Merge E3: feed view modes + scroll-affordance sweep

Five view modes behind a reusable ViewSwitcher (cards · cardsSmall · rows ·
rowsCompact · tiles), and a subdued edge-fade on the page scroller and every
capped list. UAT-accepted; not shipped to prod (user's call — the Platform
refactor is next). Version bump + releaseNotes deferred to ship time.

frontend/src/App.tsx

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
 } from "./lib/panelLayout";
 import { configureNotifications, getNotifSettings, notify, removeByMetaKind, type NotifSettings } from "./lib/notifications";
 import { hintsEnabled, setHintsEnabled } from "./lib/hints";
+import { parseFeedView, type FeedView } from "./lib/feedView";
 import {
   accountKey,
   getAccountRaw,
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ import NavSidebar from "./components/NavSidebar";
 import Sidebar from "./components/Sidebar";
 import PlaylistsRail from "./components/PlaylistsRail";
 import BackToTop from "./components/BackToTop";
+import PageScroller from "./components/PageScroller";
 import GlassTuner from "./components/GlassTuner";
 import ChatDock from "./components/ChatDock";
 import Toaster from "./components/Toaster";
@@ -108,7 +110,6 @@ const PERF_KEY = LS.perfMode;
 // individual states below) and the last-saved "baseline" to compute dirty / revert on discard.
 type EditablePrefs = {
   theme: ThemePrefs;
-  view: "grid" | "list";
   performanceMode: boolean;
   hints: boolean;
   notifications: NotifSettings;
@@ -170,14 +171,16 @@ export default function App() {
   const [initialHadUrlFilters] = useState(() =>
     hasFilterParams(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search))
   );
-  const [view, setView] = useState<"grid" | "list">("grid");
+  // The feed's view mode is picked from the feed's own toolbar, so — unlike the Settings prefs
+  // below — it persists the moment you choose it. It is NOT part of the EditablePrefs draft:
+  // that would mark the Settings page dirty from a toolbar click and trip its leave-page guard.
+  const [view, setViewState] = useState<FeedView>(() => parseFeedView(readAccount(LS.feedView, null)));
   // Settings-page prefs draft (apply live, persist on Save — see EditablePrefs).
   const [perf, setPerf] = useState(() => getAccountRaw(PERF_KEY) === "1");
   const [hints, setHints] = useState(() => hintsEnabled());
   const [notif, setNotif] = useState<NotifSettings>(() => getNotifSettings());
   const [savedPrefs, setSavedPrefs] = useState<EditablePrefs>(() => ({
     theme: loadLocalTheme(),
-    view: "grid",
     performanceMode: getAccountRaw(PERF_KEY) === "1",
     hints: hintsEnabled(),
     notifications: getNotifSettings(),
@@ -387,6 +390,11 @@ export default function App() {
     writeAccount(LS.navCollapsed, next);
     api.savePrefs({ navCollapsed: next }).catch(() => {});
   }
+  function setView(next: FeedView) {
+    setViewState(next);
+    writeAccount(LS.feedView, next);
+    api.savePrefs({ view: next }).catch(() => {});
+  }
   function setFilterCollapsed(next: boolean) {
     setFilterCollapsedState(next);
     writeAccount(LS.filterCollapsed, next);
@@ -603,7 +611,6 @@ export default function App() {
     // effects above apply the draft (theme/perf/hints/notifications) for display.
     const adopted: EditablePrefs = {
       theme: prefs.theme ? { ...DEFAULT_THEME, ...prefs.theme } : loadLocalTheme(),
-      view: prefs.view === "grid" || prefs.view === "list" ? prefs.view : "grid",
       performanceMode:
         typeof prefs.performanceMode === "boolean"
           ? prefs.performanceMode
@@ -615,13 +622,16 @@ export default function App() {
     };
     setThemeState(adopted.theme);
     saveLocalTheme(adopted.theme);
-    setView(adopted.view);
     setPerf(adopted.performanceMode);
     setHints(adopted.hints);
     setNotif(adopted.notifications);
     setSavedPrefs(adopted);
     // Out-of-scope prefs stay instant (edited outside the Settings page).
     const prefsRec = prefs as Record<string, unknown>;
+    // parseFeedView also maps the pre-0.45 "grid" / "list" values forward.
+    const adoptedView = parseFeedView(prefs.view);
+    setViewState(adoptedView);
+    writeAccount(LS.feedView, adoptedView);
     (["feed", "plex", "playlists"] as PanelId[]).forEach((p) => {
       const raw = prefsRec[PREF_KEY[p]];
       if (raw) {
@@ -689,11 +699,11 @@ export default function App() {
   }
 
   const prefsDirty =
-    JSON.stringify({ theme, view, performanceMode: perf, hints, notifications: notif }) !==
+    JSON.stringify({ theme, performanceMode: perf, hints, notifications: notif }) !==
     JSON.stringify(savedPrefs);
 
   const savePrefs = useCallback(() => {
-    const payload: EditablePrefs = { theme, view, performanceMode: perf, hints, notifications: notif };
+    const payload: EditablePrefs = { theme, performanceMode: perf, hints, notifications: notif };
     window.clearTimeout(saveMsgTimer.current);
     setPrefsSaveState("saving");
     api
@@ -709,12 +719,11 @@ export default function App() {
         setPrefsSaveState("error");
         saveMsgTimer.current = window.setTimeout(() => setPrefsSaveState("idle"), 4000);
       });
-  }, [theme, view, perf, hints, notif]);
+  }, [theme, perf, hints, notif]);
 
   const discardPrefs = useCallback(() => {
     setThemeState(savedPrefs.theme);
     saveLocalTheme(savedPrefs.theme);
-    setView(savedPrefs.view);
     setPerf(savedPrefs.performanceMode);
     setHints(savedPrefs.hints);
     setNotif(savedPrefs.notifications);
@@ -725,8 +734,6 @@ export default function App() {
   const prefsCtl: PrefsController = {
     theme,
     setTheme,
-    view,
-    setView,
     perf,
     setPerf,
     hints,
@@ -842,6 +849,7 @@ export default function App() {
               initialName={channelView.name}
               me={meQuery.data!}
               view={view}
+              setView={setView}
               onBack={closeChannel}
               onOpenChannel={openChannel}
               onShowInFeed={() => {
@@ -891,7 +899,7 @@ export default function App() {
         >
         {meQuery.data!.is_demo && <DemoBanner />}
         <VersionBanner onOpen={() => openReleaseNotes(CURRENT_VERSION)} />
-          <main className="flex-1 min-w-0 overflow-y-auto">
+          <PageScroller>
           <Suspense fallback={pageFallback}>
           {page === "channels" ? (
             <Channels
@@ -962,6 +970,7 @@ export default function App() {
               filters={filters}
               setFilters={setFilters}
               view={view}
+              setView={setView}
               canRead={meQuery.data!.can_read}
               isDemo={meQuery.data!.is_demo}
               onOpenWizard={() => setWizardOpen(true)}
@@ -972,7 +981,7 @@ export default function App() {
             />
           )}
           </Suspense>
-          </main>
+          </PageScroller>
           </div>
           </>
         )}

frontend/src/components/AddToPlaylist.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Check, ListPlus, Plus, Youtube } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, type Playlist } from "../lib/api";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 
 // A small popover (portaled to body, so the feed grid can't clip it) for toggling a
 // video's membership in the user's playlists, with inline "new playlist" creation.
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ export default function AddToPlaylist({
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
   const triggerRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
   const panelRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@ export default function AddToPlaylist({
             <div className="text-xs text-muted px-1.5 pb-1.5">
               {t("playlists.addToPlaylist")}
             </div>
-            <div className="max-h-56 overflow-y-auto">
+            <div ref={fade.ref} style={fade.style} className="max-h-56 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar">
               {lists.length === 0 && !membership.isLoading && (
                 <div className="text-xs text-muted px-1.5 py-2">
                   {t("playlists.noneYet")}

frontend/src/components/BackToTop.tsx

@@ -4,29 +4,43 @@ import { ArrowUp } from "lucide-react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 
 // A floating "back to top" button that fades in once the current page's scroll container is
-// scrolled past a threshold, and smooth-scrolls it back to the top. Every page scrolls inside its
-// own <main class="overflow-y-auto"> (the normal pages share App's; the channel page has its own),
-// so it targets the live <main> and re-binds whenever `dep` changes (i.e. on navigation). Portaled
-// to <body> so its fixed position is viewport-relative regardless of transformed ancestors.
+// scrolled past a threshold, and smooth-scrolls it back to the top. Every page scrolls inside a
+// <main class="overflow-y-auto"> — the normal pages share App's, the channel page renders its own
+// — so this follows whichever one is mounted. Portaled to <body> so its fixed position is
+// viewport-relative regardless of transformed ancestors.
 export default function BackToTop({ dep, threshold = 600 }: { dep?: unknown; threshold?: number }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const [show, setShow] = useState(false);
   const scrollerRef = useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);
 
+  // Listen on the document in the CAPTURE phase and read the scroller off the event, rather than
+  // looking <main> up when this binds. Scroll events don't bubble, but they do capture — and the
+  // lookup was a race the lazy pages lost: on the FIRST visit to the channel page its chunk is
+  // still loading, so the Suspense fallback is on screen, there is no <main> to find, and the
+  // effect gave up for good (its dep never changes again). The button then stayed dead for that
+  // whole visit and came back only once the chunk was cached. Nothing to find, nothing to race.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const onScroll = (e: Event) => {
+      const el = e.target as HTMLElement | null;
+      if (!el || el.tagName !== "MAIN") return;
+      scrollerRef.current = el;
+      setShow(el.scrollTop > threshold);
+    };
+    document.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll, { passive: true, capture: true });
+    return () => document.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll, { capture: true });
+  }, [threshold]);
+
+  // On navigation, re-read where the new page sits: usually the top (so hide), but some pages
+  // restore their scroll position. Missing <main> here is now harmless — a page that hasn't
+  // rendered hasn't scrolled either, and the listener above picks it up the moment it does.
   useEffect(() => {
     const el = document.querySelector("main");
     scrollerRef.current = el;
-    if (!el) {
-      setShow(false);
-      return;
-    }
-    const onScroll = () => setShow(el.scrollTop > threshold);
-    onScroll(); // a freshly-bound page starts at the top → hidden
-    el.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll, { passive: true });
-    return () => el.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll);
+    setShow(!!el && el.scrollTop > threshold);
   }, [dep, threshold]);
 
-  const toTop = () => scrollerRef.current?.scrollTo({ top: 0, behavior: "smooth" });
+  const toTop = () =>
+    (scrollerRef.current ?? document.querySelector("main"))?.scrollTo({ top: 0, behavior: "smooth" });
 
