diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/ui/MainActivity.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/ui/MainActivity.kt
index 7d5db4c..fbb3160 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/ui/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/ui/MainActivity.kt
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ import com.ponzischeme89.memby.ui.theme.MembyTheme
 import com.ponzischeme89.memby.ui.setup.SignInContent
 import com.ponzischeme89.memby.update.InstallPermission
 import com.ponzischeme89.memby.update.RequiredUpdateSignal
+import com.ponzischeme89.memby.update.nextUpdateCheckDelay
 import com.ponzischeme89.memby.update.requiredUpdateSatisfied
 import com.ponzischeme89.memby.update.ServerUpdateService
 import androidx.tv.material3.Button
@@ -247,7 +248,10 @@ class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
  */
 private const val ONBOARDING_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS = 2_500L
 private const val UPDATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS = 2_500L
-private const val UPDATE_CHECK_INTERVAL_MS = 60L * 60L * 1_000L
+// Update policy is live operator state, just like maintenance. The verdict is an in-memory
+// gateway read, so keeping this close to the maintenance poll means a set that was already
+// open sees a newly-required release promptly instead of as much as an hour later.
+private const val UPDATE_CHECK_INTERVAL_MS = 30_000L
 
 /**
  * How long to wait before asking again while the gateway has this build retired.
@@ -347,6 +351,11 @@ private fun AppRoot(onCloseSettings: () -> Unit) {
         // How many checks in a row have been made because this build is retired. Loop
         // state rather than app state: nothing outside this effect decides when to ask.
         var requiredAttempts = 0
+        // A launch timeout used to be treated like a successful "nothing to say" verdict,
+        // which put the next attempt an hour away. A television's first DNS/TLS connection
+        // is often the slowest one it makes, so failed or timed-out checks retry on the same
+        // bounded schedule as a retired build until the gateway gives a real answer.
+        var failedAttempts = 0
         while (true) {
             // What the gateway has already said about this build, read from disk rather
             // than from this loop's memory — the refusal is commonly one process old.
@@ -379,6 +388,11 @@ private fun AppRoot(onCloseSettings: () -> Unit) {
                 initialUpdateCheckComplete = true
                 firstCheck = false
             }
+            failedAttempts = if (result == null || result.isFailure) {
+                failedAttempts + 1
+            } else {
+                0
+            }
             requiredAttempts = if (retired != null && appUpdate == null) {
                 requiredAttempts + 1
             } else {
@@ -388,11 +402,14 @@ private fun AppRoot(onCloseSettings: () -> Unit) {
             // now. While this build is retired and no verdict has arrived, that schedule is
             // seconds rather than an hour — the alternative is a television sitting on a
             // screen it cannot leave, waiting on an answer nobody has asked for.
-            val wait = when {
-                requiredAttempts == 0 -> UPDATE_CHECK_INTERVAL_MS
-                requiredAttempts <= UPDATE_REQUIRED_FAST_ATTEMPTS -> UPDATE_REQUIRED_RETRY_MS
-                else -> UPDATE_REQUIRED_BACKOFF_MS
-            }
+            val wait = nextUpdateCheckDelay(
+                requiredAttempts = requiredAttempts,
+                failedAttempts = failedAttempts,
+                fastAttempts = UPDATE_REQUIRED_FAST_ATTEMPTS,
+                fastRetryMillis = UPDATE_REQUIRED_RETRY_MS,
+                backoffMillis = UPDATE_REQUIRED_BACKOFF_MS,
+                regularPollMillis = UPDATE_CHECK_INTERVAL_MS,
+            )
             withTimeoutOrNull(wait) { updateWake.receive() }
         }
     }
@@ -510,6 +527,10 @@ private fun AppRoot(onCloseSettings: () -> Unit) {
         // it a moment later, twice, during the one stretch of a launch that is busiest.
         // Hoisted to one call site, the screen and its clip survive the whole cold start.
         val openingQuoteStyle = when {
+            // A required update is a service gate, not launcher content. Once the gateway
+            // answers, uncover it immediately instead of making the viewer finish the
+            // decorative opening clip first. Optional prompts may wait for the intro.
+            appUpdate?.isMandatory == true -> null
             // Memby's own clip runs to its end before anything else is drawn. It is the one
             // thing the app owns and it was, in practice, never seen: the launcher uncovered
             // it whenever it happened to be ready, which on a warm start was a fraction of a
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckSchedule.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckSchedule.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..230ea47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckSchedule.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package com.ponzischeme89.memby.update
+
+/**
+ * Chooses when the app should next ask for live update policy.
+ *
+ * A timeout and a positive "no update" response are deliberately different states. The
+ * latter may wait for the regular policy poll; the former has learned nothing and retries
+ * quickly before settling onto a bounded backoff.
+ */
+internal fun nextUpdateCheckDelay(
+    requiredAttempts: Int,
+    failedAttempts: Int,
+    fastAttempts: Int,
+    fastRetryMillis: Long,
+    backoffMillis: Long,
+    regularPollMillis: Long,
+): Long = when {
+    requiredAttempts in 1..fastAttempts -> fastRetryMillis
+    requiredAttempts > fastAttempts -> backoffMillis
+    failedAttempts in 1..fastAttempts -> fastRetryMillis
+    failedAttempts > fastAttempts -> backoffMillis
+    else -> regularPollMillis
+}
diff --git a/app/src/test/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckScheduleTest.kt b/app/src/test/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckScheduleTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd50fe2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/test/java/com/ponzischeme89/memby/update/UpdateCheckScheduleTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package com.ponzischeme89.memby.update
+
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Test
+
+class UpdateCheckScheduleTest {
+    @Test
+    fun `a real verdict uses the regular live policy poll`() {
+        assertEquals(30_000L, delay(requiredAttempts = 0, failedAttempts = 0))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a timed out launch check retries promptly`() {
+        assertEquals(5_000L, delay(requiredAttempts = 0, failedAttempts = 1))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `repeated failures settle onto bounded backoff`() {
+        assertEquals(60_000L, delay(requiredAttempts = 0, failedAttempts = 5))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a retired build keeps the urgent schedule even after a successful empty check`() {
+        assertEquals(5_000L, delay(requiredAttempts = 1, failedAttempts = 0))
+    }
+
+    private fun delay(requiredAttempts: Int, failedAttempts: Int) = nextUpdateCheckDelay(
+        requiredAttempts = requiredAttempts,
+        failedAttempts = failedAttempts,
+        fastAttempts = 4,
+        fastRetryMillis = 5_000L,
+        backoffMillis = 60_000L,
+        regularPollMillis = 30_000L,
+    )
+}