-/// dropped (the send fails) or the daemon dies.
-pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveredHost> {
+/// Forces the running browse to re-query now — the hosts page's Refresh. Mirrors
+/// `pf_client_core::discovery::Rescan`; see there for why a client needs one (`mdns-sd` re-queries
+/// on a backoff that doubles out to an hour, so a long-lived browse is effectively passive).
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct Rescan(Arc<AtomicBool>);
+
+impl Rescan {
+    /// Ask the browse thread to put a fresh query on the wire. Coalesces; returns immediately.
+    pub fn request(&self) {
+        self.0.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Browse continuously for the app's lifetime, with a handle that forces an immediate re-query.
+/// The thread exits when the receiver is dropped (the send fails) or the daemon dies.
+pub fn browse() -> (async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveredHost>, Rescan) {
     let (tx, rx) = async_channel::unbounded();
+    let flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let requested = flag.clone();
     std::thread::Builder::new()
         .name("punktfunk-mdns".into())
         .spawn(move || {
@@ -38,18 +59,45 @@ pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveredHost> {
                     return;
                 }
             };
-            let receiver = match daemon.browse("_punktfunk._udp.local.") {
+            let mut receiver = match daemon.browse(SERVICE_TYPE) {
                 Ok(r) => r,
                 Err(e) => {
                     tracing::warn!(error = %e, "mDNS browse failed — discovery disabled");
                     return;
                 }
             };
-            while let Ok(event) = receiver.recv() {
+            loop {
+                // The worker has to notice that its consumer went away even when NOTHING is
+                // arriving — the normal state of a LAN with no hosts on it. The old blocking
+                // `recv()` only ever learned that from a failed send, so a bounded consumer (the
+                // wake-and-wait below spawns one browse per wake) left this thread and its daemon
+                // — another thread, and a socket bound to :5353 — running for the app's lifetime.
+                // Checked at the TOP so the `continue` arms below can't skip it either.
+                if tx.is_closed() {
+                    break;
+                }
+                // Re-browsing the same type replaces the daemon's listener: it replays the cache
+                // into the new channel, queries immediately, and resets the backoff.
+                if requested.swap(false, Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                    match daemon.browse(SERVICE_TYPE) {
+                        Ok(r) => receiver = r,
+                        Err(e) => tracing::warn!(error = %e, "mDNS rescan failed"),
+                    }
+                }
+                let event = match receiver.recv_timeout(Duration::from_millis(250)) {
+                    Ok(event) => event,
+                    Err(_) if receiver.is_disconnected() && receiver.is_empty() => break,
+                    Err(_) => continue, // timed out — go round and look for a rescan request
+                };
                 if let ServiceEvent::ServiceResolved(info) = event {
                     let props = info.get_properties();
                     let val = |k: &str| props.get_property_val_str(k).unwrap_or("").to_string();
-                    let Some(addr) = info.get_addresses().iter().next().map(|a| a.to_string())
+                    // IPv4 only, like every other client (`pf_client_core::discovery`): the core
+                    // dials `format!("{host}:{port}").parse::<SocketAddr>()`, which cannot parse a
+                    // bare IPv6 literal, and the host stack binds IPv4 sockets exclusively. Taking
+                    // an arbitrary first address here rendered cards that failed on every click,
+                    // because a host's OS responder commonly answers AAAA for its hostname.
+                    let Some(addr) = info.get_addresses_v4().iter().next().map(|a| a.to_string())
                     else {
                         continue;
                     };
@@ -85,5 +133,5 @@ pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveredHost> {
             let _ = daemon.shutdown();
         })
         .expect("spawn mdns thread");
-    rx
+    (rx, Rescan(flag))
 }

clients/windows/src/main.rs

@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ fn run_headless_cli(args: &[String], identity: (String, String)) {
 fn discover_and_print() {
     use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
     println!("Browsing the LAN for punktfunk hosts (~5 s)…");
-    let rx = discovery::browse();
+    let (rx, _rescan) = discovery::browse();
     let deadline = Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(5);
     let mut seen = std::collections::HashSet::new();
     while Instant::now() < deadline {

crates/pf-client-core/src/discovery.rs

@@ -5,8 +5,13 @@
 
 use mdns_sd::{ServiceDaemon, ServiceEvent};
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
+/// DNS-SD service type punktfunk hosts advertise (host side: `punktfunk_host::discovery`).
+const SERVICE_TYPE: &str = "_punktfunk._udp.local.";
+
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct DiscoveredHost {
     /// Stable row key: the advertised host id, falling back to the mDNS fullname.
@@ -54,10 +59,32 @@ pub enum DiscoveryEvent {
     Removed { fullname: String },
 }
 
-/// Browse continuously. The worker exits when the returned receiver is dropped, or when the
-/// daemon dies — checked on a tick, so it stops even on a LAN where no advert ever arrives.
-pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveryEvent> {
+/// Forces the running browse to re-query now. Cheap to clone and hand to a UI thread; a request
+/// made after the browse has ended is simply never read.
+///
+/// Why a client needs one at all: `mdns-sd` re-queries on a DOUBLING backoff (1s, 2s, 4s … capped
+/// at one hour), so a browse that has been up a while is effectively passive — it is listening for
+/// announcements rather than asking. A host that starts advertising later, or whose announcement
+/// was dropped (ordinary for multicast over Wi-Fi), can stay invisible for a very long time.
+/// Re-querying resets that clock, which is what a Refresh button should do.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct Rescan(Arc<AtomicBool>);
+
+impl Rescan {
+    /// Ask the browse thread to put a fresh query on the wire. Returns immediately; the query
+    /// follows within a tick. Coalesces — several requests in a row cost one query.
+    pub fn request(&self) {
+        self.0.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Browse continuously, with a handle that forces an immediate re-query ([`Rescan`]). The worker
+/// exits when the returned receiver is dropped, or when the daemon dies — checked on a tick, so
+/// it stops even on a LAN where no advert ever arrives.
+pub fn browse() -> (async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveryEvent>, Rescan) {
     let (tx, rx) = async_channel::unbounded();
+    let flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let requested = flag.clone();
     std::thread::Builder::new()
         .name("punktfunk-mdns".into())
         .spawn(move || {
@@ -68,7 +95,7 @@ pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveryEvent> {
                     return;
                 }
             };
-            let receiver = match daemon.browse("_punktfunk._udp.local.") {
+            let mut receiver = match daemon.browse(SERVICE_TYPE) {
                 Ok(r) => r,
                 Err(e) => {
                     tracing::warn!(error = %e, "mDNS browse failed — discovery disabled");
@@ -88,6 +115,17 @@ pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveryEvent> {
                 if tx.is_closed() {
                     break;
                 }
+                // Also at the TOP, and for the same reason: every `continue` below would skip it.
+                if requested.swap(false, Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                    // Browsing the same type again REPLACES the daemon's listener for it: it
+                    // replays the cache into the new channel (so nothing already known is lost),
+                    // puts a fresh PTR query on the wire immediately, and — the point — resets the
+                    // re-query backoff described on `Rescan`.
+                    match daemon.browse(SERVICE_TYPE) {
+                        Ok(r) => receiver = r,
+                        Err(e) => tracing::warn!(error = %e, "mDNS rescan failed"),
+                    }
+                }
                 let event = match receiver.recv_timeout(Duration::from_millis(250)) {
                     Ok(event) => event,
                     Err(_) if receiver.is_disconnected() => break,
@@ -147,7 +185,7 @@ pub fn browse() -> async_channel::Receiver<DiscoveryEvent> {
             let _ = daemon.shutdown();
         })
         .expect("spawn mdns thread");
-    rx
+    (rx, Rescan(flag))
 }
 
 /// The advert map one browse window folded down to. Kept separate from [`discover_for`] so the
@@ -174,7 +212,7 @@ fn fold(adverts: &mut Adverts, event: DiscoveryEvent) {
 /// wants one bounded call rather than a stream). The streaming [`browse`] stays the UI's door:
 /// a live hosts page wants adverts as they land, not a snapshot taken `timeout` after it opened.
 pub fn discover_for(timeout: Duration) -> Vec<DiscoveredHost> {
-    let rx = browse();
+    let (rx, _rescan) = browse();
     let deadline = Instant::now() + timeout;
     let mut adverts = Adverts::new();
     while Instant::now() < deadline {

crates/pf-client-core/src/session.rs

@@ -908,7 +908,27 @@ fn pump(
                 }
             }
             Err(PunktfunkError::NoFrame) => {}
-            Err(PunktfunkError::Closed) => break Some("Host ended the session".to_string()),
+            // The session ended. `None` here means "normal finish" to every embedder — the browse
+            // console returns to the library with no status strip, the one-shot binary exits 0
+            // quietly — so only an ending that actually went wrong should carry a message.
+            // Previously EVERY close reported "Host ended the session", which put an error-shaped
+            // line in front of the player for quitting their own game.
+            Err(PunktfunkError::Closed) => {
+                use punktfunk_core::client::PunktfunkEndReason as End;
+                break match connector.end_reason() {
+                    // The player quit the game the host launched. Nothing to report; a launcher
+                    // embedder returns to its library, which is where they were headed anyway.
+                    End::GameExited => None,
+                    // We closed it, or the host closed cleanly (an operator "End", or the session
+                    // simply finishing). Both were asked for.
+                    End::Local | End::HostEnded => None,
+                    End::HostError => Some("The host ended the session with an error".to_string()),
+                    End::Lost => Some("Connection lost".to_string()),
+                    // No verdict (an older core, or the close raced the read): keep the wording
+                    // this arm has always used rather than inventing a new one.
+                    End::None => Some("Host ended the session".to_string()),
+                };
+            }
             Err(e) => break Some(format!("session: {e:?}")),
         }
 

crates/pf-client-core/src/trust.rs

@@ -1111,6 +1111,15 @@ pub struct Settings {
     /// Experimental: the game-library browser ("Browse library…" on saved cards) —
     /// mirrors the Apple client's "Show game library" toggle, default off.
     pub library_enabled: bool,
+    /// Which colour family the gamepad UI's living backdrop drifts through — the shared
+    /// `ui_palette` key (`"violet"` = the brand default, then `tide`/`forest`/`ember`/
+    /// `rose`/`graphite`; see `pf-console-ui`'s palette table, and the Apple/Android
+    /// clients' twins). Presentation only: nothing about a stream depends on it, which is
+    /// why it is a device preference and never part of a settings profile. An unknown
+    /// name reads as the default rather than erroring — a newer client may have shipped a
+    /// palette this binary doesn't know.
+    #[serde(default = "default_ui_palette")]
+    pub ui_palette: String,
     /// Send Wake-on-LAN before connecting to a saved host and wait for it to boot (the
     /// Apple client's "Auto-wake on connect"). Default ON — that was the unconditional
     /// behavior before this became a setting. Off is for hosts reached over a VPN, where
@@ -1195,6 +1204,10 @@ fn default_true() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+fn default_ui_palette() -> String {
+    "violet".into()
+}
+
 fn default_pad_speaker() -> String {
     "pad".into()
 }
@@ -1303,6 +1316,7 @@ impl Default for Settings {
             stats_verbosity: None,
             fullscreen_on_stream: true,
             library_enabled: false,
+            ui_palette: default_ui_palette(),
             auto_wake: true,
             invert_scroll: false,
             speaker_device: String::new(),

crates/pf-console-ui/src/glyphs.rs

@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
 //! no pad at all the legend swaps to keyboard keycaps — the console stays fully
 //! drivable either way.
 
-use crate::theme::{white, Fonts, W};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, W};
 use punktfunk_core::config::GamepadPref;
-use skia_safe::{Canvas, Color4f, Paint, Path, Point, RRect, Rect};
+use skia_safe::{Canvas, Paint, Path, Point, RRect, Rect};
 
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
 pub(crate) enum GlyphStyle {
@@ -94,13 +94,13 @@ pub(crate) fn hint_bar(
     let rect = Rect::from_xywh((x) as f32, (bottom - h) as f32, w as f32, h as f32);
     canvas.draw_rrect(
         RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, (h / 2.0) as f32, (h / 2.0) as f32),
-        &Paint::new(Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.30), None),
+        &Paint::new(crate::theme::shade(0.30), None),
     );
     canvas.draw_rrect(
         RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, (h / 2.0) as f32, (h / 2.0) as f32),
-        &Paint::new(white(0.06), None),
+        &Paint::new(fg(0.06), None),
     );
-    let mut sp = Paint::new(white(0.12), None);
+    let mut sp = Paint::new(fg(0.12), None);
     sp.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     sp.set_stroke_width(1.0);
     sp.set_anti_alias(true);
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ pub(crate) fn hint_bar(
             cy + LABEL_SIZE * k * 0.36,
             W::SemiBold,
             LABEL_SIZE * k,
-            white(0.85),
+            fg(0.85),
         );
         pen += lw + gap_hint;
     }
@@ -199,8 +199,8 @@ fn draw_glyph(
         Resolved::Badge(face) => {
             let r = BADGE_D * k / 2.0;
             let center = Point::new((x + r) as f32, cy as f32);
-            canvas.draw_circle(center, r as f32, &Paint::new(white(0.10), None));
-            let mut ring = Paint::new(white(0.32), None);
+            canvas.draw_circle(center, r as f32, &Paint::new(fg(0.10), None));
+            let mut ring = Paint::new(fg(0.32), None);
             ring.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
             ring.set_stroke_width((1.2 * k) as f32);
             ring.set_anti_alias(true);
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
                     cy + size * 0.36,
                     W::SemiBold,
                     size,
-                    white(0.92),
+                    fg(0.92),
                 );
             }
         }
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
                 let rect = Rect::from_xywh(pen as f32, (cy - h / 2.0) as f32, w as f32, h as f32);
                 canvas.draw_rrect(
                     RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, (4.0 * k) as f32, (4.0 * k) as f32),
-                    &Paint::new(white(0.10), None),
+                    &Paint::new(fg(0.10), None),
                 );
                 let size = 10.0 * k;
                 let tw = fonts.measure(label, W::SemiBold, size) as f64;
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
                     cy + size * 0.36,
                     W::SemiBold,
                     size,
-                    white(0.92),
+                    fg(0.92),
                 );
                 pen += w + 3.0 * k;
             }
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
             let (cx, cyf) = ((x + r) as f32, cy as f32);
             let (tw, th) = ((4.5 * k) as f32, (5.5 * k) as f32);
             let gap = (2.6 * k) as f32;
-            let paint = Paint::new(white(0.85), None);
+            let paint = Paint::new(fg(0.85), None);
             let mut left = Path::new();
             left.move_to((cx - gap, cyf - th));
             left.line_to((cx - gap - tw, cyf));
@@ -277,9 +277,9 @@ fn draw_glyph(
             let rect = Rect::from_xywh(x as f32, (cy - h / 2.0) as f32, w as f32, h as f32);
             canvas.draw_rrect(
                 RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, (5.0 * k) as f32, (5.0 * k) as f32),
-                &Paint::new(white(0.10), None),
+                &Paint::new(fg(0.10), None),
             );
-            let mut ring = Paint::new(white(0.28), None);
+            let mut ring = Paint::new(fg(0.28), None);
             ring.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
             ring.set_stroke_width(1.0);
             ring.set_anti_alias(true);
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
                 cy + size * 0.36,
                 W::SemiBold,
                 size,
-                white(0.92),
+                fg(0.92),
             );
         }
     }
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ fn draw_glyph(
 /// The PlayStation face shapes, stroked inside the badge: Confirm=✕, Back=○, X-position
 /// =□, Y-position=△ (the DualSense's physical layout).
 fn draw_ps_shape(canvas: &Canvas, face: Face, center: Point, r: f32, stroke: f32) {
-    let mut p = Paint::new(white(0.92), None);
+    let mut p = Paint::new(fg(0.92), None);
     p.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     p.set_stroke_width(stroke);
     p.set_stroke_cap(skia_safe::PaintCap::Round);

crates/pf-console-ui/src/library.rs

@@ -203,17 +203,237 @@ pub const MESH_INTERIOR: [(f64, f64, f64, f64, f64, f64); 4] = [
     (0.667, 0.667, 0.12, 0.047, 0.061, 5.0),
 ];
 
