diff --git a/MISTAKES.md b/MISTAKES.md
index 756b4d3..4e2960b 100644
--- a/MISTAKES.md
+++ b/MISTAKES.md
@@ -15,3 +15,19 @@ mistakes keep happening so a human can later add a Cursor rule.
 ```
 
 Newest entries go below this line.
+
+## 2026-08-13: iOS tests asserted unverified AVPlayer.play() rate semantics
+
+**Category:** unverified-avfoundation-semantics
+**What happened:** Agent-authored FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests
+landed on main asserting `player.rate == 0` after `play()` on an
+AVPlayer whose item had already been detached. GitHub CI failed both
+`stopPlaybackDetachesPlayerItem` and
+`lateSeekResumeCannotRestartAfterTeardown` because `AVPlayer.play()`
+sets `rate` to `1.0` even when `currentItem` is `nil`.
+**Root cause:** The tests treated `rate` as proof that audio cannot
+resume, without checking how AVFoundation actually updates that
+property after `replaceCurrentItem(with: nil)`.
+**Prevention:** When asserting playback teardown, treat detached
+`currentItem` as the no-audio invariant. Only assert `rate == 0` at
+the moment teardown returns, not after a subsequent `play()`.
diff --git a/iosapp/iosapp/Views/TimelineView.swift b/iosapp/iosapp/Views/TimelineView.swift
index 745c8a2..dd13180 100644
--- a/iosapp/iosapp/Views/TimelineView.swift
+++ b/iosapp/iosapp/Views/TimelineView.swift
@@ -1400,9 +1400,10 @@ final class FullResolutionImageLoader: ObservableObject {
     }
 
     // Preserves play intent across direct-play byte-range replacement so
-    // buffering updates do not leave fullscreen video unexpectedly paused,
-    // while capturing the player weakly so dismiss teardown can outrun a late
-    // resume callback.
+    // buffering updates do not leave fullscreen video unexpectedly paused.
+    // Weak self plus an owner check are required because a dismissed
+    // AVPlayer can still be retained by the dismiss animation; capturing
+    // the player weakly is not enough to outrun a late resume callback.
     private func wireDirectPlaySeekResume(
         on loader: DirectPlayResourceLoader,
         player: AVPlayer,
@@ -1412,8 +1413,8 @@ final class FullResolutionImageLoader: ObservableObject {
         if armResume {
             _ = seekResumeGate.handleReplacementStarted(isPlayingOrWaiting: true)
         }
-        loader.onSeekRangeReplacementStarted = { [weak player] in
-            guard let player else { return }
+        loader.onSeekRangeReplacementStarted = { [weak self, weak player] in
+            guard let self, let player, self.player === player else { return }
             let shouldPause = seekResumeGate.handleReplacementStarted(
                 isPlayingOrWaiting: player.rate > 0
                     || player.timeControlStatus == .waitingToPlayAtSpecifiedRate
@@ -1422,12 +1423,10 @@ final class FullResolutionImageLoader: ObservableObject {
                 player.pause()
             }
         }
-        loader.onSeekRangeReplacementReady = { [weak player] in
-            if seekResumeGate.handleReplacementReady() {
-                Task { @MainActor in
-                    player?.play()
-                }
-            }
+        loader.onSeekRangeReplacementReady = { [weak self, weak player] in
+            guard let self, let player, self.player === player else { return }
+            guard seekResumeGate.handleReplacementReady() else { return }
+            player.play()
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/iosapp/iosappTests/FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests.swift b/iosapp/iosappTests/FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests.swift
index de03642..11f82c0 100644
--- a/iosapp/iosappTests/FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests.swift
+++ b/iosapp/iosappTests/FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests.swift
@@ -63,8 +63,10 @@ struct FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests {
         )
     }
 
-    // Ensures stopPlayback detaches the player item so a late play() cannot
-    // keep producing audio after the fullscreen UI is gone.
+    // Ensures stopPlayback detaches the player item so a later play()
+    // cannot produce audio. AVPlayer.play() still sets rate to 1.0 with
+    // no item; the detached currentItem is the invariant that proves
+    // nothing can decode.
     @Test func stopPlaybackDetachesPlayerItem() {
         let controller = VideoPreviewViewController(
             item: makeItem(id: "video-1", mediaType: "video"),
@@ -80,12 +82,11 @@ struct FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests {
         #expect(player.rate == 0)
         #expect(player.currentItem == nil)
         player.play()
-        #expect(player.rate == 0)
         #expect(player.currentItem == nil)
     }
 
-    // Reproduces the direct-play seek-resume race: an in-flight ready callback
-    // must not restart audio after teardown has already run.
+    // Reproduces the direct-play seek-resume race: in-flight started and
+    // ready callbacks captured before teardown must not restart audio.
     @Test func lateSeekResumeCannotRestartAfterTeardown() async throws {
         let loader = FullResolutionImageLoader(timelineManager: makeIsolatedManager())
         let player = makePlayer()
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ struct FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests {
             loader: directPlayLoader,
             armResume: true
         )
+        let pendingStarted = try #require(directPlayLoader.onSeekRangeReplacementStarted)
         let pendingReady = try #require(directPlayLoader.onSeekRangeReplacementReady)
 
         loader.teardownPlayback()
@@ -109,6 +111,14 @@ struct FullscreenVideoDismissPlaybackTests {
 
         #expect(player.rate == 0)
         #expect(player.currentItem == nil)
+
+        pendingStarted()
+        pendingReady()
+        await Task.yield()
+        try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 20_000_000)
+
+        #expect(player.rate == 0)
+        #expect(player.currentItem == nil)
     }
 
     // Covers the reported bug: paging from an image onto a video, then