   // No aria-label/title attributes: ad-block "annoyance" cosmetic filters (e.g. Brave Shields)
   // commonly hide floating corner buttons via attribute selectors like [aria-label="Back to top"].
@@ -34,11 +48,11 @@ export default function BackToTop({ dep, threshold = 600 }: { dep?: unknown; thr
   return createPortal(
     <button
       onClick={toTop}
-      className={`fixed bottom-5 right-5 z-30 inline-flex items-center justify-center w-11 h-11 rounded-full glass-card glass-hover text-fg shadow-lg hover:text-accent transition-all duration-200 ${
+      className={`fixed bottom-5 right-5 z-30 inline-flex items-center justify-center w-16 h-16 rounded-full glass-card glass-hover text-fg shadow-lg hover:text-accent transition-all duration-200 ${
         show ? "opacity-100 translate-y-0" : "opacity-0 translate-y-3 pointer-events-none"
       }`}
     >
-      <ArrowUp className="w-5 h-5" aria-hidden="true" />
+      <ArrowUp className="w-7 h-7" aria-hidden="true" />
       <span className="sr-only">{t("common.backToTop")}</span>
     </button>,
     document.body

frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx

@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { ArrowLeft, Ban, Check, ExternalLink, Loader2, Plus, RefreshCw, SlidersHorizontal } from "lucide-react";
 import Avatar from "./Avatar";
 import Feed from "./Feed";
+import PageScroller from "./PageScroller";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
 import { notifyYouTubeActionError } from "../lib/youtubeErrors";
 import { api, type FeedFilters, type Me } from "../lib/api";
+import type { FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import { channelYouTubeUrl, formatViews } from "../lib/format";
 
 // --- About-tab metadata helpers ---
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
   initialName,
   me,
   view,
+  setView,
   onBack,
   onOpenChannel,
   onShowInFeed,
@@ -61,7 +64,10 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
   channelId: string;
   initialName?: string;
   me: Me;
-  view: "grid" | "list";
+  // The feed's view pref, passed straight through to the Feed this page renders — so its
+  // toolbar carries the same switcher and a change here is the same account-wide choice.
+  view: FeedView;
+  setView: (v: FeedView) => void;
   onBack: () => void;
   // Narrow the real feed to this channel and go there. Offered only for a channel you're
   // subscribed to: the feed defaults to scope "my", so filtering it to a channel you don't
@@ -203,10 +209,7 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
       : "pb-2 text-sm text-muted hover:text-fg border-b-2 border-transparent";
 
   return (
-    // scrollbar-gutter:stable reserves the scrollbar track on BOTH tabs, so switching between the
-    // tall Videos tab (scrollbar) and the short About tab (no scrollbar) no longer shifts the
-    // header/logo/buttons horizontally as the scrollbar appears/disappears.
-    <main className="flex-1 min-w-0 overflow-y-auto [scrollbar-gutter:stable]">
+    <PageScroller>
       {/* Banner + back — OPTION C: inset, rounded card (not full-bleed) */}
       <div className="relative px-4 sm:px-6 pt-3">
         {ch?.banner_url && bannerAttempt <= MAX_BANNER_RETRIES ? (
@@ -371,6 +374,7 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
             filters={filters}
             setFilters={setFilters}
             view={view}
+            setView={setView}
             canRead={me.can_read}
             isDemo={me.is_demo}
             onOpenWizard={() => {}}
@@ -464,6 +468,6 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
           )}
         </div>
       )}
-    </main>
+    </PageScroller>
   );
 }

frontend/src/components/Channels.tsx

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import { api, type ManagedChannel, type Tag } from "../lib/api";
 import { notifyYouTubeActionError } from "../lib/youtubeErrors";
 import { accountKey, LS } from "../lib/storage";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import { formatEta, formatTotalHours, relativeTime } from "../lib/format";
 import { subsColumn } from "./channelColumns";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
@@ -684,6 +685,7 @@ function TagsCell({
   // Open the picker upward when there isn't room below (rows near the viewport bottom would
   // otherwise clip it against the scroll container), as long as there's room above.
   const [openUp, setOpenUp] = useState(false);
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
   const ref = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const btnRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
   useDismiss(open, () => setOpen(false), ref);
@@ -723,7 +725,9 @@ function TagsCell({
       </button>
       {open && (
         <div
-          className={`glass-menu absolute left-0 z-30 w-44 max-h-[264px] overflow-y-auto rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease] ${
+          ref={fade.ref}
+          style={fade.style}
+          className={`glass-menu absolute left-0 z-30 w-44 max-h-[264px] overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease] ${
             openUp ? "bottom-full mb-1" : "top-full mt-1"
           }`}
         >

frontend/src/components/ChatThread.tsx

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Send } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, HttpError, type Message, type MessageUser } from "../lib/api";
 import { useLiveQuery } from "../lib/useLiveQuery";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import { relativeTime } from "../lib/format";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
 import { partnerPub, POLL_MS, useKeyState } from "../lib/messaging";
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ export default function ChatThread({
   const [draft, setDraft] = useState("");
   const [plain, setPlain] = useState<Record<number, string>>({});
   const bottomRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
   const ready = useKeyState() === "ready";
   const needsKey = !isSystem && !ready;
 
@@ -132,7 +134,11 @@ export default function ChatThread({
 
   return (
     <>
-      <div className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto p-3 flex flex-col gap-2">
+      <div
+        ref={fade.ref}
+        style={fade.style}
+        className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar p-3 flex flex-col gap-2"
+      >
         {items.length === 0 ? (
           <div className="m-auto text-sm text-muted">{t("messages.threadEmpty")}</div>
         ) : (

frontend/src/components/DataTable.tsx

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { useEffect, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { ArrowDown, ArrowUp, ChevronLeft, ChevronRight, ListFilter, X } from "lucide-react";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 
 // A reusable, client-side data table: per-column sort + filter (in the header) + pagination,
 // with its sort/filter/page state optionally persisted to localStorage so a reload (F5) keeps
@@ -9,6 +10,22 @@ import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
 // other modules (e.g. the playlist manager) can reuse it. Below `md` it falls back to a card
 // list built from the same column definitions.
 
+// The multi-select filter's option list, capped and scrollable. Its own component (module level,
+// not nested in DataTable) because it owns a hook: FilterPopover is redeclared on every DataTable
+// render, so React remounts it — state parked in there would churn.
+function FilterOptionList({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
+  return (
+    <div
+      ref={fade.ref}
+      style={fade.style}
+      className="flex flex-col gap-0.5 max-h-60 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar"
+    >
+      {children}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 type ColumnFilter<T> =
   | { kind: "text"; get: (row: T) => string }
   | { kind: "select"; options: { value: string; label: string }[]; test: (row: T, value: string) => boolean }
@@ -218,7 +235,7 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
           </div>
         )}
         {f.kind === "multi" && (
-          <div className="flex flex-col gap-0.5 max-h-60 overflow-y-auto">
+          <FilterOptionList>
             {f.options.length === 0 && (
               <span className="text-xs text-muted px-2 py-1">{t("datatable.noOptions")}</span>
             )}
@@ -249,7 +266,7 @@ export default function DataTable<T>({
                 </button>
               );
             })}
-          </div>
+          </FilterOptionList>
         )}
         {isActive(val) && (
           <button

frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,21 @@
 import { lazy, Suspense, useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { keepPreviousData, useInfiniteQuery, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
-import { ArrowDown, ArrowUp, ArrowLeft, Info, RefreshCw, Trash2, Youtube } from "lucide-react";
+import {
+  ArrowDown,
+  ArrowUp,
+  ArrowLeft,
+  Columns2,
+  Grid3x3,
+  Info,
+  LayoutGrid,
+  List,
+  RefreshCw,
+  Rows3,
+  Trash2,
+  Youtube,
+  type LucideIcon,
+} from "lucide-react";
 import { api, HttpError, type FeedFilters, type Video } from "../lib/api";
 import i18n from "../i18n";
 import { notify, resolveVideo } from "../lib/notifications";
@@ -14,8 +28,10 @@ import {
   SORT_KEYS,
   type SortKey,
 } from "../lib/feedSort";
+import { FEED_VIEWS, type FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import { clearedFilters, useActiveFilters } from "../lib/useActiveFilters";
 import ActiveFilterChips from "./ActiveFilterChips";
+import ViewSwitcher from "./ViewSwitcher";
 import VirtualFeed from "./VirtualFeed";
 // Lazy: the in-app YouTube player (IFrame API) loads only when a video is first opened.
 const PlayerModal = lazy(() => import("./PlayerModal"));
@@ -32,6 +48,15 @@ const CONTENT = [
 ] as const;
 const rollSeed = () => Math.floor(Math.random() * 1_000_000_000);
 
+// Icon per view mode; the labels are i18n'd at render (see feed.view.*).
+const VIEW_ICON: Record<FeedView, LucideIcon> = {
+  cards: LayoutGrid,
+  cardsSmall: Grid3x3,
+  rows: Rows3,
+  rowsCompact: List,
+  tiles: Columns2,
+};
+
 // Ordering = a key + direction (like the Playlists page), mapped to the backend sort strings
 // (which encode both). One entry per concept; a single arrow flips the direction.
 // "relevance" (full-text search ranking) and "shuffle" are directionless single-string sorts.
@@ -56,6 +81,7 @@ export default function Feed({
   filters,
   setFilters,
   view,
+  setView,
   canRead,
   isDemo = false,
   onOpenWizard,
@@ -67,7 +93,10 @@ export default function Feed({
 }: {
   filters: FeedFilters;
   setFilters: (f: FeedFilters) => void;
-  view: "grid" | "list";
+  // The view mode is an account pref, not a filter: App owns it and it persists on pick, so it
+  // isn't part of FeedFilters (no share-link param, no saved view, no active-filter chip).
+  view: FeedView;
+  setView: (v: FeedView) => void;
   canRead: boolean;
   isDemo?: boolean;
   onOpenWizard: () => void;
@@ -621,6 +650,16 @@ export default function Feed({
             <RefreshCw className="w-4 h-4" />
           </button>
         )}
+        <span className="mx-0.5 h-5 w-px bg-border" aria-hidden="true" />
+        <ViewSwitcher
+          value={view}
+          options={FEED_VIEWS.map((id) => ({ id, label: t("feed.view." + id), icon: VIEW_ICON[id] }))}
+          onChange={setView}
+          label={t("feed.viewLabel")}
+          // This toolbar is packed — show/content chips, source, count, sort — so the mode's name
+          // only earns its place once the window is wide.
+          labelClassName="hidden xl:inline"
+        />
         </div>
       </div>
     </div>

frontend/src/components/PageScroller.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { type ReactNode } from "react";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
+
+// The page's scroll container. Two of these exist and are never both mounted: App renders one for
+// the normal pages, ChannelPage renders its own (it's a separate branch of App's tree, not a page
+// inside the usual one). The feed, the channel page and Plex browse all scroll inside it rather
+// than owning a scroller — which is why the edge-fade lives here once instead of three times.
+//
+// Two invariants this element carries, both learned the hard way:
+//
+// - `scrollbar-gutter: stable` is load-bearing, not cosmetic. The feed derives its column count
+//   from this element's clientWidth and its thumbnails are aspect-ratio boxes, so when the content
+//   lands within a scrollbar's width of the viewport height the two feed each other: scrollbar
+//   appears -> 15px narrower -> shorter thumbs -> content fits -> scrollbar goes -> wider ->
+//   taller -> repeat, every frame. Reserving the gutter keeps clientWidth constant and breaks the
+//   loop. On the channel page it also stops the header/logo/buttons shifting sideways when you
+//   switch from the tall Videos tab to the short About tab.
+// - Consequently the bar STAYS visible here: `.no-scrollbar` (scrollbar-width: none) would zero
+//   the gutter and re-open that loop. Unlike the rail and the side panels, this scroller wears the
+//   fade next to its scrollbar, not instead of it.
+//
+// The fade state lives in here rather than in App so that a flip re-renders this component alone —
+// `children` arrives as an already-built element, so React skips the page subtree underneath.
+export default function PageScroller({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
+  return (
+    <main
+      ref={fade.ref}
+      style={fade.style}
+      className="flex-1 min-w-0 overflow-y-auto [scrollbar-gutter:stable]"
+    >
+      {children}
+    </main>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/PlayerModal.tsx

