diff --git a/agent/BACKLOG.md b/agent/BACKLOG.md
index 82fe4c9..4faa23f 100644
--- a/agent/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/agent/BACKLOG.md
@@ -75,6 +75,15 @@ Slices:
    | Signal | `Signal_status_icon_1` (generated, not a real theme name) | yes | **pixmap** — slice 3 |
    | ZapZap | *(empty)* | yes | **pixmap** — slice 3; check its own tray-style setting first |
    | EasyEffects 8 | `com.github.wwmm.easyeffects` (prior T14s finding) | — | **name-based**; NB `--gapplication-service` alone registers no SNI |
+
+   **Bernardo's visual verdict (T14s, 2026-07-11):** Telegram and ZapZap
+   already read fine on the bar — out of scope. The offenders are
+   **EasyEffects** (slice 2: name-based override) and **Signal**
+   (slice 3: pixmap; check for an app-side tray option, else document).
+   Related fix shipped same day: easyeffects.service now *waits for a
+   registered tray host* before starting (the old After=waybar.service
+   ordering was inert — waybar is supervisor-run, not a unit), so the
+   icon no longer vanishes on unlucky boot order.
 2. **Override layer:** an HM-managed shadow icon dir that wins the XDG
    lookup for the session icon theme (e.g. `xdg.dataFile
    "icons/<theme-iconset>/…"` shadowing the store copy, or a
diff --git a/modules/home/default.nix b/modules/home/default.nix
index 33feddf..6197290 100644
--- a/modules/home/default.nix
+++ b/modules/home/default.nix
@@ -41,14 +41,29 @@
 
   # Microphone noise cancellation (rnnoise) and audio EQ.
   # Tray icon is built into EasyEffects 8 (Qt StatusNotifierItem); the
-  # daemon must start after a tray host (Waybar) or the icon is missing
-  # for the whole session (wwmm/easyeffects#4636).
+  # daemon must start after a tray HOST is live or the icon is missing
+  # for the whole session (wwmm/easyeffects#4636). After=waybar.service
+  # was inert — Nomarchy's waybar runs from the nomarchy-waybar
+  # supervisor (Hyprland exec-once), not a systemd unit, so the race was
+  # a boot-order coin flip (lost on TuringMachine 2026-07-11). Gate on
+  # the watcher's IsStatusNotifierHostRegistered instead; the `-` prefix
+  # lets EasyEffects still start after the timeout on tray-less setups —
+  # audio processing must not hinge on an icon.
   services.easyeffects.enable = true;
   systemd.user.services.easyeffects = {
     Unit = {
-      After = [ "graphical-session.target" "tray.target" "waybar.service" ];
+      After = [ "graphical-session.target" "tray.target" ];
       Wants = [ "tray.target" ];
     };
+    Service.ExecStartPre = "-${pkgs.writeShellScript "wait-for-tray-host" ''
+      timeout 30 ${pkgs.bash}/bin/sh -c '
+        until ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/busctl --user get-property \
+            org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher /StatusNotifierWatcher \
+            org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher IsStatusNotifierHostRegistered \
+            2>/dev/null | ${pkgs.gnugrep}/bin/grep -q true; do
+          sleep 0.5
+        done'
+    ''}";
   };
 
   # Wifi from the bar: nm-applet lives in waybar's tray (SNI flag via