diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/AppState.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/AppState.kt
index 8805946..b72cfcf 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/AppState.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/AppState.kt
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ class AppState(private val configStore: ConfigStore) {
     private val _selectedDevice = MutableStateFlow<DeviceInfo?>(null)
     val selectedDevice: StateFlow<DeviceInfo?> = _selectedDevice.asStateFlow()
 
+    /** Incremented after each thumbnail batch completes — DenseThumb observes this to retry */
+    private val _thumbnailVersion = MutableStateFlow(0)
+    val thumbnailVersion: StateFlow<Int> = _thumbnailVersion.asStateFlow()
+
     fun scanForDevices() {
         scope.launch {
             _deviceScan.value = DeviceScanState.Scanning
@@ -240,6 +244,10 @@ class AppState(private val configStore: ConfigStore) {
                     }
                 }
                 loaded += batchLoaded
+                if (batchLoaded > 0) {
+                    // Notify UI that new thumbnails are available
+                    _thumbnailVersion.value++
+                }
                 log.info("iOS thumbnails: $loaded / ${needed.size} loaded (batch ${batchIdx + 1}/${(needed.size + batchSize - 1) / batchSize})")
             } catch (e: Exception) {
                 log.warn("iOS thumbnail batch ${batchIdx + 1} failed: ${e.message}")
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/BrowseScreen.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/BrowseScreen.kt
index 1a9ccf3..abb91d8 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/BrowseScreen.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/BrowseScreen.kt
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ fun BrowseScreen(state: AppState) {
 
                     VerticalDivider()
 
+                    val thumbnailVersion by state.thumbnailVersion.collectAsState()
                     DensePhotoGrid(
                         folderSections = folderSections,
                         selectedPhotos = selectedPhotos,
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ fun BrowseScreen(state: AppState) {
                                 state.connectorFor(d).pullToFile(d, devicePath, localPath)
                             } ?: false
                         },
+                        thumbnailVersion = thumbnailVersion,
                         columnCount = columnCount,
                         listState = listState,
                         onTogglePhoto = { state.togglePhotoSelection(it) },
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/DensePhotoGrid.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/DensePhotoGrid.kt
index fca147e..52b70b3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/DensePhotoGrid.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/bolenpad/photophetch/ui/DensePhotoGrid.kt
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ fun DensePhotoGrid(
     selectedPhotos: Set<PhonePhoto>,
     cacheKey: String,
     pullFn: suspend (devicePath: String, localDestPath: Path) -> Boolean,
+    thumbnailVersion: Int = 0,
     columnCount: Int,
     listState: LazyListState,
     onTogglePhoto: (PhonePhoto) -> Unit,
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ fun DensePhotoGrid(
                             isSelected = labeled.photo in selectedPhotos,
                             cacheKey = cacheKey,
                             pullFn = pullFn,
+                            thumbnailVersion = thumbnailVersion,
                             onToggle = { onTogglePhoto(labeled.photo) },
                             dateLabel = labeled.dateLabel,
                             modifier = Modifier.weight(1f),
@@ -162,15 +164,16 @@ private fun DenseThumb(
     isSelected: Boolean,
     cacheKey: String,
     pullFn: suspend (devicePath: String, localDestPath: Path) -> Boolean,
+    thumbnailVersion: Int,
     onToggle: () -> Unit,
     dateLabel: String?,
     modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
 ) {
     var thumbnail by remember(photo.devicePath) { mutableStateOf<ImageBitmap?>(null) }
-    var thumbFailed by remember(photo.devicePath) { mutableStateOf(false) }
 
-    LaunchedEffect(photo.devicePath) {
-        if (!thumbFailed && thumbnail == null) {
+    // Re-run when thumbnailVersion increments (new batch cached) or on first composition
+    LaunchedEffect(photo.devicePath, thumbnailVersion) {
+        if (thumbnail == null) {
             val bytes = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
                 ThumbnailCache.get(
                     cacheKey = cacheKey,
@@ -182,9 +185,7 @@ private fun DenseThumb(
             if (bytes != null) {
                 runCatching {
                     thumbnail = SkiaImage.makeFromEncoded(bytes).toComposeImageBitmap()
-                }.onFailure { thumbFailed = true }
-            } else {
-                thumbFailed = true
+                }
             }
         }
     }