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { api, type Video } from "../lib/api";
 import { channelYouTubeUrl, formatDate, formatDuration, formatViews, relativeTime } from "../lib/format";
 import { renderDescription } from "../lib/descriptionLinks";
 import { useBackToClose } from "../lib/history";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 
 // Experiment (branch experiment/inline-player): play the video in-app via the
 // YouTube IFrame Player API (not a bare embed) so we can read playback position
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ export default function PlayerModal({
 }) {
   const { t, i18n } = useTranslation();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
+  const descFade = useScrollFade();
   // Browser/mouse Back closes the player instead of leaving the page.
   useBackToClose(onClose);
   // Freeze the launch queue: the player steps through the SAME filtered + sorted list it was
@@ -581,7 +583,12 @@ export default function PlayerModal({
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [active.id]);
 
-  return (
+  // Portaled to <body>, like every other full-screen overlay here. A fixed, full-viewport modal
+  // must not render inside the page scroller: once that scroller is a stacking context (its
+  // edge-fade mask makes it one) this z-50 is scoped inside it, and the nav rail (z-40) and the
+  // header (z-30) paint over the modal — worst at browser zoom, where the centered card is smaller
+  // relative to the rail/panel. (Same class as PlexPlayer; this one was the miss in that sweep.)
+  return createPortal(
     <div
       ref={dialogRef}
       className="fixed inset-0 z-50 flex items-center justify-center p-4 sm:p-6 bg-black/80 backdrop-blur-sm"
@@ -775,7 +782,11 @@ export default function PlayerModal({
                   {detail.isLoading ? (
                     <div className="text-sm text-muted">{t("player.loading")}</div>
                   ) : detail.data?.description ? (
-                    <div className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words max-h-64 overflow-y-auto leading-relaxed">
+                    <div
+                      ref={descFade.ref}
+                      style={descFade.style}
+                      className="text-sm whitespace-pre-wrap break-words max-h-64 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar leading-relaxed"
+                    >
                       {renderDescription(detail.data.description, {
                         currentId: currentVideoId,
                         onSeek: seekTo,
@@ -938,6 +949,7 @@ export default function PlayerModal({
           </button>
         )}
       </div>
-    </div>
+    </div>,
+    document.body
   );
 }

frontend/src/components/PlexBrowse.tsx

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { lazy, Suspense, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useState, type CSSProperties } from "react";
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useInfiniteQuery, useQuery, useQueryClient, type InfiniteData } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import {
@@ -226,8 +227,10 @@ export default function PlexBrowse({
   }
 
   if (sub.view.kind === "player") {
+    // The fallback is portaled for the same reason the player itself is: it is a fixed
+    // full-viewport overlay, and this tree renders inside the page scroller.
     return (
-      <Suspense fallback={<div className="fixed inset-0 z-50 bg-black" />}>
+      <Suspense fallback={createPortal(<div className="fixed inset-0 z-50 bg-black" />, document.body)}>
         <PlexPlayer itemId={sub.view.id} queue={sub.view.queue} onClose={sub.back} />
       </Suspense>
     );

frontend/src/components/PlexCollectionEditor.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Check, Plus } from "lucide-react";
 import { api } from "../lib/api";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import Modal from "./Modal";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
 
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@ export default function PlexCollectionEditor({
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
   const confirm = useConfirm();
+  const editableFade = useScrollFade();
+  const othersFade = useScrollFade();
   const [members, setMembers] = useState<Set<string>>(() => new Set(memberOf));
   const [q, setQ] = useState("");
   const [newName, setNewName] = useState("");
@@ -146,7 +149,11 @@ export default function PlexCollectionEditor({
       )}
 
       {/* Editable collections with in/out toggle */}
-      <div className="max-h-80 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto">
+      <div
+        ref={editableFade.ref}
+        style={editableFade.style}
+        className="max-h-80 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar"
+      >
         {listQ.isLoading ? (
           <p className="py-4 text-center text-sm text-muted">{t("plex.loading")}</p>
         ) : shown.length === 0 ? (
@@ -197,7 +204,11 @@ export default function PlexCollectionEditor({
           <summary className="cursor-pointer text-xs text-muted hover:text-fg">
             {t("plex.collEditor.others", { count: eligible.length })}
           </summary>
-          <div className="mt-2 max-h-40 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto">
+          <div
+            ref={othersFade.ref}
+            style={othersFade.style}
+            className="mt-2 max-h-40 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar"
+          >
             {eligible.map((c) => (
               <div key={c.id} className="glass-card flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg px-2 py-1.5 text-sm">
                 <span className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate">{c.title}</span>

frontend/src/components/PlexPlayer.tsx

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   type ReactNode,
   type WheelEvent as ReactWheelEvent,
 } from "react";
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import Hls from "hls.js";
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ import { api, type PlexMarker } from "../lib/api";
 import { formatDuration } from "../lib/format";
 import { LS, useAccountPersistedObject } from "../lib/storage";
 import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import { useBackToClose } from "../lib/history";
 
 // The rich info overlay (poster/cast/ratings) reuses the same component as the card's info page.
@@ -245,13 +247,24 @@ export default function PlexPlayer({ itemId, onClose, queue }: Props) {
   const menuOpenRef = useRef(false);
   const menuRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const menuTriggerRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
-  const tracksRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const tracksRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const tracksTriggerRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
   audioRef.current = audioOrd;
   menuOpenRef.current = menuOpen || tracksOpen; // keep the control bar up while either menu is open
   // Each menu stays open until a click/Escape OUTSIDE it (so sliders can be dragged freely).
   useDismiss(menuOpen, () => setMenuOpen(false), [menuRef, menuTriggerRef]);
   useDismiss(tracksOpen, () => setTracksOpen(false), [tracksRef, tracksTriggerRef]);
+  // The tracks menu is both dismiss-tracked and edge-faded, so its two refs are merged here.
+  // Must be stable: an inline arrow would detach (null) and re-attach the node on every render,
+  // and the fade's node-state ref would re-render in response — a loop. `fade.ref` is a setState.
+  const tracksFade = useScrollFade();
+  const setTracksNode = useCallback(
+    (node: HTMLElement | null) => {
+      tracksRef.current = node as HTMLDivElement | null;
+      tracksFade.ref(node);
+    },
+    [tracksFade.ref]
+  );
   // Keyboard-shortcut cheat sheet (toggled with "h") + a live wall clock for the top bar.
   const [helpOpen, setHelpOpen] = useState(false);
   const helpOpenRef = useRef(false);
@@ -932,7 +945,12 @@ export default function PlexPlayer({ itemId, onClose, queue }: Props) {
   // While scrubbing the head follows the finger (preview); otherwise it tracks playback.
   const headPct = scrub != null && duration > 0 ? (scrub / duration) * 100 : pct;
 
-  return (
+  // Portaled to <body>, like every other full-screen overlay here (Modal, PlayerModal, ChatDock,
+  // BackToTop). A fixed, full-viewport player must not be painted inside the page scroller: the
+  // moment that scroller gets a mask/filter/transform/contain it becomes a stacking context, and
+  // this z-50 is then scoped inside it — the rail, the side panel and the header paint straight
+  // over the player. That is exactly what the scroller's edge-fade did before this moved out.
+  return createPortal(
     <div
       ref={wrapRef}
       className="fixed left-0 top-0 z-50 bg-black flex items-center justify-center select-none"
@@ -1222,10 +1240,11 @@ export default function PlexPlayer({ itemId, onClose, queue }: Props) {
                 </button>
                 {tracksOpen && (
                   <div
-                    ref={tracksRef}
+                    ref={setTracksNode}
+                    style={tracksFade.style}
                     onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
                     onWheel={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
-                    className="glass-menu absolute bottom-full right-0 mb-2 w-56 max-h-[60vh] overflow-auto rounded-xl p-2 text-sm text-white shadow-2xl"
+                    className="glass-menu absolute bottom-full right-0 mb-2 w-56 max-h-[60vh] overflow-auto no-scrollbar rounded-xl p-2 text-sm text-white shadow-2xl"
                   >
                     {detail.audio_streams.length > 1 && (
                       <>
@@ -1606,7 +1625,8 @@ export default function PlexPlayer({ itemId, onClose, queue }: Props) {
           </div>
         </div>
       )}
-    </div>
+    </div>,
+    document.body
   );
 }
 

frontend/src/components/PlexPlaylistAdd.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";
 import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Check, Minus, Plus } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, type PlexPlaylist } from "../lib/api";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import Modal from "./Modal";
 
 // What we're adding: a single leaf (movie/episode) or a whole group (a season or an entire show, as a
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ export type PlexAddTarget =
 // an in/out (or partial) state and a field to create a new one seeded with the target.
 export default function PlexPlaylistAdd({ target, onClose }: { target: PlexAddTarget; onClose: () => void }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const fade = useScrollFade();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
   const [newName, setNewName] = useState("");
   const [busy, setBusy] = useState(false);
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ export default function PlexPlaylistAdd({ target, onClose }: { target: PlexAddTa
         </button>
       </div>
 
-      <div className="max-h-80 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto">
+      <div ref={fade.ref} style={fade.style} className="max-h-80 space-y-1 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar">
         {listQ.isLoading ? (
           <p className="py-4 text-center text-sm text-muted">{t("plex.loading")}</p>
         ) : playlists.length === 0 ? (

frontend/src/components/PlexSidebar.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { Layers, ListMusic, Plus, SlidersHorizontal, X } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, EMPTY_PLEX_FILTERS, plexFilterCount, type PlexFilters } from "../lib/api";
 import { defaultLayout, type PanelLayout } from "../lib/panelLayout";
 import { useDebounced } from "../lib/useDebounced";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import SidePanel from "./SidePanel";
 import PanelGroups, { type PanelItem } from "./PanelGroups";
 