-/// The mesh gradient as SkSL, palette + motion baked into the source (only time and
-/// resolution are uniforms). A smooth bicubic blend of the 16 colours — a separable
+// --- Background palettes -------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// One background colour family for the gamepad UI's living backdrop.
+///
+/// A palette is a short ordered ramp of [`Palette::stops`] — several DISTINCT hues, not one hue
+/// at several brightnesses. The 4×4 mesh samples that ramp diagonally with a per-cell offset
+/// ([`CELL_RAMP`]), so neighbouring cells land on different parts of it and the colours pool and
+/// swirl the way a real gradient poster does; the interior points' existing domain warp then
+/// drifts those pools around. An earlier version rotated ONE field's hue per palette, which is
+/// why every non-default palette read as flat and monotone.
+///
+/// A palette also owns the UI it sits under: [`Palette::accent`] is the focus wash / selected
+/// pill / switch colour, and [`Palette::light`] flips the ink (see [`crate::theme::Ink`]) so a
+/// pale field gets dark text instead of white. The Apple and Android clients carry the same
+/// table under the same ids, so one `ui_palette` value is one look everywhere.
+pub struct Palette {
+    /// The stored `ui_palette` value (see `trust::Settings::ui_palette`).
+    pub id: &'static str,
+    /// What the settings row shows.
+    pub name: &'static str,
+    /// The colour ramp, dark end first. `None` = use [`MESH_COLORS`] verbatim (the brand
+    /// default, kept bit-identical to what every install already sees).
+    pub stops: Option<&'static [(f64, f64, f64)]>,
+    /// The field's ground — what the corners settle onto and what the calm mix lifts toward.
+    pub ground: (f64, f64, f64),
+    /// The UI accent: focus wash, selected tab pill, switch track, caret.
+    pub accent: (f64, f64, f64),
+    /// A pale field: the UI flips to dark ink and the legibility scrims go white.
+    pub light: bool,
+}
+
+/// Where each of the 16 mesh cells samples the ramp. The base is the diagonal
+/// `0.5·(x + y)` — top-left is the ramp's dark end, bottom-right its bright one, like both
+/// reference gradients — and the per-cell nudges break the banding that a pure diagonal would
+/// give, so hues pool instead of striping.
+#[rustfmt::skip]
+const CELL_RAMP: [f64; 16] = [
+     0.10, -0.06,  0.04, -0.12,
+    -0.08,  0.14, -0.10,  0.06,
+     0.06, -0.12,  0.16, -0.04,
+    -0.10,  0.08, -0.06,  0.12,
+];
+
+/// The twelve shipped palettes: the brand default, five more dark fields, then six pale ones.
+/// Cycling order runs dark → light, so stepping the row walks the whole range in one direction.
+/// Adding one here adds it to every console settings screen; the Apple and Android tables must
+/// gain the same entry to keep the `ui_palette` key portable.
+#[rustfmt::skip]
+pub const PALETTES: [Palette; 12] = [
+    // --- dark fields (white ink) ---
+    Palette {
+        id: "violet", name: "Violet", stops: None,
+        ground: (0.075, 0.060, 0.160), accent: (0.525, 0.471, 0.961), light: false,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Deep indigo climbing through violet into a hot magenta.
+        id: "nebula", name: "Nebula",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.07, 0.05, 0.20), (0.26, 0.14, 0.54), (0.52, 0.20, 0.72),
+            (0.82, 0.26, 0.62), (0.98, 0.46, 0.68),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.055, 0.040, 0.135), accent: (0.95, 0.42, 0.72), light: false,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Ink-blue water: teal → cerulean → a violet undertow.
+        id: "abyss", name: "Abyss",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.02, 0.10, 0.17), (0.04, 0.28, 0.42), (0.07, 0.46, 0.63),
+            (0.16, 0.38, 0.78), (0.26, 0.22, 0.58),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.018, 0.070, 0.130), accent: (0.26, 0.76, 0.92), light: false,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Banked coals: plum embers → crimson → burnt orange → gold.
+        id: "ember", name: "Ember",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.16, 0.03, 0.10), (0.45, 0.06, 0.12), (0.72, 0.18, 0.06),
+            (0.90, 0.42, 0.08), (0.95, 0.68, 0.18),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.090, 0.035, 0.040), accent: (0.98, 0.62, 0.26), light: false,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Forest floor into moss and a lime break.
+        id: "moss", name: "Moss",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.03, 0.11, 0.09), (0.06, 0.27, 0.20), (0.09, 0.45, 0.31),
+            (0.28, 0.61, 0.28), (0.58, 0.77, 0.31),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.025, 0.085, 0.070), accent: (0.48, 0.86, 0.46), light: false,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Neutral, but never flat: barely-there saturation that still travels from a cool
+        // charcoal to a warm stone, so even the restrained option has somewhere to go.
+        id: "graphite", name: "Graphite",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.06, 0.07, 0.11), (0.15, 0.18, 0.25), (0.30, 0.31, 0.35),
+            (0.45, 0.42, 0.38), (0.60, 0.56, 0.49),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.055, 0.055, 0.070), accent: (0.78, 0.80, 0.86), light: false,
+    },
+    // --- pale fields (dark ink) ---
+    Palette {
+        // The holographic foil: rose → lilac → periwinkle → aqua, with a white bloom.
+        id: "holo", name: "Holo",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.99, 0.72, 0.90), (0.80, 0.60, 0.98), (0.58, 0.62, 0.99),
+            (0.55, 0.86, 0.98), (0.94, 0.98, 1.00),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.96, 0.92, 0.99), accent: (0.42, 0.28, 0.86), light: true,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // The poster sunset: periwinkle → magenta → scarlet → tangerine → gold.
+        id: "sunset", name: "Sunset",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.55, 0.45, 0.92), (0.86, 0.31, 0.66), (0.97, 0.26, 0.34),
+            (0.99, 0.51, 0.18), (1.00, 0.80, 0.22),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.98, 0.74, 0.34), accent: (0.64, 0.13, 0.44), light: true,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Peach into blush and lilac — the softest of the set.
+        id: "bloom", name: "Bloom",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (1.00, 0.86, 0.72), (0.99, 0.73, 0.79), (0.95, 0.65, 0.89),
+            (0.82, 0.68, 0.96), (0.73, 0.79, 0.99),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.99, 0.90, 0.89), accent: (0.72, 0.24, 0.55), light: true,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // First light: pale gold → coral → lilac.
+        id: "dawn", name: "Dawn",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (1.00, 0.92, 0.70), (1.00, 0.80, 0.62), (0.99, 0.66, 0.62),
+            (0.90, 0.62, 0.78), (0.77, 0.69, 0.95),
+        ]),
+        ground: (1.00, 0.93, 0.82), accent: (0.82, 0.33, 0.28), light: true,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Sea glass: mint → aqua → a pale sky.
+        id: "mint", name: "Mint",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.82, 0.98, 0.90), (0.62, 0.94, 0.88), (0.55, 0.88, 0.95),
+            (0.63, 0.82, 0.99), (0.82, 0.87, 1.00),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.90, 0.98, 0.96), accent: (0.04, 0.42, 0.40), light: true,
+    },
+    Palette {
+        // Near-white, but iridescent rather than flat — rose, sky, mint and cream in turn.
+        id: "opal", name: "Opal",
+        stops: Some(&[
+            (0.98, 0.92, 0.96), (0.87, 0.93, 0.99), (0.91, 0.99, 0.95),
+            (0.99, 0.96, 0.88), (0.94, 0.90, 0.99),
+        ]),
+        ground: (0.97, 0.96, 0.99), accent: (0.36, 0.32, 0.44), light: true,
+    },
+];
+
+/// The palette stored under `id`, falling back to the brand default — an unknown name is a
+/// palette a newer client shipped, not a reason to draw nothing.
+pub fn palette(id: &str) -> &'static Palette {
+    PALETTES.iter().find(|p| p.id == id).unwrap_or(&PALETTES[0])
+}
+
+/// Sample an ordered colour ramp at `t` ∈ [0, 1] (linear between neighbouring stops). Ported
+/// verbatim to Swift and Kotlin — keep the three copies in step or a palette drifts between
+/// clients.
+pub fn ramp(stops: &[(f64, f64, f64)], t: f64) -> (f64, f64, f64) {
+    match stops.len() {
+        0 => (0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
+        1 => stops[0],
+        n => {
+            let x = t.clamp(0.0, 1.0) * (n - 1) as f64;
+            let i = (x.floor() as usize).min(n - 2);
+            let f = x - i as f64;
+            let (a, b) = (stops[i], stops[i + 1]);
+            (
+                a.0 + (b.0 - a.0) * f,
+                a.1 + (b.1 - a.1) * f,
+                a.2 + (b.2 - a.2) * f,
+            )
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Palette {
+    /// The 16 mesh colours for this palette: the ramp sampled per cell (see [`CELL_RAMP`]), or
+    /// [`MESH_COLORS`] verbatim for the brand default.
+    pub fn mesh_colors(&self) -> [(f64, f64, f64); 16] {
+        let Some(stops) = self.stops else {
+            return MESH_COLORS;
+        };
+        core::array::from_fn(|i| {
+            let (x, y) = ((i % 4) as f64 / 3.0, (i / 4) as f64 / 3.0);
+            ramp(stops, 0.5 * (x + y) + CELL_RAMP[i])
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Four drifting blob colours, for the clients that approximate the mesh with a blob field
+    /// (Android). Spread across the ramp so the field still shows several hues at once.
+    pub fn blob_colors(&self) -> [(f64, f64, f64); 4] {
+        let stops = self.stops.unwrap_or(&VIOLET_BLOBS);
+        core::array::from_fn(|i| ramp(stops, 0.15 + 0.25 * i as f64))
+    }
+}
+
+/// The brand default's blob ramp — the four colours the pre-palette Android/legacy-Apple field
+/// used, kept so `violet` is unchanged there too.
+const VIOLET_BLOBS: [(f64, f64, f64); 5] = [
+    (0.53, 0.47, 0.96),
+    (0.24, 0.20, 0.72),
+    (0.62, 0.30, 0.80),
+    (0.22, 0.38, 0.86),
+    (0.53, 0.47, 0.96),
+];
+
+/// The mesh gradient as SkSL, palette + motion baked into the source (resolution, time and
+/// the calm mix are uniforms). A smooth bicubic blend of the 16 colours — a separable
 /// cubic-Bézier basis in x then y, C∞ and edge-to-edge, the fragment-shader analogue of
 /// SwiftUI's `MeshGradient(smoothsColors: true)`. The four interior points drive a
 /// bounded (weighted-average) domain warp so the bright pools drift; then the whole field
 /// gets the ±8°/~5-min hue sway, an elliptical vignette, and the vertical legibility scrim,
 /// all matching the Swift `composite(at:)`. Runs on the GPU at full rate.
-pub fn mesh_sksl() -> String {
+///
+/// `u_tc.y` is the CALM mix, 0 → 1: at 1 the same living field is flattened toward its own
+/// corner colour (`u_lift`), which is how the form screens (settings, add-host, pair) stay
+/// restful while still drifting — the motion never changes speed, only the contrast, so the
+/// crossfade between a launcher screen and a form screen can't make the field jump.
+pub fn mesh_sksl(colors: &[(f64, f64, f64); 16]) -> String {
     // Colours as `float3(r, g, b)` literals, indices 0..15 (row-major 4×4).
     let c = |i: usize| {
-        let (r, g, b) = MESH_COLORS[i];
+        let (r, g, b) = colors[i];
         format!("float3({r}, {g}, {b})")
     };
     // The four interior-point domain-warp accumulators. Displacement matches Swift `wob()`:
@@ -224,14 +444,23 @@ pub fn mesh_sksl() -> String {
         warp.push_str(&format!(
             "    q = uv - float2({bx}, {by});\n\
                  ww = exp(-dot(q, q) / (2.0 * 0.30 * 0.30));\n\
-                 d = float2({amp} * sin(u_t * {sx} + {ph}), \
-                            {amp} * cos(u_t * {sy} + {ph} * 1.3));\n\
+                 d = float2({amp} * sin(tt * {sx} + {ph}), \
+                            {amp} * cos(tt * {sy} + {ph} * 1.3));\n\
                  wsum += d * ww; wtot += ww;\n",
         ));
     }
     format!(
         "uniform float2 u_res;\n\
-         uniform float u_t;\n\
+         // x = seconds since the shell started, y = the calm mix (0 launcher, 1 form).\n\
+         uniform float2 u_tc;\n\
+         // rgb = the palette's corner colour scaled for the calm lift; a is unused (float4\n\
+         // so the uniform block stays 16-byte aligned under any packing rule).\n\
+         uniform float4 u_lift;\n\
+         // rgb = what the vignette and scrims tend toward (black under a dark palette, white\n\
+         // under a pale one — darkening a pastel field would strand the dark text on it), and\n\
+         // a = how hard. A pale field needs far less: mixing toward white at the dark field's\n\
+         // strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient.\n\
+         uniform float4 u_scrim;\n\
          \n\
          // Cubic-Bézier basis over four control values — the smooth 4-point blend per axis.\n\
          float bz(float t, float a, float b, float c, float d) {{\n\
@@ -250,6 +479,7 @@ pub fn mesh_sksl() -> String {
          }}\n\
          \n\
          half4 main(float2 xy) {{\n\
+         \x20   float tt = u_tc.x; float calm = u_tc.y;\n\
          \x20   float2 uv = xy / u_res;\n\
          \x20   // Interior control points wander → bounded domain warp (pools follow them).\n\
          \x20   float2 wsum = float2(0.0); float wtot = 0.0; float2 q; float ww; float2 d;\n\
@@ -263,19 +493,27 @@ pub fn mesh_sksl() -> String {
          \x20   float3 r3 = bz3(uv.x, {c12}, {c13}, {c14}, {c15});\n\
          \x20   float3 col = bz3(uv.y, r0, r1, r2, r3);\n\
          \n\
-         \x20   col = hue(col, sin(u_t * 0.021) * 0.1396263);\n\
+         \x20   col = hue(col, sin(tt * 0.021) * 0.1396263);\n\
+         \n\
+         \x20   // Calm: flatten the field toward its own corner colour — the pools dim and the\n\
+         \x20   // corners lift, so a form screen keeps real colour under its glass rows while\n\
+         \x20   // losing the launcher's contrast. Motion is untouched (see the doc comment).\n\
+         \x20   col = mix(col, col * 0.60 + u_lift.rgb, calm);\n\
          \n\
          \x20   // Elliptical vignette: clear at r=0.25 → black·0.42 at r=1.15 (aspect-fit ellipse).\n\
+         \x20   // Halved under calm: a launcher's cards sit in the pooled centre, but a form\n\
+         \x20   // screen's rows run out toward the edges, where crushing to black just eats them.\n\
          \x20   float2 e = (xy / u_res - 0.5) * 2.0;\n\
-         \x20   float vig = clamp((length(e) - 0.25) / 0.90, 0.0, 1.0) * 0.42;\n\
-         \x20   col *= 1.0 - vig;\n\
+         \x20   float vig = clamp((length(e) - 0.25) / 0.90, 0.0, 1.0)\n\
+         \x20             * mix(0.42, 0.21, calm) * u_scrim.a;\n\
+         \x20   col = mix(col, u_scrim.rgb, vig);\n\
          \n\
          \x20   // Vertical legibility scrim: black 0.38/0.06/0.08/0.40 at 0/0.32/0.68/1.\n\
          \x20   float v = xy.y / u_res.y;\n\
          \x20   float s = v < 0.32 ? mix(0.38, 0.06, v / 0.32)\n\
          \x20           : v < 0.68 ? mix(0.06, 0.08, (v - 0.32) / 0.36)\n\
          \x20           : mix(0.08, 0.40, (v - 0.68) / 0.32);\n\
-         \x20   col *= 1.0 - s;\n\
+         \x20   col = mix(col, u_scrim.rgb, s * u_scrim.a);\n\
          \n\
          \x20   return half4(half3(col), 1.0);\n\
          }}\n",
@@ -306,6 +544,11 @@ pub struct LibraryGame {
     pub id: String,
     pub title: String,
     pub store: String,
+    /// This entry opens the launcher itself (Steam Big Picture, Heroic, Lutris) rather than a
+    /// title — design D4. The host's `role` field, already reduced to a boolean by
+    /// [`pf_client_core::library::GameEntry::is_launcher`] so the "anything that isn't
+    /// `launcher` is a game" rule lives in exactly one place.
+    pub launcher: bool,
 }
 
 struct Shared {
@@ -341,7 +584,15 @@ impl LibraryShared {
     }
 
     /// Loaded games → the carousel (empty = the empty scene).
+    ///
+    /// **Launcher entries are moved to the front, keeping the host's title order within each
+    /// group.** Grouping here rather than in the renderer means the carousel's cursor arithmetic,
+    /// the art pump and every future consumer of this model all inherit the invariant for free —
+    /// a launcher tile is never buried in the middle of a 400-title shelf.
     pub fn set_games(&self, games: Vec<LibraryGame>) {
+        let mut games = games;
+        // `sort_by_key` is stable, so this is a partition that preserves the incoming order.
+        games.sort_by_key(|g| !g.launcher);
         let mut s = self.0.lock().unwrap();
         s.phase = if games.is_empty() {
             LibraryPhase::Empty
@@ -408,6 +659,52 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(step_cursor(0, 0, 1, false), StepResult::Boundary);
     }
 
+    /// Design D4: launcher entries lead the shelf, and the host's title order survives within
+    /// each group. The renderer's `launcher_count()` reads the launcher group as the prefix
+    /// `0..n`, so an interleaved list would silently mislabel the group heading.
+    #[test]
+    fn set_games_groups_launchers_first_and_keeps_title_order() {
+        let g = |title: &str, launcher: bool| LibraryGame {
+            id: format!("steam:{title}"),
+            title: title.to_string(),
+            store: "steam".into(),
+            launcher,
+        };
+        let shared = LibraryShared::default();
+        shared.set_games(vec![
+            g("Celeste", false),
+            g("Big Picture", true),
+            g("Portal 2", false),
+            g("Heroic", true),
+        ]);
+        let (phase, games, _) = shared.snapshot();
+        assert!(matches!(phase, LibraryPhase::Ready));
+        let titles: Vec<&str> = games.iter().map(|g| g.title.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(titles, ["Big Picture", "Heroic", "Celeste", "Portal 2"]);
+        assert_eq!(games.iter().take_while(|g| g.launcher).count(), 2);
+    }
+
+    /// A library with no launcher entries is untouched — the whole point of the grouping being
+    /// invisible until a plugin actually publishes a launcher tile.
+    #[test]
+    fn set_games_leaves_a_launcher_less_library_alone() {
+        let shared = LibraryShared::default();
+        shared.set_games(
+            ["Celeste", "Portal 2", "Tunic"]
+                .iter()
+                .map(|t| LibraryGame {
+                    id: format!("steam:{t}"),
+                    title: (*t).to_string(),
+                    store: "steam".into(),
+                    launcher: false,
+                })
+                .collect(),
+        );
+        let (_, games, _) = shared.snapshot();
+        let titles: Vec<&str> = games.iter().map(|g| g.title.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(titles, ["Celeste", "Portal 2", "Tunic"]);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn jump_clamps_onto_the_ends() {
         assert_eq!(step_cursor(1, 5, -JUMP, true), StepResult::Moved(0));
@@ -482,10 +779,139 @@ mod tests {
     /// 16 colours baked in, the five bicubic evals and four interior warp terms present).
     #[test]
     fn mesh_sksl_shape() {
-        let src = mesh_sksl();
+        let src = mesh_sksl(&MESH_COLORS);
         assert!(src.matches("float3(").count() >= 16, "16 colours baked");
         assert_eq!(src.matches("bz3(").count(), 6); // 1 definition + 5 call sites
         assert_eq!(src.matches("wtot +=").count(), 4); // one per interior point
         assert_eq!(src.matches('{').count(), src.matches('}').count());
     }
+
+    /// The brand default must still be the SHIPPED field, colour for colour. Every install
+    /// already sees it, and a palette table that quietly restyled the default would be a
+    /// regression dressed as a feature.
+    #[test]
+    fn violet_is_the_untouched_shipped_field() {
+        assert_eq!(PALETTES[0].id, "violet");
+        assert!(
+            PALETTES[0].stops.is_none(),
+            "the default is the explicit grid"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(palette("violet").mesh_colors(), MESH_COLORS);
+        // An unknown name is a newer client's palette, not an error.
+        assert_eq!(palette("chartreuse").id, "violet");
+        assert_eq!(palette("").id, "violet");
+    }
+
+    /// Hue angle in degrees, or `None` for something too grey to have one.
+    fn hue(c: (f64, f64, f64)) -> Option<f64> {
+        let (r, g, b) = c;
+        let max = r.max(g).max(b);
+        let min = r.min(g).min(b);
+        let d = max - min;
+        if d < 0.04 {
+            return None;
+        }
+        let h = if max == r {
+            60.0 * (((g - b) / d) % 6.0)
+        } else if max == g {
+            60.0 * ((b - r) / d + 2.0)
+        } else {
+            60.0 * ((r - g) / d + 4.0)
+        };
+        Some((h + 360.0) % 360.0)
+    }
+
+    /// A palette must read as SEVERAL hues, not one hue at several brightnesses — that was
+    /// exactly the complaint about the hue-rotation model this replaced. Measured as the
+    /// widest gap between any two of the 16 mesh colours' hue angles.
+    #[test]
+    fn every_palette_is_multi_tone() {
+        for p in &PALETTES {
+            let hues: Vec<f64> = p.mesh_colors().iter().filter_map(|c| hue(*c)).collect();
+            assert!(hues.len() >= 8, "{}: too few coloured cells", p.id);
+            let spread = hues
+                .iter()
+                .flat_map(|a| {
+                    hues.iter().map(move |b| {
+                        let d = (a - b).abs() % 360.0;
+                        d.min(360.0 - d)
+                    })
+                })
+                .fold(0.0f64, f64::max);
+            // Graphite and Opal are deliberately near-neutral; everything else must carry a
+            // real hue journey.
+            let floor = if matches!(p.id, "graphite" | "opal") {
+                20.0
+            } else {
+                45.0
+            };
+            assert!(spread >= floor, "{} spans only {spread:.0}° of hue", p.id);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Ids, order and the light/dark split are the cross-client contract — the Apple and
+    /// Android tables must match this exactly.
+    #[test]
+    fn table_matches_the_other_clients() {
+        let ids: Vec<&str> = PALETTES.iter().map(|p| p.id).collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            ids,
+            [
+                "violet", "nebula", "abyss", "ember", "moss", "graphite", "holo", "sunset",
+                "bloom", "dawn", "mint", "opal",
+            ]
+        );
+        // Dark fields lead, pale ones follow, so stepping the row walks one direction.
+        let first_light = PALETTES
+            .iter()
+            .position(|p| p.light)
+            .expect("some are light");
+        assert!(PALETTES[first_light..].iter().all(|p| p.light));
+        assert_eq!(first_light, 6);
+    }
+
+    /// Every colour a palette produces stays in gamut, and a pale palette really is pale —
+    /// its ink flips, so a mislabelled one would put dark text on a dark field.
+    #[test]
+    fn palettes_are_in_gamut_and_honest_about_lightness() {
+        let luma = |c: (f64, f64, f64)| 0.2126 * c.0 + 0.7152 * c.1 + 0.0722 * c.2;
+        for p in &PALETTES {
+            for c in p.mesh_colors().iter().chain(p.blob_colors().iter()) {
+                for v in [c.0, c.1, c.2] {
+                    assert!((0.0..=1.0).contains(&v), "{} {c:?}", p.id);
+                }
+            }
+            let mean = p.mesh_colors().iter().map(|c| luma(*c)).sum::<f64>() / 16.0;
+            if p.light {
+                assert!(mean > 0.5, "{} is flagged light but means {mean:.2}", p.id);
+                assert!(luma(p.ground) > 0.6, "{}'s ground is dark", p.id);
+            } else {
+                assert!(mean < 0.45, "{} is flagged dark but means {mean:.2}", p.id);
+                assert!(luma(p.ground) < 0.2, "{}'s ground is light", p.id);
+            }
+            // The accent tints glass of the OPPOSITE polarity to the field, so it has to be
+            // legible there: dark accents on white frost, bright ones on dark glass.
+            let a = luma(p.accent);
+            if p.light {
+                assert!(a < 0.45, "{}'s accent is too pale for white glass", p.id);
+            } else {
+                assert!(a > 0.25, "{}'s accent is too dark for dark glass", p.id);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The ramp is the shared sampling rule the Swift and Kotlin ports reproduce.
+    #[test]
+    fn ramp_interpolates_between_stops() {
+        let stops = [(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), (1.0, 0.0, 0.0), (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)];
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&stops, 0.0), (0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&stops, 1.0), (1.0, 1.0, 1.0));
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&stops, 0.5), (1.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+        let q = ramp(&stops, 0.25);
+        assert!((q.0 - 0.5).abs() < 1e-9 && q.1 == 0.0);
+        // Out of range clamps rather than panicking.
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&stops, -3.0), (0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&stops, 9.0), (1.0, 1.0, 1.0));
+        assert_eq!(ramp(&[], 0.5), (0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+    }
 }

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens.rs

@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
 /// What a screen draws over (the shell crossfades between them on push/pop).
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub(crate) enum Bg {
-    /// The living mesh aurora (home, library).
+    /// The living mesh aurora at full contrast (home, library).
     Aurora,
-    /// The quiet indigo form backdrop (settings, add-host, pair).
+    /// The SAME living mesh, calmed — dimmed pools, lifted corners (settings, add-host,
+    /// pair). Not a second backdrop: the shell chases one `calm` uniform between the two.
     Form,
 }
 

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/add_host.rs

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 use crate::glyphs::{Hint, HintKey};
 use crate::model::ConsoleCmd;
 use crate::screens::{Ctx, Outbox};
-use crate::theme::{Fonts, DIM, W};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, W};
 use crate::widgets::{permits, Charset, KeyMsg, Keyboard, ListMsg, MenuList, RowSpec};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ impl AddHostScreen {
             "Hosts on this network appear automatically — add one by address for everything else.",
             W::Regular,
             13.0 * k,
-            DIM,
+            fg(0.55),
             cx,
             f64::from(rect.top) + 2.0 * k,
             f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.72,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/home.rs

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use crate::glyphs::{Hint, HintKey};
 use crate::library::{step_cursor, StepResult, BUMP_C, BUMP_K, BUMP_PX, SPRING_C, SPRING_K};
 use crate::model::{ConsoleCmd, HostRow};
 use crate::screens::{ConnectIntent, Ctx, Outbox, Screen};
-use crate::theme::{brand, white, Fonts, PanelStroke, BRAND, DIM, ONLINE_GREEN, W, WHITE};
+use crate::theme::{accent, fg, Fonts, PanelStroke, ONLINE_GREEN, W};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuDir, MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Color4f, MaskFilter, Paint, Path, Point, RRect, Rect};
 
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ impl HomeScreen {
                 "Hosts on this network appear automatically — add one by address for everything else.",
                 W::Regular,
                 13.0 * k,
-                DIM,
+                fg(0.55),
                 f64::from(rect.left) + w / 2.0,
                 cy + tile_h / 2.0 + 24.0 * k,
                 w * 0.7,
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ fn draw_host_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, h: &HostRow, rect: Rect, k: f6
         canvas,
         rect,
         TILE_CORNER as f32,
-        h.saved.then(|| brand(0.20)),
+        h.saved.then(|| accent(0.20)),
         if h.saved {
             PanelStroke::Gradient
         } else {
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ fn draw_host_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, h: &HostRow, rect: Rect, k: f6
                 sub_base,
                 W::Regular,
                 13.0 * k,
-                white(0.55),
+                fg(0.55),
                 max_w,
             );
             let x = l + addr_w + 8.0 * k;
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ fn draw_host_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, h: &HostRow, rect: Rect, k: f6
                 sub_base,
                 W::Regular,
                 13.0 * k,
-                white(0.55),
+                fg(0.55),
                 max_w,
             );
         }
@@ -364,22 +364,22 @@ fn draw_host_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, h: &HostRow, rect: Rect, k: f6
         sub_base - 22.0 * k,
         W::Bold,
         23.0 * k,
-        WHITE,
+        fg(1.0),
         max_w,
     );
 }
 
