android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/ui/DominantColor.kt

@@ -27,15 +27,21 @@ private const val GRADIENT_TWEEN_MS = 600
  * androidx.palette on a background thread, and animates the result
  * via [animateColorAsState] so track changes tween smoothly.
  *
- * Returns [Color.Transparent] while the bitmap is loading or on
- * any failure — callers should layer a fallback (e.g.
- * `MaterialTheme.colorScheme.surface`) underneath the gradient
- * tint so the screen never sits on a flat black.
+ * The held color is NOT reset when [coverUrl] changes — it stays on
+ * the previous track's dominant until the new palette resolves, so the
+ * gradient tweens old→new directly instead of dipping toward the
+ * fallback mid-swap. Mirrors `now_playing_screen.dart`'s preload-then-
+ * swap ("keep the previous dominant"); the cover image swaps smoothly
+ * via `CoverPrefetcher`, which warms the next track's bytes into Coil.
+ *
+ * Starts at [Color.Transparent] (cold mount) and resets to it only
+ * when a track has no cover — callers layer a base color underneath so
+ * the screen never sits on flat black.
  */
 @Composable
 fun rememberDominantColor(coverUrl: String?): Color {
     val context = LocalContext.current
-    var extracted by remember(coverUrl) { mutableStateOf(Color.Transparent) }
+    var extracted by remember { mutableStateOf(Color.Transparent) }
 
     LaunchedEffect(coverUrl) {
         if (coverUrl.isNullOrEmpty()) {
@@ -47,6 +53,7 @@ fun rememberDominantColor(coverUrl: String?): Color {
             .allowHardware(false)
             .build()
         val result = SingletonImageLoader.get(context).execute(request)
+        // Keep the previous dominant on load failure rather than dropping.
         if (result !is SuccessResult) return@LaunchedEffect
         val bitmap = result.image.toBitmap()
         val palette = withContext(Dispatchers.Default) {