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ export default function PlexSidebar({
   onToggleCollapse,
 }: Props) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
+  const collFade = useScrollFade();
   const playlistsQ = useQuery({ queryKey: ["plex-playlists"], queryFn: () => api.plexPlaylists() });
   const [newPlaylist, setNewPlaylist] = useState("");
   const [editing, setEditing] = useState(false);
@@ -258,7 +260,11 @@ export default function PlexSidebar({
             placeholder={t("plex.filter.collectionSearch")}
             className="mb-1.5 w-full rounded-lg border border-border bg-card px-2 py-1 text-sm focus:border-accent focus:outline-none"
           />
-          <div className="flex max-h-56 flex-col gap-0.5 overflow-y-auto">
+          <div
+            ref={collFade.ref}
+            style={collFade.style}
+            className="flex max-h-56 flex-col gap-0.5 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar"
+          >
             {collections.map((c) => (
               <button
                 key={c.id}

frontend/src/components/SettingsPanel.tsx

@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ export type PrefsSaveState = SaveState;
 export interface PrefsController {
   theme: ThemePrefs;
   setTheme: (t: ThemePrefs) => void;
-  view: "grid" | "list";
-  setView: (v: "grid" | "list") => void;
   perf: boolean;
   setPerf: (v: boolean) => void;
   hints: boolean;
@@ -128,7 +126,7 @@ function Appearance({ prefs }: { prefs: PrefsController }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   // Controlled by App's prefs draft: each change applies locally for preview but is only
   // persisted on an explicit Save (handled by the panel's Save/Discard bar).
-  const { theme, setTheme, view, setView, perf, setPerf, hints, setHints } = prefs;
+  const { theme, setTheme, perf, setPerf, hints, setHints } = prefs;
 
   return (
     <>
@@ -186,13 +184,6 @@ function Appearance({ prefs }: { prefs: PrefsController }) {
             />
           </div>
         )}
-        <SettingRow label={t("settings.appearance.listView")} hint={t("settings.appearance.listViewHint")}>
-          <Switch
-            label={t("settings.appearance.listView")}
-            checked={view === "list"}
-            onChange={(v) => setView(v ? "list" : "grid")}
-          />
-        </SettingRow>
         <SettingRow
           label={t("settings.appearance.performanceMode")}
           hint={t("settings.appearance.performanceModeHint")}

frontend/src/components/TagManager.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { Plus, Trash2 } from "lucide-react";
 import { api, type Tag } from "../lib/api";
 import { notify } from "../lib/notifications";
+import { useScrollFade } from "../lib/useScrollFade";
 import Modal from "./Modal";
 import { useConfirm } from "./ConfirmProvider";
 
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ function TagRow({
   const [name, setName] = useState(tag.name);
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
   const [pos, setPos] = useState({ left: 0, top: 0 });
+  const popFade = useScrollFade();
   const countRef = useRef<HTMLSpanElement | null>(null);
   const closeTimer = useRef<number | undefined>(undefined);
   const commit = () => {
@@ -77,10 +79,11 @@ function TagRow({
       {open &&
         createPortal(
           <div
+            ref={popFade.ref}
             onMouseEnter={openPop}
             onMouseLeave={closeSoon}
-            style={{ position: "fixed", left: pos.left, top: pos.top, zIndex: 60 }}
-            className="glass-menu w-56 max-h-72 overflow-y-auto rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease]"
+            style={{ position: "fixed", left: pos.left, top: pos.top, zIndex: 60, ...popFade.style }}
+            className="glass-menu w-56 max-h-72 overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar rounded-xl p-1.5 animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease]"
           >
             <div className="text-[11px] uppercase tracking-wide text-muted px-2 py-1">
               {t("tagManager.onChannels")}
@@ -111,6 +114,7 @@ export default function TagManager({
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const qc = useQueryClient();
   const confirm = useConfirm();
+  const listFade = useScrollFade();
   const [newName, setNewName] = useState("");
   const tagsQuery = useQuery({ queryKey: ["tags"], queryFn: api.tags });
   const channelsQuery = useQuery({ queryKey: ["channels"], queryFn: api.channels });
@@ -157,7 +161,11 @@ export default function TagManager({
           <p className="text-sm text-muted">{t("tagManager.empty")}</p>
         ) : (
           // Cap at ~8 rows tall, then scroll — the list can grow long.
-          <div className="flex flex-col gap-2 max-h-[22rem] overflow-y-auto pr-1">
+          <div
+            ref={listFade.ref}
+            style={listFade.style}
+            className="flex flex-col gap-2 max-h-[22rem] overflow-y-auto no-scrollbar pr-1"
+          >
             {userTags.map((tag) => (
               <TagRow
                 key={tag.id}

frontend/src/components/VideoCard.tsx

@@ -4,16 +4,21 @@ import {
   Bookmark,
   Check,
   CheckCheck,
+  Clock,
   Eye,
   EyeOff,
   Play,
+  Radio,
   RotateCcw,
+  // Aliased: `Video` is this app's own domain type (lib/api), and it wins the name.
+  Video as VideoIcon,
 } from "lucide-react";
 import Avatar from "./Avatar";
 import AddToPlaylist from "./AddToPlaylist";
 import DownloadButton from "./DownloadButton";
 import clsx from "clsx";
 import type { Video } from "../lib/api";
+import { FEED_VIEW_SPEC, type FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import { formatDate, formatDuration, formatViews, relativeTime } from "../lib/format";
 
 function Actions({
@@ -21,11 +26,14 @@ function Actions({
   onState,
   onResetState,
   onToggleSave,
+  dense = false,
 }: {
   video: Video;
   onState: (id: string, status: string) => void;
   onResetState?: (id: string) => void;
   onToggleSave: (id: string, saved: boolean) => void;
+  /** Tighter buttons for the small card, whose column bottoms out at 180px. */
+  dense?: boolean;
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const act = (status: string) => (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
@@ -41,15 +49,24 @@ function Actions({
     e.stopPropagation();
     onToggleSave(video.id, !video.saved);
   };
+  // One button style for the row — AddToPlaylist and DownloadButton take it as a prop, so all six
+  // stay the same size instead of two of them keeping their own default.
+  // `dense` shrinks 28px buttons to 24 and halves the gap: six of them need 188px, but the small
+  // card's text column bottoms out around 160 (its 180px column less the padding), so at its
+  // narrowest the last button used to hang outside the card. 154 at dense.
+  const btn = clsx(
+    "rounded-md hover:bg-surface text-muted hover:text-fg",
+    dense ? "p-1" : "p-1.5"
+  );
   return (
-    <div className="flex gap-1 opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 transition">
+    // flex-wrap is the safety net, not the plan: the sizing above is what makes them fit. If a
+    // future button or a narrower column breaks that arithmetic, the row wraps to a second line
+    // rather than silently rendering a half-clipped control outside the card.
+    <div className={clsx("flex flex-wrap opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100 transition", dense ? "gap-0.5" : "gap-1")}>
       <button
         onClick={act("watched")}
         title={video.status === "watched" ? t("card.watchedUnmark") : t("card.markWatched")}
-        className={clsx(
-          "p-1.5 rounded-md hover:bg-surface text-muted hover:text-fg",
-          video.status === "watched" && "text-accent"
-        )}
+        className={clsx(btn, video.status === "watched" && "text-accent")}
       >
         {video.status === "watched" ? (
           <CheckCheck className="w-4 h-4" />
@@ -60,22 +77,16 @@ function Actions({
       <button
         onClick={toggleSave}
         title={video.saved ? t("card.savedRemove") : t("card.saveForLater")}
-        className={clsx(
-          "p-1.5 rounded-md hover:bg-surface text-muted hover:text-fg",
-          video.saved && "fill-current text-accent"
-        )}
+        className={clsx(btn, video.saved && "fill-current text-accent")}
       >
         <Bookmark className="w-4 h-4" />
       </button>
-      <AddToPlaylist videoId={video.id} />
-      <DownloadButton videoId={video.id} title={video.title} />
+      <AddToPlaylist videoId={video.id} className={btn} />
+      <DownloadButton videoId={video.id} title={video.title} className={btn} />
       <button
         onClick={act("hidden")}
         title={video.status === "hidden" ? t("card.unhide") : t("card.hide")}
-        className={clsx(
-          "p-1.5 rounded-md hover:bg-surface text-muted hover:text-fg",
-          video.status === "hidden" && "text-accent"
-        )}
+        className={clsx(btn, video.status === "hidden" && "text-accent")}
       >
         {video.status === "hidden" ? (
           <Eye className="w-4 h-4" />
@@ -91,7 +102,7 @@ function Actions({
             onResetState(video.id);
           }}
           title={t("card.resetState")}
-          className="p-1.5 rounded-md hover:bg-surface text-muted hover:text-fg"
+          className={btn}
         >
           <RotateCcw className="w-4 h-4" />
         </button>
@@ -112,23 +123,95 @@ function openInApp(
   onOpen(video);
 }
 
+// A non-zero saved position on an unfinished video = "in progress": offer Continue / Restart
+// instead of a plain Play. Note this is TRUE even with no known duration — in which case there is
+// no percentage to draw, so the two are deliberately separate predicates.
+function isInProgress(video: Video): boolean {
+  return video.position_seconds > 0 && video.status !== "watched";
+}
+/** Resume position as 0-100, or 0 when there's nothing to draw. Shared by Thumb and the
+ * thumbnail-less row, which has no image to draw the bar on but still owes you the state. */
+function resumePct(video: Video): number {
+  return isInProgress(video) && video.duration_seconds
+    ? Math.min(99, Math.max(2, (video.position_seconds / video.duration_seconds) * 100))
+    : 0;
+}
+
+// Thumb overlays duration / live state / saved ON the image. The one-line row has no image, so it
+// renders the same FACTS as columns of its own — deliberately not shared with Thumb's badges:
+// floating chips over artwork and a table cell are different presentations, and forcing one
+// component to do both would be a variant-flag knot for no reuse.
+// The cost is real though: the rules below (duration, live/upcoming, was_live, saved) are ALSO in
+// Thumb, so a change to them must land in both. If they ever do change, share the decision — a
+// videoBadges(video) -> Badge[] — and keep only the markup separate.
+//
+// A fixed GRID, not a flex row: each datum has to hold its own x across rows or the column stops
+// reading as a column. The flex row this replaces let a "36:36" and a "3:31:09" push the marker
+// beside them to different places, and pulled it left again whenever the duration was absent
+// (live/upcoming) — visible as a ragged edge down the page.
+function RowMetaCells({ video }: { video: Video }) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation();
+  // Icons, not the labelled chips the thumbnail uses: at a glance this is the least important thing
+  // in the row, so it gets about a letter's worth of width. Icons rather than a coloured dot
+  // because the three states must stay apart by SHAPE — in the youtube scheme --accent is red, so a
+  // "live" dot and a "stream" dot would be the same dot.
+  const status =
+    video.live_status === "live"
+      ? { Icon: Radio, cls: "text-red-500", label: t("card.live") }
+      : video.live_status === "upcoming"
+        ? { Icon: Clock, cls: "", label: t("card.upcoming") }
+        : video.live_status === "was_live"
+          ? { Icon: VideoIcon, cls: "text-accent", label: t("card.stream") }
+          : null;
+  const StatusIcon = status?.Icon;
+  // 4rem + 1rem + 1rem + two 4px gaps = 104px, which the one-line row's width tally counts on —
+  // widen a slot and the title column silently pays for it. rem, not px, so the whole cell tracks
+  // the text-size setting the same way its contents do.
+  return (
+    <div className="shrink-0 grid grid-cols-[4rem_1rem_1rem] gap-1 items-center text-sm text-muted">
+      {/* Right-aligned: a duration is a number, so the digits line up on their own edge (30px for
+          "1:52" up to 59px for an 11-hour stream — 4rem holds the longest). */}
+      <span className="text-right tabular-nums">
+        {video.duration_seconds != null ? formatDuration(video.duration_seconds) : ""}
+      </span>
+      {/* role="img" + aria-label names each marker ONCE and reliably; `title` alone wouldn't (a
+          bare span has no role, and screen readers don't dependably surface title on one), while a
+          title plus an sr-only twin gets it announced twice. These are indicators, NOT the controls
+          in Actions — the label must not tell anyone to click something that doesn't respond. */}
+      <span>
+        {StatusIcon && (
+          <span role="img" aria-label={status.label} title={status.label}>
+            <StatusIcon className={clsx("w-3.5 h-3.5", status.cls)} />
+          </span>
+        )}
+      </span>
+      <span>
+        {video.saved && (
+          <span role="img" aria-label={t("card.savedMark")} title={t("card.savedMark")}>
+            <Bookmark className="w-3.5 h-3.5 text-accent fill-current" />
+          </span>
+        )}
+      </span>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 function Thumb({
   video,
   className,
   onOpen,
+  small = false,
 }: {
   video: Video;
   className?: string;
   onOpen?: (v: Video, startAt?: number | null) => void;
+  /** A row/tile thumbnail (~160-176px): the hover controls go icon-only, since the labelled
+   * Continue / Restart buttons are sized for the card's full-width image and get clipped here. */
+  small?: boolean;
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
-  // A non-zero saved position on an unfinished video = "in progress": show a resume
-  // progress bar and offer Continue / Restart instead of a plain Play.
-  const inProgress = video.position_seconds > 0 && video.status !== "watched";
-  const pct =
-    inProgress && video.duration_seconds
-      ? Math.min(99, Math.max(2, (video.position_seconds / video.duration_seconds) * 100))
-      : 0;
+  const inProgress = isInProgress(video);
+  const pct = resumePct(video);
 
