diff --git a/src/app/ClientProviders.tsx b/src/app/ClientProviders.tsx
index e1892bdc37..6bb0f37aca 100644
--- a/src/app/ClientProviders.tsx
+++ b/src/app/ClientProviders.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { ConsoleGreeting } from '@/components/Global/ConsoleGreeting'
 import RainCooldownIntroModal from '@/components/Global/RainCooldown/IntroModal'
 import StaleCardApprovalReEnableModal from '@/components/Global/StaleCardApproval/ReEnableModal'
 import BadgeEarnToast from '@/components/Badges/BadgeEarnToast'
+import { AppLockGate } from '@/components/Global/AppLock'
 import { ScreenOrientationLocker } from '@/components/Global/ScreenOrientationLocker'
 import { TranslationSafeWrapper } from '@/components/Global/TranslationSafeWrapper'
 import { PeanutProvider } from '@/config/peanut.config'
@@ -60,7 +61,9 @@ export function ClientProviders({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
                                     <HarnessBootstrap />
                                 </Suspense>
                             )}
-                            {children}
+                            {/* Wraps rather than sits beside the page: while the
+                                native app is locked, nothing protected renders. */}
+                            <AppLockGate>{children}</AppLockGate>
                         </TranslationSafeWrapper>
                     </FooterVisibilityProvider>
                 </ContextProvider>
diff --git a/src/components/Global/AppLock/index.tsx b/src/components/Global/AppLock/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d5b956140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Global/AppLock/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+'use client'
+
+/**
+ * Native app lock. Wraps the app on cold start and whenever it returns from
+ * more than LOCK_AFTER_BACKGROUND_MS in the background, so a session that
+ * outlives the user's attention doesn't hand the account to whoever picks the
+ * phone up next.
+ *
+ * It is a gate, not an overlay: while locked, the protected tree is not
+ * rendered at all. Nothing paints behind the lock screen and nothing back
+ * there is focusable or reachable by assistive tech. The cost is that
+ * remounting on unlock loses in-flight component state — acceptable, since the
+ * lock only fires on cold start (no state yet) or after five minutes
+ * backgrounded (where iOS has often discarded the webview anyway).
+ *
+ * Web is unaffected — there is no OS-backed presence check to lean on there,
+ * and a browser tab has no equivalent of "resumed from background".
+ */
+
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import { Button } from '@/components/0_Bruddle/Button'
+import { useAuth } from '@/context/authContext'
+import { isCapacitor } from '@/utils/capacitor'
+import { getUserPreferences } from '@/utils/general.utils'
+import { LOCK_AFTER_BACKGROUND_MS, requestLocalUserPresence } from '@/utils/app-lock'
+
+/**
+ * `pending` is the state that makes this a boundary rather than a curtain: on
+ * native we enter it on the very first client paint, before the user query can
+ * resolve and render balances. Only once auth settles do we learn whether this
+ * becomes `locked` or, for a signed-out user or one with no usable credential,
+ * `open`.
+ */
+type GateState = 'open' | 'pending' | 'locked'
+
+function LockScreen({
+    failed,
+    unlocking,
+    onUnlock,
+    onLogout,
+}: {
+    failed: boolean
+    unlocking: boolean
+    onUnlock: () => void
+    onLogout: () => void
+}) {
+    return (
+        <div className="fixed inset-0 z-[9999] flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-6 bg-white px-6">
+            <div className="text-center">
+                <h1 className="text-2xl font-bold">Peanut is locked</h1>
+                <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-grey-1">
+                    {failed ? 'Could not confirm it is you. Try again to continue.' : 'Confirm it is you to continue.'}
+                </p>
+            </div>
+            <div className="flex w-full max-w-xs flex-col gap-3">
+                <Button variant="purple" shadowSize="4" loading={unlocking} onClick={onUnlock}>
+                    Unlock
+                </Button>
+                <Button variant="stroke" shadowSize="4" onClick={onLogout}>
+                    Log out
+                </Button>
+            </div>
+        </div>
+    )
+}
+
+export function AppLockGate({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+    const { user, isFetchingUser, logoutUser } = useAuth()
+    const userId = user?.user.userId
+    const [state, setState] = useState<GateState>('open')
+    const [unlocking, setUnlocking] = useState(false)
+    const [failed, setFailed] = useState(false)
+    const backgroundedAt = useRef<number | null>(null)
+
+    const credentialId = userId ? getUserPreferences(userId)?.webAuthnKey?.authenticatorId : undefined
+
+    // Close the gate on the first client paint, before anything protected can
+    // render. Runs once — later transitions are driven by resume or unlock.