-/// A profile's `#RRGGBB` accent as a color, defaulting to the brand tint. Parsed
+/// A profile's `#RRGGBB` accent as a color, defaulting to the PALETTE's accent. Parsed
 /// leniently — a malformed accent (hand-edited catalog) falls back rather than erroring.
-fn accent_color(accent: Option<&str>) -> skia_safe::Color4f {
-    let Some(hex) = accent
+fn accent_color(hex: Option<&str>) -> skia_safe::Color4f {
+    let Some(hex) = hex
         .and_then(|a| a.strip_prefix('#'))
         .filter(|h| h.len() == 6)
     else {
-        return BRAND;
+        return accent(1.0);
     };
     let Ok(v) = u32::from_str_radix(hex, 16) else {
-        return BRAND;
+        return accent(1.0);
     };
     skia_safe::Color4f::new(
         ((v >> 16) & 0xff) as f32 / 255.0,
@@ -404,9 +404,9 @@ fn draw_add_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, rect: Rect, k: f64) {
     let badge = Rect::from_xywh(l as f32, t as f32, (52.0 * k) as f32, (52.0 * k) as f32);
     canvas.draw_rrect(
         RRect::new_rect_xy(badge, (15.0 * k) as f32, (15.0 * k) as f32),
-        &Paint::new(brand(0.16), None),
+        &Paint::new(accent(0.16), None),
     );
-    let mut ring = Paint::new(brand(0.5), None);
+    let mut ring = Paint::new(accent(0.5), None);
     ring.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     ring.set_stroke_width(1.0);
     ring.set_anti_alias(true);
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ fn draw_add_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, rect: Rect, k: f64) {
         &ring,
     );
     let (bcx, bcy) = (l + 26.0 * k, t + 26.0 * k);
-    let mut p = Paint::new(BRAND, None);
+    let mut p = Paint::new(accent(1.0), None);
     p.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     p.set_stroke_width((3.0 * k) as f32);
     p.set_stroke_cap(skia_safe::PaintCap::Round);
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ fn draw_add_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, rect: Rect, k: f64) {
         sub_base,
         W::Regular,
         13.0 * k,
-        white(0.55),
+        fg(0.55),
         max_w,
     );
     fonts.draw_clipped(
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ fn draw_add_tile(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, rect: Rect, k: f64) {
         sub_base - 22.0 * k,
         W::Bold,
         23.0 * k,
-        WHITE,
+        fg(1.0),
         max_w,
     );
 }
@@ -467,8 +467,8 @@ fn draw_monogram(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, name: &str, filled: bool, x: f6
                 Point::new(badge.left, badge.bottom),
             ),
             skia_safe::gradient_shader::GradientShaderColors::Colors(&[
-                BRAND.to_color(),
-                brand(0.68).to_color(),
+                accent(1.0).to_color(),
+                accent(0.68).to_color(),
             ]),
             None,
             skia_safe::TileMode::Clamp,
@@ -477,8 +477,8 @@ fn draw_monogram(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, name: &str, filled: bool, x: f6
         ));
         canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &p);
     } else {
-        canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &Paint::new(brand(0.16), None));
-        let mut ring = Paint::new(brand(0.5), None);
+        canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &Paint::new(accent(0.16), None));
+        let mut ring = Paint::new(accent(0.5), None);
         ring.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
         ring.set_stroke_width(1.0);
         ring.set_anti_alias(true);
@@ -499,13 +499,13 @@ fn draw_monogram(canvas: &Canvas, fonts: &Fonts, name: &str, filled: bool, x: f6
         y + 26.0 * k + size * 0.36,
         W::Bold,
         size,
-        if filled { WHITE } else { BRAND },
+        if filled { fg(1.0) } else { accent(1.0) },
     );
 }
 
 /// A small padlock: filled body + stroked shackle (the paired-identity mark).
 fn draw_lock(canvas: &Canvas, x: f64, y: f64, k: f64) {
-    let ink = white(0.5);
+    let ink = fg(0.5);
     let body_w = 11.0 * k;
     let body_h = 8.0 * k;
     let body_top = y + 5.0 * k;

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/library.rs

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use crate::library::{
 };
 use crate::model::{ConsoleCmd, HostRow};
 use crate::screens::{ConnectIntent, Ctx, Outbox};
-use crate::theme::{white, Fonts, DIM, W, WHITE};
+use crate::theme::{accent, fg, Fonts, W};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuDir, MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Color4f, Data, Image, Paint, Point, RRect, Rect, M44};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
@@ -168,10 +168,31 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
         }
     }
 
+    /// How many launcher entries lead the shelf — [`LibraryShared::set_games`] groups them at the
+    /// front, so the launcher group is always the prefix `0..launcher_count()`.
+    fn launcher_count(&self) -> usize {
+        self.games.iter().take_while(|g| g.launcher).count()
+    }
+
+    /// Is the focused entry a launcher? (Drives the confirm hint: you *open* Steam, you *play* a
+    /// game.)
+    fn focused_is_launcher(&self) -> bool {
+        self.games
+            .get(self.cursor as usize)
+            .is_some_and(|g| g.launcher)
+    }
+
     pub(crate) fn hints(&self, _ctx: &Ctx) -> Vec<Hint> {
         match &self.phase {
             LibraryPhase::Ready => vec![
-                Hint::new(HintKey::Confirm, "Play"),
+                Hint::new(
+                    HintKey::Confirm,
+                    if self.focused_is_launcher() {
+                        "Open"
+                    } else {
+                        "Play"
+                    },
+                ),
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Shoulders, "Jump"),
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Back, "Back"),
             ],
@@ -216,7 +237,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     "Loading library…",
                     W::Regular,
                     14.0 * k,
-                    DIM,
+                    fg(0.55),
                     cx,
                     cy_all + 16.0 * k,
                     w * 0.8,
@@ -228,7 +249,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     "No games found",
                     W::Bold,
                     22.0 * k,
-                    WHITE,
+                    fg(1.0),
                     cx,
                     cy_all - 20.0 * k,
                     w * 0.8,
@@ -238,7 +259,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     "Install Steam titles or add custom entries in the host's web console.",
                     W::Regular,
                     14.0 * k,
-                    DIM,
+                    fg(0.55),
                     cx,
                     cy_all + 12.0 * k,
                     w * 0.8,
@@ -250,7 +271,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     &title,
                     W::Bold,
                     22.0 * k,
-                    WHITE,
+                    fg(1.0),
                     cx,
                     cy_all - 32.0 * k,
                     w * 0.8,
@@ -260,7 +281,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     &body,
                     W::Regular,
                     14.0 * k,
-                    DIM,
+                    fg(0.55),
                     cx,
                     cy_all + 4.0 * k,
                     (600.0 * k).min(w * 0.85),
@@ -277,6 +298,30 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
         let pos = self.anim.pos;
         let bump = self.bump.pos * k;
 
+        // Group heading. The model groups launcher entries at the front (design D4), and a
+        // coverflow is one-dimensional — so instead of a second focus rail (a new up/down nav
+        // model, in three renderers, for two or three tiles) the heading names the group the
+        // cursor is in and changes as it crosses the boundary. Drawn only when the shelf
+        // actually has both groups, so a library without launchers looks exactly as before.
+        let launchers = self.launcher_count();
+        if launchers > 0 && launchers < self.games.len() {
+            let heading = if (self.cursor as usize) < launchers {
+                "LAUNCHERS"
+            } else {
+                "GAMES"
+            };
+            fonts.centered(
+                canvas,
+                heading,
+                W::SemiBold,
+                12.0 * k,
+                fg(0.5),
+                f64::from(rect.left) + w / 2.0,
+                cy - card_h / 2.0 - 22.0 * k,
+                w * 0.5,
+            );
+        }
+
         // Paint order = draw order: farthest from the (integer) cursor first, so the
         // dense side stacks overlap toward the focus.
         let mut order: Vec<usize> = (0..self.games.len()).collect();
@@ -326,21 +371,31 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                 }
                 None => {
                     // Solid face, not glass: the side cards OVERLAP.
-                    canvas.draw_rect(
-                        crect,
-                        &Paint::new(Color4f::new(0.118, 0.118, 0.145, 1.0), None),
-                    );
-                    let mono = initials(&game.title);
-                    let font = fonts.font(W::Bold, 38.0 * k);
-                    let tw = font.measure_str(&mono, None).0;
+                    //
+                    // A launcher tile usually has no poster, and an art-less launcher drawn like
+                    // an art-less game reads as "a game whose cover failed to load". So it gets
+                    // the brand-tinted face and names its launcher, instead of a title monogram.
+                    let face = if game.launcher {
+                        Color4f::new(0.153, 0.137, 0.267, 1.0)
+                    } else {
+                        Color4f::new(0.118, 0.118, 0.145, 1.0)
+                    };
+                    canvas.draw_rect(crect, &Paint::new(face, None));
+                    let (glyph, size, ink) = if game.launcher {
+                        (store_label(&game.store).to_string(), 22.0 * k, fg(0.85))
+                    } else {
+                        (initials(&game.title), 38.0 * k, fg(0.45))
+                    };
+                    let font = fonts.font(W::Bold, size);
+                    let tw = font.measure_str(&glyph, None).0;
                     canvas.draw_str(
-                        &mono,
+                        &glyph,
                         Point::new(
                             (card_w as f32 - tw) / 2.0,
                             card_h as f32 / 2.0 + 13.0 * k as f32,
                         ),
                         &font,
-                        &Paint::new(white(0.45), None),
+                        &Paint::new(ink, None),
                     );
                 }
             }
@@ -351,13 +406,20 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                 let tw = fonts.measure(label, W::SemiBold, size) as f64;
                 let (px, py) = (8.0 * k, 8.0 * k);
                 let (bw, bh) = (tw + 16.0 * k, 20.0 * k);
+                // Brand-filled for a launcher, smoked glass for a game — the one cue that
+                // survives being three cards deep in the recede.
+                let pill = if game.launcher {
+                    accent(0.85)
+                } else {
+                    crate::theme::shade(0.55)
+                };
                 canvas.draw_rrect(
                     RRect::new_rect_xy(
                         Rect::from_xywh(px as f32, py as f32, bw as f32, bh as f32),
                         (bh / 2.0) as f32,
                         (bh / 2.0) as f32,
                     ),
-                    &Paint::new(Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.55), None),
+                    &Paint::new(pill, None),
                 );
                 fonts.draw(
                     canvas,
@@ -366,7 +428,7 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                     py + 14.0 * k,
                     W::SemiBold,
                     size,
-                    WHITE,
+                    fg(1.0),
                 );
             }
             // The brightness recede: an opaque-black veil, never whole-card alpha.
@@ -390,17 +452,22 @@ impl LibraryScreen {
                 &g.title,
                 W::Bold,
                 27.0 * k,
-                WHITE,
+                fg(1.0),
                 cx,
                 f64::from(rect.bottom) - 64.0 * k,
                 w * 0.8,
             );
+            let sub = if g.launcher {
+                format!("{} · LAUNCHER", store_label(&g.store).to_uppercase())
+            } else {
+                store_label(&g.store).to_uppercase()
+            };
             fonts.centered(
                 canvas,
-                &store_label(&g.store).to_uppercase(),
+                &sub,
                 W::Regular,
                 12.0 * k,
-                white(0.5),
+                fg(0.5),
                 cx,
                 f64::from(rect.bottom) - 30.0 * k,
                 w * 0.5,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/pair.rs

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 use crate::glyphs::{Hint, HintKey};
 use crate::model::{ConsoleCmd, HostRow, PairPhase};
 use crate::screens::{ConnectIntent, Ctx, Outbox};
-use crate::theme::{Fonts, DIM, ERROR, W};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, ERROR, W};
 use crate::widgets::{permits, Charset, KeyMsg, Keyboard, ListMsg, MenuList, RowSpec};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ impl PairScreen {
             intro,
             W::Regular,
             13.0 * k,
-            DIM,
+            fg(0.55),
             cx,
             f64::from(rect.top) + 2.0 * k,
             f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.72,
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ impl PairScreen {
                 "Pairing… confirm the PIN on the host",
                 W::Regular,
                 13.0 * k,
-                DIM,
+                fg(0.55),
                 cx + 10.0 * k,
                 status_y,
                 f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.6,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/pin_hosts.rs

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 use crate::glyphs::{Hint, HintKey};
 use crate::model::ConsoleCmd;
 use crate::screens::{Ctx, Outbox};
-use crate::theme::{Fonts, DIM, W};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, W};
 use crate::widgets::{ListMsg, MenuList, RowSpec};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ impl PinHostsScreen {
                 "No saved hosts yet — pair with a host first, then pin this profile to it.",
                 W::Regular,
                 14.0 * k,
-                DIM,
+                fg(0.55),
                 cx,
                 f64::from(rect.top) + f64::from(rect.height()) / 2.0,
                 f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.7,
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ impl PinHostsScreen {
             "A pinned profile appears as its own card on the host — one press connects with it.",
             W::Regular,
             13.0 * k,
-            DIM,
+            fg(0.55),
             cx,
             f64::from(rect.bottom) - detail_h + 6.0 * k,
             f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.8,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/screens/settings.rs

@@ -2,13 +2,17 @@
 //! restyled as glass rows and fully controller-navigable (the Swift
 //! `GamepadSettingsView`, re-homed): up/down moves focus, left/right steps the focused
 //! value (clamped — the boundary thud tells the thumb it's the last option), A cycles
-//! forward wrapping, B closes. Every change persists immediately; the desktop shells
-//! read the same file, so values round-trip freely.
+//! forward wrapping, L1/R1 change SECTION, B closes. Every change persists immediately;
+//! the desktop shells read the same file, so values round-trip freely.
+//!
+//! The rows are split across tabs (see [`TABS`]). They used to be one 30-row scroll with
+//! inline headers, which on a Deck meant thumbing past Video and Audio to reach the pad
+//! settings; a tab is one shoulder press, and each tab remembers where its cursor was.
 
 use crate::glyphs::{Hint, HintKey};
 use crate::screens::{Ctx, Outbox, Screen};
-use crate::theme::{Fonts, DIM, W};
-use crate::widgets::{ListMsg, MenuList, RowSpec};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, W};
+use crate::widgets::{ListMsg, MenuList, RowSpec, TabStrip, TAB_STRIP_H};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use pf_client_core::trust::{MouseMode, StatsVerbosity, TouchMode};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
@@ -51,6 +55,10 @@ enum RowId {
     Fullscreen,
     AutoWake,
     Library,
+    /// The gamepad UI's background colour family — see [`crate::library::PALETTES`]. The
+    /// backdrop behind this very row re-colours as it steps, which is the whole reason the
+    /// picker lives on a screen rather than in a dialog.
+    Palette,
 }
 
 // The couch-relevant subset grew 2026-07-31: this screen is the ONLY settings editor in
@@ -58,39 +66,77 @@ enum RowId {
 // scroll/shortcut behavior, fullscreen-on-stream, auto-wake, the library toggle and echo
 // cancellation all were). Still deliberately smaller than the desktop dialogs — device
 // pickers (GPU/speaker/mic) stay desktop-only, and profiles are pinnable here (the
-// trailing Profiles section) but created and edited only in the desktop app (design §5.4).
-const ROWS: [RowId; 29] = [
-    RowId::Resolution,
-    RowId::Refresh,
-    RowId::RenderScale,
-    RowId::Bitrate,
-    RowId::Compositor,
-    RowId::Codec,
-    RowId::Decoder,
-    RowId::Hdr,
-    RowId::Chroma444,
-    RowId::PresentPriority,
-    RowId::SmoothBuffer,
-    RowId::Vsync,
-    RowId::AllowVrr,
-    RowId::Audio,
-    RowId::Mic,
-    RowId::EchoCancel,
-    RowId::PadForward,
-    RowId::Pad,
-    RowId::PadType,
-    RowId::SystemButtons,
-    RowId::GuideGesture,
-    RowId::Touch,
-    RowId::Mouse,
-    RowId::InvertScroll,
-    RowId::Shortcuts,
-    RowId::Stats,
-    RowId::Fullscreen,
-    RowId::AutoWake,
-    RowId::Library,
+// trailing Profiles tab) but created and edited only in the desktop app (design §5.4).
+//
+// The tab names are shared with the Apple and Android gamepad settings, so a setting is
+// found under the same word on every client. Profiles is the trailing tab and is built
+// from the catalog at render time, which is why it carries no rows here.
+const TABS: [(&str, &[RowId]); 7] = [
+    (
+        "Stream",
+        &[
+            RowId::Resolution,
+            RowId::Refresh,
+            RowId::RenderScale,
+            RowId::Bitrate,
+            RowId::Compositor,
+        ],
+    ),
+    (
+        "Video",
+        &[
+            RowId::Codec,
+            RowId::Decoder,
+            RowId::Hdr,
+            RowId::Chroma444,
+            RowId::PresentPriority,
+            RowId::SmoothBuffer,
+            RowId::Vsync,
+            RowId::AllowVrr,
+        ],
+    ),
+    ("Audio", &[RowId::Audio, RowId::Mic, RowId::EchoCancel]),
+    (
+        "Controller",
+        &[
+            RowId::PadForward,
+            RowId::Pad,
+            RowId::PadType,
+            RowId::SystemButtons,
+            RowId::GuideGesture,
+        ],
+    ),
+    (
+        "Input",
+        &[
+            RowId::Touch,
+            RowId::Mouse,
+            RowId::InvertScroll,
+            RowId::Shortcuts,
+        ],
+    ),
+    (
+        "Interface",
+        &[
+            RowId::Palette,
+            RowId::Stats,
+            RowId::Fullscreen,
+            RowId::AutoWake,
+            RowId::Library,
+        ],
+    ),
+    ("Profiles", &[]),
 ];
 
+/// The index of the trailing Profiles tab (built from the catalog, not from [`TABS`]).
+const PROFILES_TAB: usize = TABS.len() - 1;
+
+/// How many sections the strip shows — for the shell's raster test, which walks all of them.
+/// `cfg(test)` because nothing in a shipping build needs the count: a plain `cargo build` would
+/// otherwise warn it dead, and this crate's lanes treat warnings as errors.
+#[cfg(test)]
+pub(crate) const TAB_COUNT: usize = TABS.len();
+
 const RESOLUTIONS: [(u32, u32); 6] = [
     (0, 0), // native
     (1280, 720),
@@ -169,6 +215,12 @@ const GUIDE_GESTURE: [(&str, &str); 3] = [("auto", "Automatic"), ("on", "On"), (
 
 pub(crate) struct SettingsScreen {
     list: MenuList,
+    strip: TabStrip,
+    /// Which of [`TABS`] is showing.
+    tab: usize,
+    /// Where each tab's cursor was when it was last left. Coming back to Controller after a
+    /// detour through Video should land where you were, not at the top.
+    tab_cursors: [usize; TABS.len()],
     /// The profile catalog's `(id, name)` pairs, loaded once at construction — the console
     /// can't create profiles (design §5.4: the desktop app does), so the list is stable
     /// for the screen's lifetime.
@@ -189,20 +241,37 @@ impl SettingsScreen {
     fn with_profiles(profiles: Vec<(String, String)>) -> SettingsScreen {
         SettingsScreen {
             list: MenuList::new(),
+            strip: TabStrip::new(),
+            tab: 0,
+            tab_cursors: [0; TABS.len()],
             profiles,
         }
     }
 
