diff --git a/src-tauri/android/deploy.sh b/src-tauri/android/deploy.sh
index 830d915..35ab1ed 100644
--- a/src-tauri/android/deploy.sh
+++ b/src-tauri/android/deploy.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,13 @@ echo "== install $(date +%T)"
 # launch and screenshot only when the phone is ours to drive: SoulStream or
 # the launcher on screen. Never take the screen from another app.
 FOCUS=$("$ADB" shell dumpsys window 2>/dev/null | grep -a "mCurrentFocus" | head -1)
-if echo "$FOCUS" | grep -qi "soulstream\|launcher"; then
+# herestring, not `echo | grep -q`: grep -q exits on its match while echo is
+# still writing, echo takes SIGPIPE, and the `pipefail` above promotes the
+# dead writer's 141 to the pipeline — so the test reports "not focused" having
+# just found SoulStream. $FOCUS is one line so it has never lost the race here,
+# but it is the same bug that made verify-icon.sh answer fail/pass/fail to one
+# unchanged APK.
+if grep -qi "soulstream\|launcher" <<< "$FOCUS"; then
     "$ADB" shell am start -n com.soulstream.app/.MainActivity >/dev/null
     sleep 5
     OUT="${SS_SHOT_DIR:-$(cygpath -u "$TEMP")}"
diff --git a/src-tauri/android/dev.sh b/src-tauri/android/dev.sh
index 9d85205..927cb0d 100644
--- a/src-tauri/android/dev.sh
+++ b/src-tauri/android/dev.sh
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ echo "== install $(date +%T)"
 "$ADB" reverse tcp:1421 tcp:1421
 "$ADB" shell am force-stop com.soulstream.app
 FOCUS=$("$ADB" shell dumpsys window 2>/dev/null | grep -a "mCurrentFocus" | head -1)
-if echo "$FOCUS" | grep -qi "soulstream\|launcher"; then
+# herestring, for the reason spelled out in deploy.sh beside the same test
+if grep -qi "soulstream\|launcher" <<< "$FOCUS"; then
     "$ADB" shell am start -n com.soulstream.app/.MainActivity >/dev/null
     echo "== launched $(date +%T) — serve the frontend on 1421 (npm run dev) if it is not up"
 else