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (isCapacitor()) setState('pending')
+    }, [])
+
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (state !== 'pending' || isFetchingUser) return
+        // Nothing to protect, or no credential we could ever prompt against —
+        // a gate we can't open would strand the user in their own app.
+        setState(userId && credentialId ? 'locked' : 'open')
+    }, [state, isFetchingUser, userId, credentialId])
+
+    const attemptUnlock = useCallback(async () => {
+        setUnlocking(true)
+        const outcome = await requestLocalUserPresence(credentialId)
+        setUnlocking(false)
+        if (outcome === 'unlocked' || outcome === 'unsupported') {
+            setFailed(false)
+            setState('open')
+            return
+        }
+        setFailed(true)
+    }, [credentialId])
+
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (!isCapacitor() || !userId || !credentialId) return
+
+        let removeListener: (() => void) | undefined
+        let cancelled = false
+
+        import('@capacitor/app')
+            .then(({ App }) =>
+                App.addListener('appStateChange', ({ isActive }) => {
+                    if (!isActive) {
+                        backgroundedAt.current = Date.now()
+                        return
+                    }
+                    const since = backgroundedAt.current
+                    backgroundedAt.current = null
+                    if (since !== null && Date.now() - since > LOCK_AFTER_BACKGROUND_MS) {
+                        setFailed(false)
+                        setState('locked')
+                    }
+                })
+            )
+            .then((handle) => {
+                if (cancelled) {
+                    handle.remove()
+                    return
+                }
+                removeListener = () => handle.remove()
+            })
+            .catch(() => {
+                // No @capacitor/app bridge (web bundle, or an old native shell):
+                // resume-locking is unavailable. Cold-start locking still works.
+            })
+
+        return () => {
+            cancelled = true
+            removeListener?.()
+        }
+    }, [userId, credentialId])
+
+    // Prompt as soon as the gate closes, so the common case is one Face ID
+    // prompt and no taps at all.
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (state === 'locked' && !unlocking && !failed) void attemptUnlock()
+        // Deliberately keyed on `state` alone: including attemptUnlock or the
+        // transient flags would re-fire the prompt in a loop.
+        // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+    }, [state])
+
+    if (state === 'open') return <>{children}</>
+
+    // 'pending': auth hasn't settled, so we don't yet know whether to prompt.
+    // Show the bare cover rather than the "locked" copy, which would be a lie
+    // for a signed-out user about to be let straight through.
+    if (state === 'pending') return <div className="fixed inset-0 z-[9999] bg-white" />
+
+    return (
+        <LockScreen
+            failed={failed}
+            unlocking={unlocking}
+            onUnlock={() => void attemptUnlock()}
+            onLogout={() => void logoutUser()}
+        />
+    )
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/app-lock.test.ts b/src/utils/__tests__/app-lock.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5d8558fb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/app-lock.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/**
+ * The lock's safety property is asymmetric: failing to lock is a security
+ * weakness, but failing to UNLOCK strands the user in their own app with no
+ * way out. These tests pin which failure modes fall which way.
+ */
+import { webcrypto } from 'node:crypto'
+
+import { requestLocalUserPresence } from '../app-lock'
+import { base64URLToBytes } from '../native-webauthn'
+
+if (!globalThis.crypto?.getRandomValues) {
+    Object.defineProperty(globalThis, 'crypto', { value: webcrypto, configurable: true })
+}
+
+const CREDENTIAL_ID = 'YWJjZGVmZ2g'
+
+function withCredentialsGet(impl: () => Promise<Credential | null>) {
+    Object.defineProperty(globalThis, 'PublicKeyCredential', { value: function () {}, configurable: true })
+    Object.defineProperty(globalThis.navigator, 'credentials', {
+        value: { get: impl },
+        configurable: true,
+    })
+}
+
+describe('requestLocalUserPresence', () => {
+    it('reports unsupported when there is no stored credential to prompt against', async () => {
+        withCredentialsGet(async () => ({}) as Credential)
+        await expect(requestLocalUserPresence(undefined)).resolves.toBe('unsupported')
+    })
+
+    it('reports unsupported when the platform has no WebAuthn', async () => {
+        Object.defineProperty(globalThis, 'PublicKeyCredential', { value: undefined, configurable: true })
+        await expect(requestLocalUserPresence(CREDENTIAL_ID)).resolves.toBe('unsupported')
+    })
+
+    it('unlocks when the authenticator returns an assertion', async () => {
+        withCredentialsGet(async () => ({}) as Credential)
+        await expect(requestLocalUserPresence(CREDENTIAL_ID)).resolves.toBe('unlocked')
+    })
+
+    it('stays locked when the user cancels the prompt', async () => {
+        withCredentialsGet(async () => {
+            throw Object.assign(new Error('cancelled'), { name: 'NotAllowedError' })
+        })
+        await expect(requestLocalUserPresence(CREDENTIAL_ID)).resolves.toBe('dismissed')
+    })
+
+    it('reports unsupported when the authenticator rejects the request outright', async () => {
+        withCredentialsGet(async () => {
+            throw Object.assign(new Error('nope'), { name: 'NotSupportedError' })
+        })
+        await expect(requestLocalUserPresence(CREDENTIAL_ID)).resolves.toBe('unsupported')
+    })
+
+    it('pins the request to the stored credential and demands user verification', async () => {
+        let received: PublicKeyCredentialRequestOptions | undefined
+        withCredentialsGet(async (options?: CredentialRequestOptions) => {
+            received = options?.publicKey
+            return {} as Credential
+        })
+        await requestLocalUserPresence(CREDENTIAL_ID)
+        expect(received?.userVerification).toBe('required')
+        expect(received?.allowCredentials).toHaveLength(1)
+        // Assert the actual bytes, not just the count: a descriptor for the
+        // WRONG credential would satisfy a length check while letting some
+        // other passkey on the device open the lock.
