diff --git a/docker-entrypoint.sh b/docker-entrypoint.sh
index a615b38..a6adeb0 100755
--- a/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -13,23 +13,39 @@ POLL=60                # how often to check on the app
 
 # Upgrade yt-dlp only if PyPI has a newer version.
 # Returns 0 if an update was installed, 1 otherwise (incl. errors / up to date).
+# Versions are compared numerically: the installed version can be zero-padded
+# (e.g. 2026.06.09) while PyPI reports the normalized form (e.g. 2026.6.9).
 check_and_update() {
-    current=$(python -c "import yt_dlp; print(yt_dlp.version.__version__)" 2>/dev/null) || return 1
-    latest=$(python -c "import json,urllib.request; print(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen('https://pypi.org/pypi/yt-dlp/json', timeout=30))['info']['version'])" 2>/dev/null) || {
-        echo "Could not reach PyPI to check for yt-dlp updates; will retry."
-        return 1
-    }
+    if python3 - <<'PY'
+import json, sys, urllib.request
+try:
+    import yt_dlp
+    current = yt_dlp.version.__version__
+    latest = json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(
+        'https://pypi.org/pypi/yt-dlp/json', timeout=30))['info']['version']
+except Exception as e:
+    print(f"Could not check for yt-dlp updates ({e}); will retry.")
+    sys.exit(1)
 
-    if [ "$current" = "$latest" ]; then
-        echo "yt-dlp is up to date ($current)."
-        return 1
-    fi
+def key(v):
+    try:
+        return tuple(int(p) for p in v.split('.'))
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
 
-    echo "New yt-dlp available: $current -> $latest. Updating..."
-    if pip install --upgrade --quiet --root-user-action=ignore "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"; then
-        return 0
+ck, lk = key(current), key(latest)
+newer = (lk > ck) if (ck and lk) else (current != latest)
+if newer:
+    print(f"New yt-dlp available: {current} -> {latest}. Updating...")
+    sys.exit(0)
+print(f"yt-dlp is up to date ({current}).")
+sys.exit(1)
+PY
+    then
+        pip install --upgrade --quiet --root-user-action=ignore "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]" \
+            && return 0
+        echo "yt-dlp update failed; continuing with the installed version."
     fi
-    echo "yt-dlp update failed; continuing with the installed version."
     return 1
 }
 
diff --git a/frontend/css/style.css b/frontend/css/style.css
index f165e55..660191e 100644
--- a/frontend/css/style.css
+++ b/frontend/css/style.css
@@ -1431,6 +1431,14 @@ body.feed-mode-open .mode-toggle-btn .icon-svg {
     height: 1px;
 }
 
+/* Stands in for the slides above the rendered window so scroll position and
+   snap points stay stable while slides are virtualized in and out. */
+.feed-top-spacer {
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 0;
+    flex: none;
+}
+
 .feed-slide {
     position: relative;
     width: 100%;
diff --git a/frontend/index.html b/frontend/index.html
index c0574bb..e72a4b0 100644
--- a/frontend/index.html
+++ b/frontend/index.html
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@
             <img class="icon-svg" id="feed-mute-icon" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/heroicons@2.0.13/24/outline/speaker-x-mark.svg" alt="Unmute">
         </button>
         <div id="feed-scroll" class="feed-scroll">
+            <div id="feed-top-spacer" class="feed-top-spacer"></div>
             <div id="feed-sentinel" class="feed-sentinel"></div>
         </div>
     </div>
diff --git a/frontend/js/feed.js b/frontend/js/feed.js
index 3415bd1..47f651b 100644
--- a/frontend/js/feed.js
+++ b/frontend/js/feed.js
@@ -3,10 +3,49 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
 
 (function() {
     const state = App.state;
-    let observer = null;
-    let sentinelObserver = null;
+
+    // Tuning knobs for the virtualized feed.
+    //
+    // The feed is a y-scroll-snap list where every slide is exactly one
+    // viewport tall. We never keep the whole list in the DOM. Instead we keep
+    // a sliding window of slides around the active one:
+    //
+    //   [active - HISTORY_COUNT  ..  active + RENDER_AHEAD]
+    //
+    // Everything outside that range is removed from the document; its video
+    // JSON stays in state.loadedVideos so the slide is rebuilt instantly when
+    // the user scrolls back to (or forward into) it. A top spacer absorbs the
+    // height of the not-yet-rendered slides above the window, so adding or
+    // removing slides never shifts the scroll position: any slide at index i
+    // always sits at scrollTop === i * slideHeight regardless of the window.
+    //
+    // Separately we prefetch PREFETCH_PAGES worth of video JSON ahead of the
+    // active slide so the data buffer is always full before we need to render
+    // a slide from it.
+    const PRELOAD_COUNT = 2;   // slides ahead kept with a live <video> playing/preloaded
+    const RENDER_AHEAD = 5;    // slides ahead kept materialized in the DOM
+    const HISTORY_COUNT = 5;   // slides behind kept materialized in the DOM
+    const PREFETCH_PAGES = 2;  // pages of JSON to keep buffered ahead of the active slide
+
+    // Map of loadedVideos index -> rendered .feed-slide element.
+    const slidesByIndex = new Map();
+    let scrollBound = false;
+    let scrollRaf = null;
 