-    /// The full row list: the fixed settings rows, then the Profiles section — one row
-    /// per catalog profile, or the explainer placeholder while there are none.
+    /// The rows of the CURRENT tab. Profiles is built from the catalog: one row per
+    /// profile, or the explainer placeholder while there are none.
     fn row_ids(&self) -> Vec<RowId> {
-        let mut ids = ROWS.to_vec();
-        if self.profiles.is_empty() {
-            ids.push(RowId::NoProfiles);
-        } else {
-            ids.extend((0..self.profiles.len()).map(RowId::Profile));
+        if self.tab != PROFILES_TAB {
+            return TABS[self.tab].1.to_vec();
         }
-        ids
+        if self.profiles.is_empty() {
+            vec![RowId::NoProfiles]
+        } else {
+            (0..self.profiles.len()).map(RowId::Profile).collect()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// L1/R1 — move one tab, wrapping (the strip is a ring, like A's value cycle), keeping
+    /// each tab's own cursor.
+    fn switch_tab(&mut self, delta: i32) -> Option<MenuPulse> {
+        self.tab_cursors[self.tab] = self.list.cursor;
+        let n = TABS.len() as i32;
+        self.tab = (self.tab as i32 + delta).rem_euclid(n) as usize;
+        // Clamp the remembered cursor: the Profiles tab's length follows the catalog.
+        let len = self.row_ids().len();
+        self.list
+            .jump_to(self.tab_cursors[self.tab].min(len.saturating_sub(1)));
+        Some(MenuPulse::Move)
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn menu(
@@ -211,9 +280,14 @@ impl SettingsScreen {
         ctx: &mut Ctx,
         fx: &mut Outbox,
     ) -> Option<MenuPulse> {
-        if ev == MenuEvent::Back {
-            fx.pop();
-            return None;
+        match ev {
+            MenuEvent::Back => {
+                fx.pop();
+                return None;
+            }
+            MenuEvent::JumpBack => return self.switch_tab(-1),
+            MenuEvent::JumpForward => return self.switch_tab(1),
+            _ => {}
         }
         let ids = self.row_ids();
         let (msg, pulse) = self.list.menu(ev, ids.len());
@@ -271,18 +345,22 @@ impl SettingsScreen {
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn hints(&self, _ctx: &Ctx) -> Vec<Hint> {
-        match self.row_ids()[self.list.cursor] {
-            RowId::Profile(_) => vec![
+        let ids = self.row_ids();
+        // The shoulders always change section, so that hint leads on every row.
+        let mut hints = vec![Hint::new(HintKey::Shoulders, "Section")];
+        hints.extend(match ids.get(self.list.cursor) {
+            Some(RowId::Profile(_)) => vec![
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Confirm, "Pin to hosts…"),
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Back, "Done"),
             ],
-            RowId::NoProfiles => vec![Hint::new(HintKey::Back, "Done")],
-            _ => vec![
+            Some(RowId::NoProfiles) | None => vec![Hint::new(HintKey::Back, "Done")],
+            Some(_) => vec![
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Adjust, "Adjust"),
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Confirm, "Change"),
                 Hint::new(HintKey::Back, "Done"),
             ],
-        }
+        });
+        hints
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn render(
@@ -294,11 +372,23 @@ impl SettingsScreen {
         fonts: &Fonts,
         ctx: &mut Ctx,
     ) {
-        // The focused row's explainer sits in a reserved band under the list.
+        // The tab strip takes the top band, the focused row's explainer a reserved band
+        // under the list; the rows get what's between.
         let detail_h = 34.0 * k;
+        let strip_h = TAB_STRIP_H * k;
+        let labels: Vec<&str> = TABS.iter().map(|(name, _)| *name).collect();
+        self.strip.render(
+            canvas,
+            Rect::from_ltrb(rect.left, rect.top, rect.right, rect.top + strip_h as f32),
+            &labels,
+            self.tab,
+            fonts,
+            k,
+            dt,
+        );
         let list_rect = Rect::from_ltrb(
             rect.left,
-            rect.top,
+            rect.top + strip_h as f32,
             rect.right,
             rect.bottom - detail_h as f32,
         );
@@ -309,13 +399,13 @@ impl SettingsScreen {
             .collect();
         self.list
             .render(canvas, list_rect, &rows, fonts, k, dt, true);
-        let detail = detail(ids[self.list.cursor]);
+        let detail = ids.get(self.list.cursor).copied().map_or("", detail);
         fonts.centered(
             canvas,
             detail,
             W::Regular,
             13.0 * k,
-            DIM,
+            fg(0.55),
             f64::from(rect.left) + f64::from(rect.width()) / 2.0,
             f64::from(rect.bottom) - detail_h + 6.0 * k,
             f64::from(rect.width()) * 0.8,
@@ -335,7 +425,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
                 .filter(|h| h.pin.as_ref().is_some_and(|p| &p.id == pid))
                 .count();
             return RowSpec {
-                header: (i == 0).then_some("Profiles"),
+                header: None,
                 label: name.clone(),
                 value: Some(match pins {
                     0 => "Not pinned".into(),
@@ -349,9 +439,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
             };
         }
         RowId::NoProfiles => {
-            let mut row = RowSpec::action("No profiles yet", false);
-            row.header = Some("Profiles");
-            return row;
+            return RowSpec::action("No profiles yet", false);
         }
         _ => {}
     }
@@ -372,7 +460,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
     };
     let (header, label, value): (Option<&'static str>, &str, String) = match id {
         RowId::Resolution => (
-            Some("Stream"),
+            None,
             "Resolution",
             if s.match_window {
                 "Match window".into()
@@ -416,11 +504,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
             "Compositor",
             label_for(&COMPOSITORS, &s.compositor).into(),
         ),
-        RowId::Codec => (
-            Some("Video"),
-            "Video codec",
-            label_for(&CODECS, &s.codec).into(),
-        ),
+        RowId::Codec => (None, "Video codec", label_for(&CODECS, &s.codec).into()),
         RowId::Decoder => (None, "Decoder", label_for(&DECODERS, &s.decoder).into()),
         RowId::Hdr => (None, "10-bit HDR", on_off(s.hdr_enabled).into()),
         RowId::Chroma444 => (None, "Full chroma (4:4:4)", on_off(s.enable_444).into()),
@@ -441,7 +525,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
         RowId::Vsync => (None, "V-Sync", on_off(s.vsync).into()),
         RowId::AllowVrr => (None, "Follow variable refresh", on_off(s.allow_vrr).into()),
         RowId::Audio => (
-            Some("Audio"),
+            None,
             "Audio channels",
             AUDIO
                 .iter()
@@ -452,7 +536,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
         RowId::Mic => (None, "Microphone", on_off(s.mic_enabled).into()),
         RowId::EchoCancel => (None, "Echo cancellation", on_off(s.echo_cancel).into()),
         RowId::PadForward => (
-            Some("Controller"),
+            None,
             "Forward controllers",
             on_off(s.gamepad_forwarding).into(),
         ),
@@ -483,11 +567,7 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
             "Hold Select for guide",
             label_for(&GUIDE_GESTURE, &s.guide_gesture).into(),
         ),
-        RowId::Touch => (
-            Some("Touchscreen"),
-            "Touch mode",
-            s.touch_mode().label().into(),
-        ),
+        RowId::Touch => (None, "Touch mode", s.touch_mode().label().into()),
         RowId::Mouse => (None, "Mouse mode", s.mouse_mode().label().into()),
         RowId::InvertScroll => (None, "Invert scroll", on_off(s.invert_scroll).into()),
         RowId::Shortcuts => (
@@ -495,8 +575,13 @@ fn row_spec(id: RowId, ctx: &Ctx, profiles: &[(String, String)]) -> RowSpec {
             "Capture system shortcuts",
             on_off(s.inhibit_shortcuts).into(),
         ),
+        RowId::Palette => (
+            None,
+            "Background",
+            crate::library::palette(&s.ui_palette).name.into(),
+        ),
         RowId::Stats => (
-            Some("Interface"),
+            None,
             "Statistics overlay",
             s.stats_verbosity().label().into(),
         ),
@@ -603,6 +688,10 @@ fn detail(id: RowId) -> &'static str {
             "Alt+Tab, Super and friends reach the host while input is captured. \
              Off, they act on this device instead."
         }
+        RowId::Palette => {
+            "The colour family this backdrop drifts through — it changes as you step, so \
+             pick by looking. Appearance only; nothing about a stream depends on it."
+        }
         RowId::Stats => {
             "How much the overlay shows: Compact (one line) → Normal → Detailed. \
              Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S cycles it live while streaming."
@@ -766,6 +855,11 @@ fn adjust(id: RowId, delta: i32, wrap: bool, ctx: &mut Ctx) -> bool {
             step_option(cur, StatsVerbosity::ALL.len(), delta, wrap)
                 .map(|i| s.set_stats_verbosity(StatsVerbosity::ALL[i]))
         }
+        RowId::Palette => {
+            let all = &crate::library::PALETTES;
+            let cur = all.iter().position(|p| p.id == s.ui_palette);
+            step_option(cur, all.len(), delta, wrap).map(|i| s.ui_palette = all[i].id.to_string())
+        }
         RowId::Fullscreen => toggle(&mut s.fullscreen_on_stream, delta, wrap),
         RowId::AutoWake => toggle(&mut s.auto_wake, delta, wrap),
         RowId::Library => toggle(&mut s.library_enabled, delta, wrap),
@@ -1071,19 +1165,18 @@ mod tests {
             ("p1".into(), "Work".into()),
             ("p2".into(), "Game".into()),
         ]);
+        s.tab = PROFILES_TAB;
         let ids = s.row_ids();
-        assert_eq!(ids.len(), ROWS.len() + 2);
-        assert_eq!(ids[ROWS.len()], RowId::Profile(0));
+        assert_eq!(ids, vec![RowId::Profile(0), RowId::Profile(1)]);
 
         let spec = row_spec(RowId::Profile(0), &ctx, &s.profiles);
-        assert_eq!(spec.header, Some("Profiles"));
+        assert_eq!(spec.header, None, "the tab pill names the section");
         assert_eq!(spec.label, "Work");
         assert_eq!(spec.value.as_deref(), Some("Pinned to 1 host"));
         let spec = row_spec(RowId::Profile(1), &ctx, &s.profiles);
-        assert_eq!(spec.header, None, "only the first row carries the header");
         assert_eq!(spec.value.as_deref(), Some("Not pinned"));
 
-        s.list.cursor = ROWS.len(); // onto "Work"
+        s.list.cursor = 0; // onto "Work"
         let mut fx = Outbox::default();
         s.menu(MenuEvent::Confirm, &mut ctx, &mut fx);
         assert!(
@@ -1118,10 +1211,10 @@ mod tests {
             t: 0.0,
         };
         let mut s = SettingsScreen::with_profiles(Vec::new());
+        s.tab = PROFILES_TAB;
         let ids = s.row_ids();
-        assert_eq!(*ids.last().unwrap(), RowId::NoProfiles);
+        assert_eq!(ids, vec![RowId::NoProfiles]);
         let spec = row_spec(RowId::NoProfiles, &ctx, &s.profiles);
-        assert_eq!(spec.header, Some("Profiles"));
         assert!(!spec.enabled);
 
         s.list.cursor = ids.len() - 1;
@@ -1130,4 +1223,103 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(matches!(pulse, Some(MenuPulse::Boundary)));
         assert!(fx.nav.is_none());
     }
+
+    /// Every row the screen knows about must live in exactly one tab — a row missing from
+    /// [`TABS`] is a setting that became unreachable in Gaming Mode, which is precisely
+    /// what this screen exists to prevent.
+    #[test]
+    fn every_row_has_exactly_one_tab() {
+        let mut seen: Vec<RowId> = Vec::new();
+        for (_, rows) in &TABS {
+            for id in *rows {
+                assert!(!seen.contains(id), "{id:?} is in two tabs");
+                seen.push(*id);
+            }
+        }
+        // The pre-tab flat list, plus the palette row this change added.
+        assert_eq!(seen.len(), 30, "{seen:?}");
+        assert!(seen.contains(&RowId::Palette));
+        // The catalog rows belong to the trailing tab, which builds them at render time.
+        assert!(TABS[PROFILES_TAB].1.is_empty());
+        assert_eq!(TABS[PROFILES_TAB].0, "Profiles");
+    }
+
+    /// L1/R1 wrap around the strip and each tab keeps its own cursor, so a detour into
+    /// another section doesn't lose your place.
+    #[test]
+    fn shoulders_cycle_tabs_and_keep_each_cursor() {
+        let (mut settings, pads) = ctx_parts();
+        let library = crate::library::LibraryShared::default();
+        let mut ctx = Ctx {
+            hosts: &[],
+            library: &library,
+            settings: &mut settings,
+            pads: &pads,
+            deck: false,
+            device_name: "t",
+            t: 0.0,
+        };
+        let mut s = SettingsScreen::with_profiles(Vec::new());
+        let mut fx = Outbox::default();
+        assert_eq!(s.tab, 0);
+        s.list.cursor = 3; // "Bitrate", in Stream
+        s.menu(MenuEvent::JumpForward, &mut ctx, &mut fx);
+        assert_eq!(s.tab, 1);
+        assert_eq!(s.list.cursor, 0, "a fresh tab starts at its first row");
+        s.list.cursor = 2; // "10-bit HDR", in Video
+        s.menu(MenuEvent::JumpBack, &mut ctx, &mut fx);
+        assert_eq!((s.tab, s.list.cursor), (0, 3), "Stream kept its place");
+        // Backwards off the first tab wraps to the last…
+        s.menu(MenuEvent::JumpBack, &mut ctx, &mut fx);
+        assert_eq!(s.tab, PROFILES_TAB);
+        // …whose (catalog-built) length clamps a remembered cursor that no longer fits.
+        assert_eq!(s.list.cursor, 0);
+        s.menu(MenuEvent::JumpForward, &mut ctx, &mut fx);
+        assert_eq!(s.tab, 0);
+        // Switching sections is navigation, never a settings write.
+        assert!(fx.nav.is_none() && fx.cmds.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    /// The palette row steps the shared `ui_palette` key through the table and wraps on A,
+    /// like every other choice row.
+    #[test]
+    fn palette_row_steps_the_shared_key() {
+        let (mut settings, pads) = ctx_parts();
+        let library = crate::library::LibraryShared::default();
+        let mut ctx = Ctx {
+            hosts: &[],
+            library: &library,
+            settings: &mut settings,
+            pads: &pads,
+            deck: false,
+            device_name: "t",
+            t: 0.0,
+        };
+        assert_eq!(ctx.settings.ui_palette, "violet", "the brand default ships");
+        assert_eq!(
+            row_spec(RowId::Palette, &ctx, &[]).value.as_deref(),
+            Some("Violet")
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !adjust(RowId::Palette, -1, false, &mut ctx),
+            "already the first = thud"
+        );
+        assert!(adjust(RowId::Palette, 1, false, &mut ctx));
+        assert_eq!(ctx.settings.ui_palette, crate::library::PALETTES[1].id);
+        // A from the last entry wraps home.
+        ctx.settings.ui_palette = crate::library::PALETTES
+            .last()
+            .expect("non-empty")
+            .id
+            .to_string();
+        assert!(adjust(RowId::Palette, 1, true, &mut ctx));
+        assert_eq!(ctx.settings.ui_palette, "violet");
+        // A store written by a newer client shows that client's value, not a blank row.
+        ctx.settings.ui_palette = "chartreuse".into();
+        assert_eq!(
+            row_spec(RowId::Palette, &ctx, &[]).value.as_deref(),
+            Some("Violet"),
+            "an unknown palette reads as the default it actually draws"
+        );
+    }
 }

crates/pf-console-ui/src/shell.rs

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 use crate::anim::Progress;
 use crate::glyphs::GlyphStyle;
-use crate::library::{mesh_sksl, LibraryShared};
+use crate::library::{mesh_sksl, palette, LibraryShared};
 use crate::model::{ConsoleBus, ConsoleCmd, ConsoleShared, HostRow, PairPhase, WakeStatus};
 use crate::screens::{Bg, ConnectIntent, Ctx, Nav, Outbox, Screen};
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
@@ -81,7 +81,23 @@ pub(crate) struct Shell {
     wake_optimistic: bool,
     toast: Option<Toast>,
     mesh: RuntimeEffect,
-    /// 0 = aurora, 1 = form — chased, so backdrops crossfade with the transition.
+    /// The `ui_palette` the compiled `mesh` bakes. The settings screen can change the palette
+    /// mid-frame-loop, so [`Self::sync`] recompiles when this falls out of step — the backdrop
+    /// re-colours under the cursor as the row is stepped, which is the whole point of putting
+    /// the picker on a screen the backdrop is behind.
+    mesh_palette: String,
+    /// The palette's ground × 0.4 — the calm lift, precomputed with `mesh`. Chosen so
+    /// `col*0.6 + lift` leaves the ground EXACTLY where it was and pulls the bright pools down
+    /// to it: the form screens lose the launcher's contrast, not its colour.
+    mesh_lift: [f32; 3],
+    /// The backdrop's scrim under this palette: rgb = what the vignette and scrims tend
+    /// toward (black on a dark field, white on a pale one), a = how hard. Kept with the ink.
+    mesh_scrim: [f32; 4],
+    /// The text/accent/glass the palette calls for, published to the whole crate once per
+    /// frame (see [`crate::theme::set_ink`]).
+    ink: crate::theme::Ink,
+    /// 0 = launcher aurora, 1 = the calm form field — chased, so the backdrop settles into
+    /// (or out of) calm alongside the screen transition.
     bg_mix: f64,
     glyphs: GlyphStyle,
     chip: Option<String>,
@@ -99,8 +115,8 @@ impl Shell {
         stack: Vec<Screen>,
     ) -> Result<Shell> {
         anyhow::ensure!(!stack.is_empty(), "the console needs a root screen");
-        let mesh = RuntimeEffect::make_for_shader(mesh_sksl(), None)
-            .map_err(|e| anyhow!("mesh-gradient SkSL: {e}"))?;
+        let settings = trust::Settings::load();
+        let (mesh, mesh_lift, mesh_scrim, ink) = build_mesh(&settings.ui_palette)?;
         let bg_mix = match stack.last().expect("non-empty").background() {
             Bg::Aurora => 0.0,
             Bg::Form => 1.0,
@@ -112,7 +128,8 @@ impl Shell {
             library,
             bus,
             actions: VecDeque::new(),
-            settings: trust::Settings::load(),
+            mesh_palette: settings.ui_palette.clone(),
+            settings,
             hosts: Vec::new(),
             hosts_gen: u64::MAX,
             device_name: opts.device_name,
@@ -123,6 +140,9 @@ impl Shell {
             wake_optimistic: false,
             toast: None,
             mesh,
+            mesh_lift,
+            mesh_scrim,
+            ink,
             bg_mix,
             glyphs: GlyphStyle::Keyboard,
             chip: None,
@@ -188,6 +208,28 @@ impl Shell {
     // --- Model sync (hosts, pairing, wake) — before input and before render --------------
 
     fn sync(&mut self) {
+        // The settings screen writes `ui_palette` straight into `self.settings`; recompiling
+        // here is what makes the backdrop re-colour live under the row being stepped. A
+        // rejected compile keeps the palette that IS drawing — the field never goes black
+        // because someone picked a colour.
+        if self.settings.ui_palette != self.mesh_palette {
+            match build_mesh(&self.settings.ui_palette) {
+                Ok((mesh, lift, scrim, ink)) => {
+                    self.mesh = mesh;
+                    self.mesh_lift = lift;
+                    self.mesh_scrim = scrim;
+                    self.ink = ink;
+                    self.mesh_palette = self.settings.ui_palette.clone();
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    tracing::warn!(
+                        "console: {} palette rejected: {e}",
+                        self.settings.ui_palette
+                    );
+                    self.mesh_palette = self.settings.ui_palette.clone();
+                }
+            }
+        }
         if self.console.hosts_gen() != self.hosts_gen {
             (self.hosts, self.hosts_gen) = self.console.hosts_snapshot();
         }
@@ -432,12 +474,30 @@ impl Shell {
         }
     }
 
-    fn draw_aurora(&self, canvas: &Canvas, w: f64, h: f64, t: f64) {
-        let uniforms: [f32; 3] = [w as f32, h as f32, t as f32];
-        // SAFETY: `uniforms` is a local `[f32; 3]` — exactly 12 bytes — and `f32` has no padding or
-        // invalid bit patterns, so reading it as bytes is sound; the slice is copied by
+    /// The living backdrop. `calm` 0 = the launcher's aurora, 1 = the quiet field the form
+    /// screens sit on; the shell chases it, so there is only ever ONE backdrop pass — the
+    /// former aurora-over-static-form crossfade is now a single uniform.
+    fn draw_aurora(&self, canvas: &Canvas, w: f64, h: f64, t: f64, calm: f64) {
+        // Laid out to match the SkSL block: u_res (float2), u_tc (float2), u_lift (float4),
+        // u_scrim (float4).
+        let uniforms: [f32; 12] = [
+            w as f32,
+            h as f32,
+            t as f32,
+            calm as f32,
+            self.mesh_lift[0],
+            self.mesh_lift[1],
+            self.mesh_lift[2],
+            0.0,
+            self.mesh_scrim[0],
+            self.mesh_scrim[1],
+            self.mesh_scrim[2],
+            self.mesh_scrim[3],
+        ];
+        // SAFETY: `uniforms` is a local `[f32; 12]` — exactly 48 bytes — and `f32` has no padding
+        // or invalid bit patterns, so reading it as bytes is sound; the slice is copied by
         // `Data::new_copy` before `uniforms` goes out of scope.
-        let bytes = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(uniforms.as_ptr().cast::<u8>(), 12) };
+        let bytes = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(uniforms.as_ptr().cast::<u8>(), 48) };
         match self.mesh.make_shader(Data::new_copy(bytes), &[], None) {
             Some(shader) => {
                 let mut paint = Paint::default();
@@ -451,5 +511,32 @@ impl Shell {
     }
 }
 
+/// Compile the mesh shader for a palette and resolve everything else that palette decides:
+/// the calm lift, the scrim direction, and the ink the whole UI draws with.
+/// `uniform_size` is checked rather than assumed: the byte buffer [`Shell::draw_aurora`]
+/// hands Skia is hand-packed, and a silent layout change would feed the field garbage
+/// instead of failing.
+type MeshLook = (RuntimeEffect, [f32; 3], [f32; 4], crate::theme::Ink);
+
+fn build_mesh(palette_id: &str) -> Result<MeshLook> {
+    let p = palette(palette_id);
+    let colors = p.mesh_colors();
+    let effect = RuntimeEffect::make_for_shader(mesh_sksl(&colors), None)
+        .map_err(|e| anyhow!("mesh-gradient SkSL: {e}"))?;
+    anyhow::ensure!(
+        effect.uniform_size() == 48,
+        "mesh uniform block is {} bytes, expected 48 (u_res, u_tc, u_lift, u_scrim)",
+        effect.uniform_size()
+    );
+    let ink = crate::theme::Ink::of(p);
+    let g = p.ground;
+    Ok((
+        effect,
+        [(g.0 * 0.4) as f32, (g.1 * 0.4) as f32, (g.2 * 0.4) as f32],
+        [ink.scrim.r, ink.scrim.g, ink.scrim.b, ink.scrim.a],
+        ink,
+    ))
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests;

crates/pf-console-ui/src/shell/overlays.rs

@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 use crate::anim::{approach, ease_out_cubic};
 use crate::glyphs::{hint_bar, Hint, HintKey};
-use crate::theme::{white, Fonts, PanelStroke, DIM, W, WHITE};
-use skia_safe::{gradient_shader, Canvas, Color4f, Paint, Point, Rect, TileMode};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, PanelStroke, W};
+use skia_safe::{gradient_shader, Canvas, Paint, Point, Rect, TileMode};
 
 use super::{Shell, BOTTOM_BAND};
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ impl Shell {
                 let rect = Rect::from_xywh(bx as f32, by as f32, bw as f32, bh as f32);
                 canvas.draw_rrect(
                     skia_safe::RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, (bh / 2.0) as f32, (bh / 2.0) as f32),
-                    &Paint::new(Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.6), None),
+                    &Paint::new(crate::theme::shade(0.6), None),
                 );
                 crate::theme::panel(
                     canvas,
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ impl Shell {
                     by + bh / 2.0 + size * 0.36,
                     W::Medium,
                     size,
-                    white(0.92),
+                    fg(0.92),
                 );
                 canvas.restore();
             }
@@ -166,15 +166,16 @@ impl Shell {
         canvas.save_layer_alpha_f(None, appear as f32);
         // Opaque aurora — the same living backdrop the home wears, so the takeover reads as the
         // console taking over rather than a card popping up.
-        self.draw_aurora(canvas, w, h, t);
-        // A soft pool of shade under the centre seats the white text against a bright aurora.
+        self.draw_aurora(canvas, w, h, t, 0.0);
+        // A soft pool of shade under the centre seats the text against a bright field —
+        // dark on a dark palette, light on a pale one, so it always separates.
         let mut vignette = Paint::default();
         vignette.set_shader(gradient_shader::radial(
             Point::new(cx as f32, (h / 2.0) as f32),
             (w.max(h) * 0.42) as f32,
             gradient_shader::GradientShaderColors::Colors(&[
-                Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5).to_color(),
-                Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0).to_color(),
+                crate::theme::shade(0.5).to_color(),
+                crate::theme::shade(0.0).to_color(),
             ]),
             None,
             TileMode::Clamp,
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ impl Shell {
             title,
             W::SemiBold,
             23.0 * k,
-            WHITE,
+            fg(1.0),
             cx,
             title_y,
             w * 0.82,
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ impl Shell {
                 body,
                 W::Regular,
                 14.0 * k,
-                DIM,
+                fg(0.55),
                 cx,
                 title_y + 32.0 * k,
                 w * 0.66,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/shell/render.rs