+        expect(Array.from(new Uint8Array(received!.allowCredentials![0].id as ArrayBuffer))).toEqual(
+            Array.from(base64URLToBytes(CREDENTIAL_ID))
+        )
+        expect(new Uint8Array(received!.challenge as ArrayBuffer)).not.toHaveLength(0)
+    })
+})
diff --git a/src/utils/app-lock.ts b/src/utils/app-lock.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..050f1750e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/app-lock.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+// Native app lock: a local user-presence gate shown when the app is opened
+// cold or resumed after a spell in the background.
+//
+// This is deliberately a LOCAL check — the assertion is never sent to the API
+// for verification. The threat it addresses is physical: someone holding an
+// already-unlocked phone. The OS will not produce an assertion without the
+// user's biometric or device passcode, which is exactly the property we want.
+// Server-side proof of a fresh assertion is a separate concern (step-up auth on
+// sensitive endpoints) and does not belong in a UI lock.
+//
+// It is a privacy screen and a deterrent, NOT account protection: the session
+// token stays where it always was (webview storage / cookie jar), reachable by
+// anything that can read the app's filesystem, and clearing the stored
+// credential id disables the gate entirely. Making it a genuine control means
+// moving the token into biometric-guarded Keychain/Keystore — tracked
+// separately.
+
+import { base64URLToBytes } from './native-webauthn'
+
+/** How long the app may sit in the background before it relocks. */
+export const LOCK_AFTER_BACKGROUND_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000
+
+export type UnlockOutcome = 'unlocked' | 'dismissed' | 'unsupported'
+
+/**
+ * Prompts for the device biometric/passcode via a WebAuthn assertion against
+ * the user's existing passkey.
+ *
+ * Returns 'unsupported' when we cannot prompt at all — no WebAuthn, no stored
+ * credential id, or the authenticator rejecting the request outright
+ * (NotSupportedError). Callers must treat that as "do not lock": a lock we
+ * can't lift would strand the user in their own app with no way back. That
+ * makes every 'unsupported' path fail OPEN — this gate is a presence check for
+ * an honest user, not a security boundary against someone who can strip the
+ * stored credential id (see the module comment).
+ */
+export async function requestLocalUserPresence(credentialId?: string): Promise<UnlockOutcome> {
+    if (typeof window === 'undefined') return 'unsupported'
+    if (!credentialId) return 'unsupported'
+    if (!window.PublicKeyCredential || !navigator.credentials?.get) return 'unsupported'
+
+    const challenge = new Uint8Array(32)
+    crypto.getRandomValues(challenge)
+
+    try {
+        const assertion = await navigator.credentials.get({
+            publicKey: {
+                challenge,
+                // Copy into a fresh buffer: BufferSource wants Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer>,
+                // and base64URLToBytes is typed over the wider ArrayBufferLike.
+                allowCredentials: [{ id: new Uint8Array(base64URLToBytes(credentialId)), type: 'public-key' }],
+                userVerification: 'required',
+                timeout: 60_000,
+            },
+        })
+        return assertion ? 'unlocked' : 'dismissed'
+    } catch (error) {
+        // A cancelled prompt and a genuinely broken authenticator are
+        // indistinguishable here; both leave the app locked with a retry, which
+        // is the safe direction. NotSupportedError is the exception: it fails
+        // open (like the pre-flight checks), since it means this device cannot
+        // complete the ceremony at all and retrying would strand the user.
+        if (error instanceof Error && error.name === 'NotSupportedError') return 'unsupported'
+        return 'dismissed'
+    }
+}