diff --git a/Android/app/build.gradle.kts b/Android/app/build.gradle.kts
index cdb40cf6..60d81262 100644
--- a/Android/app/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/Android/app/build.gradle.kts
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ android {
         applicationId = "com.archipelago.app"
         minSdk = 26
         targetSdk = 35
-        versionCode = 31
-        versionName = "0.5.11"
+        versionCode = 32
+        versionName = "0.5.12"
 
         vectorDrawables {
             useSupportLibrary = true
diff --git a/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/data/ServerQrParser.kt b/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/data/ServerQrParser.kt
index 1af28b16..465d8838 100644
--- a/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/data/ServerQrParser.kt
+++ b/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/data/ServerQrParser.kt
@@ -88,8 +88,18 @@ object ServerQrParser {
 
     private fun parseFips(uri: Uri): FipsPairInfo? {
         val npub = uri.getQueryParameter("fnpub")?.trim()
-        val host = uri.getQueryParameter("fhost")?.trim()
+        var host = uri.getQueryParameter("fhost")?.trim()
         if (npub.isNullOrBlank() || host.isNullOrBlank()) return null
+        // A .fips fhost is a dead dial hint: Android's system DNS can't
+        // resolve .fips, so every handshake send fails and first connect
+        // falls back to slow anchor discovery. If the QR's `url` host is a
+        // real address, dial that instead (QRs minted while the node UI was
+        // browsed over the mesh carry npub….fips here).
+        if (host.endsWith(".fips")) {
+            val urlHost = uri.getQueryParameter("url")
+                ?.let { runCatching { Uri.parse(it).host }.getOrNull() }
+            if (!urlHost.isNullOrBlank() && !urlHost.endsWith(".fips")) host = urlHost
+        }
         return FipsPairInfo(
             npub = npub,
             ula = uri.getQueryParameter("fip")?.trim().orEmpty(),
diff --git a/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/fips/FipsPreferences.kt b/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/fips/FipsPreferences.kt
index e4392529..3c78dec6 100644
--- a/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/fips/FipsPreferences.kt
+++ b/Android/app/src/main/java/com/archipelago/app/fips/FipsPreferences.kt
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
             if (peer.ip.isBlank() || peer.port <= 0) continue
             merged.put(JSONObject().apply {
                 put("npub", peer.npub)
-                put("alias", peer.name.ifBlank { "Party phone" })
+                put("alias", hostSafeAlias(peer.name.ifBlank { "party-phone" }))
                 put("addresses", JSONArray().put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", "udp")
                     put("addr", "${peer.ip}:${peer.port}")
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
         ) {
             merged.put(JSONObject().apply {
                 put("npub", ARCHY_ANCHOR_NPUB)
-                put("alias", "Archipelago anchor")
+                put("alias", "archipelago-anchor")
                 put("addresses", JSONArray().put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", ARCHY_ANCHOR_TRANSPORT)
                     put("addr", ARCHY_ANCHOR_ADDR)
@@ -200,16 +200,19 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
         val incoming = mutableListOf<JSONObject>()
         incoming += JSONObject().apply {
             put("npub", info.npub)
-            put("alias", alias.ifBlank { "Archipelago" })
+            put("alias", hostSafeAlias(alias.ifBlank { "Archipelago" }))
             val addresses = JSONArray()
-            if (info.udpPort > 0) {
+            // .fips hosts are unresolvable on Android (no system .fips DNS):
+            // storing one gives the mesh a dial target that fails every
+            // handshake and stalls first connect on anchor discovery.
+            if (info.udpPort > 0 && !info.host.endsWith(".fips")) {
                 addresses.put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", "udp")
                     put("addr", "${info.host}:${info.udpPort}")
                     put("priority", 10)
                 })
             }
-            if (info.tcpPort > 0) {
+            if (info.tcpPort > 0 && !info.host.endsWith(".fips")) {
                 addresses.put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", "tcp")
                     put("addr", "${info.host}:${info.tcpPort}")
@@ -220,9 +223,10 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
         }
         for (anchor in info.anchors) {
             if (anchor.npub == info.npub) continue
+            if (anchor.addr.substringBeforeLast(":").endsWith(".fips")) continue
             incoming += JSONObject().apply {
                 put("npub", anchor.npub)
-                put("alias", "Mesh anchor")
+                put("alias", "mesh-anchor")
                 put("addresses", JSONArray().put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", anchor.transport)
                     put("addr", anchor.addr)
@@ -237,7 +241,7 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
         ) {
             incoming += JSONObject().apply {
                 put("npub", ARCHY_ANCHOR_NPUB)
-                put("alias", "Archipelago anchor")
+                put("alias", "archipelago-anchor")
                 put("addresses", JSONArray().put(JSONObject().apply {
                     put("transport", ARCHY_ANCHOR_TRANSPORT)
                     put("addr", ARCHY_ANCHOR_ADDR)
@@ -258,3 +262,14 @@ class FipsPreferences(private val context: Context) {
         }
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Peer aliases feed the fips host map as `<alias>.fips` hostnames; anything
+ * that isn't a valid DNS label ("Framework PT" — the space) gets rejected and
+ * silently drops the peer from name resolution. Slug it instead of losing it.
+ */
+internal fun hostSafeAlias(alias: String): String =
+    alias.lowercase()
+        .replace(Regex("[^a-z0-9.-]+"), "-")
+        .trim('-', '.')
+        .ifBlank { "archipelago" }
diff --git a/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk b/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk
index bfa5d411..03617818 100644
Binary files a/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk and b/neode-ui/public/packages/archipelago-companion.apk differ
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue b/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
index a8f4526f..09ffe886 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
@@ -267,12 +267,20 @@ function isTailnetIp(host: string): boolean {
  *   - a tailnet 100.x address (operator browsing over Tailscale — a scanned
  *     QR carried one of these on 2026-07-22 and the companion sat there
  *     dialing an IP the phone had no route to)
+ *   - a .fips name or mesh ULA (operator browsing over the mesh — a scanned
+ *     QR carried npub….fips as fhost on 2026-07-24; Android's system DNS
+ *     can't resolve .fips, so the phone's direct dial died and first
+ *     connect crawled through anchor discovery instead of the LAN)
  */
 async function resolveServerUrl(): Promise<string> {
   if (IS_DEMO) return DEMO_SERVER_URL
   const { hostname, origin } = window.location
   const phoneUnreachable =
-    hostname === 'localhost' || hostname === '127.0.0.1' || isTailnetIp(hostname)
+    hostname === 'localhost' ||
+    hostname === '127.0.0.1' ||
+    isTailnetIp(hostname) ||
+    hostname.endsWith('.fips') ||
+    hostname.includes(':') // IPv6 literal — the node's mesh ULA
   if (!phoneUnreachable) return origin
   try {
     const res = await rpcClient.call<{ mdns_hostname?: string; lan_ip?: string | null }>({