diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/Dashboard.vue b/neode-ui/src/views/Dashboard.vue
index cb1b6d0f..e9822c84 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/Dashboard.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/views/Dashboard.vue
@@ -91,8 +91,23 @@
         </div>
       </div>
 
-      <!-- Stable keyed frames retain playback across late media admission. -->
-      <DashboardAppSessions />
+      <!-- Panel mode app session — renders alongside current page content -->
+      <Transition name="panel-slide">
+        <div v-if="appLauncher.panelAppId && appLauncher.panelAppId !== appLauncher.mediaAppId" class="app-panel-container">
+          <AppSession
+            v-if="appLauncher.panelAppId !== appLauncher.mediaAppId"
+            :key="appLauncher.panelAppId"
+            :app-id-prop="appLauncher.panelAppId"
+            :path-prop="appLauncher.panelPath ?? undefined"
+            @close="appLauncher.closePanel()"
+          />
+        </div>
+      </Transition>
+      <Transition name="panel-slide">
+      <div v-if="appLauncher.mediaAppId" v-show="appLauncher.panelAppId === appLauncher.mediaAppId" class="app-panel-container">
+        <AppSession :key="appLauncher.mediaAppId" :app-id-prop="appLauncher.mediaAppId" :suspended="appLauncher.panelAppId !== appLauncher.mediaAppId" @close="appLauncher.closePanel()" />
+      </div>
+      </Transition>
     </main>
 
     <!-- Persistent Mobile Tabs + Bottom Tab Bar — outside <main> so position:fixed isn't broken by will-change:transform -->
@@ -112,7 +127,7 @@ import { useRouter, useRoute } from 'vue-router'
 import { useAppStore } from '../stores/app'
 import { useAppLauncherStore } from '../stores/appLauncher'
 import { appConfirm } from '@/composables/useAppConfirm'
-import DashboardAppSessions from '@/views/dashboard/DashboardAppSessions.vue'
+import AppSession from '@/views/AppSession.vue'
 import { useLoginTransitionStore } from '../stores/loginTransition'
 import { playDashboardLoadOomph } from '@/composables/useLoginSounds'
 
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/DashboardAppSessions.vue b/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/DashboardAppSessions.vue
deleted file mode 100644
index dbd982cd..00000000
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/DashboardAppSessions.vue
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-<template>
-  <TransitionGroup name="panel-slide">
-    <div v-for="id in sessionIds" :key="id" v-show="launcher.panelAppId === id" class="app-panel-container">
-      <AppSession :app-id-prop="id" :path-prop="paths.get(id)" :suspended="launcher.panelAppId !== id" @close="launcher.closePanel()" />
-    </div>
-  </TransitionGroup>
-</template>
-<script setup lang="ts">
-import { computed, reactive, watch } from 'vue'
-import { useAppLauncherStore } from '@/stores/appLauncher'
-import AppSession from '@/views/AppSession.vue'
-const launcher = useAppLauncherStore()
-const paths = reactive(new Map<string, string | undefined>())
-// A single keyed tree owns each frame throughout visible -> retained promotion.
-const sessionIds = computed(() => [...new Set([launcher.mediaAppId, launcher.panelAppId].filter((id): id is string => !!id))])
-watch([() => launcher.panelAppId, () => launcher.panelPath], ([id, path]) => {
-  if (!id) return
-  // Reopening playback without an explicit deep link keeps the original URL.
-  if (id === launcher.mediaAppId && paths.has(id) && path == null) return
-  paths.set(id, path ?? undefined)
-}, { immediate: true })
-watch(sessionIds, ids => {
-  for (const id of paths.keys()) if (!ids.includes(id)) paths.delete(id)
-}, { flush: 'sync' })
-</script>
-<style scoped>
-@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
-  .panel-slide-enter-active, .panel-slide-leave-active { transition: none !important; }
-}
-</style>
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/__tests__/DashboardAppSessions.test.ts b/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/__tests__/DashboardAppSessions.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 710a2da5..00000000
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/dashboard/__tests__/DashboardAppSessions.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-import { mount } from '@vue/test-utils'
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { defineComponent, h, nextTick, onMounted, onUnmounted } from 'vue'
-vi.mock('@/stores/appLauncher', async () => {
-  const {reactive} = await import('vue')
-  const state = reactive({panelAppId:null as string|null, mediaAppId:null as string|null, panelPath:null as string|null,
-    closePanel() {state.panelAppId=null;state.panelPath=null}})
-  return {useAppLauncherStore:()=>state}
-})
-import { useAppLauncherStore } from '@/stores/appLauncher'
-import DashboardAppSessions from '../DashboardAppSessions.vue'
-describe('stable dashboard app frame ownership', () => {
-  const mounted=vi.fn(), unmounted=vi.fn()
-  const Session=defineComponent({props:{appIdProp:String,pathProp:String,suspended:Boolean},setup(props) {
-    onMounted(()=>mounted(props.appIdProp));onUnmounted(()=>unmounted(props.appIdProp))
-    return ()=>h('iframe',{'data-app':props.appIdProp,src:props.pathProp ?? '/browse','data-suspended':String(props.suspended)})
-  }})
-  beforeEach(()=> {vi.clearAllMocks();const store=useAppLauncherStore();store.panelAppId=null;store.mediaAppId=null;store.panelPath=null})
-  it('keeps the exact playing frame and deep link through late promotion, close and reopen',async()=>{
-    const store=useAppLauncherStore();store.panelAppId='music';store.panelPath='/browse/album/one'
-    const wrapper=mount(DashboardAppSessions,{global:{stubs:{AppSession:Session,TransitionGroup:false}}})
-    const frame=wrapper.get('iframe').element as HTMLIFrameElement
-    frame.dataset.playbackPosition='17'
-    store.mediaAppId='music';await nextTick()
-    expect(wrapper.get('iframe').element).toBe(frame)
-    expect(mounted).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);expect(unmounted).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-    store.closePanel();await nextTick()
-    expect(wrapper.get('iframe').element).toBe(frame)
-    expect(frame.getAttribute('src')).toBe('/browse/album/one')
-    expect(frame.dataset.suspended).toBe('true')
-    store.panelAppId='music';await nextTick()
-    expect(wrapper.get('iframe').element).toBe(frame)
-    expect(frame.dataset.playbackPosition).toBe('17')
-    expect(frame.getAttribute('src')).toBe('/browse/album/one')
-    expect(frame.dataset.suspended).toBe('false')
-    expect(unmounted).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-    wrapper.unmount();expect(unmounted).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
-  })
-  it('keeps retained music while another app opens and promotes that app without recreating it',async()=>{
-    const store=useAppLauncherStore();store.panelAppId='music';store.panelPath='/first'
-    const wrapper=mount(DashboardAppSessions,{global:{stubs:{AppSession:Session,TransitionGroup:false}}})
-    const music=wrapper.get('iframe[data-app="music"]').element
-    store.mediaAppId='music';await nextTick()
-    store.panelPath='/station/two';store.panelAppId='radio';await nextTick()
-    const radio=wrapper.get('iframe[data-app="radio"]').element
-    expect(wrapper.get('iframe[data-app="music"]').element).toBe(music)
-    expect(music.getAttribute('src')).toBe('/first')
-    store.mediaAppId='radio';await nextTick()
-    expect(wrapper.get('iframe[data-app="radio"]').element).toBe(radio)
-    expect(mounted.mock.calls.map(call=>call[0])).toEqual(['music','radio'])
-    expect(unmounted).toHaveBeenCalledWith('music')
-    expect(unmounted).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('radio')
-    wrapper.unmount()
-  })
-})