diff --git a/backend/server.py b/backend/server.py
index f3348225..d5fb0725 100644
--- a/backend/server.py
+++ b/backend/server.py
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ def disable_watchdog():
     """Disable the parent watchdog so the server keeps running after parent exits."""
     global _watchdog_disabled
     _watchdog_disabled = True
+    # Ignore SIGHUP so the server survives when the parent Tauri process exits.
+    # On Unix, child processes receive SIGHUP when the parent's session leader
+    # exits, which would kill the server even though we want it to persist.
+    if sys.platform != "win32":
+        import signal
+        signal.signal(signal.SIGHUP, signal.SIG_IGN)
 
 
 def _start_parent_watchdog(parent_pid, data_dir=None):
@@ -130,7 +136,16 @@ def _start_parent_watchdog(parent_pid, data_dir=None):
                 watchdog_logger.info("Watchdog disabled (keep server running), stopping monitor")
                 return
             if not _is_pid_alive(parent_pid):
-                watchdog_logger.info(f"Parent process {parent_pid} gone, shutting down server...")
+                # Parent is gone. Before shutting down, give the app a moment
+                # to send /watchdog/disable — there is a race where the Tauri
+                # RunEvent::Exit handler sends the disable request while we are
+                # mid-iteration (already past the _watchdog_disabled check above).
+                watchdog_logger.info(f"Parent process {parent_pid} gone, waiting for possible disable request...")
+                time.sleep(1)
+                if _watchdog_disabled:
+                    watchdog_logger.info("Watchdog was disabled during grace period, keeping server alive")
+                    return
+                watchdog_logger.info("Watchdog still enabled after grace period, shutting down server...")
                 if sys.platform == "win32":
                     # sys.exit triggers SystemExit, allowing uvicorn to run
                     # shutdown handlers. os.kill(SIGTERM) on Windows calls
diff --git a/backend/voicebox-server.spec b/backend/voicebox-server.spec
index feccfae0..4d6b2df0 100644
--- a/backend/voicebox-server.spec
+++ b/backend/voicebox-server.spec
@@ -1,35 +1,34 @@
 # -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-
 from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files
 from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_submodules
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_all
 from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import copy_metadata
 
 datas = []
-hiddenimports = ['backend', 'backend.main', 'backend.config', 'backend.database', 'backend.models', 'backend.profiles', 'backend.history', 'backend.tts', 'backend.transcribe', 'backend.platform_detect', 'backend.backends', 'backend.backends.pytorch_backend', 'backend.utils.audio', 'backend.utils.cache', 'backend.utils.progress', 'backend.utils.hf_progress', 'backend.utils.validation', 'torch', 'transformers', 'fastapi', 'uvicorn', 'sqlalchemy', 'librosa', 'soundfile', 'qwen_tts', 'qwen_tts.inference', 'qwen_tts.inference.qwen3_tts_model', 'qwen_tts.inference.qwen3_tts_tokenizer', 'qwen_tts.core', 'qwen_tts.cli', 'pkg_resources.extern', 'backend.backends.mlx_backend', 'mlx', 'mlx.core', 'mlx.nn', 'mlx_audio', 'mlx_audio.tts', 'mlx_audio.stt']
+binaries = []
+hiddenimports = ['backend', 'backend.main', 'backend.config', 'backend.database', 'backend.models', 'backend.profiles', 'backend.history', 'backend.tts', 'backend.transcribe', 'backend.platform_detect', 'backend.backends', 'backend.backends.pytorch_backend', 'backend.utils.audio', 'backend.utils.cache', 'backend.utils.progress', 'backend.utils.hf_progress', 'backend.utils.validation', 'backend.cuda_download', 'backend.effects', 'backend.utils.effects', 'backend.versions', 'pedalboard', 'torch', 'transformers', 'fastapi', 'uvicorn', 'sqlalchemy', 'librosa', 'soundfile', 'qwen_tts', 'qwen_tts.inference', 'qwen_tts.inference.qwen3_tts_model', 'qwen_tts.inference.qwen3_tts_tokenizer', 'qwen_tts.core', 'qwen_tts.cli', 'pkg_resources.extern', 'backend.backends.mlx_backend', 'mlx', 'mlx.core', 'mlx.nn', 'mlx_audio', 'mlx_audio.tts', 'mlx_audio.stt']
 datas += collect_data_files('qwen_tts')
-# Use collect_all (not collect_data_files) so native .dylib and .metallib
-# files are bundled as binaries, not data. Without this, MLX raises OSError
-# when loading Metal shaders inside the PyInstaller bundle.
-from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_all as _collect_all
-_mlx_datas, _mlx_bins, _mlx_hidden = _collect_all('mlx')
-_mlxa_datas, _mlxa_bins, _mlxa_hidden = _collect_all('mlx_audio')
-datas += _mlx_datas + _mlxa_datas
 datas += copy_metadata('qwen-tts')
 hiddenimports += collect_submodules('qwen_tts')
 hiddenimports += collect_submodules('jaraco')
 hiddenimports += collect_submodules('mlx')
 hiddenimports += collect_submodules('mlx_audio')
+tmp_ret = collect_all('mlx')
+datas += tmp_ret[0]; binaries += tmp_ret[1]; hiddenimports += tmp_ret[2]
+tmp_ret = collect_all('mlx_audio')
+datas += tmp_ret[0]; binaries += tmp_ret[1]; hiddenimports += tmp_ret[2]
 
