diff --git a/ui/e2e/gestures.spec.ts b/ui/e2e/gestures.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecf9f10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/e2e/gestures.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { expect, test, type Page } from './fixtures';
+
+// The edge swipe-back gesture (components/Screen.svelte) against the mock transport.
+// Real multi-touch pinch is not reproducible in Playwright, so this drives the handler
+// directly with synthetic PointerEvents (it listens at the window in the capture phase):
+// a lone finger swiping right from the left edge navigates back; a two-finger gesture
+// (a pinch-zoom, whose release would otherwise read as a swipe) does not.
+
+async function loginLobby(page: Page): Promise<void> {
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /guest/i }).click();
+  await expect(page.getByText('Your turn')).toBeVisible();
+}
+
+function pointer(page: Page, type: string, x: number, y: number, id: number): Promise<void> {
+  return page.evaluate(
+    ({ type, x, y, id }) => {
+      window.dispatchEvent(
+        new PointerEvent(type, { clientX: x, clientY: y, pointerId: id, pointerType: 'touch', bubbles: true, cancelable: true }),
+      );
+    },
+    { type, x, y, id },
+  );
+}
+
+test('edge swipe-back: a lone finger navigates back, a pinch does not', async ({ page }) => {
+  await loginLobby(page);
+
+  // Open the Settings hub (back = lobby).
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /Settings/ }).click();
+  await expect(page.getByText('Your turn')).toBeHidden();
+
+  // A two-finger gesture from the left edge is a pinch (its second finger joins after the
+  // first): releasing it must NOT navigate back — we stay on Settings.
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerdown', 8, 300, 1);
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerdown', 60, 300, 2);
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerup', 260, 300, 1);
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerup', 90, 300, 2);
+  await expect(page.getByText('Your turn')).toBeHidden();
+
+  // A single finger swiping right from the left edge does return to the lobby.
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerdown', 8, 300, 1);
+  await pointer(page, 'pointerup', 260, 300, 1);
+  await expect(page.getByText('Your turn')).toBeVisible();
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/components/Screen.svelte b/ui/src/components/Screen.svelte
index 444c6bd..99128f8 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/Screen.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/components/Screen.svelte
@@ -42,22 +42,53 @@
   // a zoomed-in board (it pans), and text inputs.
   const EDGE_FRACTION = 0.5;
   const SWIPE_SKIP = '[data-rack], .cell.pending, .viewport.zoomed, input, textarea, select';
+  // A pinch-zoom on the board is two fingers; its second finger lands after the gesture began
+  // (the board is not yet .zoomed at the first touch, so the hit-test above can't skip it), and
+  // releasing it would otherwise read as a horizontal back-swipe. Track the live pointer count
+  // (in the capture phase, so we see every touch even if the board stops propagation) and cancel
+  // the swipe the moment a second finger joins. The swipe fires only for a lone finger.
   $effect(() => {
+    let startX = 0;
+    let startY = 0;
+    let active = 0; // pointers currently down
+    let tracking = false; // a candidate single-finger edge swipe is in progress
+    let pinched = false; // a second finger joined — not a back-swipe
+
     function onDown(e: PointerEvent) {
+      active++;
+      if (active > 1) {
+        pinched = true;
+        return;
+      }
+      tracking = false;
+      pinched = false;
       if (!back || e.pointerType === 'mouse' || e.clientX > window.innerWidth * EDGE_FRACTION) return;
       if (document.elementFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY)?.closest(SWIPE_SKIP)) return;
-      const x0 = e.clientX;
-      const y0 = e.clientY;
-      const onUp = (ev: PointerEvent) => {
-        window.removeEventListener('pointerup', onUp, true);
-        const dx = ev.clientX - x0;
-        const dy = ev.clientY - y0;
-        if (back && dx > 64 && Math.abs(dx) > Math.abs(dy) * 1.4) navigate(back);
-      };
-      window.addEventListener('pointerup', onUp, true);
+      startX = e.clientX;
+      startY = e.clientY;
+      tracking = true;
     }
+
+    function onUp(e: PointerEvent) {
+      if (active > 0) active--;
+      if (active > 0) return; // wait until every finger has lifted
+      if (tracking && !pinched && back) {
+        const dx = e.clientX - startX;
+        const dy = e.clientY - startY;
+        if (dx > 64 && Math.abs(dx) > Math.abs(dy) * 1.4) navigate(back);
+      }
+      tracking = false;
+      pinched = false;
+    }
+
     window.addEventListener('pointerdown', onDown, true);
-    return () => window.removeEventListener('pointerdown', onDown, true);
+    window.addEventListener('pointerup', onUp, true);
+    window.addEventListener('pointercancel', onUp, true);
+    return () => {
+      window.removeEventListener('pointerdown', onDown, true);
+      window.removeEventListener('pointerup', onUp, true);
+      window.removeEventListener('pointercancel', onUp, true);
+    };
   });
 </script>
 
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
index a079f9f..69e2d27 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
@@ -341,7 +341,11 @@ async function adoptSession(s: Session): Promise<void> {
   await saveSession(s);
   try {
     app.profile = await gateway.profileGet();
-    if (!app.localeLocked) setLocale(localeFrom(app.profile.preferredLanguage, app.locale));
+    // The live interface language follows the device — the explicit local choice (locked, saved
+    // in prefs) or the system guess made at bootstrap — and is no longer overridden from the
+    // account here. preferred_language stays the user's saved choice (written from Settings,
+    // and used for out-of-app push routing), but the Telegram bot a user signs in through must
+    // not dictate the UI: a ru-bot launch on an English system stays English.
   } catch (err) {
     handleError(err);
   }