   // Open in the in-app player at an explicit position (null = resume from saved).
   const open = (startAt: number | null) => (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
@@ -192,27 +275,39 @@ function Thumb({
               <button
                 onClick={open(null)}
                 title={t("card.continueTitle")}
-                className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm font-semibold bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:opacity-90 transition"
+                aria-label={t("card.continue")}
+                className={clsx(
+                  "inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-1.5 font-semibold bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:opacity-90 transition",
+                  small ? "w-9 h-9 rounded-full" : "px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm"
+                )}
               >
                 <Play className="w-4 h-4 fill-current" />
-                {t("card.continue")}
+                {!small && t("card.continue")}
               </button>
               <button
                 onClick={open(0)}
                 title={t("card.restartTitle")}
-                className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm font-medium bg-white/15 text-white backdrop-blur-sm hover:bg-white/25 transition"
+                aria-label={t("card.restart")}
+                className={clsx(
+                  "inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-1.5 font-medium bg-white/15 text-white backdrop-blur-sm hover:bg-white/25 transition",
+                  small ? "w-9 h-9 rounded-full" : "px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm"
+                )}
               >
                 <RotateCcw className="w-4 h-4" />
-                {t("card.restart")}
+                {!small && t("card.restart")}
               </button>
             </>
           ) : (
             <button
               onClick={open(null)}
               title={t("card.play")}
-              className="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-12 h-12 rounded-full bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:scale-105 transition"
+              aria-label={t("card.play")}
+              className={clsx(
+                "inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-accent text-accent-fg shadow-lg hover:scale-105 transition",
+                small ? "w-9 h-9" : "w-12 h-12"
+              )}
             >
-              <Play className="w-5 h-5 fill-current translate-x-[1px]" />
+              <Play className={clsx("fill-current translate-x-[1px]", small ? "w-4 h-4" : "w-5 h-5")} />
             </button>
           )}
         </div>
@@ -227,9 +322,49 @@ function Thumb({
   );
 }
 
+// The one-line row's column widths at the DEFAULT text size, mirroring the Tailwind classes the
+// boxes actually use. They have to be mirrored by hand — Tailwind can't take a runtime value, and
+// the classes have to stay, because they're rem: Settings' text-size slider drives the root font
+// (`html { font-size: calc(16px * var(--font-scale)) }`, 0.9–1.3), so the boxes must grow with
+// their contents. Inline pixels froze them and a channel name at 130% wanted 152px in a 128px box.
+// Keep this table and the classes in step; each number is measured against the worst case in the
+// LIBRARY and in BOTH languages — see the row's own comment for where each comes from.
+const ROW_COL = {
+  actions: 192, // w-48 — six buttons at 28 + five 4px gaps = 188
+  channel: 128, // w-32
+  meta: 104, //   RowMetaCells' own grid: 4rem + 1rem + 1rem + two 4px gaps
+  views: 64, //   w-16
+  published: 192, // w-48
+} as const;
+const ROW_GAP = 12; // gap-3
+const ROW_PAD = 26; // px-3 both sides, plus a rounding allowance
+const ROW_TITLE_MIN = 120; // not a column: the floor below which a title isn't worth showing
+
+// What the row must measure before each column earns its place — cumulative, so each appears only
+// once everything to its left AND a readable title already fit. Calibrated at the default text
+// size; at 130% the columns grow ~30% while these don't, so they read slightly eager — the title
+// gets tighter there, but it can't vanish, since the last column standing down frees ~200px.
+const ROW_BASE = ROW_PAD + ROW_COL.actions + ROW_GAP + ROW_TITLE_MIN;
+const ROW_FITS = {
+  channel: ROW_BASE + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.channel,
+  meta: ROW_BASE + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.channel + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.meta,
+  views: ROW_BASE + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.channel + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.meta + ROW_GAP + ROW_COL.views,
+  published:
+    ROW_BASE +
+    ROW_GAP +
+    ROW_COL.channel +
+    ROW_GAP +
+    ROW_COL.meta +
+    ROW_GAP +
+    ROW_COL.views +
+    ROW_GAP +
+    ROW_COL.published,
+};
+
 function VideoCard({
   video,
   view,
+  width,
   onState,
   onResetState,
   onToggleSave,
@@ -237,7 +372,9 @@ function VideoCard({
   onOpen,
 }: {
   video: Video;
-  view: "grid" | "list";
+  view: FeedView;
+  /** Measured width of this card/row, from VirtualFeed. 0 until the first measure. */
+  width: number;
   onState: (id: string, status: string) => void;
   onResetState?: (id: string) => void;
   onToggleSave: (id: string, saved: boolean) => void;
@@ -245,33 +382,53 @@ function VideoCard({
   onOpen?: (v: Video, startAt?: number | null) => void;
 }) {
   const { t, i18n } = useTranslation();
+  const spec = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
   const watched = video.status === "watched";
-  const meta = (
+  // The thumbnail-less row drops Thumb, and with it the duration / live state / saved marker that
+  // Thumb overlays on the image. Those are metadata, not decoration, so fold them into the meta
+  // line here rather than let the mode silently lose them.
+  const noThumb = !spec.thumb;
+  // Each datum on its own, so the one-line row can give each a column of its own while the stacked
+  // layouts still run them together as one sentence. The count comes in two shapes from one span —
+  // one span so the exact-count tooltip covers all of whatever is rendered: prose needs the word
+  // ("1.5K views · 2 min ago"), the row's column doesn't, because a table doesn't repeat its unit
+  // on every line and the tooltip carries the figure regardless.
+  const viewsCell = (withWord: boolean) =>
+    video.view_count != null && (
+      <span title={`${video.view_count.toLocaleString()} ${t("card.views")}`}>
+        {formatViews(video.view_count)}
+        {withWord && ` ${t("card.views")}`}
+      </span>
+    );
+  const published = (
     <>
-      {video.view_count != null && (
-        <>
-          <span title={`${video.view_count.toLocaleString()} ${t("card.views")}`}>
-            {formatViews(video.view_count)} {t("card.views")}
-          </span>{" "}
-          ·{" "}
-        </>
-      )}
       {relativeTime(video.published_at)}
       {video.published_at && <>{" · "}{formatDate(video.published_at, i18n.language)}</>}
     </>
   );
-  // Show the full title in a native tooltip only when it's clamped (overflows its 2 lines).
+  // Show the full text in a native tooltip only when it's actually cut off — vertically where the
+  // title clamps to 2 lines, horizontally where a fixed column truncates it. Shared by the title
+  // and the channel name: both truncate in some views and fit in others, and a tooltip that just
+  // repeats what's already legible is noise.
   const titleRef = useRef<HTMLAnchorElement>(null);
+  const channelRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
   const [titleClamped, setTitleClamped] = useState(false);
+  const [channelClamped, setChannelClamped] = useState(false);
   useEffect(() => {
-    const el = titleRef.current;
-    if (!el) return;
-    const check = () => setTitleClamped(el.scrollHeight > el.clientHeight + 1);
+    const cut = (el: HTMLElement) =>
+      el.scrollHeight > el.clientHeight + 1 || el.scrollWidth > el.clientWidth + 1;
+    const els: [HTMLElement | null, (v: boolean) => void][] = [
+      [titleRef.current, setTitleClamped],
+      [channelRef.current, setChannelClamped],
+    ];
+    const check = () => els.forEach(([el, set]) => el && set(cut(el)));
     check();
     const ro = new ResizeObserver(check);
-    ro.observe(el);
+    els.forEach(([el]) => el && ro.observe(el));
     return () => ro.disconnect();
-  }, [video.title]);
+    // `view` matters as much as the text: switching views returns a different branch, so React can
+    // remount these nodes — without it the observer would be left watching detached ones.
+  }, [video.title, video.channel_title, view]);
   const title = (
     <a
       ref={titleRef}
@@ -280,61 +437,173 @@ function VideoCard({
       rel="noreferrer"
       onClick={(e) => openInApp(e, video, onOpen)}
       title={titleClamped ? video.title ?? undefined : undefined}
-      className="font-medium leading-snug line-clamp-2 hover:text-accent"
+      className={clsx(
+        "font-medium leading-snug hover:text-accent",
+        noThumb ? "block truncate" : "line-clamp-2"
+      )}
     >
       {video.title}
     </a>
   );
-  // Title + channel button + meta — identical in both layouts (only their wrapper / Actions placement
-  // differs). Safe to reuse the same element: exactly one of the two branches below renders.
+  const channelButton = (
+    <button
+      ref={channelRef}
+      onClick={(e) => {
+        e.stopPropagation();
+        onOpenChannel?.(video.channel_id, video.channel_title ?? t("card.thisChannel"));
+      }}
+      title={channelClamped ? video.channel_title ?? undefined : undefined}
+      className="text-sm text-muted truncate block w-fit max-w-full text-left hover:text-fg"
+    >
+      {video.channel_title}
+    </button>
+  );
+  const actions = (
+    <Actions
+      video={video}
+      onState={onState}
+      onResetState={onResetState}
+      onToggleSave={onToggleSave}
+      dense={spec.dense}
+    />
+  );
+  // A permanent container, not a hover-only fill. Rows used to be fully transparent at rest and
+  // paint an opaque bg-card on hover — so running the pointer down the list kept covering and
+  // re-revealing the ambient backdrop behind them, which reads as the background flickering. The
+  // cards never did this because glass-card always paints. No hover lift here: a 900px-wide row
+  // jumping as the pointer crosses it is a lot more restless than a card doing it.
+  const rowShell = "cv-row group glass-card glass-hover relative rounded-xl transition";
+
+  if (spec.family === "row") {
+    // A table without being one. Every column is a FIXED width, which is what makes the same datum
+    // land on the same vertical line in every row. A grid can't align ACROSS rows here — VirtualFeed
+    // renders each as its own subtree, so there's no shared parent to be the grid — but a grid is
+    // still right WITHIN a cell (see RowMetaCells): fixed slots, so they line up across rows too.
+    // Widths are measured, not chosen by eye — against the worst case in the LIBRARY and in BOTH
+    // languages, since both have caught me out here:
+    //   actions 188 (6 x 28 + 5 x 4)  ·  meta cells 104 (see RowMetaCells)  ·  views 48 (the bare
+    //   "101.7K"; language-proof now the word is gone — with it, Hungarian's "megtekintés" needed
+    //   139)  ·  published 183 ("11 months ago · Feb 28, 2026"; HU is shorter)  ·  channel 128,
+    //   which is a deliberate cut rather than a fit: names run to 342px, the median is 87, and 12
+    //   of 102 truncate here vs 5 at 160 — worth 32px to the title, since a clipped channel name
+    //   still reads while a clipped view count loses the number.
+    // Three ways this went wrong before: sizing off a PAGE of data (the badges came from 60 videos
+    // whose longest was 2:00:58, then wrapped on the 11-hour one); measuring with a hand-built probe
+    // instead of the real element (it read "101.7K megtekintés" as 122px where the live cell renders
+    // 139); and checking that the COLUMNS aligned without checking the data inside them (the meta
+    // cell was a flex row, so its contents slid about — see RowMetaCells).
+    // The title takes what's left, which is constant per container width — so it aligns too.
+    if (noThumb) {
+      const pct = resumePct(video);
+      const fits = (needs: number) => width === 0 || width >= needs;
+      return (
+        <div className={clsx(rowShell, "flex items-center gap-3 px-3 py-2", watched && "opacity-55")}>
+          {/* Actions lead: this is where the eye already is (the title is the thing you read), so
+              they're the shortest pointer trip from it. */}
+          <div className="shrink-0 w-48">{actions}</div>
+          {/* Everything else is shrink-0, so the title is the only thing that can give — which means
+              once the fixed columns outgrow the row, it gives ALL of it and vanishes. Columns drop
+              from the right as the row narrows, least important first: a title with no date beats a
+              date with no title. `width` is the ROW's own, so this holds whatever the rail and the
+              filter panel are doing. Until the first measure lands (width 0) show everything: the
+              row is off-screen for that frame anyway, and guessing narrow would flash. */}
+          <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">{title}</div>
+          {fits(ROW_FITS.channel) && <div className="shrink-0 w-32">{channelButton}</div>}
+          {fits(ROW_FITS.meta) && <RowMetaCells video={video} />}
+          {/* Right-aligned like the duration: it's a number, so the digits share an edge. 64px
+              holds the widest bare form ("101.7K" at 48) in either language — dropping the word
+              took this from 144 and handed the difference to the title. */}
+          {fits(ROW_FITS.views) && (
+            <div className="shrink-0 w-16 text-sm text-muted text-right tabular-nums truncate">
+              {viewsCell(false)}
+            </div>
+          )}
+          {fits(ROW_FITS.published) && (
+            <div className="shrink-0 w-48 text-sm text-muted truncate">{published}</div>
+          )}
+          {/* Thumb draws this over the image; with no image it goes on the row itself. */}
+          {pct > 0 && (
+            <div className="absolute bottom-0 left-2 right-2 h-1 rounded-full bg-black/40">
+              <div className="h-full rounded-full bg-accent" style={{ width: `${pct}%` }} />
+            </div>
+          )}
+        </div>
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Everything below is a STACKED layout — the card and the thumbnailed row. Only they run the
+  // data together as one sentence; the one-line row above gives each datum its own column and has
+  // already returned, so building this for it would be waste dressed up as shared code.
+  const views = viewsCell(true);
   const textBlock = (
     <>
       {title}
-      <button
-        onClick={(e) => {
-          e.stopPropagation();
-          onOpenChannel?.(video.channel_id, video.channel_title ?? t("card.thisChannel"));
-        }}
-        className="text-sm text-muted truncate mt-0.5 block w-fit max-w-full text-left hover:text-fg"
-      >
-        {video.channel_title}
-      </button>
-      <div className="text-xs text-muted mt-0.5">{meta}</div>
+      <div className="mt-0.5">{channelButton}</div>
+      <div className="text-xs text-muted mt-0.5">
+        {views}
+        {views && " · "}
+        {published}
+      </div>
     </>
   );
 