     const getScroller = () => document.getElementById('feed-scroll');
+    const getSentinel = () => document.getElementById('feed-sentinel');
+    const getTopSpacer = () => document.getElementById('feed-top-spacer');
+
+    const slideHeight = function() {
+        const scroller = getScroller();
+        return (scroller && scroller.clientHeight) || window.innerHeight || 1;
+    };
+
+    const clampIndex = function(index) {
+        const total = (state.loadedVideos || []).length;
+        if (total === 0) return -1;
+        return Math.min(total - 1, Math.max(0, index));
+    };
 
     const destroySlidePlayback = function(slide) {
         const video = slide.querySelector('.feed-video');
@@ -82,8 +121,6 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
         timeline.addEventListener('pointercancel', stopScrubbing);
     };
 
-    const PRELOAD_COUNT = 2;
-
     const loadSlideSource = function(slide, videoData, autoplay) {
         const video = slide.querySelector('.feed-video');
         if (!video) return;
@@ -129,54 +166,24 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
         }
     };
 
-    const activateSlide = function(slide, videoData) {
-        loadSlideSource(slide, videoData, true);
-    };
-
-    // Keeps exactly [active, active+1, active+2] loaded: preloads the next
-    // PRELOAD_COUNT slides and tears down everything else. Centralizing this
-    // here (instead of letting each slide's own enter/leave intersection
-    // entry decide) avoids a race where the initial batch of "not
-    // intersecting" entries for not-yet-visible slides undoes the preload
-    // we just triggered for them.
-    const syncWindow = function(activeSlide) {
+    // Builds (or returns) the .feed-slide element for loadedVideos[index] and
+    // inserts it into the DOM in index order, between the top spacer and the
+    // sentinel.
+    const createSlide = function(index) {
+        if (slidesByIndex.has(index)) return slidesByIndex.get(index);
+        const v = (state.loadedVideos || [])[index];
+        if (!v) return null;
         const scroller = getScroller();
-        if (!scroller) return;
-        const slides = Array.from(scroller.querySelectorAll('.feed-slide'));
-        const index = slides.indexOf(activeSlide);
-        if (index === -1) return;
+        if (!scroller) return null;
 
