diff --git a/public/res/img/mascot-dance.png b/public/res/img/mascot-dance.png
index f377a232..5175a9a9 100644
Binary files a/public/res/img/mascot-dance.png and b/public/res/img/mascot-dance.png differ
diff --git a/public/res/img/mascot-dance.webm b/public/res/img/mascot-dance.webm
index 1d0bcaca..5c2a621c 100644
Binary files a/public/res/img/mascot-dance.webm and b/public/res/img/mascot-dance.webm differ
diff --git a/src/app/components/stream-header/RefreshMascot.tsx b/src/app/components/stream-header/RefreshMascot.tsx
index e14f4c2b..3459fcbd 100644
--- a/src/app/components/stream-header/RefreshMascot.tsx
+++ b/src/app/components/stream-header/RefreshMascot.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ type RefreshMascotProps = {
   // poster is the clip's first frame, so the poster↔video swap is
   // invisible and the dance starts seamlessly on reveal.
   revealing: boolean;
+  // Forwarded to the dance <video> so StreamHeader can read the loop position
+  // and defer the pull-to-refresh auto-close to a loop boundary — the curtain
+  // never rises mid-dance. Null while the still poster (reduced-motion /
+  // not-yet-revealed) is shown instead of the video.
+  videoRef?: React.Ref<HTMLVideoElement>;
 };
 
 // The card revealed below the tabs row by the curtain's `refresh` snap:
@@ -44,7 +49,7 @@ type RefreshMascotProps = {
 // of the app reads this query one-shot too, and this card is native-only
 // + aria-hidden, so a mid-session OS toggle not re-evaluating here is
 // acceptable.)
-export function RefreshMascot({ caption, revealing }: RefreshMascotProps) {
+export function RefreshMascot({ caption, revealing, videoRef }: RefreshMascotProps) {
   const native = isNativePlatform();
 
   const reducedMotion = useMemo(
@@ -66,6 +71,7 @@ export function RefreshMascot({ caption, revealing }: RefreshMascotProps) {
           whole light-blue chrome. This card holds just the mascot + caption. */}
       {showVideo ? (
         <video
+          ref={videoRef}
           className={css.mascotMedia}
           src={mascotWebm}
           poster={mascotPoster}
diff --git a/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.css.ts b/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.css.ts
index 13d75e6c..17281844 100644
--- a/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.css.ts
+++ b/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.css.ts
@@ -314,20 +314,26 @@ export const mascotCard = style({
   backgroundColor: color.SurfaceVariant.Container,
 });
 
-// Radar-pulse overlay. Spans the visible light-blue surface behind the
-// curtain — up into the safe-top (lifted in via the negative `top`) and
-// down to the stage bottom — so the ripple washes across the app chrome.
-// `zIndex: 1` is over the header chrome but under the curtain (`zIndex: 2`),
-// which occludes whatever's below its top edge wherever it's dragged.
-// `pointerEvents: none` + low opacity keep the tabs / mascot readable.
-// Rendered only while revealed + animated (StreamHeader `showPulse`).
-const pulseKeyframes = keyframes({
-  '0%': { transform: 'translate(-50%, -50%) scale(0.05)', opacity: 0 },
-  '10%': { opacity: 0.26 },
-  '65%': { opacity: 0.13 },
-  '100%': { transform: 'translate(-50%, -50%) scale(1)', opacity: 0 },
-});
-
+// Radar-pulse overlay — pink concentric rings rippling across the light-blue
+// surface behind the curtain. Rendered as ONE <svg> of 10 <circle>s, NOT 10
+// CSS-animated <span>s: each animated span is promoted to its own GPU layer,
+// and ten such layers blow Chromium's `cc` tile-memory budget on Android
+// WebView ("tile memory limits exceeded, some content may not draw") → the
+// curtain flickers (device logcat: that warning fired 572× only while the
+// rings animated). Chrome does NOT split an SVG into per-element GPU layers,
+// so all ten rings share ONE layer and the tile budget holds.
+//
+// (A <canvas> also collapses to one layer and likewise zeroed the tile
+// warning — but this WebView composites a full-screen, every-frame 2D canvas
+// as an OPAQUE surface: solid white over the mascot. SVG paints in the normal
+// tree like the old spans did, so it stays transparent.)
+//
+// This clip layer spans the visible surface — up into the safe-top (negative
+// `top`) and down to the stage bottom — and clips the rings at the status-bar
+// edge. `zIndex: 1` is over the header chrome but under the curtain
+// (`zIndex: 2`), which occludes whatever's below its top edge. `pointerEvents:
+// none` lets taps fall through. Rendered only while revealed + animated
+// (StreamHeader `showPulse`).
 export const stagePulseLayer = style({
   position: 'absolute',
   top: 'calc(-1 * var(--vojo-safe-top, 0px))',
@@ -339,20 +345,41 @@ export const stagePulseLayer = style({
   zIndex: 1,
 });
 