-  if (view === "list") {
+  if (spec.family === "row") {
     return (
-      <div
-        className={clsx(
-          "cv-row group flex gap-3 p-2 rounded-xl hover:bg-card hover:shadow-lg transition",
-          watched && "opacity-55"
-        )}
-      >
-        <Thumb video={video} className="w-44 aspect-video shrink-0" onOpen={onOpen} />
-        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">{textBlock}</div>
-        <Actions video={video} onState={onState} onResetState={onResetState} onToggleSave={onToggleSave} />
+      <div className={clsx(rowShell, "flex gap-3 p-2", watched && "opacity-55")}>
+        <Thumb
+          video={video}
+          className={clsx("aspect-video shrink-0", spec.actionsBelow ? "w-40" : "w-44")}
+          onOpen={onOpen}
+          small
+        />
+        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 flex flex-col">
+          {textBlock}
+          {/* Tiles put the actions under the meta, in vertical space the thumbnail already
+              reserves — which frees the ~168px the docked-right block used, so the block still
+              works in a narrow column. mt-auto pins them to the tile's bottom edge (the flex row
+              already stretches this column to full height), so they land in the same place
+              whether the title above them ran to one line or three. */}
+          {spec.actionsBelow && <div className="mt-auto pt-1">{actions}</div>}
+        </div>
+        {!spec.actionsBelow && actions}
       </div>
     );
   }
 
+  // The flex column is what puts the actions on the card's bottom edge: the grid already stretches
+  // every card in a row to the tallest one (align-items: stretch), so the column just needs to push
+  // its last child down. Otherwise the action row floats under a 1-line title on one card and a
+  // line lower on its 2-line neighbour — the same control landing somewhere different on each.
+  // NOTE: do NOT add h-full here. A percentage height against the grid's content-derived height is
+  // circular, and VirtualFeed measures each row with a ResizeObserver — the two together oscillate
+  // by a pixel or two forever, which shows up as the whole page juddering.
   return (
     <div
       className={clsx(
-        "cv-card group glass-card glass-hover rounded-2xl p-2.5 transition-all duration-150 hover:-translate-y-1",
+        "cv-card group glass-card glass-hover rounded-2xl transition-all duration-150 hover:-translate-y-1",
+        "flex flex-col",
+        spec.dense ? "p-2" : "p-2.5",
         watched && "opacity-55"
       )}
     >
-      <Thumb video={video} className="aspect-video" onOpen={onOpen} />
-      <div className="flex gap-3 mt-2.5 px-0.5 pb-0.5">
-        <Avatar
-          src={video.channel_thumbnail}
-          fallback={video.channel_title ?? ""}
-          className="w-9 h-9 rounded-full shrink-0 mt-0.5"
-        />
-        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+      {/* The small card's image is in the SAME size class as a row's (its column bottoms out at
+          180px), so it needs the icon-only controls just as much — the labelled pair is 194px wide
+          and would spill straight out of it. */}
+      <Thumb video={video} className="aspect-video" onOpen={onOpen} small={spec.dense} />
+      <div className={clsx("flex gap-3 px-0.5 pb-0.5 flex-1", spec.dense ? "mt-2" : "mt-2.5")}>
+        {/* The small card drops the channel avatar: at its ~180px column the 36px avatar plus the
+            gap would leave the title barely half the width. The channel name is still below it. */}
+        {!spec.dense && (
+          <Avatar
+            src={video.channel_thumbnail}
+            fallback={video.channel_title ?? ""}
+            className="w-9 h-9 rounded-full shrink-0 mt-0.5"
+          />
+        )}
+        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1 flex flex-col">
           {textBlock}
-          <Actions video={video} onState={onState} onResetState={onResetState} onToggleSave={onToggleSave} />
+          <div className="mt-auto pt-1">{actions}</div>
         </div>
       </div>
     </div>

frontend/src/components/ViewSwitcher.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { Check, ChevronDown, type LucideIcon } from "lucide-react";
+import clsx from "clsx";
+import { useDismiss } from "../lib/useDismiss";
+
+export interface ViewOption<T extends string> {
+  id: T;
+  label: string;
+  icon: LucideIcon;
+}
+
+// "How should this list look" — the current mode's icon in the toolbar, the named modes in a
+// menu behind it. Generic over the mode id so any module's list can adopt it (the feed's
+// density modes; the managers' layouts) without re-deriving the menu behaviour.
+//
+// This is a real menu, so it carries the whole keyboard model the role promises: arrows/Home/End
+// move a roving focus, Escape closes, and closing always hands focus back to the trigger (the
+// menu unmounts under the focused item, which would otherwise strand focus on <body>).
+export default function ViewSwitcher<T extends string>({
+  value,
+  options,
+  onChange,
+  label,
+  labelClassName = "hidden",
+}: {
+  value: T;
+  options: readonly ViewOption<T>[];
+  onChange: (v: T) => void;
+  label: string;
+  /** Where the current mode's NAME is visible beside the icon — a Tailwind display class, e.g.
+   * `"hidden xl:inline"`. The caller sets it because only it knows how crowded its own toolbar is:
+   * the feed's is packed (show chips, content chips, source, count, sort) and can't spare the room
+   * until xl, while an emptier one could show it always. Defaults to icon-only. */
+  labelClassName?: string;
+}) {
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  // Which item holds the roving tabindex; seeded to the active one when the menu opens.
+  const [focusIdx, setFocusIdx] = useState(0);
+  const btnRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
+  const menuRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  const itemRefs = useRef<(HTMLButtonElement | null)[]>([]);
+
+  function close({ refocus = true }: { refocus?: boolean } = {}) {
+    setOpen(false);
+    if (refocus) btnRef.current?.focus();
+  }
+  // Outside-click must NOT refocus the trigger — that would steal focus from whatever the user
+  // just clicked. Escape is handled on the menu itself (below), where returning focus is right.
+  useDismiss(open, () => close({ refocus: false }), [btnRef, menuRef]);
+
+  // A `value` outside `options` is a caller bug; degrade to the first option rather than render
+  // nothing. The menu then shows no checked item, which is honest — nothing IS selected.
+  const currentIdx = Math.max(
+    0,
+    options.findIndex((o) => o.id === value)
+  );
+  // Seeding the roving index HERE — rather than in an effect keyed on `open` — matters: an effect
+  // would only schedule the update, so the focus effect below would still see the previous index
+  // and focus the wrong item for one render before correcting.
+  function openMenu() {
+    setFocusIdx(currentIdx);
+    setOpen(true);
+  }
+  // Clamped at render, so a caller whose option list shrinks while the menu is open can't leave
+  // the roving tabindex pointing past the end (which would make every item un-tabbable).
+  const rovingIdx = Math.min(focusIdx, options.length - 1);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (open) itemRefs.current[rovingIdx]?.focus();
+  }, [open, rovingIdx]);
+
+  const current = options[currentIdx];
+  if (!current) return null;
+  const CurrentIcon = current.icon;
+
+  function onMenuKeyDown(e: React.KeyboardEvent) {
+    const last = options.length - 1;
+    if (e.key === "Escape") {
+      // Stop it reaching useDismiss's document listener, which would close without refocusing.
+      e.stopPropagation();
+      close();
+    } else if (e.key === "ArrowDown") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setFocusIdx((i) => (i >= last ? 0 : i + 1));
+    } else if (e.key === "ArrowUp") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setFocusIdx((i) => (i <= 0 ? last : i - 1));
+    } else if (e.key === "Home") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setFocusIdx(0);
+    } else if (e.key === "End") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setFocusIdx(last);
+    } else if (e.key === "Tab") {
+      // Tabbing out of a menu closes it, but the focus is moving on by itself.
+      close({ refocus: false });
+    }
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className="relative">
+      <button
+        ref={btnRef}
+        onClick={() => (open ? close() : openMenu())}
+        aria-haspopup="menu"
+        aria-expanded={open}
+        // The aria-label carries the mode's name at every size — the visible text below is a
+        // nicety for wide windows, not the accessible name.
+        aria-label={`${label}: ${current.label}`}
+        title={`${label}: ${current.label}`}
+        className="shrink-0 inline-flex items-center gap-1 pl-2 pr-1 py-1.5 rounded-lg border border-border bg-card text-fg hover:border-accent hover:text-accent active:translate-y-px transition"
+      >
+        <CurrentIcon className="w-4 h-4 shrink-0" />
+        <span className={clsx("text-sm whitespace-nowrap", labelClassName)}>{current.label}</span>
+        <ChevronDown className={`w-3 h-3 shrink-0 transition-transform ${open ? "rotate-180" : ""}`} />
+      </button>
+      {open && (
+        <div
+          ref={menuRef}
+          role="menu"
+          aria-label={label}
+          onKeyDown={onMenuKeyDown}
+          className="glass-menu absolute right-0 top-full mt-1 z-30 min-w-44 p-1.5 rounded-xl animate-[popIn_0.16s_ease]"
+        >
+          {/* The modes are one exclusive choice, so the radio items need a group to scope their
+              checked-ness to — otherwise they read as independent checkable items. */}
+          <div role="group">
+            {options.map((o, i) => {
+              const Icon = o.icon;
+              const on = o.id === value;
+              return (
+                <button
+                  key={o.id}
+                  ref={(el) => {
+                    itemRefs.current[i] = el;
+                  }}
+                  role="menuitemradio"
+                  aria-checked={on}
+                  tabIndex={i === rovingIdx ? 0 : -1}
+                  onClick={() => {
+                    onChange(o.id);
+                    close();
+                  }}
+                  className={`w-full flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm text-left transition ${
+                    on ? "text-accent" : "text-fg hover:bg-card"
+                  }`}
+                >
+                  <Icon className="w-4 h-4 shrink-0" />
+                  <span className="flex-1 truncate">{o.label}</span>
+                  {on && <Check className="w-3.5 h-3.5 shrink-0" />}
+                </button>
+              );
+            })}
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}