-        const keep = new Set();
-        for (let i = index; i <= index + PRELOAD_COUNT && i < slides.length; i++) {
-            keep.add(slides[i]);
-        }
-        slides.forEach((slide) => {
-            if (keep.has(slide)) return;
-            if (slide.classList.contains('is-loaded')) {
-                destroySlidePlayback(slide);
-            }
-        });
-        for (let i = index + 1; i <= index + PRELOAD_COUNT && i < slides.length; i++) {
-            loadSlideSource(slides[i], slides[i]._videoData, false);
-        }
-    };
-
-    App.feed.isOpen = function() {
-        return !!state.feedOpen;
-    };
-
-    App.feed.renderSlides = function() {
-        const scroller = getScroller();
-        if (!scroller) return;
-        (state.loadedVideos || []).forEach((v) => {
-            if (state.feedRenderedIds.has(v.id)) return;
-            state.feedRenderedIds.add(v.id);
-
-            const slide = document.createElement('div');
-            slide.className = 'feed-slide';
-            slide.dataset.videoId = v.id;
-            const uploaderText = v.uploader || '';
-            slide.innerHTML = `
+        const slide = document.createElement('div');
+        slide.className = 'feed-slide';
+        slide.dataset.videoId = v.id;
+        slide.dataset.index = String(index);
+        slide._videoData = v;
+        slide._index = index;
+        const uploaderText = v.uploader || '';
+        slide.innerHTML = `
                 <img class="feed-poster" src="${v.thumb || ''}" alt="">
                 <video class="feed-video" muted playsinline webkit-playsinline loop preload="none"></video>
                 <div class="feed-info">
@@ -190,24 +197,140 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
                     </div>
                 </div>
             `;
-            const poster = slide.querySelector('.feed-poster');
-            App.videos.attachNoReferrerRetry(poster);
-            slide._videoData = v;
-            bindTimeline(slide, slide.querySelector('.feed-video'));
-            scroller.insertBefore(slide, document.getElementById('feed-sentinel'));
-            if (observer) observer.observe(slide);
+        const poster = slide.querySelector('.feed-poster');
+        App.videos.attachNoReferrerRetry(poster);
+        bindTimeline(slide, slide.querySelector('.feed-video'));
+
+        // Insert before the rendered slide with the next-highest index so DOM
+        // order always matches index order; fall back to the sentinel.
+        let ref = getSentinel();
+        let refIndex = Infinity;
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((el, i) => {
+            if (i > index && i < refIndex) {
+                refIndex = i;
+                ref = el;
+            }
+        });
+        scroller.insertBefore(slide, ref);
+        slidesByIndex.set(index, slide);
+        return slide;
+    };
+
+    const removeSlide = function(index) {
+        const slide = slidesByIndex.get(index);
+        if (!slide) return;
+        destroySlidePlayback(slide);
+        slide.remove();
+        slidesByIndex.delete(index);
+    };
+
+    // Brings the rendered window in line with the active index: drops slides
+    // that fell outside [active - HISTORY_COUNT, active + RENDER_AHEAD], builds
+    // any missing ones inside it, and sizes the top spacer to stand in for the
+    // slides above the window.
+    const syncWindow = function(activeIndex) {
+        const total = (state.loadedVideos || []).length;
+        if (total === 0) return;
+        const start = Math.max(0, activeIndex - HISTORY_COUNT);
+        const end = Math.min(total - 1, activeIndex + RENDER_AHEAD);
+
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((slide, i) => {
+            if (i < start || i > end) removeSlide(i);
+        });
+        for (let i = start; i <= end; i++) {
+            if (!slidesByIndex.has(i)) createSlide(i);
+        }
+
+        const spacer = getTopSpacer();
+        if (spacer) spacer.style.height = `${start * slideHeight()}px`;
+    };
+
+    // Once the active slide gets within PREFETCH_PAGES of the end of the loaded
+    // JSON, pull the next page so the buffer stays ahead of the rendered window.
+    const prefetchIfNeeded = function(activeIndex) {
+        const total = (state.loadedVideos || []).length;
+        const bufferAhead = total - 1 - activeIndex;
+        if (bufferAhead < PREFETCH_PAGES * (state.perPage || 12)
+            && state.hasNextPage && !state.isLoading) {
+            App.videos.loadVideos();
+        }
+    };
+
+    // Promotes the slide at `index` to active: syncs the window, updates the
+    // active styling, plays it, preloads the next PRELOAD_COUNT, and tears down
+    // playback for everything else in the window.
+    const setActive = function(index) {
+        const clamped = clampIndex(index);
+        if (clamped < 0) return;
+        state.feedActiveIndex = clamped;
+
+        syncWindow(clamped);
+
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((slide, i) => {
+            slide.classList.toggle('is-active', i === clamped);
+        });
+
+        const activeSlide = slidesByIndex.get(clamped);
+        if (activeSlide) loadSlideSource(activeSlide, activeSlide._videoData, true);
+
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((slide, i) => {
+            if (i === clamped) return;
+            if (i > clamped && i <= clamped + PRELOAD_COUNT) {
+                loadSlideSource(slide, slide._videoData, false);
+            } else if (slide.classList.contains('is-loaded')) {
+                destroySlidePlayback(slide);
+            }
+        });
+
+        prefetchIfNeeded(clamped);
+    };
+
+    const onScroll = function() {
+        if (scrollRaf) return;
+        scrollRaf = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+            scrollRaf = null;
+            const scroller = getScroller();
+            if (!scroller) return;
+            const index = clampIndex(Math.round(scroller.scrollTop / slideHeight()));
+            if (index < 0) return;
+            if (index !== state.feedActiveIndex) {
+                setActive(index);
+            }
         });
     };
 
