diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/jeanlucmakiola/clockula/MainActivity.kt b/app/src/main/java/de/jeanlucmakiola/clockula/MainActivity.kt
index 8009bf1..f0ff864 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/jeanlucmakiola/clockula/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/jeanlucmakiola/clockula/MainActivity.kt
@@ -1,38 +1,51 @@
 package de.jeanlucmakiola.clockula
 
 import android.content.Intent
+import android.graphics.Color
 import android.os.Bundle
 import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
+import androidx.activity.SystemBarStyle
 import androidx.activity.compose.setContent
 import androidx.activity.enableEdgeToEdge
+import androidx.compose.foundation.isSystemInDarkTheme
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
 import androidx.compose.material3.Surface
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
+import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue
 import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
+import androidx.lifecycle.compose.collectAsStateWithLifecycle
 import dagger.hilt.android.AndroidEntryPoint
+import de.jeanlucmakiola.clockula.data.prefs.SettingsPrefs
 import de.jeanlucmakiola.clockula.ui.crash.CrashReportActivity
 import de.jeanlucmakiola.clockula.ui.theme.ClockulaTheme
 import de.jeanlucmakiola.floret.crash.CrashReportDialog
 import de.jeanlucmakiola.floret.crash.CrashReporter
 import de.jeanlucmakiola.floret.crash.submitCrashReport
+import de.jeanlucmakiola.floret.prefs.Appearance
+import de.jeanlucmakiola.floret.prefs.isDark
+import javax.inject.Inject
 
 /**
- * Single activity. M0 scaffolding: it brings up the theme and the crash surface
- * and nothing else. The four-tab shell and the live pill (docs/PLAN.md §9) land
- * in M4, and the theme starts following stored preferences once the data layer
- * exists in M2 — until then [ClockulaTheme]'s own defaults (follow-system,
- * dynamic colour) stand in.
+ * Single activity. M1 scaffolding: it brings up the theme — now following the
+ * stored appearance preference — and the crash surface, and nothing else. The
+ * four-tab shell and the live pill (docs/PLAN.md §9) land in M4.
  */
 @AndroidEntryPoint
 class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
 
+    // Field-injected rather than read through a ViewModel: the appearance feeds
+    // the theme before any screen exists. The settings ViewModel arrives with
+    // the settings screen in M10.
+    @Inject
+    lateinit var settingsPrefs: SettingsPrefs
+
     // A captured crash report awaiting the user's decision, surfaced as a dialog
     // over the app on the next launch (the single-crash path). A startup
     // crash-loop is handled out of band, before setContent — see below.
@@ -50,13 +63,27 @@ class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
             return
         }
 
-        enableEdgeToEdge()
-
         // Surface a single captured crash as a dialog on the next launch.
         if (CrashReporter.shouldPrompt(this)) pendingCrashReport = CrashReporter.pendingReport(this)
 
         setContent {
-            ClockulaTheme {
+            // Until the first snapshot arrives, the family's defaults stand in —
+            // follow the system, dynamic colour on — so the first frame is never
+            // blocked on disk.
+            val appearance by settingsPrefs.appearance
+                .collectAsStateWithLifecycle(initialValue = Appearance())
+            val darkTheme = appearance.themeMode.isDark(isSystemInDarkTheme())
+
+            // The system bars follow the *resolved* theme, not the device night
+            // flag: with the device dark and ThemeMode.LIGHT stored, deriving the
+            // icon colours from the system would paint white icons onto a light
+            // background. Re-applied whenever the stored preference changes.
+            LaunchedEffect(darkTheme) { applyEdgeToEdge(darkTheme) }
+
+            ClockulaTheme(
+                darkTheme = darkTheme,
+                dynamicColor = appearance.dynamicColor,
+            ) {
                 Placeholder(Modifier.fillMaxSize())
                 pendingCrashReport?.let { report ->
                     CrashReportDialog(
@@ -76,6 +103,13 @@ class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
         }
     }
 
+    private fun applyEdgeToEdge(darkTheme: Boolean) {
+        enableEdgeToEdge(
+            statusBarStyle = SystemBarStyle.auto(Color.TRANSPARENT, Color.TRANSPARENT) { darkTheme },
+            navigationBarStyle = SystemBarStyle.auto(NAV_BAR_LIGHT_SCRIM, NAV_BAR_DARK_SCRIM) { darkTheme },
+        )
+    }
+
     override fun onResume() {
         super.onResume()
         // A successful start breaks any loop; reset the timing trail so a later
@@ -98,6 +132,10 @@ private fun Placeholder(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
     }
 }
 
+/** The scrims androidx uses for a three-button navigation bar, matched exactly. */
+private val NAV_BAR_LIGHT_SCRIM = Color.argb(0xe6, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF)
+private val NAV_BAR_DARK_SCRIM = Color.argb(0x80, 0x1b, 0x1b, 0x1b)
+
 @Composable
 private fun stringResourceAppName(): String =
     androidx.compose.ui.res.stringResource(R.string.app_name)