-export const stagePulse = style({
+// One ring's scale + fade — the old span keyframes, byte-for-byte: scale
+// 0.05→1 (the 2px stroke scales WITH it → 0.1px when tiny, a crisp 2px at
+// full size — the approved look), opacity 0 → 0.26 → 0.13 → 0.
+const ringKeyframes = keyframes({
+  '0%': { transform: 'scale(0.05)', opacity: 0 },
+  '10%': { opacity: 0.26 },
+  '65%': { opacity: 0.13 },
+  '100%': { transform: 'scale(1)', opacity: 0 },
+});
+
+// The 760² ring SVG, centred on ≈ the mascot centre (safe-top + tabs row +
+// the card's top pad + half the video box). `translateZ(0)` keeps the rings'
+// per-frame raster isolated to this one small layer rather than repainting
+// the whole stage; `overflow: visible` so the full-scale stroke isn't clipped.
+export const stagePulseSvg = style({
   position: 'absolute',
   left: '50%',
-  // Origin ≈ the mascot centre. The layer top is lifted by the safe-top, so
-  // add it back: safe-top + tabs row + the card's top pad + half the video
-  // box (≈ TABS_ROW_PX + 53 with the current card geometry).
   top: `calc(var(--vojo-safe-top, 0px) + ${toRem(TABS_ROW_PX + 53)})`,
   width: toRem(760),
   height: toRem(760),
-  borderRadius: '50%',
-  border: `${toRem(2)} solid rgb(248, 80, 160)`,
+  overflow: 'visible',
+  transform: 'translate(-50%, -50%) translateZ(0)',
+});
+
+// Each concentric ring. `transformBox: fill-box` + `transformOrigin: center`
+// so `scale()` grows it about its own centre. NO `non-scaling-stroke` — the
+// stroke scales with the circle, matching the approved span look.
+export const stagePulseRing = style({
+  fill: 'none',
+  stroke: 'rgb(248, 80, 160)',
+  strokeWidth: 2,
+  transformBox: 'fill-box',
+  transformOrigin: 'center',
   opacity: 0,
-  transform: 'translate(-50%, -50%) scale(0.05)',
-  animationName: pulseKeyframes,
+  animationName: ringKeyframes,
   animationDuration: '4s',
   animationTimingFunction: 'ease-out',
   animationIterationCount: 'infinite',
diff --git a/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.tsx b/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.tsx
index 0c210129..8e4b0be4 100644
--- a/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.tsx
+++ b/src/app/components/stream-header/StreamHeader.tsx
@@ -254,6 +254,9 @@ export function StreamHeader({
   // `!curtain.isDragging`, so a deferred close fires the instant a
   // mid-refresh retract drag releases (spring-back included — no strand).
   const refreshing = curtain.snap === 'refresh';
+  // Ref to the dance <video> so the close effect can align the auto-close to
+  // a loop boundary (see below). Null while the still poster is shown.
+  const mascotVideoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);
   const [refreshReady, setRefreshReady] = useState(false);
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!refreshing) {
@@ -293,12 +296,30 @@ export function StreamHeader({
     };
   }, [refreshing, mx]);
 