-    App.feed.reset = function() {
+    const onResize = function() {
+        if (!state.feedOpen || state.feedActiveIndex < 0) return;
+        const h = slideHeight();
+        const start = Math.max(0, state.feedActiveIndex - HISTORY_COUNT);
+        const spacer = getTopSpacer();
+        if (spacer) spacer.style.height = `${start * h}px`;
         const scroller = getScroller();
-        document.querySelectorAll('.feed-slide').forEach((slide) => {
-            if (observer) observer.unobserve(slide);
+        if (scroller) scroller.scrollTop = state.feedActiveIndex * h;
+    };
+
+    App.feed.isOpen = function() {
+        return !!state.feedOpen;
+    };
+
+    // Called whenever new video JSON is appended (e.g. after a prefetch). Lets
+    // the open feed pick up newly buffered slides and extend its window if the
+    // active slide is near the end.
+    App.feed.renderSlides = function() {
+        if (!state.feedOpen || state.feedActiveIndex < 0) return;
+        setActive(state.feedActiveIndex);
+    };
+
+    App.feed.reset = function() {
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((slide) => {
             destroySlidePlayback(slide);
             slide.remove();
         });
-        state.feedRenderedIds.clear();
-        state.feedActiveSlide = null;
+        slidesByIndex.clear();
+        state.feedActiveIndex = -1;
+        const spacer = getTopSpacer();
+        if (spacer) spacer.style.height = '0px';
+        const scroller = getScroller();
         if (scroller) scroller.scrollTop = 0;
     };
 
@@ -221,46 +344,29 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
             App.player.close();
         }
 
-        if (!observer) {
-            observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries) => {
-                entries.forEach((entry) => {
-                    const slide = entry.target;
-                    if (entry.isIntersecting && entry.intersectionRatio >= 0.6 && state.feedActiveSlide !== slide) {
-                        const previousActive = state.feedActiveSlide;
-                        state.feedActiveSlide = slide;
-                        if (previousActive) previousActive.classList.remove('is-active');
-                        slide.classList.add('is-active');
-                        activateSlide(slide, slide._videoData);
-                        syncWindow(slide);
-                    }
-                });
-            }, { threshold: [0, 0.6, 1] });
-        }
-
-        if (!sentinelObserver) {
-            sentinelObserver = new IntersectionObserver((entries) => {
-                if (entries[0].isIntersecting) {
-                    App.videos.loadVideos();
-                }
-            }, { threshold: 0.01 });
-            const sentinel = document.getElementById('feed-sentinel');
-            if (sentinel) sentinelObserver.observe(sentinel);
-        }
-
         container.classList.add('open');
         container.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'false');
         document.body.classList.add('feed-mode-open');
         document.body.style.overflow = 'hidden';
 
-        App.feed.renderSlides();
-
-        if (startVideoId != null) {
-            const targetSlide = Array.from(scroller.querySelectorAll('.feed-slide'))
-                .find((slide) => slide.dataset.videoId === String(startVideoId));
-            if (targetSlide) scroller.scrollTop = targetSlide.offsetTop;
+        if (!scrollBound) {
+            scroller.addEventListener('scroll', onScroll, { passive: true });
+            window.addEventListener('resize', onResize);
+            scrollBound = true;
         }
 
-        document.querySelectorAll('.feed-slide').forEach((slide) => observer.observe(slide));
+        // Start from whichever grid video the user was looking at.
+        let startIndex = 0;
+        if (startVideoId != null) {
+            const found = (state.loadedVideos || [])
+                .findIndex((v) => String(v.id) === String(startVideoId));
+            if (found >= 0) startIndex = found;
+        }
+
+        // Force a fresh activation even if the index happens to match.
+        state.feedActiveIndex = -1;
+        setActive(startIndex);
+        scroller.scrollTop = startIndex * slideHeight();
 
         App.feed.updateToggleButton();
         App.feed.updateMuteButton();
@@ -270,8 +376,7 @@ App.feed = App.feed || {};
         const container = document.getElementById('feed-view');
         if (!container) return;
         state.feedOpen = false;
-        document.querySelectorAll('.feed-slide').forEach((slide) => destroySlidePlayback(slide));
-        state.feedActiveSlide = null;
+        slidesByIndex.forEach((slide) => destroySlidePlayback(slide));
         container.classList.remove('open');
         container.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
         document.body.classList.remove('feed-mode-open');
diff --git a/frontend/js/state.js b/frontend/js/state.js
index d6c8037..b2cd10b 100644
--- a/frontend/js/state.js
+++ b/frontend/js/state.js
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ App.state = {
     loadedVideos: [],
     feedOpen: false,
     feedMuted: true,
-    feedRenderedIds: new Set(),
-    feedActiveSlide: null,
+    feedActiveIndex: -1,
     groupCursors: null
 };