@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ use crate::glyphs::{hint_bar, GlyphStyle};
 use crate::library::LibraryShared;
 use crate::model::HostRow;
 use crate::screens::{Bg, Ctx, Screen};
-use crate::theme::{white, Fonts, PanelStroke, W, WHITE};
+use crate::theme::{fg, Fonts, PanelStroke, W};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::PadInfo;
 use pf_client_core::trust;
-use skia_safe::{Canvas, Color4f, Rect};
+use skia_safe::{Canvas, Rect};
 use std::time::Instant;
 
 use super::{Motion, Shell, BOTTOM_BAND, TOP_BAND};
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ impl Shell {
             .replace(now)
             .map_or(1.0 / 60.0, |t| (now - t).as_secs_f64().clamp(0.0, 0.05));
         self.sync();
+        // Publish the palette's ink before ANYTHING draws — every widget, glyph and panel in
+        // the crate reads it (see `theme::set_ink`), so a frame that skipped this would paint
+        // the previous palette's text over the new palette's field.
+        crate::theme::set_ink(self.ink);
         self.pads = pads.to_vec();
         self.glyphs = GlyphStyle::from_pref(pad_pref);
         self.chip = Some(pad.map_or_else(
@@ -67,7 +71,9 @@ impl Shell {
             }
         };
 
-        // Backdrop crossfade follows the top screen.
+        // The backdrop settles into (or out of) calm with the screen transition. It is the
+        // SAME living field either way — a form screen quiets it, it doesn't replace it —
+        // so this is one shader pass with a chased uniform, not two stacked backdrops.
         let bg_target = match self.stack.last().expect("non-empty").background() {
             Bg::Aurora => 0.0,
             Bg::Form => 1.0,
@@ -76,16 +82,7 @@ impl Shell {
         if (self.bg_mix - bg_target).abs() < 0.005 {
             self.bg_mix = bg_target;
         }
-        if self.bg_mix < 1.0 {
-            self.draw_aurora(canvas, w, h, t);
-        } else {
-            canvas.clear(Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0));
-        }
-        if self.bg_mix > 0.0 {
-            canvas.save_layer_alpha_f(None, self.bg_mix as f32);
-            crate::theme::draw_form_background(canvas, w, h);
-            canvas.restore();
-        }
+        self.draw_aurora(canvas, w, h, t, self.bg_mix);
 
         // The screens, through the transition choreography.
         let content = Rect::from_ltrb(
@@ -175,7 +172,7 @@ impl Shell {
                 18.0 * k + 16.0 * k,
                 W::Medium,
                 size,
-                white(0.7),
+                fg(0.7),
             );
         }
 
@@ -231,7 +228,7 @@ impl LayerEnv<'_> {
             &screen.title(&ctx),
             W::Bold,
             30.0 * self.k,
-            WHITE,
+            fg(1.0),
             self.w / 2.0,
             18.0 * self.k,
             self.w * 0.7,

crates/pf-console-ui/src/shell/tests.rs

@@ -167,6 +167,47 @@ fn wake_gates_input_in_the_same_press() {
     assert!(s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Move(MenuDir::Left)).is_some());
 }
 
+/// Every settings tab actually RASTERS. The eyeball dump below is `#[ignore]`d, so without
+/// this nothing in the normal gate ever ran the tab strip's layout arithmetic or a settings
+/// screen's rows — a bad index there would only surface on a Deck. CPU raster: the SkSL
+/// backdrop, the layers and the text all run without a GPU.
+#[test]
+fn every_settings_tab_rasters() {
+    let fonts = crate::theme::build_fonts().unwrap();
+    let (w, h) = (1280u32, 800u32);
+    let pads: Vec<PadInfo> = Vec::new();
+    let mut surface = skia_safe::surfaces::raster_n32_premul((w as i32, h as i32)).unwrap();
+    let (mut s, _console, _library) = shell(vec![Screen::Home(HomeScreen::new())]);
+    s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Tertiary); // X → Settings
+
+    let mut frame = |s: &mut Shell| {
+        s.render(
+            surface.canvas(),
+            w,
+            h,
+            &fonts,
+            Some("Xbox Wireless Controller"),
+            Some(GamepadPref::Xbox360),
+            &pads,
+        );
+    };
+    // One lap of the strip — R1 wraps back to where it started. Every tab's rows fit on an
+    // 800-tall window at once, so ONE frame per tab draws all of them; the cursor is walked to
+    // the end first (input only, no render) so the focused and unfocused row paths both run.
+    // Deliberately frugal: a full-screen SkSL field on the CPU costs the better part of a second
+    // per frame in a debug build, and this test's job is to catch a panic, not to look pretty.
+    for _ in 0..crate::screens::settings::TAB_COUNT {
+        for _ in 0..12 {
+            s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Move(MenuDir::Down));
+        }
+        frame(&mut s);
+        s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::JumpForward);
+    }
+    // A narrow window is the case the strip has to shrink for (the pills are laid out from
+    // measured text, so a too-small width must clamp rather than lay out off-screen).
+    s.render(surface.canvas(), 640, 400, &fonts, None, None, &pads);
+}
+
 /// Render every console scene to PNGs for the eyeball pass (ignored; run with
 /// `PF_CONSOLE_DUMP=<dir> cargo test -p pf-console-ui --release -- --ignored dump`).
 /// CPU raster — the SkSL aurora, layers and text all run without a GPU.
@@ -208,6 +249,35 @@ fn dump_console_screens() {
     dump(&mut s, 3, 25, "02-transition", true);
     dump(&mut s, 40, 8, "03-settings", true);
 
+    // The Interface tab (5 shoulder presses along) leads with the Background row, so these
+    // frames show the strip mid-list AND the palette picker. Palettes are set directly rather
+    // than by counting Confirm presses, so reordering the table can't silently shoot the wrong
+    // one. Each is a whole LOOK, not just a backdrop: accent, ink and scrim move together, so
+    // the pale ones must be eyeballed with dark text on them.
+    for _ in 0..5 {
+        s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::JumpForward);
+    }
+    for id in ["violet", "ember", "abyss", "holo", "sunset", "mint"] {
+        s.settings.ui_palette = id.to_string();
+        dump(&mut s, 40, 8, &format!("03-settings-{id}"), true);
+    }
+    // Back to the first tab so the later scenes look like they always did.
+    for _ in 0..5 {
+        s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::JumpBack);
+    }
+    // …and the LAUNCHER at full contrast under a few of them — the backdrop's loudest form,
+    // and the one the palettes are really chosen by.
+    s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Back);
+    dump(&mut s, 20, 8, "_settle", true);
+    for id in ["nebula", "sunset", "holo"] {
+        s.settings.ui_palette = id.to_string();
+        dump(&mut s, 40, 8, &format!("01-home-{id}"), true);
+    }
+    s.settings.ui_palette = "violet".to_string();
+    dump(&mut s, 20, 8, "_settle2", true);
+    s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Tertiary); // back into Settings for the scenes below
+    dump(&mut s, 20, 8, "_settle3", true);
+
     // Add Host with the keyboard tray up (keyboard glyph style: no pad).
     s.handle_menu(MenuEvent::Back);
     dump(&mut s, 40, 8, "_back", true);
@@ -251,6 +321,7 @@ fn dump_console_screens() {
             id: format!("steam:{i}"),
             title: (*t).to_string(),
             store: "steam".into(),
+            launcher: false,
         })
         .collect(),
     );

crates/pf-console-ui/src/theme.rs

@@ -14,28 +14,117 @@ use skia_safe::{
     Point, RRect, Rect, TileMode, Typeface,
 };
 
-// --- Palette -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// --- Ink ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/// The punktfunk brand violet — the DARK-appearance value (#8678F5); the console UI is
-/// always dark. (Light surfaces use #6656F2; nothing here is light.)
-pub(crate) const BRAND: Color4f = Color4f::new(0.525, 0.471, 0.961, 1.0);
-pub(crate) const WHITE: Color4f = Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
-pub(crate) const DIM: Color4f = Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.55);
-pub(crate) const FAINT: Color4f = Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.35);
-/// The error/status red (the GTK client's #ff938a).
+/// The error/status red (the GTK client's #ff938a). Fixed: a warning must not change meaning
+/// with the wallpaper.
 pub(crate) const ERROR: Color4f = Color4f::new(1.0, 0.576, 0.541, 1.0);
 pub(crate) const ONLINE_GREEN: Color4f = Color4f::new(0.20, 0.84, 0.29, 1.0);
 
-pub(crate) fn white(alpha: f32) -> Color4f {
-    Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, alpha)
+/// Everything about the console's look that follows the chosen background palette: which way
+/// the text runs, what the glass is made of, and the accent that marks focus.
+///
+/// The console UI was white-on-dark throughout, with the brand violet hardcoded as the accent.
+/// Both had to become palette-derived at once: a pale field needs dark text or it is
+/// unreadable, and a violet focus wash on a copper field is the clash this exists to fix.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+pub(crate) struct Ink {
+    /// Primary text/glyph colour, opaque.
+    fg: Color4f,
+    /// Focus wash, selected pill, caret — the palette's own accent.
+    accent: Color4f,
+    /// The base fill every glass panel starts from.
+    glass: Color4f,
+    /// What the vignette and legibility scrims tend toward — black under a dark field, white
+    /// under a pale one (darkening a pastel field would strand the dark text on it) — with the
+    /// alpha carrying HOW HARD. A pale field needs far less: mixing toward white at the dark
+    /// field's strength bleaches the chroma straight out of the gradient.
+    pub(crate) scrim: Color4f,
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn brand(alpha: f32) -> Color4f {
-    Color4f::new(BRAND.r, BRAND.g, BRAND.b, alpha)
+/// The shipped dark look — also what a test or a preview gets before any palette is applied.
+const DARK_INK: Ink = Ink {
+    fg: Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0),
+    // The punktfunk brand violet, DARK-appearance value (#8678F5).
+    accent: Color4f::new(0.525, 0.471, 0.961, 1.0),
+    glass: Color4f::new(0.086, 0.086, 0.125, 0.62),
+    scrim: Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0),
+};
+
+impl Ink {
+    /// The ink a palette calls for. On a pale field the text goes near-black (tinted toward the
+    /// palette's own ground so it doesn't read as a foreign grey) and the glass turns to white
+    /// frost, which is what keeps a row legible over a bright gradient.
+    pub(crate) fn of(p: &crate::library::Palette) -> Ink {
+        let accent = Color4f::new(p.accent.0 as f32, p.accent.1 as f32, p.accent.2 as f32, 1.0);
+        if !p.light {
+            return Ink { accent, ..DARK_INK };
+        }
+        let g = p.ground;
+        Ink {
+            fg: Color4f::new(
+                (g.0 * 0.16) as f32,
+                (g.1 * 0.14) as f32,
+                (g.2 * 0.20) as f32,
+                1.0,
+            ),
+            accent,
+            // More body than the dark glass carries: white frost over a bright gradient has
+            // far less to separate it from its backdrop than dark glass over a dark one.
+            glass: Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.66),
+            scrim: Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.45),
+        }
+    }
 }
 
-/// The dark-glass base fill every panel starts from.
-const GLASS_BASE: Color4f = Color4f::new(0.086, 0.086, 0.125, 0.62);
+thread_local! {
+    /// The ink the CURRENT frame draws with. A thread-local rather than a parameter because
+    /// every widget, glyph and panel in the crate reads it and the console renders on exactly
+    /// one thread — threading an `Ink` through ~90 call sites would be all cost and no safety.
+    /// [`crate::shell::Shell::render`] sets it once per frame, before anything draws.
+    static INK: std::cell::Cell<Ink> = const { std::cell::Cell::new(DARK_INK) };
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn set_ink(ink: Ink) {
+    INK.with(|i| i.set(ink));
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn ink() -> Ink {
+    INK.with(std::cell::Cell::get)
+}
+
+/// The foreground at `alpha` — white on a dark palette, near-black on a pale one.
+pub(crate) fn fg(alpha: f32) -> Color4f {
+    let c = ink().fg;
+    Color4f::new(c.r, c.g, c.b, alpha)
+}
+
+/// The palette's accent at `alpha`.
+pub(crate) fn accent(alpha: f32) -> Color4f {
+    let c = ink().accent;
+    Color4f::new(c.r, c.g, c.b, alpha)
+}
+
+/// A wash laid UNDER text to seat it against the field — black on a dark palette, white on a
+/// pale one. `alpha` is the dark-field strength; a pale field needs less (see [`Ink::scrim`]),
+/// so it is scaled the same way the backdrop's own scrims are.
+pub(crate) fn shade(alpha: f32) -> Color4f {
+    let s = ink().scrim;
+    Color4f::new(s.r, s.g, s.b, alpha * s.a)
+}
+
+/// Ink that reads ON the accent (a filled key, a selected pill): whichever of black or white
+/// the accent has more room for. Chosen by luminance rather than by `light`, because an accent
+/// is picked for contrast against the GLASS, not against the field.
+pub(crate) fn on_accent() -> Color4f {
+    let a = ink().accent;
+    let luma = 0.2126 * a.r + 0.7152 * a.g + 0.0722 * a.b;
+    if luma > 0.55 {
+        Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0)
+    } else {
+        Color4f::new(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
+    }
+}
 
 // --- Panels (the Liquid Glass stand-in) --------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -61,7 +150,7 @@ pub(crate) fn panel(
     k: f32,
 ) {
     let rr = RRect::new_rect_xy(rect, corner * k, corner * k);
-    canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &Paint::new(GLASS_BASE, None));
+    canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &Paint::new(ink().glass, None));
     if let Some(tint) = tint {
         canvas.draw_rrect(rr, &Paint::new(tint, None));
     }
@@ -71,10 +160,10 @@ pub(crate) fn panel(
     sp.set_anti_alias(true);
     match stroke {
         PanelStroke::Plain(alpha) => {
-            sp.set_color4f(white(alpha), None);
+            sp.set_color4f(fg(alpha), None);
         }
         PanelStroke::Brand(alpha) => {
-            sp.set_color4f(brand(alpha), None);
+            sp.set_color4f(accent(alpha), None);
         }
         PanelStroke::Gradient | PanelStroke::GradientDashed => {
             sp.set_shader(gradient_shader::linear(
@@ -83,8 +172,8 @@ pub(crate) fn panel(
                     Point::new(rect.left, rect.bottom),
                 ),
                 gradient_shader::GradientShaderColors::Colors(&[
-                    white(0.22).to_color(),
-                    white(0.04).to_color(),
+                    fg(0.22).to_color(),
+                    fg(0.04).to_color(),
                 ]),
                 None,
                 TileMode::Clamp,
@@ -112,64 +201,17 @@ pub(crate) fn drop_shadow(canvas: &Canvas, rect: Rect, corner: f32, k: f32, alph
 }
 
 // --- The form backdrop (settings / add-host / pair) --------------------------------------
-
-/// The calm backdrop for the form screens — NOT the launcher's aurora (this stays still
-/// and quiet), and deliberately not near-black: a deep indigo base plus two soft static
-/// glows give the glass rows real color to sit on. A light top/bottom scrim grounds the
-/// pinned title and hint bar (the Swift build blurs a tray instead; same job).
-pub(crate) fn draw_form_background(canvas: &Canvas, w: f64, h: f64) {
-    let (wf, hf) = (w as f32, h as f32);
-    canvas.draw_rect(
-        Rect::from_wh(wf, hf),
-        &Paint::new(Color4f::new(0.075, 0.062, 0.150, 1.0), None),
-    );
-    // Violet lift top-leading, cooler indigo bottom-trailing — elliptical (window
-    // aspect) via a unit-radius radial gradient under a scale.
-    for (cx, cy, color, alpha) in [
-        (0.26, 0.14, Color4f::new(0.40, 0.31, 0.68, 1.0), 0.9f32),
-        (0.82, 0.90, Color4f::new(0.20, 0.24, 0.58, 1.0), 0.75),
-    ] {
-        let mut paint = Paint::default();
-        let c = Color4f::new(color.r, color.g, color.b, alpha);
-        paint.set_shader(gradient_shader::radial(
-            Point::new(0.0, 0.0),
-            0.78,
-            gradient_shader::GradientShaderColors::Colors(&[
-                c.to_color(),
-                Color4f::new(color.r, color.g, color.b, 0.0).to_color(),
-            ]),
-            None,
-            TileMode::Clamp,
-            None,
-            None,
-        ));
-        canvas.save();
-        canvas.translate((wf * cx, hf * cy));
-        canvas.scale((wf, hf));
-        canvas.draw_rect(Rect::from_ltrb(-1.0, -1.0, 1.0, 1.0), &paint);
-        canvas.restore();
-    }
-    let mut scrim = Paint::default();
-    scrim.set_shader(gradient_shader::linear(
-        (Point::new(0.0, 0.0), Point::new(0.0, hf)),
-        gradient_shader::GradientShaderColors::Colors(&[
-            Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.30).to_color(),
-            Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0).to_color(),
-            Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0).to_color(),
-            Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.32).to_color(),
-        ]),
-        Some(&[0.0, 0.22, 0.74, 1.0][..]),
-        TileMode::Clamp,
-        None,
-        None,
-    ));
-    canvas.draw_rect(Rect::from_wh(wf, hf), &scrim);
-}
+//
+// There isn't one any more. The form screens used to sit on a STATIC deep-indigo field
+// drawn here, crossfaded over the launcher's aurora; they now wear the same living mesh at
+// `calm = 1` (see `library::mesh_sksl` and `Shell::draw_aurora`), which keeps the glass rows
+// on real colour, keeps the console's one backdrop palette-themed everywhere, and means no
+// screen in the gamepad UI is ever backed by a still image.
 