-  // Close once the dance is ready AND no drag is in flight. Re-runs when
+  // Close once the dance is ready AND no drag is in flight — but only at a
+  // mascot LOOP BOUNDARY, so the curtain never retracts mid-dance. When the
+  // dance becomes ready we read its position and defer the close by the time
+  // left in the current loop (`(duration − currentTime) / playbackRate`); the
+  // clip is a seamless 2 s loop, so any wrap point is a clean stop. If there's
+  // no live video (reduced-motion poster, or it stalled / hasn't mounted) or
+  // it's essentially at the boundary already, close immediately. Re-runs when
   // `isDragging` flips, so a close deferred during a mid-refresh retract
-  // fires the moment the finger releases (whether it sprang back or not).
+  // re-arms the moment the finger releases (whether it sprang back or not).
   const refreshDragging = curtain.isDragging;
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (refreshing && refreshReady && !refreshDragging) close();
+    if (!(refreshing && refreshReady && !refreshDragging)) return undefined;
+    const video = mascotVideoRef.current;
+    if (!video || video.paused || !Number.isFinite(video.duration) || video.duration <= 0) {
+      close();
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    const remainingMs = ((video.duration - video.currentTime) / (video.playbackRate || 1)) * 1000;
+    if (remainingMs <= 30) {
+      close();
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    const timer = window.setTimeout(close, remainingMs);
+    return () => window.clearTimeout(timer);
   }, [refreshing, refreshReady, refreshDragging, close]);
 
   // Memoised controls object so the cleanup's identity check (atom
@@ -552,6 +573,7 @@ export function StreamHeader({
           <RefreshMascot
             caption={t('Direct.refreshing')}
             revealing={isRefreshSnap(curtain.snap) || curtain.isDragging}
+            videoRef={mascotVideoRef}
           />
         )}
       </header>
@@ -559,14 +581,26 @@ export function StreamHeader({
       {/* ── Radar-pulse overlay ────────────────────────────────
           Concentric pink rings rippling across the light-blue surface behind
           the curtain (z:1, the curtain at z:2 occludes whatever's below its
-          top edge). 10 rings staggered across the 4s loop for a dense,
-          continuous ripple; `pointerEvents: none` so taps fall through to the
-          tabs. See `stagePulseLayer`. */}
+          top edge). ONE <svg> of 10 <circle>s rather than 10 animated <span>s:
+          10 animated spans each become their own GPU layer and blow Chromium's
+          `cc` tile-memory budget on Android WebView ("some content may not
+          draw") → flicker. Chrome doesn't split an SVG into per-element layers,
+          so the rings share one layer. `pointerEvents: none` so taps fall
+          through to the tabs. See `stagePulseLayer`. */}
       {showPulse && (
         <div className={css.stagePulseLayer}>
-          {[0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6].map((delay) => (
-            <span key={delay} className={css.stagePulse} style={{ animationDelay: `${delay}s` }} />
-          ))}
+          <svg className={css.stagePulseSvg} viewBox="0 0 760 760" aria-hidden="true">
+            {[0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6].map((delay) => (
+              <circle
+                key={delay}
+                className={css.stagePulseRing}
+                cx={380}
+                cy={380}
+                r={380}
+                style={{ animationDelay: `${delay}s` }}
+              />
+            ))}
+          </svg>
         </div>
       )}
 
diff --git a/src/app/components/stream-header/geometry.ts b/src/app/components/stream-header/geometry.ts
index c3dc1adb..a7967955 100644
--- a/src/app/components/stream-header/geometry.ts
+++ b/src/app/components/stream-header/geometry.ts
@@ -96,12 +96,13 @@ export const CURTAIN_RADIUS_PX = 24;
 export const REFRESH_COMMIT_PX = 88;
 
 // Refresh dance timing. The mascot stays revealed for AT LEAST
-// `REFRESH_MIN_MS` so a near-instant /sync (healthy online client) reads
-// as an intentional refresh rather than a flicker; it auto-closes once
-// /sync returns AND that minimum has elapsed. `REFRESH_MAX_MS` caps the
-// dance so an offline client (sync never returns) can't strand the
-// curtain open — it closes regardless after the cap.
-export const REFRESH_MIN_MS = 1200;
+// `REFRESH_MIN_MS` — two full turns of the 2.0s mascot loop — so the pull
+// reads as a deliberate ≥2-cycle dance, not a flicker. Paired with the
+// loop-boundary close (StreamHeader reads `video.currentTime`), it then ends
+// on a clean cycle once /sync returns AND this minimum has elapsed.
+// `REFRESH_MAX_MS` caps the dance so an offline client (sync never returns)
+// can't strand the curtain open — it closes regardless after the cap.
+export const REFRESH_MIN_MS = 4000;
 export const REFRESH_MAX_MS = 8000;
 
 // Touch gesture tuning. RUBBER_BAND dampens finger→curtain motion on