diff --git a/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.test.ts b/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.test.ts
index d2ea8ddc0..c99dc81de 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.test.ts
+++ b/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { getNavigationTargets, showsAppleMaps } from './placeNavigation'
+import { getNavigationTargets, openNavigationTarget, showsAppleMaps } from './placeNavigation'
 import type { Place } from '../../types'
 
 // FE-PLANNER-NAV-001 to FE-PLANNER-NAV-008
@@ -105,3 +105,42 @@ describe('getNavigationTargets', () => {
     expect(targets.find(t => t.id === 'waze')!.url).toBe('https://waze.com/ul?ll=48.2038,16.3616&navigate=yes')
   })
 })
+
+describe('openNavigationTarget', () => {
+  const target = { id: 'google', label: 'Google Maps', url: 'https://maps.google.com/?q=1,2' } as const
+
+  afterEach(() => { vi.unstubAllGlobals(); vi.restoreAllMocks() })
+
+  function stubDisplayMode(installed: boolean, iosStandalone = false) {
+    const open = vi.fn()
+    const assigned: string[] = []
+    vi.stubGlobal('window', {
+      matchMedia: (q: string) => ({ matches: installed && q.includes('display-mode') }),
+      navigator: { standalone: iosStandalone },
+      open,
+      get location() { return { get href() { return '' }, set href(v: string) { assigned.push(v) } } },
+    })
+    return { open, assigned }
+  }
+
+  it('FE-PLANNER-NAV-101: a browser tab keeps opening a tab', () => {
+    const { open, assigned } = stubDisplayMode(false)
+    openNavigationTarget(target)
+    expect(open).toHaveBeenCalledWith(target.url, '_blank', 'noopener,noreferrer')
+    expect(assigned).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('FE-PLANNER-NAV-102: an installed app hands over from the current context, leaving no blank window (#2218)', () => {
+    const { open, assigned } = stubDisplayMode(true)
+    openNavigationTarget(target)
+    expect(open).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(assigned).toEqual([target.url])
+  })
+
+  it('FE-PLANNER-NAV-103: an iOS home-screen app is recognised without the display-mode query', () => {
+    const { open, assigned } = stubDisplayMode(false, true)
+    openNavigationTarget(target)
+    expect(open).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(assigned).toEqual([target.url])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.ts b/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.ts
index 725e5ca86..61af1fb31 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.ts
+++ b/client/src/components/Planner/placeNavigation.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,28 @@ export function getNavigationTargets(
   return targets
 }
 
-/** Opens a target the way every external link in the planner is opened. */
+/**
+ * Hands the place over to a maps application.
+ *
+ * In a browser tab this opens a tab, which is what a link should do. In an
+ * installed app it must not: the maps application takes over from the new
+ * context before it paints, so what the user comes back to is an empty window
+ * they have to dismiss before TREK is usable again (#2218). Navigating the
+ * current context instead means the handover happens from the page the user is
+ * already on, and returning lands them back where they were, because the app
+ * shell was never replaced by the time the platform switched away.
+ */
 export function openNavigationTarget(target: NavigationTarget): void {
-  window.open(target.url, '_blank', 'noopener,noreferrer')
+  if (isInstalledApp()) window.location.href = target.url
+  else window.open(target.url, '_blank', 'noopener,noreferrer')
+}
+
+/** True in a display mode that has no tab strip to close a stray window from. */
+function isInstalledApp(): boolean {
+  if (typeof window === 'undefined') return false
+  const standalone = ['standalone', 'fullscreen', 'minimal-ui'].some(
+    mode => window.matchMedia?.(`(display-mode: ${mode})`).matches,
+  )
+  // iOS predates the display-mode query for home-screen apps.
+  return standalone || (window.navigator as { standalone?: boolean }).standalone === true
 }