 /// The loading/connecting spinner: a rotating 270° arc driven by the shell clock.
 pub(crate) fn spinner(canvas: &Canvas, cx: f64, cy: f64, r: f64, t: f64) {
     let start = (t * 300.0) % 360.0;
-    let mut paint = Paint::new(white(0.85), None);
+    let mut paint = Paint::new(fg(0.85), None);
     paint.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     paint.set_stroke_width((r / 5.0) as f32);
     paint.set_stroke_cap(skia_safe::PaintCap::Round);

crates/pf-console-ui/src/widgets.rs

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 use crate::anim::{approach, Spring, TRAY_C, TRAY_K};
 use crate::library::{BUMP_C, BUMP_K};
-use crate::theme::{brand, white, Fonts, PanelStroke, BRAND, DIM, FAINT, W, WHITE};
+use crate::theme::{accent, fg, Fonts, PanelStroke, W};
 use pf_client_core::gamepad::{MenuDir, MenuEvent, MenuPulse};
 use skia_safe::{Canvas, Paint, Path, RRect, Rect};
 
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ pub(crate) struct MenuList {
     bump: Spring,
     scroll: f64,
     focus: Vec<f64>,
+    /// Next render, seat the scroll and the focus ease instantly instead of chasing — see
+    /// [`MenuList::jump_to`].
+    snap: bool,
 }
 
 impl MenuList {
@@ -93,9 +96,18 @@ impl MenuList {
             bump: Spring::rest(0.0),
             scroll: 0.0,
             focus: Vec::new(),
+            snap: true,
         }
     }
 
+    /// Move the cursor WITHOUT the scroll gliding there. For a tab switch, where the whole
+    /// row set is replaced: chasing would sweep the viewport through rows that no longer
+    /// exist, which reads as a glitch rather than as motion.
+    pub(crate) fn jump_to(&mut self, cursor: usize) {
+        self.cursor = cursor;
+        self.snap = true;
+    }
+
     /// Route a menu event. Up/down move focus (Boundary = recoil), left/right become
     /// [`ListMsg::Adjust`], A becomes [`ListMsg::Activate`]. B is the SCREEN's.
     pub(crate) fn menu(&mut self, ev: MenuEvent, len: usize) -> (ListMsg, Option<MenuPulse>) {
@@ -136,10 +148,19 @@ impl MenuList {
         dt: f64,
         active: bool,
     ) {
+        if self.snap {
+            // A replaced row set has no shared history with the old one — start every row's
+            // focus ease from scratch so the new cursor is simply THERE.
+            self.focus.clear();
+        }
         self.focus.resize(rows.len(), 0.0);
         for (i, f) in self.focus.iter_mut().enumerate() {
             let target = if active && i == self.cursor { 1.0 } else { 0.0 };
-            *f = approach(*f, target, dt, 0.06);
+            *f = if self.snap {
+                target
+            } else {
+                approach(*f, target, dt, 0.06)
+            };
         }
         self.bump.step(0.0, BUMP_K, BUMP_C, dt);
         self.bump.settle(0.0, 0.3, 4.0);
@@ -160,7 +181,11 @@ impl MenuList {
         // The scroll chases the focused row into the middle band, clamped to content.
         let focused_center = tops.get(self.cursor).map_or(0.0, |t| (t + ROW_H / 2.0) * k);
         let target = (focused_center - view_h / 2.0).clamp(0.0, (content_h - view_h).max(0.0));
-        self.scroll = approach(self.scroll, target, dt, 0.08);
+        self.scroll = if std::mem::take(&mut self.snap) {
+            target
+        } else {
+            approach(self.scroll, target, dt, 0.08)
+        };
 
         let row_w = (ROW_MAX_W * k).min(f64::from(rect.width()) - 48.0 * k);
         let x0 = f64::from(rect.left) + (f64::from(rect.width()) - row_w) / 2.0;
@@ -184,7 +209,7 @@ impl MenuList {
                     W::SemiBold,
                     12.0 * k,
                     1.4 * k,
-                    white(0.45),
+                    fg(0.45),
                 );
             }
             // Focus scale eases 0.98 → 1.0 about the row center.
@@ -201,9 +226,9 @@ impl MenuList {
                 PanelStroke::Plain(0.06 + 0.22 * f as f32)
             };
             let tint = if row.caret {
-                Some(brand(0.30))
+                Some(accent(0.30))
             } else if f > 0.01 {
-                Some(brand(0.30 * f as f32))
+                Some(accent(0.30 * f as f32))
             } else {
                 None
             };
@@ -212,7 +237,7 @@ impl MenuList {
             let baseline = cy + 16.0 * k * 0.36;
             if row.value.is_none() {
                 // Action row: centered label, brand when actionable.
-                let color = if row.enabled { BRAND } else { FAINT };
+                let color = if row.enabled { accent(1.0) } else { fg(0.35) };
                 let tw = fonts.measure(&row.label, W::SemiBold, 16.0 * k) as f64;
                 fonts.draw(
                     canvas,
@@ -231,15 +256,15 @@ impl MenuList {
                     baseline,
                     W::SemiBold,
                     16.0 * k,
-                    if row.enabled { WHITE } else { DIM },
+                    if row.enabled { fg(1.0) } else { fg(0.55) },
                 );
                 let value = row.value.as_deref().unwrap_or_default();
                 let vcolor = if row.value_dim {
-                    FAINT
+                    fg(0.35)
                 } else if f > 0.5 {
-                    WHITE
+                    fg(1.0)
                 } else {
-                    white(0.6 + 0.4 * f as f32)
+                    fg(0.6 + 0.4 * f as f32)
                 };
                 let chevron_w = if row.adjustable { 18.0 * k } else { 0.0 };
                 let caret_w = if row.caret { 8.0 * k } else { 0.0 };
@@ -257,7 +282,7 @@ impl MenuList {
                             (2.0 * k) as f32,
                             (18.0 * k) as f32,
                         ),
-                        &Paint::new(BRAND, None),
+                        &Paint::new(accent(1.0), None),
                     );
                 }
                 if row.adjustable && f > 0.01 {
@@ -272,6 +297,98 @@ impl MenuList {
     }
 }
 
+// --- Tab strip ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// The strip's design height, including the air under it before the first row.
+pub(crate) const TAB_STRIP_H: f64 = 46.0;
+
+/// The horizontal section switcher above a menu list. Purely presentational — the SCREEN
+/// owns which tab is selected and what the shoulders do; this draws the pills and slides
+/// one highlight between them, so switching sections reads as travel rather than a swap.
+pub(crate) struct TabStrip {
+    /// Chased highlight geometry `(x, width)` in device px. `None` until the first render,
+    /// so a freshly opened screen doesn't animate its highlight in from x = 0.
+    indicator: Option<(f64, f64)>,
+}
+
+impl TabStrip {
+    pub(crate) fn new() -> TabStrip {
+        TabStrip { indicator: None }
+    }
+
+    /// Draw the pills centered in `rect`'s top band. Returns nothing — the caller already
+    /// knows the band is [`TAB_STRIP_H`] tall.
+    #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)] // the crate's render signature, same as MenuList's
+    pub(crate) fn render(
+        &mut self,
+        canvas: &Canvas,
+        rect: Rect,
+        labels: &[&str],
+        selected: usize,
+        fonts: &Fonts,
+        k: f64,
+        dt: f64,
+    ) {
+        if labels.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
+        let size = 13.0 * k;
+        let pad_x = 13.0 * k;
+        let gap = 7.0 * k;
+        let pill_h = 30.0 * k;
+        let widths: Vec<f64> = labels
+            .iter()
+            .map(|l| f64::from(fonts.measure(l, W::SemiBold, size)) + 2.0 * pad_x)
+            .collect();
+        let total: f64 = widths.iter().sum::<f64>() + gap * (labels.len() - 1) as f64;
+        let mut x = f64::from(rect.left) + (f64::from(rect.width()) - total) / 2.0;
+        let top = f64::from(rect.top) + 2.0 * k;
+
+        // Where the highlight wants to be, then the eased position it actually draws at.
+        let sel = selected.min(labels.len() - 1);
+        let target = (
+            x + widths[..sel].iter().sum::<f64>() + gap * sel as f64,
+            widths[sel],
+        );
+        let (ix, iw) = match self.indicator {
+            None => target,
+            Some((cx, cw)) => (
+                approach(cx, target.0, dt, 0.07),
+                approach(cw, target.1, dt, 0.07),
+            ),
+        };
+        self.indicator = Some((ix, iw));
+        crate::theme::panel(
+            canvas,
+            Rect::from_xywh(ix as f32, top as f32, iw as f32, pill_h as f32),
+            (pill_h / 2.0 / k) as f32,
+            Some(accent(0.85)),
+            PanelStroke::Plain(0.22),
+            k as f32,
+        );
+
+        let baseline = top + pill_h / 2.0 + size * 0.36;
+        for (i, label) in labels.iter().enumerate() {
+            // Fade each label toward white by how much the highlight actually covers it, so
+            // the two labels a sliding highlight passes between light up together.
+            let pill_x = x;
+            let overlap = (pill_x + widths[i]).min(ix + iw) - pill_x.max(ix);
+            let covered = (overlap / widths[i]).clamp(0.0, 1.0) as f32;
+            let tw = f64::from(fonts.measure(label, W::SemiBold, size));
+            fonts.draw(
+                canvas,
+                label,
+                pill_x + (widths[i] - tw) / 2.0,
+                baseline,
+                W::SemiBold,
+                size,
+                fg(0.5 + 0.5 * covered),
+            );
+            x += widths[i] + gap;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Middle-of-nowhere helper: drop chars from the FRONT until the tail fits.
 fn truncate_head(fonts: &Fonts, text: &str, w: W, size: f64, max_w: f64) -> String {
     if f64::from(fonts.measure(text, w, size)) <= max_w {
@@ -290,7 +407,7 @@ fn truncate_head(fonts: &Fonts, text: &str, w: W, size: f64, max_w: f64) -> Stri
 
 fn chevron(canvas: &Canvas, x: f64, cy: f64, r: f64, left: bool, alpha: f32) {
     let dir = if left { -1.0 } else { 1.0 };
-    let mut p = Paint::new(white(alpha), None);
+    let mut p = Paint::new(fg(alpha), None);
     p.set_style(skia_safe::PaintStyle::Stroke);
     p.set_stroke_width((1.8 * r / 4.0) as f32);
     p.set_stroke_cap(skia_safe::PaintCap::Round);
@@ -477,7 +594,7 @@ impl Keyboard {
                 let focused = r == self.row && c == self.col;
                 let kr = Rect::from_xywh(x as f32, y as f32, key_w as f32, key_h as f32);
                 let fill = if focused {
-                    let mut b = BRAND;
+                    let mut b = accent(1.0);
                     if self.key_flash > 0.02 {
                         // A just-typed key flashes brighter, then eases back.
                         let f = self.key_flash as f32;
@@ -490,16 +607,18 @@ impl Keyboard {
                     }
                     b
                 } else {
-                    white(0.08)
+                    fg(0.08)
                 };
                 canvas.draw_rrect(
                     RRect::new_rect_xy(kr, (9.0 * k) as f32, (9.0 * k) as f32),
                     &Paint::new(fill, None),
                 );
+                // The focused key is filled with the accent, so its letter needs ink that
+                // reads on THAT, not on the field.
                 let ink = if focused {
-                    skia_safe::Color4f::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0)
+                    crate::theme::on_accent()
                 } else {
-                    WHITE
+                    fg(1.0)
                 };
                 let (cx, cy) = (x + key_w / 2.0, y + key_h / 2.0);
                 match key {

crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/pyrowave.rs

@@ -77,64 +77,21 @@ fn budget_for(bitrate_bps: u64, fps: u32) -> usize {
     ((bitrate_bps / (8 * fps.max(1) as u64)) as usize).max(64 * 1024)
 }
 
-/// Raise this process's WDDM GPU scheduling priority so the wavelet encode isn't starved by a
-/// GPU-bound game. PyroWave encodes on the GPU's compute/shader cores — the exact resource a game
-/// saturates — so under load `pyrowave_encoder_encode_gpu_synchronous` spikes from ~2 ms to
-/// 15-18 ms (measured, RTX 4090 at 95 % game load) and the stream fps collapses; NVENC is immune
-/// because it runs on the separate encoder ASIC. HIGH sits above a game's NORMAL/ABOVE_NORMAL so
-/// the WDDM scheduler services the encode's short compute bursts ahead of the game's rendering.
-/// (REALTIME is deliberately avoided: it needs a privilege and would preempt the desktop
-/// compositor too.) Best-effort + once-per-process: if the class isn't grantable we log and run at
-/// normal priority — no session-fatal path.
-fn raise_process_gpu_priority() {
-    use std::sync::Once;
-    static ONCE: Once = Once::new();
-    ONCE.call_once(|| {
-        use windows::Wdk::Graphics::Direct3D::{
-            D3DKMTSetProcessSchedulingPriorityClass, D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_ABOVE_NORMAL,
-            D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_HIGH, D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_REALTIME,
-        };
-        // `PUNKTFUNK_GPU_PRIORITY` = off | above-normal | high (default) | realtime. REALTIME can
-        // force finer WDDM preemption than HIGH but needs a privilege and preempts the compositor,
-        // so it stays opt-in; `off` skips the call entirely.
-        let (class, label) = match std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_GPU_PRIORITY")
-            .ok()
-            .as_deref()
-            .map(str::trim)
-            .map(str::to_ascii_lowercase)
-            .as_deref()
-        {
-            Some("off") => {
-                tracing::info!("PyroWave: PUNKTFUNK_GPU_PRIORITY=off — leaving GPU scheduling priority at default");
-                return;
-            }
-            Some("above-normal") | Some("above_normal") => {
-                (D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_ABOVE_NORMAL, "ABOVE_NORMAL")
-            }
-            Some("realtime") => (D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_REALTIME, "REALTIME"),
-            _ => (D3DKMT_SCHEDULINGPRIORITYCLASS_HIGH, "HIGH"),
-        };
-        // SAFETY: `GetCurrentProcess` returns the current-process pseudo-handle; the D3DKMT call
-        // only sets this process's GPU scheduling class — it creates/frees nothing.
-        let status = unsafe {
-            D3DKMTSetProcessSchedulingPriorityClass(GetCurrentProcess(), class)
-        };
-        if status.is_ok() {
-            tracing::info!(
-                priority = label,
-                "PyroWave: raised process GPU scheduling priority (WDDM) so the wavelet encode is \
-                 serviced ahead of game rendering on the shared shader cores"
-            );
-        } else {
-            tracing::warn!(
-                ?status,
-                priority = label,
-                "PyroWave: could not raise GPU scheduling priority (not grantable) — the encode \
-                 may be starved under heavy game GPU load"
-            );
-        }
-    });
-}
+// GPU scheduling priority is deliberately NOT set here. `pf-frame`'s `dxgi::auto_priority_gate`
+// owns that policy for the whole process and runs once from `create_device` — the call the Windows
+// capture path always makes before any PyroWave texture exists.
+//
+// This module used to raise it itself, to HIGH, once per process. That was a SECOND owner of a
+// process-wide setting and it raced the real one: pf-frame's default `auto` mode starts at HIGH and
+// then UPGRADES to REALTIME once it has established that is safe (HAGS off, or HAGS on with VRAM
+// headroom, with a monitor that drops back when VRAM tightens — REALTIME + NVIDIA + HAGS +
+// near-full VRAM is a documented NVENC hang). Opening a PyroWave session after that upgrade stamped
+// HIGH back over REALTIME and the monitor, silently losing the ceiling-raise on exactly the
+// GPU-saturated workload PyroWave cares about most.
+//
+// The old `PUNKTFUNK_GPU_PRIORITY` knob went with it; `PUNKTFUNK_GPU_PRIORITY_CLASS`
+// (`off|normal|high|realtime|auto`, default `auto`) is the one that survives and it is strictly
+// more capable — the removed knob could not express the auto gate at all.
 
 pub struct PyroWaveEncoder {
     // pyrowave owns the whole Vulkan device (create_device_by_compat) — no ash on this side.
@@ -188,9 +145,6 @@ impl PyroWaveEncoder {
         chroma: crate::ChromaFormat,
         bit_depth: u8,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
-        // Prioritize the host's GPU work over a running game so the compute-shader encode gets
-        // scheduled promptly instead of queuing behind a full frame of the game's rendering.
-        raise_process_gpu_priority();
         let chroma444 = chroma.is_444();
         // A negotiated 10-bit session rides 16-bit UNORM planes carrying the P010-style
         // studio codes the capturer's HDR CSC writes (design/pyrowave-444-hdr.md §2.2) —

crates/pf-presenter/src/run.rs

@@ -1049,15 +1049,24 @@ fn run_inner(mut opts: SessionOpts, mut mode: ModeCtl) -> Result<Option<Outcome>
                     .as_ref()
                     .is_some_and(|cap| cap.captured() && cap.desktop());
                 chan.pump(c, &mouse, desktop_active, fit_scale);
-                // §8 mid-stream render flip: tell the host who renders the pointer whenever
-                // the local model changes. Desktop-active = we draw it (host excludes +
-                // forwards); anything else — the capture model OR a released pointer — the
-                // host composites it into the video (full fidelity, the pre-channel look).
+                // §8 mid-stream render flip: tell the host who renders the pointer whenever the
+                // local model changes. The host may composite one ONLY while we hold a grabbed,
+                // hidden pointer — the capture model, engaged — because that is the one state
+                // with no local cursor on screen. Note this is deliberately NOT `desktop_active`:
+                // a RELEASED pointer leaves the ordinary window cursor visible over the video,
+                // and a host-composited pointer then sits UNDER it as a second cursor that never
+                // moves (released forwards no motion), which reads on glass as a frozen
+                // duplicate. Released therefore counts as "we draw it" — the host stops
+                // compositing and keeps forwarding shape/state, so re-engaging is seamless.
                 // One edge-detected reconciler covers the chord, the M3 auto-flip, and
                 // engage/release alike.
-                if chan.negotiated() && st.sent_client_draws != Some(desktop_active) {
-                    st.sent_client_draws = Some(desktop_active);
-                    let _ = c.set_cursor_render(desktop_active);
+                let client_draws = match st.capture.as_ref() {
+                    Some(cap) => !cap.captured() || cap.desktop(),
+                    None => true,
+                };
+                if chan.negotiated() && st.sent_client_draws != Some(client_draws) {
+                    st.sent_client_draws = Some(client_draws);
+                    let _ = c.set_cursor_render(client_draws);
                 }
             }
             // M3 — host-driven mode flip: `relative_hint` set = a host app grabbed/hid the

crates/punktfunk-core/cbindgen.toml

@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ parse_deps = false
 # undefined and the C harness fails to compile: the Apple batched recv (transport/udp.rs
 # `recvmsg_x` + `MsghdrX`) and the Android bionic mmsg bindings (`android_mmsg` module).
 exclude = ["MsghdrX", "recvmsg_x", "mmsghdr", "sendmmsg", "recvmmsg"]
+# Reached by no exported SIGNATURE, so cbindgen's sweep misses it — but a C embedder needs the
+# vocabulary: `punktfunk_connection_end_reason` writes one of these as a bare byte (deliberately,
+# so the JNI/Swift sides can marshal a `u8` rather than an enum), which without this would leave
+# the header documenting names it never defines.
+include = ["PunktfunkEndReason"]
 
 [export.rename]
 "InputEvent" = "PunktfunkInputEvent"

crates/punktfunk-core/src/abi.rs

@@ -2273,6 +2273,45 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_connection_audio_channels(
     })
 }
 
+/// WHY this session ended: `*out` receives a [`PunktfunkEndReason`] byte
+/// (`PUNKTFUNK_END_REASON_*`). The return status reports only whether the handle was usable.
+///
+/// Read it once a plane has returned [`PunktfunkStatus::Closed`] (or the embedder's own
+/// end-of-session signal fired); before that it reads `NONE`. It latches, so it is still readable
+/// while the connection is torn down, and a client that never calls it behaves exactly as it did
+/// before this existed.
+///
+/// **Most endings are not failures.** Before this, a client had no way to tell a player quitting
+/// their game from a host falling off the network, so every client wrote one message for all of
+/// them and every client chose an error. Use `LOCAL`/`GAME_EXITED`/`HOST_ENDED` to stay quiet (and
+/// `GAME_EXITED` to return to the library the title was launched from), and keep the alarming copy
+/// for `HOST_ERROR` and `LOST`.
+///
+/// Treat an unrecognized value as `NONE` — this crosses an ABI and the core may be newer than you.
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `c` is a valid connection handle; `out` is NULL or writable for one `u8`.
+#[cfg(feature = "quic")]
+#[no_mangle]
+pub unsafe extern "C" fn punktfunk_connection_end_reason(
+    c: *mut PunktfunkConnection,
+    out: *mut u8,
+) -> PunktfunkStatus {
+    guard(|| {
+        // SAFETY: per the ABI contract - an opaque handle from a `*_new`/`*_pair` that the caller
+        // has not yet freed, or null, which `as_ref` reports as `None` and the `match` handles.
+        let c = match unsafe { c.as_ref() } {
+            Some(c) => c,
+            None => return PunktfunkStatus::NullPointer,
+        };
+        if !out.is_null() {
+            // SAFETY: `out` is non-null and the caller guarantees it is writable for one `u8`.
+            unsafe { *out = c.inner.end_reason() as u8 };
+        }
+        PunktfunkStatus::Ok
+    })
+}
+
 /// One decoded audio frame from [`punktfunk_connection_next_audio_pcm`]: interleaved 32-bit
 /// float PCM at 48 kHz, in the canonical wire channel order `FL FR FC LFE RL RR SL SR` (the
 /// first `channels` of it). `samples` points at `frame_count * channels` floats and borrows

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/mod.rs

@@ -110,6 +110,91 @@ pub struct MicUplinkStats {
 /// the control task is wedged, which callers treat as a closed session.
 const CTRL_QUEUE: usize = 32;
 