frontend/src/components/VirtualFeed.tsx

@@ -1,17 +1,35 @@
 import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { useVirtualizer } from "@tanstack/react-virtual";
 import type { Video } from "../lib/api";
+import { FEED_VIEW_SPEC, type FeedView } from "../lib/feedView";
 import VideoCard from "./VideoCard";
 
-// Grid column sizing mirrors the CSS the feed used before virtualization
-// (grid-cols-[repeat(auto-fill,minmax(260px,1fr))] with a gap-4 / 1rem gutter).
-const GRID_MIN_COL = 260;
+// Column sizing mirrors the CSS the feed used before virtualization
+// (grid-cols-[repeat(auto-fill,minmax(260px,1fr))] with a gap-4 / 1rem gutter). The per-view
+// minimum column width lives with the rest of the view matrix in lib/feedView.ts.
 const GRID_GAP = 16;
 const LIST_GAP = 4;
-// Estimated row heights before measurement; real heights are measured per-row so
-// these only affect the very first paint and the scrollbar's initial guess.
-const GRID_ROW_EST = 340;
-const LIST_ROW_EST = 96;
+// Estimated row heights before measurement; real heights are measured per-row so these only affect
+// the very first paint and the scrollbar's initial guess. Taken from measuring each mode in the
+// browser rather than guessed — a bad estimate makes the scrollbar jump as you scroll in.
+// RE-MEASURE these when a mode's layout changes: they have gone stale twice already, most recently
+// when the bare row became a single line and halved (82 -> 46). The card figures are the roughest
+// of the set by nature — a card's height follows its column width (measured ~307 at 3 columns,
+// ~301 at 4, taller still at 2), so no single constant is right for every window.
+const ROW_EST: Record<FeedView, number> = {
+  cards: 340,
+  cardsSmall: 257,
+  rows: 115,
+  rowsCompact: 46,
+  tiles: 132,
+};
+
+/** Columns that fit `width`, or 1 for the single-column views. */
+function columnsFor(view: FeedView, width: number): number {
+  const { minCol } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
+  if (minCol == null) return 1;
+  return Math.max(1, Math.floor((width + GRID_GAP) / (minCol + GRID_GAP)));
+}
 // Start fetching the next page this many rows before the end scrolls into view
 // (keeps the old IntersectionObserver's generous prefetch feel).
 const PREFETCH_ROWS = 4;
@@ -37,7 +55,7 @@ function getScrollParent(node: HTMLElement | null): HTMLElement {
 
 export interface VirtualFeedProps {
   items: Video[];
-  view: "grid" | "list";
+  view: FeedView;
   onState: (id: string, status: string) => void;
   onToggleSave: (id: string, saved: boolean) => void;
   onOpenChannel: (channelId: string, channelName: string) => void;
@@ -62,10 +80,18 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
 }: VirtualFeedProps) {
   const listRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const [scrollEl, setScrollEl] = useState<HTMLElement | null>(null);
-  const [colCount, setColCount] = useState(view === "list" ? 1 : 4);
+  const { minCol, maxCol } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
+  const singleCol = minCol == null;
+  const [colCount, setColCount] = useState(singleCol ? 1 : 4);
   // Distance from the scroll element's content top to where this list starts (the
   // feed toolbar sits above it inside the same scroll area).
   const [scrollMargin, setScrollMargin] = useState(0);
+  // How wide ONE row/card actually renders. The one-line row drops columns as this shrinks, and it
+  // has to be the real width, not the viewport: the nav rail (56 slim / ~230 pinned) and the filter
+  // panel (~80 tab / ~256 pinned) move it by ~430px between them. A viewport breakpoint got this
+  // wrong — at 1280 with both pinned every column still showed while the row had 762px for 766px of
+  // them, which squeezed the title to nothing. This is measured here anyway, for colCount.
+  const [itemWidth, setItemWidth] = useState(0);
 
   useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (listRef.current) setScrollEl(getScrollParent(listRef.current));
@@ -83,10 +109,12 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
           scrollEl.scrollTop;
         setScrollMargin(m);
       }
-      setColCount(
-        view === "list"
-          ? 1
-          : Math.max(1, Math.floor((node.clientWidth + GRID_GAP) / (GRID_MIN_COL + GRID_GAP)))
+      const w = node.clientWidth;
+      const cols = columnsFor(view, w);
+      setColCount(cols);
+      const { minCol: min, maxCol: max } = FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view];
+      setItemWidth(
+        min == null ? Math.min(w, max ?? w) : Math.floor((w - GRID_GAP * (cols - 1)) / cols)
       );
     };
     measure();
@@ -101,9 +129,9 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
   const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
     count: rows.length,
     getScrollElement: () => scrollEl,
-    estimateSize: () => (view === "grid" ? GRID_ROW_EST : LIST_ROW_EST),
+    estimateSize: () => ROW_EST[view],
     overscan: 4,
-    gap: view === "grid" ? GRID_GAP : LIST_GAP,
+    gap: singleCol ? LIST_GAP : GRID_GAP,
     scrollMargin,
   });
 
@@ -137,37 +165,34 @@ export default function VirtualFeed({
               transform: `translateY(${vr.start - virtualizer.options.scrollMargin}px)`,
             }}
           >
-            {view === "grid" ? (
-              <div
-                className="grid gap-4"
-                style={{ gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${colCount}, minmax(0, 1fr))` }}
-              >
-                {row.map((v) => (
-                  <VideoCard
-                    key={v.id}
-                    video={v}
-                    view="grid"
-                    onState={onState}
-                    onToggleSave={onToggleSave}
-                    onOpenChannel={onOpenChannel}
-                    onResetState={onResetState}
-                    onOpen={onOpen}
-                  />
-                ))}
-              </div>
-            ) : (
-              <div className="max-w-4xl mx-auto pb-1">
+            {/* One branch for both shapes: the single-column views just chunk to colCount 1 and
+                get their reading-width cap instead of grid columns. */}
+            <div
+              className={singleCol ? "mx-auto pb-1" : "grid gap-4"}
+              style={
+                singleCol
+                  ? { maxWidth: maxCol ?? undefined }
+                  : { gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${colCount}, minmax(0, 1fr))` }
+              }
+            >
+              {row.map((v) => (
                 <VideoCard
-                  video={row[0]}
-                  view="list"
+                  key={v.id}
+                  video={v}
+                  view={view}
+                  // Only the one-line row reads its own width (it stands columns down as it
+                  // narrows). Everything else takes a stable 0, so a resize — which changes
+                  // itemWidth every frame — doesn't blow past VideoCard's memo for views that
+                  // wouldn't do anything with it.
+                  width={FEED_VIEW_SPEC[view].thumb ? 0 : itemWidth}
                   onState={onState}
                   onToggleSave={onToggleSave}
                   onOpenChannel={onOpenChannel}
                   onResetState={onResetState}
                   onOpen={onOpen}
                 />
-              </div>
-            )}
+              ))}
+            </div>
           </div>
         );
       })}

frontend/src/components/ui/DraftSaveBar.tsx

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import { Check, RotateCcw, Save } from "lucide-react";
 
