diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index af24624..2568565 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ src-tauri/target/
 # scripts/sync-android-sources.sh after every init.
 src-tauri/gen/
 
+# src-tauri/android/ is source, but it holds a build.gradle.kts with no
+# settings.gradle beside it, so any Gradle daemon that scans the tree — an IDE's,
+# not the wrapper's — mistakes that directory for a project root and drops a
+# cache in it. Nothing it writes is ours.
+src-tauri/android/**/.gradle/
+
 # Android signing material. A keystore in the repo is a signing key given away;
 # CI writes both of these from secrets.
 *.jks
diff --git a/scripts/sync-android-sources.sh b/scripts/sync-android-sources.sh
index a740fcc..11ec176 100755
--- a/scripts/sync-android-sources.sh
+++ b/scripts/sync-android-sources.sh
@@ -119,4 +119,62 @@ echo "  ✓ btleplug $BTLEPLUG_VERSION Java backend (com.nonpolynomial.btleplug)
 cp -r "$JNI_UTILS_SRC/java/src/main/java/io" "$APP/java/"
 echo "  ✓ jni-utils $JNI_UTILS_VERSION Java support (io.github.gedgygedgy.rust)"
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 3. Patch droidplug: subscribing to an *indicate* characteristic.
+#
+# Upstream writes ENABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE (0x01 0x00) to the CCCD whatever the
+# characteristic supports. A characteristic that indicates but does not notify
+# rejects that write, and the subscribe fails with "Unable to write descriptor".
+# BlueZ picks the value from the properties, so this is Android-only — which is
+# what made it look like a Click problem rather than a backend one.
+#
+# The Click's Sync TX channel (00000004-19ca-…) is read/indicate, so without
+# this we lose it on Android while every desktop build is fine.
+PERIPHERAL="$APP/java/com/nonpolynomial/btleplug/android/impl/Peripheral.java"
+OLD_LINE='descriptor.setValue(enable ? BluetoothGattDescriptor.ENABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE : BluetoothGattDescriptor.DISABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE);'
+NEW_LINE='descriptor.setValue(!enable ? BluetoothGattDescriptor.DISABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE : (characteristic.getProperties() & BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PROPERTY_NOTIFY) != 0 ? BluetoothGattDescriptor.ENABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE : BluetoothGattDescriptor.ENABLE_INDICATION_VALUE);'
+
+if ! grep -qF "$OLD_LINE" "$PERIPHERAL"; then
+  echo "❌ droidplug's CCCD write is not where this patch expects it." >&2
+  echo "   btleplug $BTLEPLUG_VERSION may have fixed or moved it — re-check" >&2
+  echo "   Peripheral.setCharacteristicNotification before dropping this step." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+python3 - "$PERIPHERAL" "$OLD_LINE" "$NEW_LINE" <<'PATCH'
+import sys
+path, old, new = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]
+text = open(path).read()
+open(path, 'w').write(text.replace(old, new, 1))
+PATCH
+echo "  ✓ patched droidplug to subscribe to indicate characteristics"
+
+# Patch droidplug: negotiate a usable ATT MTU.
+#
+# Upstream never calls requestMtu, so Android stays at the 23-byte default and a
+# notification carries at most 20 bytes of payload. BlueZ negotiates 517, which
+# is why this is invisible on desktop and why the `−` pod's button frames — 21
+# bytes, one longer than the cap — arrive whole on a PC and truncated on a
+# phone. A truncated frame fails to parse, so the paddle simply does nothing.
+#
+# Fire-and-forget: the request is queued on the connection and the negotiation
+# completes long before service discovery and the CCCD writes, so there is
+# nothing to wait for here. A refusal is survivable — it leaves us exactly where
+# we already were.
+MTU_ANCHOR='                                if (newState == BluetoothGatt.STATE_CONNECTED) {'
+MTU_PATCH='                                if (newState == BluetoothGatt.STATE_CONNECTED) {
+                                    gatt.requestMtu(517);'
+
+if ! grep -qF "$MTU_ANCHOR" "$PERIPHERAL"; then
+  echo "❌ droidplug's connect callback is not where this patch expects it." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+python3 - "$PERIPHERAL" "$MTU_ANCHOR" "$MTU_PATCH" <<'PATCH'
+import sys
+path, old, new = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]
+text = open(path).read()
+assert text.count(old) == 1, f"expected exactly one connect callback, found {text.count(old)}"
+open(path, 'w').write(text.replace(old, new, 1))
+PATCH
+echo "  ✓ patched droidplug to request a 517-byte MTU"
+
 echo "✅ Android sources synced"