+/// Why a session ended — [`NativeClient::end_reason`], and `punktfunk_connection_end_reason` on the
+/// C surface.
+///
+/// The distinction that matters to a UI is **normal vs alarming**, and it is not a spectrum: a
+/// player quitting their game and a host falling off the network both arrive as "the session
+/// ended", and a client with no way to separate them has to word all of them the same. Every client
+/// worded them as failures.
+///
+/// Ordered loosely from "the user did this on purpose" to "something went wrong". Values are part
+/// of the C ABI: append only, never renumber.
+#[repr(u8)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum PunktfunkEndReason {
+    /// Not ended (or ended before a reason could be observed). Also what an unknown future value
+    /// decodes to, so an older client reading a newer core degrades to "no opinion".
+    None = 0,
+    /// **This client** closed the session — the user pressed stop, or the handle was dropped.
+    /// Nothing to report: the UI already knows, it initiated it.
+    Local = 1,
+    /// The host's launched game exited ([`crate::quic::APP_EXITED_CLOSE_CODE`]). A normal finish,
+    /// and the one reason a launcher client can act on: go back to the library the title was
+    /// launched from rather than all the way out to host selection.
+    GameExited = 2,
+    /// The host ended the session cleanly and deliberately — an operator "End" in the console, or
+    /// the session simply finishing. Normal; say so plainly or say nothing.
+    HostEnded = 3,
+    /// The host closed reporting a failure of its own. Worth showing, and the host's log has the
+    /// detail.
+    HostError = 4,
+    /// The connection died rather than being closed: idle timeout, reset, the network going away.
+    /// This — and only this — is the "the host may be asleep, wake it" case.
+    Lost = 5,
+}
+
+impl PunktfunkEndReason {
+    /// Decode the wire/ABI byte. Unknown values become [`Self::None`] rather than panicking: this
+    /// crosses an ABI where the writer may be newer than the reader.
+    pub fn from_u8(v: u8) -> Self {
+        match v {
+            1 => Self::Local,
+            2 => Self::GameExited,
+            3 => Self::HostEnded,
+            4 => Self::HostError,
+            5 => Self::Lost,
+            _ => Self::None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Whether this ending is an ordinary outcome rather than something to alarm the user about.
+    ///
+    /// The single question nearly every client actually asks. `Local`, `GameExited` and `HostEnded`
+    /// are all things that were *meant* to happen; only a host-side failure or a dead connection
+    /// are not. [`Self::None`] counts as normal — no evidence of trouble is not evidence of it.
+    pub fn is_normal(self) -> bool {
+        !matches!(self, Self::HostError | Self::Lost)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "quic")]
+impl From<&quinn::ConnectionError> for PunktfunkEndReason {
+    /// Classify the QUIC close.
+    ///
+    /// Only two application codes ever arrive from a host at session end: `APP_EXITED` when the
+    /// game it launched quit, and the teardown's own `0` (clean) / `1` (the session returned an
+    /// error) from `native.rs`. Anything else with an application code is a deliberate host-side
+    /// close we do not have a name for, which is still closer to "the host ended it" than to a
+    /// dead link — but a code we have never issued is more likely a fault than a courtesy, so it
+    /// lands in `HostError` where it will at least be visible.
+    fn from(e: &quinn::ConnectionError) -> Self {
+        match e {
+            quinn::ConnectionError::LocallyClosed => Self::Local,
+            quinn::ConnectionError::ApplicationClosed(ac) => {
+                match u32::try_from(u64::from(ac.error_code)) {
+                    Ok(crate::quic::APP_EXITED_CLOSE_CODE) => Self::GameExited,
+                    Ok(0) => Self::HostEnded,
+                    _ => Self::HostError,
+                }
+            }
+            // TimedOut, Reset, VersionMismatch, TransportError, CidsExhausted, and the peer's
+            // transport-level close: the link failed, nobody said goodbye.
+            _ => Self::Lost,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 pub struct NativeClient {
     // Each plane's receiver sits behind its own mutex so `NativeClient` is `Sync` and Rust
     // embedders can share one `Arc<NativeClient>` across their plane threads (the same
@@ -180,6 +265,9 @@ pub struct NativeClient {
     /// Speed-test accumulator, shared with the data-plane pump + control task.
     probe: Arc<Mutex<ProbeState>>,
     shutdown: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+    /// A [`PunktfunkEndReason`] as `u8`, latched with `shutdown` — see
+    /// [`NativeClient::end_reason`].
+    end_reason: Arc<AtomicU8>,
     /// Deliberate-quit flag: [`NativeClient::disconnect_quit`] sets it, so the worker closes the QUIC
     /// connection with [`crate::quic::QUIT_CLOSE_CODE`] (a user "stop") instead of code 0 — telling the
     /// host to skip the keep-alive linger. A plain drop leaves it false → an unwanted-disconnect close.
@@ -448,6 +536,7 @@ impl NativeClient {
             std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel::<crate::quic::CursorState>(CURSOR_STATE_QUEUE);
         let (ready_tx, ready_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel::<Result<Negotiated>>();
         let shutdown = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+        let end_reason = Arc::new(AtomicU8::new(PunktfunkEndReason::None as u8));
         let quit = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
         let mode_slot = Arc::new(std::sync::Mutex::new(mode));
         let probe = Arc::new(Mutex::new(ProbeState::default()));
@@ -463,6 +552,7 @@ impl NativeClient {
         let host = host.to_string();
         let frame_chan_w = frame_chan.clone();
         let shutdown_w = shutdown.clone();
+        let end_reason_w = end_reason.clone();
         let quit_w = quit.clone();
         let mode_slot_w = mode_slot.clone();
         let probe_w = probe.clone();
@@ -538,6 +628,7 @@ impl NativeClient {
                     clip_cmd_rx,
                     ready_tx,
                     shutdown: shutdown_w,
+                    end_reason: end_reason_w,
                     quit: quit_w,
                     mode_slot: mode_slot_w,
                     probe: probe_w,
@@ -591,6 +682,7 @@ impl NativeClient {
             host_caps: negotiated.host_caps,
             probe,
             shutdown,
+            end_reason,
             quit,
             worker: Some(worker),
             frames_dropped,
@@ -809,6 +901,29 @@ impl NativeClient {
         self.shutdown.load(Ordering::SeqCst)
     }
 
+    /// WHY the session ended — see [`PunktfunkEndReason`].
+    ///
+    /// A refinement of [`is_session_ended`](Self::is_session_ended), never a substitute: it stays
+    /// [`PunktfunkEndReason::None`] until that is true, and every client that ignores it behaves
+    /// exactly as it did before this existed.
+    ///
+    /// What it is FOR: **most endings are not failures.** A client that cannot tell them apart has
+    /// to pick one wording for all of them, and every such client picked an error — "Session ended
+    /// by <host>", "Connection lost — the host may be asleep" — including when the player quit the
+    /// game themselves. This is the discriminator that lets each client stay quiet for a normal
+    /// finish, return to its library when a launched game exits, and reserve the alarming copy for
+    /// an ending that actually deserves it.
+    ///
+    /// Latches, so it is still readable while the connection is being torn down.
+    pub fn end_reason(&self) -> PunktfunkEndReason {
+        PunktfunkEndReason::from_u8(self.end_reason.load(Ordering::SeqCst))
+    }
+
+    /// Shorthand for the single most actionable reason: the host's launched game exited.
+    pub fn ended_because_game_exited(&self) -> bool {
+        self.end_reason() == PunktfunkEndReason::GameExited
+    }
+
     /// Register the calling thread as latency-critical so a later
     /// [`hot_thread_ids`](Self::hot_thread_ids) includes it. An embedder calls this from its own
     /// plane threads (e.g. the Android client's decode + audio threads) to fold them into the same

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/pump.rs

@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ pub(super) async fn run_pump(args: WorkerArgs) {
         clip_cmd_rx,
         ready_tx,
         shutdown,
+        end_reason,
         quit,
         mode_slot,
         probe,
@@ -194,12 +195,17 @@ pub(super) async fn run_pump(args: WorkerArgs) {
         clip_cmd_rx,
     ));
 
-    // Watch for connection close → stop the pump.
+    // Watch for connection close → stop the pump, and classify WHY.
     {
         let shutdown = shutdown.clone();
+        let end_reason = end_reason.clone();
         let conn = conn.clone();
         tokio::spawn(async move {
-            conn.closed().await;
+            let why = conn.closed().await;
+            // Latch the reason BEFORE `shutdown`: the two are observed by different threads, and a
+            // client that reacts to the shutdown flag must never find the reason still unset.
+            let reason = crate::client::PunktfunkEndReason::from(&why);
+            end_reason.store(reason as u8, Ordering::SeqCst);
             shutdown.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
         });
     }

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/worker.rs

@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ pub(crate) struct WorkerArgs {
     pub(crate) clip_cmd_rx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<ClipCommand>,
     pub(crate) ready_tx: std::sync::mpsc::Sender<Result<Negotiated>>,
     pub(crate) shutdown: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+    /// A [`crate::client::PunktfunkEndReason`] as `u8`, classified from the connection's close and
+    /// latched alongside `shutdown` (see [`NativeClient::end_reason`]).
+    pub(crate) end_reason: Arc<AtomicU8>,
     /// Deliberate-quit flag (see [`NativeClient::quit`]): the worker closes with the quit code if set.
     pub(crate) quit: Arc<AtomicBool>,
     pub(crate) mode_slot: Arc<std::sync::Mutex<Mode>>,

crates/punktfunk-core/src/lib.rs

@@ -138,7 +138,14 @@ pub use stats::Stats;
 /// capability-gated end to end: the wire grows a new datagram tag (0xD1) an old client never
 /// receives (double-gated caps), a new 0xCD kind (0x06, dropped as unknown by old clients) and
 /// arrival flag bits 8/9 sent only toward a capable host, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
-pub const ABI_VERSION: u32 = 16;
+/// v17: added `punktfunk_connection_end_reason` + the `PUNKTFUNK_END_REASON_*` vocabulary — asks,
+/// once a session has ended, WHY: this client closed it, the host's launched game exited (its close
+/// carried [`quic::APP_EXITED_CLOSE_CODE`], which the host has sent since long before this bump
+/// with nothing consuming it), the host ended it cleanly, the host reported a failure, or the
+/// connection was simply lost. Purely a read of state the core already had: no new call is required
+/// of an embedder, a client that never calls it is unchanged, and the host sends exactly the same
+/// bytes either way, so [`WIRE_VERSION`] is unchanged.
+pub const ABI_VERSION: u32 = 17;
 
 /// The punktfunk/1 **wire** version — what `Hello`/`Welcome` carry and hosts equality-check.
 /// Deliberately its own constant: [`ABI_VERSION`] tracks the embeddable **C surface**

crates/punktfunk-host/src/gamelease.rs

@@ -52,6 +52,24 @@ const EXIT_CONFIRM: Duration = Duration::from_secs(3);
 const SHIM_WINDOW: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
 /// How long a game gets to close on its own after a polite request, before it is killed outright.
 const TERM_GRACE: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
+/// How long [`crate::procscan::running_hint`] may hold off the exit once the game's processes have
+/// all gone.
+///
+/// The hint is a tie-breaker for a scan that momentarily cannot see the game — a launcher re-execing,
+/// an engine relaunching itself into a new pid — and those gaps are over in seconds, an order of
+/// magnitude inside this window. Past it, a game nothing can find is gone whatever the hint says.
+///
+/// **Bounded because the hint's backing state is not guaranteed to be truthful.** Windows reads
+/// Steam's per-app `Running` registry flag, which Steam leaves set whenever it does not cleanly
+/// observe the exit (Steam crashed or was closed first, the game re-parented, a launcher appid stays
+/// set) — and `steam_running_hint` believes the first hive that says so, including a stale one left
+/// in another profile. An UNBOUNDED veto turns that into a session that never ends on its own: the
+/// console shows the game running for as long as the host does, `session_on_game_exit` never fires,
+/// and only a manual "End" gets the stream back (field report 2026-08-06, Windows host 0.24.0).
+///
+/// Ending a moment too early is the cheaper failure: the stream drops while the game lives (the user
+/// reconnects, and `finish` never kills anything). Ending never is the bug above.
+const VETO_LIMIT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(30);
 
 /// A child process the host spawned for a launch, and what may safely be signalled for it.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
@@ -248,6 +266,20 @@ pub struct LeaseRequest {
     pub spec: DetectSpec,
     /// The game's own compositor-nested-ness: `true` when a bare-spawn gamescope owns it.
     pub nested: bool,
+    /// This entry opens a LAUNCHER rather than a game (design D4), which makes the lease
+    /// [`LeaseKind::Untracked`] no matter what else is known about it.
+    ///
+    /// A launcher has no "the game exited" moment to detect, and trying to infer one is worse than
+    /// not trying. Steam is the clean counterexample: Big Picture is a *mode* of an already-running
+    /// Steam client, not a process — and on a Deck or SteamOS host Steam is always running — so no
+    /// process signal can express "the Big Picture window closed".
+    ///
+    /// Without this flag the lifetime would also be decided by something the user cannot see:
+    /// launching a launcher that is NOT yet running leaves the host holding a live child (tracked,
+    /// so quitting it ends the session), while launching one that IS running has the command
+    /// forward and exit inside [`SHIM_WINDOW`] (untracked, so the session persists). Same tile, two
+    /// behaviours. Untracked is the honest one of the two, so it is the one that always applies.
+    pub launcher: bool,
     /// The child the host spawned for this launch, when it spawned one directly, and whether it
     /// leads its own process group (see [`OwnedChild::group_leader`]).
     pub child: Option<(std::process::Child, bool)>,
@@ -282,11 +314,18 @@ pub fn open(req: LeaseRequest, on_exit: OnExit) -> GameLease {
         plane,
         spec,
         nested,
+        launcher,
         child,
         launch_stamp,
     } = req;
 
-    let kind = if nested {
+    // A launcher tile is untracked FIRST, before anything else is considered — see
+    // `LeaseRequest::launcher`. Checking it ahead of `child` is the whole point: a launcher the host
+    // just started leaves a live child behind, and tracking that child is exactly the inconsistency
+    // this removes.
+    let kind = if launcher {
+        LeaseKind::Untracked
+    } else if nested {
         LeaseKind::Nested
     } else if child.is_some() {
         LeaseKind::Child
@@ -317,7 +356,14 @@ pub fn open(req: LeaseRequest, on_exit: OnExit) -> GameLease {
         last_seen_ms: AtomicU64::new(0),
     });
 
-    if matches!(kind, LeaseKind::Untracked) {
+    if launcher {
+        tracing::info!(
+            title = %shared.game.title,
+            app = shared.game.id.as_deref().unwrap_or("-"),
+            "this entry opens a launcher, not a game — the session stays up until the client \
+             leaves, and closing the launcher does not end it"
+        );
+    } else if matches!(kind, LeaseKind::Untracked) {
         tracing::info!(
             title = %shared.game.title,
             app = shared.game.id.as_deref().unwrap_or("-"),
@@ -540,29 +586,59 @@ fn watch(shared: Arc<LeaseShared>, mut child: Option<std::process::Child>, on_ex
             gone_since = None;
             vetoed = false;
             shared.last_seen_ms.store(now_ms(), Ordering::Relaxed);
-        } else if gone_since.get_or_insert_with(Instant::now).elapsed() >= EXIT_CONFIRM {
-            // Last check before ending a session: does anything outside the process scan still think
-            // the game is up? Only a veto, never a reason to call it running — see
-            // `procscan::running_hint`. The failure mode of honoring it is a stream that stays up.
-            if crate::procscan::running_hint(&shared.spec) == Some(true) {
-                if !vetoed {
-                    vetoed = true;
-                    tracing::info!(
-                        title = %shared.game.title,
-                        "no game processes found, but its launcher still reports it running — not \
-                         ending the session"
-                    );
+        } else {
+            // How long the game's processes have been CONTINUOUSLY absent. Deliberately not reset by
+            // the veto below — letting it run on is exactly what bounds the veto.
+            let gone_for = gone_since.get_or_insert_with(Instant::now).elapsed();
+            if gone_for >= EXIT_CONFIRM {
+                // Last check before ending a session: does anything outside the process scan still
+                // think the game is up? Only a veto, never a reason to call it running — see
+                // `procscan::running_hint`.
+                let hint_running = crate::procscan::running_hint(&shared.spec) == Some(true);
+                if !exit_confirmed(gone_for, hint_running) {
+                    if !vetoed {
+                        vetoed = true;
+                        tracing::info!(
+                            title = %shared.game.title,
+                            veto_limit_s = VETO_LIMIT.as_secs(),
+                            "no game processes found, but its launcher still reports it running — \
+                             holding off on ending the session"
+                        );
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    if hint_running {
+                        // The veto outlived its usefulness: nothing this scan can see has existed
+                        // for VETO_LIMIT, so the launcher's opinion is stale, not early.
+                        tracing::warn!(
+                            title = %shared.game.title,
+                            gone_for_s = gone_for.as_secs(),
+                            "its launcher still reports the game running, but nothing of it has \
+                             been on the box for {}s — treating that as a stale flag and ending \
+                             the session",
+                            VETO_LIMIT.as_secs()
+                        );
+                    }
+                    finish(&shared, &on_exit, "the game exited");
+                    return;
                 }
-                gone_since = None;
-            } else {
-                finish(&shared, &on_exit, "the game exited");
-                return;
             }
         }
         std::thread::sleep(POLL);
     }
 }
 
+/// Whether a game nothing can find any more counts as exited: absent for at least [`EXIT_CONFIRM`],
+/// and either unopposed or absent long enough that the opposition ([`crate::procscan::running_hint`]
+/// saying `Some(true)`) has been overruled by [`VETO_LIMIT`].
+///
+/// Split out of the watch loop because it is the one rule in this file whose *bound* is the fix:
+/// the loop itself polls a live process table and cannot be unit-tested, which is how an unbounded
+/// veto shipped. Pure, so the table below is the whole contract.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]
+fn exit_confirmed(gone_for: Duration, hint_running: bool) -> bool {
+    gone_for >= EXIT_CONFIRM && (!hint_running || gone_for >= VETO_LIMIT)
+}
+
 /// Record the exit and, unless the host itself ended the game, run the session-ending action.
 #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]
 fn finish(shared: &Arc<LeaseShared>, on_exit: &OnExit, why: &str) {
@@ -1024,12 +1100,62 @@ mod tests {
             plane: crate::events::Plane::Native,
             spec,
             nested,
+            launcher: false,
             child: None,
             // No start-time floor: these leases are never matched against real processes.
             launch_stamp: None,
         }
     }
 
+    /// Design D4: an entry that opens a LAUNCHER is untracked, whatever else is known about it.
+    ///
+    /// Both cases below are the same tile - "Steam Big Picture" - differing only in whether Steam
+    /// happened to be running already, which the user cannot see:
+    ///
+    ///   * not running: the host's spawned child stays alive, which would otherwise be a `Child`
+    ///     lease, so quitting the launcher would end the session;
+    ///   * already running: the command forwards to the live instance and exits inside
+    ///     `SHIM_WINDOW`, leaving nothing to track, so the session would persist.
+    ///
+    /// Untracked is the honest answer of the two. Big Picture is a *mode* of an already-running
+    /// Steam client rather than a process, and on a Deck or SteamOS host Steam is always running,
+    /// so no process signal can express "the launcher's window closed". Pinning it here keeps the
+    /// tile's behaviour from depending on invisible state.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_launcher_entry_is_untracked_however_it_was_started() {
+        // Already running: nothing held, nothing to detect.
+        let mut r = req("steam:big-picture", DetectSpec::default(), false);
+        r.launcher = true;
+        let lease = open(r, Box::new(|| {}));
+        assert!(matches!(lease.shared().kind, LeaseKind::Untracked));
+        assert!(!lease.shared().is_trackable());
+
+        // Not running: the entry also carries detect signals, which would normally make this a
+        // `Matched` lease. `launcher` outranks them.
+        let mut r = req(
+            "steam:big-picture-2",
+            DetectSpec::exe("/usr/bin/steam"),
+            false,
+        );
+        r.launcher = true;
+        assert!(
+            !r.spec.is_empty(),
+            "the guard is only meaningful with signals"
+        );
+        let lease = open(r, Box::new(|| {}));
+        assert!(matches!(lease.shared().kind, LeaseKind::Untracked));
+        assert!(!lease.shared().is_trackable());
+
+        // The same request WITHOUT the flag is tracked - so the assertions above are the flag's
+        // doing, not an artifact of the fixture.
+        let plain = open(
+            req("steam:570", DetectSpec::exe("/usr/bin/steam"), false),
+            Box::new(|| {}),
+        );
+        assert!(matches!(plain.shared().kind, LeaseKind::Matched));
+        assert!(plain.shared().is_trackable());
+    }
+
     /// Is a lease for `id` currently on probation?
     fn is_pending(id: &str) -> bool {
         pending_snapshot()
@@ -1037,6 +1163,34 @@ mod tests {
             .any(|(s, _)| s.game.id.as_deref() == Some(id))
     }
 
+    /// The exit rule, including the thing that was missing: the veto ENDS.
+    ///
+    /// Field 2026-08-06 (Windows 0.24.0): Steam's per-app `Running` flag was left set after the game
+    /// exited, the watcher honoured it on every pass and reset its own confirm window each time, so
+    /// the game read as running for the life of the host and the stream never auto-ended. The last
+    /// case below is that regression.
+    #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", windows))]
+    #[test]
+    fn the_launcher_veto_expires_instead_of_pinning_a_session_open() {
+        let brief = EXIT_CONFIRM / 2;
+        let confirmed = EXIT_CONFIRM + Duration::from_secs(1);
+        let long = VETO_LIMIT + Duration::from_secs(1);
+
+        // Too early to call it either way — a process swap is still plausible.
+        assert!(!exit_confirmed(brief, false));
+        assert!(!exit_confirmed(brief, true));
+        // Gone past the confirm window with nothing objecting: exited.
+        assert!(exit_confirmed(confirmed, false));
+        // Same, but the launcher objects — that is what the veto is FOR, so hold off.
+        assert!(!exit_confirmed(confirmed, true));
+        // …and this is the bound. Still objecting, but nothing of the game has existed for
+        // VETO_LIMIT, so the objection is stale and the session ends anyway.
+        assert!(exit_confirmed(long, true));
+        assert!(exit_confirmed(long, false));
+        // (The middle two cases together also pin VETO_LIMIT > EXIT_CONFIRM: a veto that did not
+        // outlast the window it overrides could never hold anything off in the first place.)
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn kind_follows_what_the_launch_gave_us() {
         // Nested wins over everything: the display layer owns the lifetime.
@@ -1178,6 +1332,7 @@ mod tests {
                 // A real signal that no process will ever match — the game never shows up.
                 spec: DetectSpec::steam(999_001),
                 nested: false,
+                launcher: false,
                 child: Some((child, false)),
                 launch_stamp: None,
             },
@@ -1236,6 +1391,7 @@ mod tests {
                 plane: crate::events::Plane::Native,
                 spec: DetectSpec::dir(td.path()),
                 nested: false,
+                launcher: false,
                 child: Some((child, true)),
                 launch_stamp,
             },

crates/punktfunk-host/src/gamestream/stream.rs

@@ -369,6 +369,7 @@ fn run(
                     plane: crate::events::Plane::Gamestream,
                     spec: t.detect.clone(),
                     nested,
+                    launcher: t.launcher,
                     child,
                     launch_stamp,
                 },
@@ -580,6 +581,9 @@ fn open_gs_mirror_source(
 /// run it.
 struct GsApp {
     game: crate::gamelease::GameRef,
+    /// This entry opens a LAUNCHER rather than a game (design D4) — carried through from
+    /// [`crate::library::LaunchTarget`] so the lease can stay untracked for it.
+    launcher: bool,
     detect: crate::library::DetectSpec,
     /// The resolved shell command. `Some` on Linux, which runs it itself; `None` for a Windows
     /// library title, which launches by id through the interactive-session spawner instead.
@@ -601,6 +605,7 @@ fn resolve_gs_app(app: Option<&super::apps::AppEntry>) -> Option<GsApp> {
             Some(t) => {
                 return Some(GsApp {
                     game: t.game,
+                    launcher: t.launcher,
                     detect: t.detect,
                     command: t.command,
                 })
@@ -619,6 +624,8 @@ fn resolve_gs_app(app: Option<&super::apps::AppEntry>) -> Option<GsApp> {
         .map(str::trim)
         .filter(|c| !c.is_empty())?;
     Some(GsApp {
+        // An operator-typed command has no library entry behind it, so it is never a launcher tile.
+        launcher: false,
         game: crate::gamelease::GameRef {
             id: None,
             store: None,

crates/punktfunk-host/src/library/art.rs

@@ -671,9 +671,10 @@ mod tests {
         } else {
             "/home/u/.cache/lutris/coverart/cover.jpg".to_string()
         };
+        let url = file_url(std::path::Path::new(&path));
         let mut art = Artwork {
             portrait: Some(path.clone()),
-            hero: Some(format!("file://{path}")),
+            hero: Some(url),
             logo: Some("https://cdn/l.png".into()),
             header: None,
         };
@@ -757,7 +758,7 @@ mod tests {
         // half that matters for the extracted scanners: they emit `file://` values, so if the
         // conversion happened after the confinement check the check would be inspecting a string
         // that is not the path being read.
-        let as_url = format!("file://{}", cover.to_str().unwrap());
+        let as_url = file_url(&cover);
         assert_eq!(
             local_art_bytes(&as_url)
                 .expect("file:// reads the same cover")
@@ -766,15 +767,15 @@ mod tests {
         );
         // …and a `file://` value is confined exactly like a bare one — no bypass by spelling.
         assert!(
-            local_art_bytes(&format!("file://{}", elsewhere.to_str().unwrap())).is_none(),
+            local_art_bytes(&file_url(&elsewhere)).is_none(),
             "file:// must not escape the art roots"
         );
         // Percent-encoded traversal is decoded BEFORE canonicalization, so it cannot hide from the
         // `..` check.
         assert!(
             local_art_bytes(&format!(
-                "file://{}/%2e%2e/{}/cover.png",
-                dir.to_str().unwrap(),
+                "{}/%2e%2e/{}/cover.png",
+                file_url(&dir),
                 outside.file_name().unwrap().to_str().unwrap()
             ))
             .is_none(),
@@ -789,6 +790,21 @@ mod tests {
         let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&outside);
     }
 
