diff --git a/client/ios/App/App/TrekBridgeViewController.swift b/client/ios/App/App/TrekBridgeViewController.swift
index f5fe90324..07070021e 100644
--- a/client/ios/App/App/TrekBridgeViewController.swift
+++ b/client/ios/App/App/TrekBridgeViewController.swift
@@ -29,8 +29,20 @@ class TrekBridgeViewController: CAPBridgeViewController {
         return configuration
     }
 
+    /// Kept alive here: WKWebView holds its navigation delegate weakly.
+    private var navigationProxy: TrekNavigationProxy?
+
     override func capacitorDidLoad() {
         TrekTileStore.shared.prune()
+        // Capacitor shows its error page for every failed navigation, a replaced
+        // one included: the UI moving to /login while the first page still loads
+        // cancels that load (-999), and a first-time user landed on "Server not
+        // reachable" with a server that was there all along.
+        if let webView, let inner = webView.navigationDelegate {
+            let proxy = TrekNavigationProxy(inner: inner)
+            navigationProxy = proxy
+            webView.navigationDelegate = proxy
+        }
         bridge?.registerPluginInstance(TrekShellPlugin())
         // WebKit's own swipe back slides away a screenshot of the whole page,
         // closes no sheet and takes every drag near the edge from the UI. The UI
@@ -272,3 +284,39 @@ final class TrekTileSchemeHandler: NSObject, WKURLSchemeHandler {
         task.didFinish()
     }
 }
+
+/// Stands in front of Capacitor's navigation delegate and hands it everything
+/// but the failures of a navigation that another one replaced: a cancelled
+/// load (NSURLErrorCancelled) or an interrupted frame load (WebKit 102). Those
+/// are no fault, and Capacitor would answer them with its error page.
+final class TrekNavigationProxy: NSObject, WKNavigationDelegate {
+    private let inner: WKNavigationDelegate
+
+    init(inner: WKNavigationDelegate) {
+        self.inner = inner
+    }
+
+    static func isReplaced(_ error: Error) -> Bool {
+        let error = error as NSError
+        return (error.domain == NSURLErrorDomain && error.code == NSURLErrorCancelled)
+            || (error.domain == "WebKitErrorDomain" && error.code == 102)
+    }
+
+    override func responds(to aSelector: Selector!) -> Bool {
+        super.responds(to: aSelector) || (inner as AnyObject).responds(to: aSelector)
+    }
+
+    override func forwardingTarget(for aSelector: Selector!) -> Any? {
+        (inner as AnyObject).responds(to: aSelector) ? inner : nil
+    }
+
+    func webView(_ webView: WKWebView, didFail navigation: WKNavigation!, withError error: Error) {
+        if Self.isReplaced(error) { return }
+        inner.webView?(webView, didFail: navigation, withError: error)
+    }
+
+    func webView(_ webView: WKWebView, didFailProvisionalNavigation navigation: WKNavigation!, withError error: Error) {
+        if Self.isReplaced(error) { return }
+        inner.webView?(webView, didFailProvisionalNavigation: navigation, withError: error)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/client/src/api/client.behavior.test.ts b/client/src/api/client.behavior.test.ts
index 087965f83..cc49538fe 100644
--- a/client/src/api/client.behavior.test.ts
+++ b/client/src/api/client.behavior.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ const { probeNow } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   probeNow: vi.fn(async (): Promise<'online' | 'offline' | 'proxy-wall'> => 'offline'),
 }))
 vi.mock('../sync/connectivity', () => ({ probeNow }))
+const isNativeApp = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(() => false))
+vi.mock('../native/platform', () => ({ isNativeApp }))
 
 const { apiClient, adminApi, mapsApi, pluginsApi, parseInDev } = await import('./client')
 
@@ -357,6 +359,24 @@ describe('client > redirect handling', () => {
     expect(loc.href).toBe('/login?redirect=' + encodeURIComponent('/trips/7?tab=map#day-2'))
   })
 
+  it('FE-APIWIRE-019b: in the app it waits for the first page to finish loading before it leaves', async () => {
+    isNativeApp.mockReturnValue(true)
+    const ready = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(Document.prototype, 'readyState')
+    Object.defineProperty(document, 'readyState', { value: 'loading', configurable: true })
+    const loc = setLocation('/dashboard')
+    server.use(http.get('/api/auth/me', () => HttpResponse.json({ code: 'AUTH_REQUIRED' }, { status: 401 })))
+
+    await captureError(() => apiClient.get('/auth/me'))
+    expect(loc.href).not.toContain('/login')
+
+    window.dispatchEvent(new Event('load'))
+    expect(loc.href).toBe('/login?redirect=' + encodeURIComponent('/dashboard'))
+
+    delete (document as { readyState?: unknown }).readyState
+    if (ready) Object.defineProperty(Document.prototype, 'readyState', ready)
+    isNativeApp.mockReturnValue(false)
+  })
+
   it('FE-APIWIRE-020: an MFA_REQUIRED 403 sends the user to the settings page', async () => {
     const loc = setLocation('/dashboard')
     server.use(http.get('/api/auth/me', () => HttpResponse.json({ code: 'MFA_REQUIRED' }, { status: 403 })))
diff --git a/client/src/api/client.ts b/client/src/api/client.ts
index fa7dc7b24..efe3dbb5e 100644
--- a/client/src/api/client.ts
+++ b/client/src/api/client.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ import { getSocketId } from './websocket'
 import { probeNow } from '../sync/connectivity'
 import { downloadBlob } from '../utils/fileDownload'
 import { translateRateLimit } from './rateLimitMessage'
+import { isNativeApp } from '../native/platform'
 
 /**
  * Validate a response payload against its @trek/shared Zod schema — but only in
@@ -150,6 +151,20 @@ export function isAuthPublicPath(pathname: string): boolean {
   return publicPaths.includes(pathname) || publicPrefixes.some((p) => pathname.startsWith(p))
 }
 
+/**
+ * A full page load to `url`. In the apps it waits for the first page to finish
+ * loading: started earlier, it cancels that load, and the shell answers a
+ * cancelled load with its "Server not reachable" page, which is where a
+ * signed-out user opening the app for the first time ended up.
+ */
+function hardNavigate(url: string): void {
+  const go = () => {
+    window.location.href = url
+  }
+  if (isNativeApp() && document.readyState !== 'complete') window.addEventListener('load', go, { once: true })
+  else go()
+}
+
 // Unregisters the SW before reloading so the navigation reaches the network.
 // Without this, WorkBox's NavigationRoute serves the cached SPA shell and the
 // upstream proxy (CF Access / Pangolin) never gets to challenge the user.
@@ -218,7 +233,7 @@ apiClient.interceptors.response.use(
         const { pathname } = window.location
         if (!isAuthPublicPath(pathname)) {
           const currentPath = pathname + window.location.search + window.location.hash
-          window.location.href = '/login?redirect=' + encodeURIComponent(currentPath)
+          hardNavigate('/login?redirect=' + encodeURIComponent(currentPath))
         }
       }
       if (
@@ -226,7 +241,7 @@ apiClient.interceptors.response.use(
           (error.response?.data as { code?: string } | undefined)?.code === 'MFA_REQUIRED' &&
           !window.location.pathname.startsWith('/settings')
       ) {
-        window.location.href = '/settings?mfa=required'
+        hardNavigate('/settings?mfa=required')
       }
       if (error.response?.status === 429) {
         const translated = translateRateLimit()