diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelForwardingPlayer.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelForwardingPlayer.kt
index 52977949..9fe589b5 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelForwardingPlayer.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelForwardingPlayer.kt
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import androidx.lifecycle.ProcessLifecycleOwner
 import androidx.media3.common.ForwardingPlayer
 import androidx.media3.common.MediaItem
 import androidx.media3.common.Player
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.connectivity.NetworkStatusController
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.connectivity.ServerHealth
 import com.fabledsword.minstrel.player.output.ActiveUpnp
 import com.fabledsword.minstrel.player.output.ActiveUpnpHolder
 import com.fabledsword.minstrel.player.output.upnp.SoapFaultException
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@ class MinstrelForwardingPlayer(
     private val holder: ActiveUpnpHolder,
     private val remoteState: RemotePlayerState,
     private val castNetworkLock: CastNetworkLock,
+    private val networkStatus: NetworkStatusController,
     private val onDrop: (routeName: String) -> Unit,
 ) : ForwardingPlayer(delegate) {
 
@@ -460,14 +463,19 @@ class MinstrelForwardingPlayer(
 
     @OptIn(ExperimentalCoroutinesApi::class) // onTimeout / select.onReceive
     private suspend fun pollLoop(active: ActiveUpnp) {
+        var networkDropSuppressed = false
         while (scope.isActive && holder.active.value?.routeId == active.routeId) {
             val outcome = runCatching { pollOnce(active) }
             if (outcome.isSuccess) {
                 remoteState.recordPollSuccess()
+                networkDropSuppressed = false
             } else if (remoteState.recordPollFailure()) {
-                Timber.w("UPnP drop threshold tripped for %s", active.routeName)
-                handler.post { onDrop(active.routeName) }
-                return
+                if (networkStatus.state.value == ServerHealth.Healthy) {
+                    Timber.w("UPnP drop threshold tripped for %s", active.routeName)
+                    handler.post { onDrop(active.routeName) }
+                    return
+                }
+                networkDropSuppressed = suppressDropForNetwork(active, networkDropSuppressed)
             }
             // Race the normal cadence against any external wake (activity
             // resume). Whichever wins continues to the next pollOnce.
@@ -478,6 +486,30 @@ class MinstrelForwardingPlayer(
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The poll-failure threshold tripped, but the phone's *own* network is down
+     * (state is not [ServerHealth.Healthy]) -- so this is "we can't see the
+     * renderer right now," not "the renderer died." A UPnP renderer streams
+     * autonomously and is almost certainly still playing; meanwhile a local
+     * fallback couldn't reach the server either, so dropping would only blast
+     * local audio out of a pocketed phone while the speaker keeps going. Hold
+     * the route and keep polling -- a successful poll once the network returns
+     * reconciles to the renderer's real state. Clear the failure streak so
+     * recovery re-evaluates the renderer from scratch instead of re-dropping on
+     * the first post-recovery hiccup. Returns the (latched) suppression flag so
+     * the rationale logs once per outage, not every tick.
+     */
+    private fun suppressDropForNetwork(active: ActiveUpnp, alreadySuppressed: Boolean): Boolean {
+        if (!alreadySuppressed) {
+            Timber.w(
+                "UPnP drop suppressed for %s -- phone network %s, holding route",
+                active.routeName, networkStatus.state.value,
+            )
+        }
+        remoteState.recordPollSuccess() // clear streak; not a renderer failure
+        return true
+    }
+
     /**
      * One poll tick: read position + transport state from Sonos, apply to
      * [remoteState], and forward-sync the local cursor to Sonos's Track
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
index 47ecfc39..7c3a2cad 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ class PlayerFactory @Inject constructor(
             holder = activeUpnpHolder,
             remoteState = remoteState,
             castNetworkLock = CastNetworkLock(context),
+            networkStatus = serverHealth,
             onDrop = { name -> emitDrop(name) },
         )
     }