+    /// Build a `file://` value the way the kit's `fileUrl` does, so these tests exercise the real
+    /// plugin contract on both platforms. A POSIX path keeps the two-slash form
+    /// (`file:///home/u/c.png` — empty authority, then the leading `/`); a Windows path becomes
+    /// `file:///C:/covers/c.png`, i.e. three slashes and forward separators. Building it as
+    /// `format!("file://{path}")` on Windows yields `file://C:\covers\c.png`, whose authority is
+    /// `C:` — that is a UNC reference, not a local file, and the parser is right to refuse it.
+    fn file_url(p: &std::path::Path) -> String {
+        let posix = p.to_str().unwrap().replace('\\', "/");
+        if posix.starts_with('/') {
+            format!("file://{posix}")
+        } else {
+            format!("file:///{posix}")
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Write-time validation refuses what read-time would refuse, so an unservable path never even
     /// reaches `library.json`. URLs are none of its business.
     #[test]

crates/punktfunk-host/src/library/custom.rs

@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ pub fn delete_custom(id: &str) -> Result<MutateOutcome<()>> {
 /// copies of the very primitive the `/hooks` carve-out exists to withhold.
 ///
 /// Returns the field name for the error message, so a plugin author sees exactly what was refused.
-/// The other launch kinds (`steam_appid`, `steam_ui`, `launcher_ui`, `epic`, `gog`, `aumid`,
+/// The other launch kinds (`steam_appid`, `steam_ui`, `launcher_ui`, `epic`, `gog`, `aumid`, `playnite`,
 /// `lutris_id`, `heroic`) are all
 /// host-resolved from a validated id and stay open to every lane — a provider plugin can still
 /// publish its whole catalogue, it just cannot hand the host a shell command to run.
@@ -461,6 +461,21 @@ pub fn validate_provider_payload(inputs: &[ProviderEntryInput]) -> Result<(), St
                     launch.value
                 ));
             }
+            // The value is interpolated into a `playnite://` URI, so it is charset-checked here as
+            // well as at launch time — same reasoning as the two kinds above.
+            if launch.kind == "playnite" && !valid_playnite_id(&launch.value) {
+                return Err(format!(
+                    "entries[{i}]: `launch.value` for kind `playnite` must be a Playnite game GUID"
+                ));
+            }
+            // `<Identity>!<AppId>`, both straight off `MicrosoftGame.config`. The host completes it
+            // into an AUMID at launch (it can read the publisher hash; the runner cannot), so the
+            // shape is checked here where the author can still act on the error.
+            if launch.kind == "xbox" && !valid_aumid(&launch.value) {
+                return Err(format!(
+                    "entries[{i}]: `launch.value` for kind `xbox` must be `<Identity>!<AppId>`"
+                ));
+            }
         }
         if let Some(marker) = &e.detect.env_marker {
             if !valid_env_key(&marker.key) {
@@ -743,6 +758,47 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(library_id_for(&r3[0]).starts_with("custom:"));
     }
 
+    /// A plugin's `launchers(cfg)` tile, end to end: `role: "launcher"` survives the reconcile onto
+    /// the stored entry AND onto the `GameEntry` a client renders, keeps the deterministic claimed
+    /// id, and stays out of the wire for ordinary games.
+    ///
+    /// This is the path the lutris and heroic plugins publish through, and nothing exercised it
+    /// before — every earlier test reconciled `GameRole::Game`, which is the serde default, so the
+    /// field could have been dropped anywhere between the payload and the client without a failure.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_launcher_entry_survives_reconcile_onto_the_wire() {
+        let mut launcher = input("launcher", "Lutris");
+        launcher.role = GameRole::Launcher;
+        launcher.launch = Some(LaunchSpec {
+            kind: "launcher_ui".into(),
+            value: "lutris".into(),
+        });
+
+        let mut entries = Vec::new();
+        let out = reconcile_entries(
+            &mut entries,
+            "lutris",
+            Some("lutris"),
+            vec![launcher, input("42", "Some Game")],
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(library_id_for(&out[0]), "lutris:launcher");
+        assert_eq!(out[0].role, GameRole::Launcher);
+        assert_eq!(out[1].role, GameRole::Game, "the game is untouched");
+
+        // Onto the wire: the client sees `role`, and `is_game` keeps it off ordinary entries.
+        let tile: GameEntry = out[0].clone().into();
+        assert_eq!(tile.role, GameRole::Launcher);
+        let v = serde_json::to_value(&tile).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(v["role"], "launcher");
+        let game: GameEntry = out[1].clone().into();
+        let vg = serde_json::to_value(&game).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            vg.get("role").is_none(),
+            "a game's role stays off the wire, so old clients are unaffected"
+        );
+    }
+
     /// The metadata contract on the wire and on disk: fields serialize FLAT (no `meta` nesting —
     /// clients and plugins see `platform` beside `title`), absent fields vanish entirely, and a
     /// pre-metadata `library.json` / payload still parses (all-optional).

crates/punktfunk-host/src/library/launch.rs

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ use super::*;
 pub struct LaunchTarget {
     /// Identity for the status surface and the `game.*` events.
     pub game: crate::gamelease::GameRef,
+    /// This entry opens a LAUNCHER, not a game (design D4) — so there is no "the game exited"
+    /// moment to detect, and the lease stays untracked no matter what else is known about it.
+    /// See [`crate::gamelease::LeaseRequest::launcher`].
+    pub launcher: bool,
     /// How to recognize the running game ([`DetectSpec`]); empty when the store offers nothing.
     pub detect: DetectSpec,
     /// The resolved shell command. `Some` on Linux (where the host runs it); `None` on Windows,
@@ -51,6 +55,7 @@ pub fn resolve_launch(id: &str) -> Option<LaunchTarget> {
         let command = entry.launch.as_ref().and_then(command_for)?;
         Some(LaunchTarget {
             game,
+            launcher: entry.role == GameRole::Launcher,
             detect: entry.detect,
             command: Some(command),
         })
@@ -62,6 +67,7 @@ pub fn resolve_launch(id: &str) -> Option<LaunchTarget> {
         // the existing warning fires there.
         Some(LaunchTarget {
             game,
+            launcher: entry.role == GameRole::Launcher,
             detect: entry.detect,
             command: None,
         })
@@ -184,22 +190,59 @@ fn windows_launch_for(spec: &LaunchSpec) -> Option<(String, Option<std::path::Pa
         // shell:AppsFolder — which runs in the interactive user session (UWP activation fails as
         // SYSTEM/session-0; spawn_in_active_session uses the user token). Guard the charset (the value
         // is host-derived from MicrosoftGame.config + AppRepository, but belt-and-suspenders).
-        "aumid" => {
-            let valid = spec.value.split_once('!').is_some_and(|(pfn, app)| {
-                let part = |s: &str| {
-                    !s.is_empty()
-                        && s.bytes()
-                            .all(|b| b.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || matches!(b, b'.' | b'_' | b'-'))
-                };
-                part(pfn) && part(app)
-            });
-            valid.then(|| {
-                (
-                    format!("explorer.exe \"shell:AppsFolder\\{}\"", spec.value),
-                    None,
-                )
-            })
+        "aumid" => valid_aumid(&spec.value).then(|| {
+            (
+                format!("explorer.exe \"shell:AppsFolder\\{}\"", spec.value),
+                None,
+            )
+        }),
+        // Xbox / Game Pass from a library PLUGIN: `<Identity>!<AppId>`, both read straight out of
+        // `MicrosoftGame.config`. The host completes it into the AUMID.
+        //
+        // This kind exists because of a measured privilege asymmetry (2026-08-06): resolving the
+        // PackageFamilyName means enumerating `%ProgramData%\…\AppRepository\Packages`, which is
+        // denied to `NT AUTHORITY\LocalService` — the principal the plugin runner runs as — and
+        // allowed to the host, which runs as LocalSystem. So the plugin sends what it can read and
+        // the host reads the authoritative publisher hash itself, at launch time.
+        //
+        // Resolving here rather than caching at install time also means a package update that
+        // changes the hash cannot leave a stale, unlaunchable tile behind.
+        "xbox" => {
+            let (identity, app_id) = spec.value.split_once('!')?;
+            if !aumid_part(identity) || !aumid_part(app_id) {
+                return None;
+            }
+            let pfn = xbox_pfn(identity)?;
+            Some((
+                format!("explorer.exe \"shell:AppsFolder\\{pfn}!{app_id}\""),
+                None,
+            ))
         }
+        // Playnite: open the game through Playnite's own URI handler, which is what actually knows
+        // how to start it (Playnite maps the id to whichever store owns the title). explorer.exe
+        // resolves the registered protocol as the user — the same pattern as the `epic` kind — and
+        // the id is GUID-validated, so the only variable part of the line is 36 hex-and-dash chars.
+        //
+        // This kind exists because the plugin used to publish `kind: "command"` (a `start ""` shell
+        // line). The 2026-08-05 review made `command` operator-only, which refuses a plugin's whole
+        // reconcile — so without a typed kind the Playnite plugin cannot publish anything at all.
+        "playnite" => valid_playnite_id(&spec.value).then(|| {
+            (
+                format!("explorer.exe \"playnite://playnite/start/{}\"", spec.value),
+                None,
+            )
+        }),
+        // A launcher entry (D4) on Windows: today that is Playnite's Fullscreen app, spawned
+        // directly (its `playnite://` handler opens the DESKTOP app, so no URI can do this). The
+        // value is the literal "playnite" — nothing from the entry reaches the command line — and
+        // the working directory is Playnite's own install dir, as a .NET app expects.
+        "launcher_ui" => match spec.value.as_str() {
+            "playnite" => playnite_fullscreen_exe().map(|exe| {
+                let dir = exe.parent().map(std::path::Path::to_path_buf);
+                (format!("\"{}\"", exe.display()), dir)
+            }),
+            _ => None,
+        },
         // Operator-typed custom command (host-owned, never client-set): run it through the shell in the
         // interactive session. `cmd.exe /c` is acceptable here precisely because the value is operator
         // input — the same trust as the operator typing it — not a client-influenced string.
@@ -260,6 +303,38 @@ pub(crate) fn valid_steam_ui(value: &str) -> bool {
     matches!(value, "bigpicture" | "desktop")
 }
 
+/// One half of an AUMID (a package family name or an app id): non-empty, and no character that
+/// could break out of the `shell:AppsFolder\…` argument. Both halves are host-derived, so this is
+/// belt-and-braces — but the `xbox` kind now takes an Identity straight off a plugin's wire, which
+/// makes it load-bearing rather than defensive.
+pub(crate) fn aumid_part(s: &str) -> bool {
+    !s.is_empty()
+        && s.bytes()
+            .all(|b| b.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || matches!(b, b'.' | b'_' | b'-'))
+}
+
+/// A full `<PFN>!<AppId>` AUMID.
+pub(crate) fn valid_aumid(value: &str) -> bool {
+    value
+        .split_once('!')
+        .is_some_and(|(pfn, app)| aumid_part(pfn) && aumid_part(app))
+}
+
+/// A Playnite game id: the GUID Playnite's own database uses, and the only client-influenced part
+/// of a `playnite` launch. Interpolated into a URI handed to explorer.exe, so the charset is
+/// validated first — 8-4-4-4-12 lowercase-or-uppercase hex with dashes, nothing else.
+pub(crate) fn valid_playnite_id(value: &str) -> bool {
+    let groups = [8usize, 4, 4, 4, 12];
+    let mut parts = value.split('-');
+    for want in groups {
+        match parts.next() {
+            Some(p) if p.len() == want && p.bytes().all(|b| b.is_ascii_hexdigit()) => {}
+            _ => return false,
+        }
+    }
+    parts.next().is_none()
+}
+
 /// The launcher UIs **this host** can open, as `launcher_ui` values (D4).
 ///
 /// One kind for every launcher but Steam, rather than one kind each: they all have exactly a single
@@ -280,17 +355,71 @@ fn launcher_ui_stores() -> &'static [&'static str] {
     {
         &["heroic", "lutris"]
     }
-    // Windows launchers (Epic, GOG Galaxy, the Xbox app) are not wired yet — each needs its own
-    // verified activation, and an unverified guess would ship a tile that does nothing.
-    #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+    // Playnite's activation is verified (2026-08-06, on the .173 box); Epic, GOG Galaxy and the
+    // Xbox app are still unwired — each needs its own verified activation, and an unverified guess
+    // would ship a tile that does nothing.
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    {
+        &["playnite"]
+    }
+    #[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", windows)))]
     {
         &[]
     }
 }
 
 /// Is this a `launcher_ui` value this host can resolve?
+///
+/// On Windows, Playnite is validated by *resolution* rather than by being on the list: a host
+/// without Playnite installed refuses the entry (a 400 the plugin author can act on) instead of
+/// publishing a tile that does nothing when a user clicks it.
 pub(crate) fn valid_launcher_ui(value: &str) -> bool {
-    launcher_ui_stores().contains(&value)
+    if !launcher_ui_stores().contains(&value) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    if value == "playnite" {
+        return playnite_fullscreen_exe().is_some();
+    }
+    true
+}
+
+/// Windows: Playnite's **Fullscreen** app, if this host can find it.
+///
+/// Fullscreen rather than Desktop for two reasons: a launcher tile is opened from a couch over a
+/// stream, and — verified on 2026-08-06 — the registered `playnite://` protocol handler points at
+/// `Playnite.DesktopApp.exe`, so a URI cannot open fullscreen mode at all. The exe is launched
+/// directly, which is also why nothing here is interpolated from the entry: the whole value is the
+/// literal `"playnite"`.
+///
+/// Playnite installs per-user by default, so the install directory comes from its own uninstall
+/// entry (HKCU first, then HKLM for a machine-wide install), falling back to the default
+/// `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Playnite`. `None` when nothing resolves, which is what refuses the tile.
+#[cfg(windows)]
+fn playnite_fullscreen_exe() -> Option<std::path::PathBuf> {
+    use winreg::enums::{HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE};
+    use winreg::RegKey;
+    const KEY: &str = r"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Playnite";
+    const EXE: &str = "Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe";
+
+    let from_registry = [HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]
+        .into_iter()
+        .find_map(|root| {
+            RegKey::predef(root)
+                .open_subkey(KEY)
+                .ok()?
+                .get_value::<String, _>("InstallLocation")
+                .ok()
+        })
+        .map(std::path::PathBuf::from);
+
+    from_registry
+        .into_iter()
+        .chain(
+            std::env::var_os("LOCALAPPDATA").map(|l| std::path::PathBuf::from(l).join("Playnite")),
+        )
+        .map(|dir| dir.join(EXE))
+        .find(|p| p.is_file())
 }
 
 /// Map a `heroic` LaunchSpec value (`<runner>:<appName>`) to the Heroic launch command, run nested in
@@ -566,9 +695,23 @@ mod tests {
             // Not wired on this OS — refused inbound rather than becoming a tile that does nothing.
             assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("gog"));
         }
-        #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+        #[cfg(windows)]
         {
-            // No Windows/macOS launcher UIs are wired yet, so every value is refused.
+            // Playnite is accepted only when this host can actually FIND its Fullscreen app:
+            // validation is resolution, so a box without Playnite refuses the entry rather than
+            // publishing a tile that does nothing when clicked.
+            assert_eq!(
+                valid_launcher_ui("playnite"),
+                playnite_fullscreen_exe().is_some()
+            );
+            // The Linux launchers, and the Windows ones whose activation is still unverified
+            // (Epic, GOG Galaxy, the Xbox app), stay refused.
+            assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("heroic"));
+            assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("gog"));
+        }
+        #[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", windows)))]
+        {
+            // No launcher UIs are wired on this OS, so every value is refused.
             assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("heroic"));
             assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("gog"));
         }
@@ -576,6 +719,54 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!valid_launcher_ui("lutris; rm -rf ~"));
     }
 
+    /// The `xbox` kind is what a library PLUGIN can publish: the runner's principal cannot read
+    /// AppRepository (measured 2026-08-06), so it sends `<Identity>!<AppId>` and the host resolves
+    /// the publisher hash. The charset guard is load-bearing here — unlike `aumid`, this value
+    /// arrives over the wire.
+    #[test]
+    fn xbox_value_is_identity_bang_appid_and_charset_guarded() {
+        assert!(valid_aumid("Microsoft.Foo!Game"));
+        assert!(valid_aumid("A_b-c.d!App"));
+        // Both halves must be present and non-empty.
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Microsoft.Foo"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("!Game"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Microsoft.Foo!"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid(""));
+        // Nothing that could break out of the `shell:AppsFolder\…` argument.
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Foo\"!Game"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Foo!Game\" & calc"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Foo\\..\\Bar!Game"));
+        assert!(!valid_aumid("Foo Bar!Game"));
+    }
+
+    /// Windows' launcher tile opens Playnite's FULLSCREEN app. Both negatives are the point: the
+    /// desktop app is not what a couch tile should open, and the `playnite://` handler cannot be
+    /// used because it is registered to the desktop app (verified on .173, 2026-08-06).
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    #[test]
+    fn playnite_launcher_opens_the_fullscreen_app() {
+        let ui = |v: &str| {
+            windows_launch_for(&LaunchSpec {
+                kind: "launcher_ui".into(),
+                value: v.into(),
+            })
+        };
+        // A launcher this host cannot open is refused, whatever the OS.
+        assert!(ui("gog").is_none());
+        assert!(ui("heroic").is_none());
+        assert!(ui("").is_none());
+
+        // The rest only means anything on a box that actually has Playnite.
+        let Some(exe) = playnite_fullscreen_exe() else {
+            return;
+        };
+        let (cmd, dir) = ui("playnite").expect("resolvable when the exe was found");
+        assert!(cmd.contains("Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe"), "{cmd}");
+        assert!(!cmd.contains("DesktopApp"), "{cmd}");
+        assert!(!cmd.contains("playnite://"), "{cmd}");
+        assert_eq!(dir.as_deref(), exe.parent());
+    }
+
     #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
     #[test]
     fn launcher_ui_opens_the_launcher_itself() {

crates/punktfunk-host/src/library/xbox.rs

@@ -134,8 +134,14 @@ fn xbox_parse_config(text: &str, folder: Option<&str>) -> Option<(String, String
 /// Resolve a package's PackageFamilyName by finding its
 /// `AppRepository\Packages\<PackageFullName>` dir (machine-wide, SYSTEM-readable) and reducing the
 /// full name to `Name_PublisherHash`. This READS the authoritative PFN — never compute the hash.
+///
+/// **Readable by the host, NOT by the plugin runner.** Measured on 2026-08-06: that directory is
+/// `UnauthorizedAccessException` for `NT AUTHORITY\LocalService` (which the runner is), while the
+/// host service runs as LocalSystem and enumerates all 348 entries. That asymmetry is why the
+/// `xbox` launch kind exists — a library plugin sends the package Identity it CAN read out of
+/// `MicrosoftGame.config`, and this resolves the rest at launch time (see `launch.rs`).
 #[cfg(windows)]
-fn xbox_pfn(identity: &str) -> Option<String> {
+pub(crate) fn xbox_pfn(identity: &str) -> Option<String> {
     let pkgs = PathBuf::from(std::env::var_os("ProgramData")?)
         .join("Microsoft")
         .join("Windows")

crates/punktfunk-host/src/mgmt/library.rs

@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ fn check_entry_fields(
                 &format!(
                     "`{field}` is executed as the host user and may only be set with the \
                      operator's admin token — a plugin may publish entries with any host-resolved \
-                     launch kind (steam_appid, steam_ui, launcher_ui, epic, gog, aumid, lutris_id, heroic) \
+                     launch kind (steam_appid, steam_ui, launcher_ui, epic, gog, aumid, xbox, lutris_id, \
+                     heroic, playnite) \
                      instead"
                 ),
             ));

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/stream.rs

@@ -1715,6 +1715,7 @@ pub(super) fn virtual_stream(ctx: SessionContext, prepared: Option<PreparedDispl
                 plane: crate::events::Plane::Native,
                 spec: target.detect.clone(),
                 nested,
+                launcher: target.launcher,
                 child,
                 launch_stamp,
             },