diff --git a/neode-ui/index.html b/neode-ui/index.html
index a486583f..c0e2ceb1 100644
--- a/neode-ui/index.html
+++ b/neode-ui/index.html
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no, viewport-fit=cover, interactive-widget=resizes-content" />
     <meta name="description" content="Archipelago - Your sovereign personal server" />
     <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" />
+    <!-- Dark-only app: pin native controls dark before CSS loads. -->
+    <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark" />
     <meta name="mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />
     <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />
     <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent" />
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/components/AppSwitcher.vue b/neode-ui/src/components/AppSwitcher.vue
index 0bf5d32a..a3db347b 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/components/AppSwitcher.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/components/AppSwitcher.vue
@@ -104,11 +104,11 @@ function handleClickOutside(e: MouseEvent) {
 }
 
 onMounted(() => {
-  document.addEventListener('click', handleClickOutside)
+  document.addEventListener('pointerdown', handleClickOutside)
 })
 
 onBeforeUnmount(() => {
-  document.removeEventListener('click', handleClickOutside)
+  document.removeEventListener('pointerdown', handleClickOutside)
 })
 </script>
 
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/components/IdentityPicker.vue b/neode-ui/src/components/IdentityPicker.vue
index 4fdc892e..d42e8411 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/components/IdentityPicker.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/components/IdentityPicker.vue
@@ -131,10 +131,10 @@ async function loadIdentities() {
 
 onMounted(() => {
   loadIdentities()
-  document.addEventListener('click', onClickOutside)
+  document.addEventListener('pointerdown', onClickOutside)
 })
 
 onBeforeUnmount(() => {
-  document.removeEventListener('click', onClickOutside)
+  document.removeEventListener('pointerdown', onClickOutside)
 })
 </script>
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/style.css b/neode-ui/src/style.css
index d17b1302..eaa2ceb8 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/style.css
+++ b/neode-ui/src/style.css
@@ -2,6 +2,22 @@
 @tailwind components;
 @tailwind utilities;
 
+/* The app is dark-only — NEVER let the OS/browser theme leak into native
+   controls. Without this, select popups / scrollbars / date pickers follow
+   the user's OS setting (a light-mode ThinkPad rendered white dropdown
+   lists inside the dark UI, 2026-07-22). color-scheme pins Chromium's
+   native select popup dark; the explicit select/option rules cover
+   Firefox and the closed control itself. */
+:root {
+  color-scheme: dark;
+}
+select,
+select option,
+select optgroup {
+  background-color: #16181d;
+  color: #fff;
+}
+
 /* Montserrat - header font (used in neode present) */
 @font-face {
   font-family: 'Montserrat';
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/Mesh.vue b/neode-ui/src/views/Mesh.vue
index 10bdac71..64902469 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/Mesh.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/views/Mesh.vue
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ function updateKeyboardInset() {
 
 onMounted(async () => {
   window.addEventListener('resize', handleResize)
-  document.addEventListener('click', handleDocClickForMenu)
+  document.addEventListener('pointerdown', handleDocClickForMenu)
   window.addEventListener('archipelago:share-to-mesh', loadPendingFromSession)
   if (window.visualViewport) {
     window.visualViewport.addEventListener('resize', updateKeyboardInset)
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ onMounted(async () => {
 
 onUnmounted(() => {
   window.removeEventListener('resize', handleResize)
-  document.removeEventListener('click', handleDocClickForMenu)
+  document.removeEventListener('pointerdown', handleDocClickForMenu)
   window.removeEventListener('archipelago:share-to-mesh', loadPendingFromSession)
   if (window.visualViewport) {
     window.visualViewport.removeEventListener('resize', updateKeyboardInset)
@@ -1337,8 +1337,8 @@ function closeAttachMenuOnOutsideClick(ev: MouseEvent) {
   const target = ev.target as HTMLElement
   if (!target.closest('.mesh-attach-menu-anchor')) showAttachMenu.value = false
 }
-onMounted(() => document.addEventListener('click', closeAttachMenuOnOutsideClick))
-onUnmounted(() => document.removeEventListener('click', closeAttachMenuOnOutsideClick))
+onMounted(() => document.addEventListener('pointerdown', closeAttachMenuOnOutsideClick))
+onUnmounted(() => document.removeEventListener('pointerdown', closeAttachMenuOnOutsideClick))
 const attachError = ref<string | null>(null)
 const fetchingCids = ref<Set<string>>(new Set())
 const fetchedUrls = ref<Map<string, string>>(new Map())