 // The Save / Discard bar shown while an edited draft has unsaved changes (Settings prefs,
@@ -34,11 +35,15 @@ export function DraftSaveBar({
 }) {
   if (!dirty && state === "idle") return null;
   const saving = state === "saving";
-  const wrap =
-    variant === "floating"
-      ? "fixed bottom-4 left-1/2 -translate-x-1/2 z-40 glass rounded-2xl shadow-lg flex items-center justify-between gap-4 px-4 py-3 w-[min(48rem,calc(100%-2rem))]"
-      : "flex items-center justify-between gap-3 border-t border-border/60 px-4 py-3 bg-card/40";
-  return (
+  const floating = variant === "floating";
+  const wrap = floating
+    ? "fixed bottom-4 left-1/2 -translate-x-1/2 z-40 glass rounded-2xl shadow-lg flex items-center justify-between gap-4 px-4 py-3 w-[min(48rem,calc(100%-2rem))]"
+    : "flex items-center justify-between gap-3 border-t border-border/60 px-4 py-3 bg-card/40";
+  // The floating variant is fixed to the viewport but renders from a page inside the page
+  // scroller, so it goes to <body> — otherwise the scroller's stacking context (its edge-fade
+  // mask) scopes this z-40 and fades the bar's bottom edge. The inline variant is in normal flow
+  // and stays put.
+  const bar = (
     <div className={wrap}>
       <span className="text-sm text-muted">
         {state === "saved" ? (
@@ -72,4 +77,5 @@ export function DraftSaveBar({
       </div>
     </div>
   );
+  return floating ? createPortal(bar, document.body) : bar;
 }

frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/card.json

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "watchedUnmark": "Watched — click to unmark",
   "markWatched": "Mark watched",
   "savedRemove": "Saved — click to remove",
+  "savedMark": "Saved",
   "saveForLater": "Save for later",
   "unhide": "Unhide",
   "hide": "Hide",

frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/feed.json

@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@
   "videoCount_one": "{{formattedCount}} video",
   "videoCount_other": "{{formattedCount}} videos",
   "sortLabel": "Sort",
+  "viewLabel": "View",
+  "view": {
+    "cards": "Large cards",
+    "cardsSmall": "Small cards",
+    "rows": "Rows",
+    "rowsCompact": "Compact rows",
+    "tiles": "Tiles"
+  },
   "dirAsc": "Ascending",
   "dirDesc": "Descending",
   "sortKey": {

frontend/src/i18n/locales/en/settings.json

@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
     "backgroundImage": "Background image",
     "backgroundImageHint": "Show a subtle per-scheme backdrop image behind the app so the glass surfaces have something to refract. Off = flat colour.",
     "backgroundFade": "Image fade",
-    "listView": "List view",
-    "listViewHint": "Show the feed as a compact list instead of a grid of cards.",
     "performanceMode": "Performance mode",
     "performanceModeHint": "Turns off the translucent glass blur and soft shadows for snappier rendering on slower machines.",
     "showHints": "Show hints",

frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/card.json

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "watchedUnmark": "Megnézve — kattints a visszavonáshoz",
   "markWatched": "Megnézettnek jelöl",
   "savedRemove": "Mentve — kattints az eltávolításhoz",
+  "savedMark": "Mentve",
   "saveForLater": "Mentés későbbre",
   "unhide": "Megjelenítés",
   "hide": "Elrejtés",

frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/feed.json

@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@
   "videoCount_one": "{{formattedCount}} videó",
   "videoCount_other": "{{formattedCount}} videó",
   "sortLabel": "Rendezés",
+  "viewLabel": "Nézet",
+  "view": {
+    "cards": "Nagy kártya",
+    "cardsSmall": "Kis kártya",
+    "rows": "Sor",
+    "rowsCompact": "Tömör sor",
+    "tiles": "Csempe"
+  },
   "dirAsc": "Növekvő",
   "dirDesc": "Csökkenő",
   "sortKey": {

frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu/settings.json

@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
     "backgroundImage": "Háttérkép",
     "backgroundImageHint": "Halvány, sémánkénti háttérkép az app mögött, hogy az üveges felületeknek legyen mit megtörniük. Kikapcsolva sima szín.",
     "backgroundFade": "Kép elhalványítása",
-    "listView": "Listanézet",
-    "listViewHint": "A hírfolyam kompakt listaként jelenik meg a kártyarács helyett.",
     "performanceMode": "Teljesítmény mód",
     "performanceModeHint": "Kikapcsolja az áttetsző üvegelmosást és a lágy árnyékokat a gyorsabb megjelenítésért lassabb gépeken.",
     "showHints": "Tippek megjelenítése",

frontend/src/lib/feedView.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// The feed's view vocabulary. Lifted out of Feed (like feedSort.ts) because it has three
+// consumers that can't share module-private state: App owns the pref, the toolbar's
+// ViewSwitcher offers it, and VirtualFeed/VideoCard render it.
+export type FeedView = "cards" | "cardsSmall" | "rows" | "rowsCompact" | "tiles";
+
+export const FEED_VIEWS: readonly FeedView[] = [
+  "cards",
+  "cardsSmall",
+  "rows",
+  "rowsCompact",
+  "tiles",
+] as const;
+
+const FEED_VIEW_DEFAULT: FeedView = "cards";
+
+export interface FeedViewSpec {
+  /** Which shape VideoCard renders: a portrait card (thumbnail on top) or a horizontal block. */
+  family: "card" | "row";
+  /** Narrowest grid column in px, or null for ONE full-width column. VirtualFeed derives the
+   * column count from this and the container width, so every multi-column view reflows for free. */
+  minCol: number | null;
+  /** Single-column views only: the reading-width cap in px (null = fill). A long line is hard to
+   * scan, so the stacked row keeps a cap; the one-line row doesn't need as tight a one. */
+  maxCol: number | null;
+  /** Show the video thumbnail. False only for the bare row — whose badges (duration, live state,
+   * saved, resume bar) then move into the meta line, since Thumb is what draws them. */
+  thumb: boolean;
+  /** card family: tighter padding and no channel avatar, for the small card's ~180px column. */
+  dense: boolean;
+  /** row family: actions sit under the meta rather than docked at the right edge. Frees ~168px of
+   * width (measured), which is what lets a row block survive in a narrow tile column. */
+  actionsBelow: boolean;
+}
+
+// The whole matrix in one place. Adding a view here makes TS point at every switch that needs it.
+export const FEED_VIEW_SPEC: Record<FeedView, FeedViewSpec> = {
+  cards: { family: "card", minCol: 260, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  cardsSmall: { family: "card", minCol: 180, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: true, actionsBelow: false },
+  // Single column on purpose: the point of the list is that your eye runs down one edge with the
+  // titles stacked. Density must not cost that — `tiles` is the multi-column option instead.
+  // Keeps the 896px cap: its actions dock at the right edge, so a wider row would only stretch the
+  // dead space between them and the meta.
+  rows: { family: "row", minCol: null, maxCol: 896, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  // Much wider (1472): everything sits on one line and the columns after the title are fixed, so
+  // there's no gap for the extra width to stretch — it all goes to the title. Raised from 1280 at
+  // the user's request once they saw how much room was left over with the rail and filters hidden.
+  rowsCompact: { family: "row", minCol: null, maxCol: 1472, thumb: false, dense: false, actionsBelow: false },
+  // 380 = thumbnail (160) + gap (12) + ~192 for the text + the block's own padding (16). The text
+  // floor is the action row's measured 156px plus enough for a title to be worth reading.
+  // Tuned by measuring the real layouts, not guessed: 3 columns need 3n+32 px, so 380 turns the
+  // channel page (1208px) and the unpinned feed into 3 columns while the filter-pinned feed
+  // (~955px) still gets 2. 470 was tried first and needed 956px for two — the common layout fell
+  // back to ONE column and the mode looked broken; 400 then left 596px tiles whose titles ended
+  // halfway, which is the very waste this mode exists to kill.
+  tiles: { family: "row", minCol: 380, maxCol: null, thumb: true, dense: false, actionsBelow: true },
+};
+
+function isFeedView(v: unknown): v is FeedView {
+  return typeof v === "string" && (FEED_VIEWS as readonly string[]).includes(v);
+}
+
+/** Coerce a stored pref to a view. Up to 0.44 it was "grid" | "list"; those map forward here so
+ * nobody's saved choice is lost. Anything else (a corrupt value, a future view rolled back) falls
+ * back to the default rather than rendering nothing. */
+export function parseFeedView(raw: unknown): FeedView {
+  if (isFeedView(raw)) return raw;
+  if (raw === "grid") return "cards";
+  if (raw === "list") return "rows";
+  return FEED_VIEW_DEFAULT;
+}

frontend/src/lib/storage.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ export const LS = {
   defaultViewFilters: "siftlode.defaultViewFilters",
   page: "siftlode.page",
   perfMode: "siftlode.perfMode",
+  // The feed's view mode (see lib/feedView.ts) — a cache of the server pref, so a reload of an
+  // established tab paints your view straight away. A brand-new tab still starts on the default
+  // until /api/me lands: the account isn't pinned yet (App pins it once meQuery resolves), so
+  // the per-account key can't be read.
+  feedView: "siftlode.feedView",
   channelFilter: "siftlode.channelFilter",
   channelsView: "siftlode.channelsView",
   channelsTable: "siftlode.channelsTable",

frontend/src/lib/useScrollFade.ts

@@ -1,34 +1,55 @@
 import { useEffect, useState, type CSSProperties } from "react";
 
-// Scroll-affordance for a scroll container whose native scrollbar is hidden (`.no-scrollbar`):
+// Scroll-affordance for a scroll container (typically one whose native scrollbar is hidden with
+// `.no-scrollbar`, but the page scroller keeps its bar and takes the fade anyway):
 // fades the top/bottom edge of the content to hint there's more to scroll, but only on the edge
 // that's actually clipped (no fade at a boundary, none when it all fits). Returns a callback ref
 // to attach to the scroller and the mask `style` to spread onto it. Uses a node-state callback
 // ref (not useRef) so the effect (re)runs whenever the element attaches — e.g. a SidePanel that
 // mounts collapsed and only renders its scroll body once expanded still wires up correctly.
 export function useScrollFade(fadePx = 20): {
-  ref: (node: HTMLDivElement | null) => void;
+  ref: (node: HTMLElement | null) => void;
   style: CSSProperties;
 } {
-  const [el, setEl] = useState<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  const [el, setEl] = useState<HTMLElement | null>(null);
   const [fade, setFade] = useState({ up: false, down: false });
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!el) return;
-    const update = () =>
-      setFade({
-        up: el.scrollTop > 1,
-        down: el.scrollTop + el.clientHeight < el.scrollHeight - 1,
-      });
+    // Bail out when neither edge changed: `scroll` fires per frame, and the page scroller's
+    // hook sits above the whole page tree, so a new object here would re-render on every frame
+    // of every scroll. The two booleans only flip at the ends of the range.
+    const update = () => {
+      const up = el.scrollTop > 1;
+      const down = el.scrollTop + el.clientHeight < el.scrollHeight - 1;
+      setFade((prev) => (prev.up === up && prev.down === down ? prev : { up, down }));
+    };
     update();
     el.addEventListener("scroll", update, { passive: true });
+    // Watch the scroller AND its content. Content that grows or shrinks — a lazy page loading in,
+    // a thread's messages decrypting, a list being filtered — changes neither the scroller's own
+    // box nor its scrollTop, so without the children nothing would re-evaluate the edges.
     const ro = new ResizeObserver(update);
     ro.observe(el);
-    // Observe the content wrapper too (if present) so growth/shrink of the list re-evaluates.
-    if (el.firstElementChild) ro.observe(el.firstElementChild);
+    for (const child of Array.from(el.children)) ro.observe(child);
+    // Children get SWAPPED, and a ResizeObserver holding a detached node simply never fires
+    // again. Measured: the Plex page opened with no bottom fade over a 3119px list, because the
+    // node observed at mount was the Suspense fallback the real page then replaced. (Same
+    // lazy-page race that broke BackToTop.) So follow the child list: the records name exactly
+    // which nodes arrived and left, which keeps this O(1) per change rather than re-observing
+    // every child of a long list on each append.
+    const mo = new MutationObserver((records) => {
+      for (const rec of records) {
+        for (const node of Array.from(rec.addedNodes)) if (node instanceof Element) ro.observe(node);
+        for (const node of Array.from(rec.removedNodes)) if (node instanceof Element) ro.unobserve(node);
+      }
+      update();
+    });
+    mo.observe(el, { childList: true });
     return () => {
       el.removeEventListener("scroll", update);
       ro.disconnect();
+      mo.disconnect();
     };
   }, [el]);