 
 a = Analysis(
     ['server.py'],
     pathex=[],
-    binaries=_mlx_bins + _mlxa_bins,
+    binaries=binaries,
     datas=datas,
     hiddenimports=hiddenimports,
     hookspath=[],
     hooksconfig={},
     runtime_hooks=[],
-    excludes=[],
+    excludes=['nvidia', 'nvidia.cublas', 'nvidia.cuda_cupti', 'nvidia.cuda_nvrtc', 'nvidia.cuda_runtime', 'nvidia.cudnn', 'nvidia.cufft', 'nvidia.curand', 'nvidia.cusolver', 'nvidia.cusparse', 'nvidia.nccl', 'nvidia.nvjitlink', 'nvidia.nvtx'],
     noarchive=False,
     optimize=0,
 )
diff --git a/landing/src/app/page.tsx b/landing/src/app/page.tsx
index e78d1ca3..203ddf1b 100644
--- a/landing/src/app/page.tsx
+++ b/landing/src/app/page.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 'use client';
 
 import { Github, Globe, Languages, MessageSquare, Zap } from 'lucide-react';
-import Image from 'next/image';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 import { ControlUI } from '@/components/ControlUI';
 import { Features } from '@/components/Features';
@@ -51,13 +50,11 @@ export default function Home() {
                 'drop-shadow(0 0 20px hsl(43 60% 50% / 0.4)) drop-shadow(0 0 60px hsl(43 60% 50% / 0.2))',
             }}
           >
-            <Image
+            {/* eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element */}
+            <img
               src="/voicebox-logo-app.webp"
               alt="Voicebox"
-              width={160}
-              height={160}
               className="h-full w-full object-contain mix-blend-lighten"
-              priority
             />
           </div>
 
diff --git a/scripts/build-server.sh b/scripts/build-server.sh
index a8458418..d9eb72c5 100755
--- a/scripts/build-server.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-server.sh
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ PLATFORM=$(rustc --print host-tuple 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
 echo "Building voicebox-server for platform: $PLATFORM"
 
 # Build Python binary
+# Resolve PATH to absolute paths before changing directory
+export PATH="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)/backend/venv/bin:$PATH"
 cd backend
 
 # Check if PyInstaller is installed
 if ! python -c "import PyInstaller" 2>/dev/null; then
     echo "Installing PyInstaller..."
-    pip install pyinstaller
+    python -m pip install pyinstaller
 fi
 
 # Build binary
diff --git a/tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index 7efd2eac..638746d5 100644
--- a/tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -5041,7 +5041,7 @@ checksum = "0b928f33d975fc6ad9f86c8f283853ad26bdd5b10b7f1542aa2fa15e2289105a"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "voicebox"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 dependencies = [
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "core-foundation-sys",
diff --git a/tauri/src-tauri/gen/Assets.car b/tauri/src-tauri/gen/Assets.car
index 8f321854..d849532b 100644
Binary files a/tauri/src-tauri/gen/Assets.car and b/tauri/src-tauri/gen/Assets.car differ
diff --git a/tauri/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/tauri/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index f6993cfa..f9aa6e36 100644
--- a/tauri/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/tauri/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -572,6 +572,7 @@ async fn restart_server(
 
 #[command]
 fn set_keep_server_running(state: State<'_, ServerState>, keep_running: bool) {
+    println!("set_keep_server_running called with: {}", keep_running);
     *state.keep_running_on_close.lock().unwrap() = keep_running;
 }
 
@@ -762,6 +763,8 @@ pub fn run() {
                 RunEvent::Exit => {
                     let state = app.state::<ServerState>();
                     let keep_running = *state.keep_running_on_close.lock().unwrap();
+                    let has_pid = state.server_pid.lock().unwrap().is_some();
+                    println!("RunEvent::Exit — keep_running={}, has_pid={}", keep_running, has_pid);
 
                     if keep_running {
                         // Tell the server to disable its watchdog so it survives
@@ -771,9 +774,13 @@ pub fn run() {
                             .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(2))
                             .build()
                             .unwrap();
-                        let _ = client
+                        match client
                             .post(&format!("http://127.0.0.1:{}/watchdog/disable", SERVER_PORT))
-                            .send();
+                            .send()
+                        {
+                            Ok(resp) => println!("Watchdog disable response: {}", resp.status()),
+                            Err(e) => eprintln!("Failed to disable watchdog: {}", e),
+                        }
                     } else {
                         // Server will self-terminate via parent-pid watchdog when
                         // this process exits. On Unix, also send SIGTERM for
diff --git a/tauri/src/platform/lifecycle.ts b/tauri/src/platform/lifecycle.ts
index d31ddd52..357f48d3 100644
--- a/tauri/src/platform/lifecycle.ts
+++ b/tauri/src/platform/lifecycle.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ class TauriLifecycle implements PlatformLifecycle {
         // @ts-expect-error - accessing module-level variable from another module
         const serverStartedByApp = window.__voiceboxServerStartedByApp ?? false;
 
+        console.log(
+          '[lifecycle] window-close-requested: keepRunning=%s, serverStartedByApp=%s',
+          keepRunning,
+          serverStartedByApp,
+        );
+
         if (!keepRunning && serverStartedByApp) {
           // Stop server before closing (only if we started it)
           try {