diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..173b0947
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+package com.fabledsword.minstrel.player
+
+import android.content.ComponentName
+import android.content.Context
+import androidx.media3.common.MediaItem
+import androidx.media3.common.MediaMetadata
+import androidx.media3.common.Player
+import androidx.media3.session.MediaController
+import androidx.media3.session.SessionToken
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.di.ApplicationScope
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.models.TrackRef
+import dagger.hilt.android.qualifiers.ApplicationContext
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.asStateFlow
+import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
+import kotlinx.coroutines.suspendCancellableCoroutine
+import javax.inject.Inject
+import javax.inject.Singleton
+import kotlin.coroutines.resume
+import kotlin.coroutines.resumeWithException
+
+/**
+ * UI-facing facade over Media3's [MediaController] — the IPC client to
+ * [MinstrelPlayerService]'s [androidx.media3.session.MediaSession].
+ *
+ * ViewModels collect [uiState] (a StateFlow projection of the player's
+ * current track + transport state + position) and call the
+ * transport methods. The MediaController is connected asynchronously in
+ * the singleton's init block; until it's ready, transport methods are
+ * no-ops and uiState carries the default (empty) snapshot.
+ *
+ * Why a dedicated facade vs ViewModels using MediaController directly:
+ * lifecycle. ViewModels come and go with their host Composables; one
+ * MediaController for the process is the right shape, and centralising
+ * the StateFlow projection means each ViewModel doesn't have to attach
+ * its own Player.Listener.
+ */
+@Singleton
+class PlayerController @Inject constructor(
+    @ApplicationContext private val context: Context,
+    @ApplicationScope private val scope: CoroutineScope,
+) {
+    private val sessionToken =
+        SessionToken(context, ComponentName(context, MinstrelPlayerService::class.java))
+
+    private var mediaController: MediaController? = null
+
+    private val uiStateInternal = MutableStateFlow(PlayerUiState())
+    val uiState: StateFlow<PlayerUiState> = uiStateInternal.asStateFlow()
+
+    /**
+     * Stable queue snapshot kept in sync with the player's MediaItems —
+     * the player's own getMediaItem(index) returns Media3 types; we keep
+     * our domain TrackRef list alongside for the UiState projection.
+     */
+    private var queueRefs: List<TrackRef> = emptyList()
+
+    init {
+        scope.launch { connectAndObserve() }
+    }
+
+    // ── Transport (no-op until the controller is connected) ──────────────
+
+    fun play() { mediaController?.play() }
+    fun pause() { mediaController?.pause() }
+    fun seekTo(positionMs: Long) { mediaController?.seekTo(positionMs) }
+    fun skipToNext() { mediaController?.seekToNextMediaItem() }
+    fun skipToPrevious() { mediaController?.seekToPreviousMediaItem() }
+
+    /**
+     * Replace the queue with [tracks] and start playing from [initialIndex].
+     * [source] tags the queue with its origin (e.g. "for_you") so the
+     * server-side rotation reporter can advance it; carried in
+     * MediaItem extras.
+     */
+    fun setQueue(tracks: List<TrackRef>, initialIndex: Int = 0, source: String? = null) {
+        val controller = mediaController ?: return
+        queueRefs = tracks
+        val items = tracks.map { it.toMediaItem(source) }
+        controller.setMediaItems(items, initialIndex, /* startPositionMs = */ 0L)
+        controller.prepare()
+        controller.play()
+    }
+
+    // ── Internal: async connect + Listener-driven UI state sync ──────────
+
+    private suspend fun connectAndObserve() {
+        val controller =
+            try {
+                connectController()
+            } catch (e: Exception) {
+                uiStateInternal.value =
+                    uiStateInternal.value.copy(playbackError = e.message ?: "Player unavailable")
+                return
+            }
+        mediaController = controller
+        controller.addListener(
+            object : Player.Listener {
+                override fun onEvents(player: Player, events: Player.Events) {
+                    val idx = player.currentMediaItemIndex
+                    val current = queueRefs.getOrNull(idx)
+                    uiStateInternal.value =
+                        PlayerUiState(
+                            currentTrack = current,
+                            queue = queueRefs,
+                            queueIndex = idx,
+                            isPlaying = player.isPlaying,
+                            isBuffering = player.playbackState == Player.STATE_BUFFERING,
+                            positionMs = player.currentPosition.coerceAtLeast(0),
+                            durationMs = player.duration.coerceAtLeast(0),
+                            bufferedPositionMs = player.bufferedPosition.coerceAtLeast(0),
+                            playbackError = player.playerError?.message,
+                        )
+                }
+            },
+        )
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Bridges Media3's `ListenableFuture<MediaController>.buildAsync()`
+     * to a suspend function without pulling in `kotlinx-coroutines-guava`
+     * — the future's `addListener` callback is enough. `Runnable::run`
+     * is a direct executor (no extra threading) since the callback only
+     * unparks our continuation.
+     */
+    private suspend fun connectController(): MediaController =
+        suspendCancellableCoroutine { cont ->
+            val future = MediaController.Builder(context, sessionToken).buildAsync()
+            future.addListener(
+                {
+                    try {
+                        cont.resume(future.get())
+                    } catch (e: Exception) {
+                        cont.resumeWithException(e)
+                    }
+                },
+                Runnable::run,
+            )
+            cont.invokeOnCancellation { future.cancel(/* mayInterruptIfRunning = */ false) }
+        }
+
+    private fun TrackRef.toMediaItem(source: String?): MediaItem =
+        MediaItem.Builder()
+            .setMediaId(id)
+            .setUri(streamUrl)
+            .setMediaMetadata(
+                MediaMetadata.Builder()
+                    .setTitle(title)
+                    .setArtist(artistName)
+                    .setAlbumTitle(albumTitle)
+                    .apply { source?.let { setExtras(android.os.Bundle().apply { putString(MINSTREL_SOURCE_KEY, it) }) } }
+                    .build(),
+            )
+            .build()
+
+    companion object {
+        const val MINSTREL_SOURCE_KEY: String = "minstrel_source"
+    }
+}
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerUiState.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerUiState.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6d1253b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerUiState.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package com.fabledsword.minstrel.player
+
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.models.TrackRef
+
+/**
+ * Snapshot of what the player is doing, for the UI to read via
+ * [PlayerController.uiState]. Replaces the audio_service-style
+ * `PlaybackState + MediaItem` split — Media3 has those internally;
+ * this is the projection we hand to ViewModels.
+ */
+data class PlayerUiState(
+    val currentTrack: TrackRef? = null,
+    val queue: List<TrackRef> = emptyList(),
+    val queueIndex: Int = -1,
+    val isPlaying: Boolean = false,
+    val isBuffering: Boolean = false,
+    val positionMs: Long = 0,
+    val durationMs: Long = 0,
+    val bufferedPositionMs: Long = 0,
+    val playbackError: String? = null,
+)