diff --git a/Android/app/src/test/java/com/archipelago/app/ui/screens/CompanionAudioTest.kt b/Android/app/src/test/java/com/archipelago/app/ui/screens/CompanionAudioTest.kt
index 5d60c444..421e1fc0 100644
--- a/Android/app/src/test/java/com/archipelago/app/ui/screens/CompanionAudioTest.kt
+++ b/Android/app/src/test/java/com/archipelago/app/ui/screens/CompanionAudioTest.kt
@@ -58,6 +58,38 @@ class CompanionAudioTest {
         } finally { CompanionAudioBridge.release(web); lifecycle.destroy(); web.destroy() }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @Config(shadows = [RecordingAudioMediaSession::class])
+    fun jpegArtworkReachesNotificationAndMediaDescription() {
+        // Real 16x16 JPEG generated by Chromium canvas, independent of Android bitmap shadows.
+        val artwork = "data:image/jpeg;base64,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"
+        assertNotNull(decodeArtwork(artwork))
+        val app = RuntimeEnvironment.getApplication()
+        val web = android.webkit.WebView(app); web.loadUrl("https://node.test/cloud")
+        val payload = state().put("session", "32345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc").put("artwork", artwork)
+        CompanionAudioBridge.receive(web, payload.toString(), "https://node.test", true, setOf("https://node.test")) {}
+        val lifecycle = Robolectric.buildService(CompanionAudioService::class.java).create()
+        try {
+            lifecycle.get().onStartCommand(null, 0, 1)
+            val notification = Shadows.shadowOf(lifecycle.get()).lastForegroundNotification
+            assertNotNull(notification.getLargeIcon())
+            // Robolectric's MediaController does not read MediaSession metadata;
+            // capture the actual service's setMetadata call instead.
+            val metadata = RecordingAudioMediaSession.metadata!!
+            assertNotNull(metadata.getBitmap(android.media.MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART))
+            assertNotNull(metadata.description.iconBitmap)
+            // Position-only refresh must retain the same thumbnail.
+            CompanionAudioBridge.receive(web, state().put("session", payload.getString("session")).put("sequence", 2).toString(),
+                "https://node.test", true, setOf("https://node.test")) {}
+            assertNotNull(Shadows.shadowOf(lifecycle.get()).lastForegroundNotification.getLargeIcon())
+            // A following song without art must not keep the previous cover.
+            CompanionAudioBridge.receive(web, state().put("session", payload.getString("session")).put("sequence", 3).put("artwork", "").toString(),
+                "https://node.test", true, setOf("https://node.test")) {}
+            assertNull(Shadows.shadowOf(lifecycle.get()).lastForegroundNotification.getLargeIcon())
+            assertNull(RecordingAudioMediaSession.metadata!!.description.iconBitmap)
+        } finally { CompanionAudioBridge.release(web); lifecycle.destroy(); web.destroy() }
+    }
+
     @Test fun diagnosticReportExcludesPrivateMessagesAndRecordsRejectionStage() {
         val app = RuntimeEnvironment.getApplication()
         val web = android.webkit.WebView(app)
@@ -116,3 +148,10 @@ class CompanionAudioTest {
         } finally { lifecycle.destroy() }
     }
 }
+
+@org.robolectric.annotation.Implements(android.media.session.MediaSession::class)
+class RecordingAudioMediaSession : org.robolectric.shadows.ShadowMediaSession() {
+    companion object { var metadata: android.media.MediaMetadata? = null }
+    @org.robolectric.annotation.Implementation
+    fun setMetadata(value: android.media.MediaMetadata) { metadata = value }
+}
diff --git a/docs/companion-audio-investigation-20261007.md b/docs/companion-audio-investigation-20261007.md
index 48ade996..426f2f20 100644
--- a/docs/companion-audio-investigation-20261007.md
+++ b/docs/companion-audio-investigation-20261007.md
@@ -124,10 +124,27 @@ Evidence:
   never produced a thumbnail; corrected composable produced a real JPEG. Browser
   checks also verified no cross-origin cookie, no followed redirect, and playback
   remained active after the optional image error.
-- No native runtime or APK version change. A positive native JPEG/notification/
-  metadata regression is prepared separately and awaits its coordinated test slot.
+- No native runtime or APK version change. The focused positive native JPEG
+  regression passed on SDK 28 and 35 (2 tests, zero failures/errors/skips). It
+  verifies the actual service places a real JPEG in the notification large icon
+  and media-description bitmap, retains it on position-only updates, and clears
+  it for an explicitly artless following song. Initial test compilation used
+  unavailable Java desktop ImageIO APIs; replacing that test-only fixture with a
+  fixed Chromium-generated JPEG resolved the harness issue. Production Kotlin
+  remained unchanged/up-to-date. All owned test JVMs exited after success.
 - This identifies and fixes a real artwork boundary defect, not the operator's
   exact cover URL. Physical notification-artwork acceptance remains open until
   the qualified UI reaches the node and the operator verifies it.
 
 Evidence folder: `~/.local/state/archipelago/release-qualification/companion-artwork-20261007/`.
+
+## Actual app artwork access limitation
+
+A separate read-only Chromium probe retained the managed node-demo-v4v iframe,
+but the actual app required Nostr login before initializing its media catalog.
+With signing and payments blocked, the probe timed out before obtaining a cover
+URL. No image access/CORS policy was bypassed, no credentials were forwarded,
+and no real app artwork was decoded in that probe. The successful browser A/B
+fixture and native JPEG test establish the corrected pipeline, not that the
+operator's particular cover is anonymously accessible. Physical artwork acceptance
+remains pending after the qualified UI deployment; APK 0.5.37 stays unchanged.