diff --git a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
index 44cce7e..f333135 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
@@ -982,7 +982,11 @@ export async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
     // to online when the network returns. Web-only reaches here (the Mini-App branches returned above),
     // so isStandalone gates it.
     const cachedProfile = await loadProfile();
-    const canOffline = !!cachedProfile && !vkcb && isStandalone() && !!cachedProfile.email;
+    // A native app is offline-first, so a native launch — even a guest with no email — must fall back
+    // to the cached session's offline lobby rather than hang ~25 s on adoptSession's retrying profile
+    // fetch when the device is offline (e.g. airplane mode). Web keeps the installed-PWA + email gate.
+    const nativeChannel = clientChannel() === 'android' || clientChannel() === 'ios';
+    const canOffline = !vkcb && (nativeChannel || (!!cachedProfile && isStandalone() && !!cachedProfile.email));
     if (canOffline) {
       const interfaceOffline = typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.onLine === false;
       gateway.setToken(saved.token);
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/netstate.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/netstate.svelte.ts
index 939a4d8..65d0c80 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/netstate.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/netstate.svelte.ts
@@ -175,7 +175,10 @@ function applyEffect(effect: Effect): void {
  * poll immediately (the native reconcile) rather than after the first interval.
  */
 export function bootOffline(kickNow = false): void {
-  snap = { state: 'offlineNoNetwork', fails: 0, connectingSince: 0 };
+  // provisional: this offline is an assumption, not an observation — the first probe result confirms
+  // it (silent heal if reachable, so a first launch that had connectivity does not flash a spurious
+  // "back online" toast) or turns it into a real offline (see the reducer).
+  snap = { state: 'offlineNoNetwork', fails: 0, connectingSince: 0, provisional: true };
   arm(kickNow ? 0 : OFFLINE_POLL_MS);
 }
 
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/netstate.test.ts b/ui/src/lib/netstate.test.ts
index 6aa4e3c..fdfd709 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/netstate.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/netstate.test.ts
@@ -248,3 +248,31 @@ describe('reduce — purity', () => {
     expect(prev).toEqual({ state: 'connecting', fails: 1, connectingSince: 5 });
   });
 });
+
+// A boot-assumed (provisional) offline — bootOffline sets this — heals SILENTLY on its first
+// successful probe (a first launch that actually had connectivity must not flash "back online"),
+// while a failed probe confirms it as a real offline whose later recovery does toast.
+describe('provisional (boot-assumed) offline', () => {
+  const bootOffline: NetSnapshot = { state: 'offlineNoNetwork', fails: 0, connectingSince: 0, provisional: true };
+
+  it('heals to online with NO toast when the first probe succeeds', () => {
+    const r = reduce(bootOffline, e('probeOk'), cfg);
+    expect(r.next.state).toBe('online');
+    expect(r.effects).toEqual([]); // no "back online" toast — it was never really offline
+  });
+
+  it('clears provisional on a failed probe, then toasts on the eventual recovery', () => {
+    const failed = reduce(bootOffline, e('probeFailed'), cfg);
+    expect(failed.next.state).toBe('offlineNoNetwork');
+    expect(failed.next.provisional).toBe(false);
+    expect(failed.effects).toEqual([]);
+    const healed = reduce(failed.next, e('probeOk'), cfg);
+    expect(healed.next.state).toBe('online');
+    expect(healed.effects).toEqual([{ kind: 'toast', toast: 'online' }]); // now a real recovery
+  });
+
+  it('a non-provisional (observed) offline still toasts on recovery', () => {
+    const r = reduce(offline, e('probeOk'), cfg);
+    expect(r.effects).toEqual([{ kind: 'toast', toast: 'online' }]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/netstate.ts b/ui/src/lib/netstate.ts
index 894e963..84cd771 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/netstate.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/netstate.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ export interface NetSnapshot {
    * it (0 while not `connecting`).
    */
   connectingSince: number;
+  /**
+   * provisional marks an `offlineNoNetwork` that was ASSUMED at boot (bootOffline), not observed from
+   * a real online→offline transition. The first probe confirms it: a success means we were reachable
+   * all along, so the machine heals to online SILENTLY (no "back online" toast — there was nothing to
+   * come back from); a failure clears the flag, turning it into a confirmed offline whose later
+   * recovery does toast. Absent/false in every non-boot snapshot.
+   */
+  provisional?: boolean;
 }
 
 /** NetInput is an event stamped with the wall-clock time it occurred at; only the debounce branch
@@ -198,13 +206,20 @@ export function reduce(prev: NetSnapshot, ev: NetInput, cfg: NetConfig): NetResu
       switch (ev.type) {
         case 'callOk':
         case 'probeOk':
-          // The probe (or a reconcile call) won — self-heal to online with a "back online" toast.
-          return { next: onlineSnapshot(), effects: [{ kind: 'toast', toast: 'online' }] };
+          // The probe (or a reconcile call) won — heal to online. A boot-assumed (provisional) offline
+          // that is reachable on its very first probe was never really offline, so heal SILENTLY; a
+          // confirmed offline gets the "back online" toast.
+          return { next: onlineSnapshot(), effects: prev.provisional ? [] : [{ kind: 'toast', toast: 'online' }] };
+        case 'callFailed':
+        case 'probeFailed':
+          // A failed probe confirms a boot-assumed offline as real (its eventual recovery will then
+          // toast); a non-provisional offline is unchanged.
+          return prev.provisional ? { next: { ...prev, provisional: false }, effects: [] } : { next: prev, effects: [] };
         case 'osOnline':
           // Trigger a probe; stay offline until it actually wins (a captive portal can report online).
           return { next: prev, effects: [{ kind: 'startProbe' }] };
         default:
-          // callFailed / probeFailed / osOffline (still offline), versionRecommended (no nudge): no-op.
+          // osOffline (still offline), versionRecommended (no nudge): no-op.
           return { next: prev, effects: [] };
       }
   }