diff --git a/docs/guide/voice-assistant.md b/docs/guide/voice-assistant.md
index 6897fff6..58afcf6c 100644
--- a/docs/guide/voice-assistant.md
+++ b/docs/guide/voice-assistant.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export TRANSCRIPTION_API_KEY="..."    # optional
 ```
 
 Restart the hub after changing credentials. API keys are not entered or stored in the web app.
-Realtime OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and Deepgram sessions receive only short-lived credentials minted by the hub. Browsers with an installed on-device `SpeechRecognition` language pack also expose **Browser on-device** as a realtime-only provider; HAPI never falls back from that option to browser-hosted recognition.
+Realtime OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and Deepgram sessions receive only short-lived credentials minted by the hub. Eligible desktop browsers with the on-device `SpeechRecognition` API expose **Browser on-device** as a realtime-only provider. HAPI checks the selected language pack when dictation starts and never falls back from that option to browser-hosted recognition. Mobile and unknown browser environments fail closed because this API is experimental and some Android WebViews expose unsafe partial implementations.
 
 ## Overview
 
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.test.ts b/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cdc3d4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport } from './browserLocalSpeech'
+
+const DESKTOP_USER_AGENT = 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36'
+
+function speechRecognitionShape(availableDescriptor?: PropertyDescriptor) {
+    class MockSpeechRecognition {
+        processLocally = false
+    }
+    Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false })
+    if (availableDescriptor) Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition, 'available', availableDescriptor)
+    return MockSpeechRecognition
+}
+
+describe('browser-local speech capability detection', () => {
+    it('uses the static available data property as a no-probe capability requirement', () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        const SpeechRecognition = speechRecognitionShape({ value: available })
+
+        const support = getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport({
+            userAgent: DESKTOP_USER_AGENT,
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+            speechRecognition: SpeechRecognition
+        })
+
+        expect(support?.constructor).toBe(SpeechRecognition)
+        expect(support?.available).toBe(available)
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('rejects missing, non-function, and getter available properties without reading a getter', () => {
+        const getter = vi.fn(() => vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available')))
+        const cases = [
+            speechRecognitionShape(),
+            speechRecognitionShape({ value: 'available' }),
+            speechRecognitionShape({ get: getter })
+        ]
+
+        for (const SpeechRecognition of cases) {
+            expect(getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport({
+                userAgent: DESKTOP_USER_AGENT,
+                userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+                speechRecognition: SpeechRecognition
+            })).toBeNull()
+        }
+
+        expect(getter).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('fails closed when a desktop-looking UA has mobile Android UA-CH signals', () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        const SpeechRecognition = speechRecognitionShape({ value: available })
+
+        expect(getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport({
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'Android', mobile: true },
+            speechRecognition: SpeechRecognition
+        })).toBeNull()
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('rejects desktop-looking UAs without trusted desktop UA-CH', () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        const SpeechRecognition = speechRecognitionShape({ value: available })
+
+        expect(getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport({
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+            speechRecognition: SpeechRecognition
+        })).toBeNull()
+        expect(getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport({
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 Version/18.0 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1',
+            speechRecognition: SpeechRecognition
+        })).toBeNull()
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.ts b/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..98aeffbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/hooks/browserLocalSpeech.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+export interface LocalSpeechRecognitionResult {
+    readonly isFinal: boolean
+    readonly 0: { readonly transcript: string }
+}
+
+export interface LocalSpeechRecognitionEvent extends Event {
+    readonly results: { readonly length: number; readonly [index: number]: LocalSpeechRecognitionResult }
+}
+
+export interface LocalSpeechRecognition extends EventTarget {
+    continuous: boolean
+    interimResults: boolean
+    lang: string
+    processLocally: boolean
+    onresult: ((event: LocalSpeechRecognitionEvent) => void) | null
+    onerror: ((event: Event & { error?: string }) => void) | null
+    onend: (() => void) | null
+    start: () => void
+    stop: () => void
+    abort: () => void
+}
+
+export interface LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor {
+    new(): LocalSpeechRecognition
+    prototype: LocalSpeechRecognition
+}
+
+export type LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability = (
+    options: { langs: string[]; processLocally: true }
+) => Promise<string> | string
+
+export interface BrowserLocalSpeechEnvironment {
+    userAgent?: string
+    userAgentData?: { platform?: string; mobile?: boolean }
+    speechRecognition?: unknown
+}
+
+export interface BrowserLocalSpeechSupport {
+    constructor: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
+    available: LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability
+}
+
+function currentUserAgent(): string {
+    return typeof navigator === 'undefined' ? '' : navigator.userAgent
+}
+
+function currentSpeechRecognition(): unknown {
+    return (globalThis as typeof globalThis & {
+        SpeechRecognition?: unknown
+    }).SpeechRecognition
+}
+
+function currentUserAgentData(): BrowserLocalSpeechEnvironment['userAgentData'] {
+    return (typeof navigator === 'undefined'
+        ? undefined
+        : (navigator as Navigator & { userAgentData?: BrowserLocalSpeechEnvironment['userAgentData'] }).userAgentData)
+}
+
+const SAFE_DESKTOP_PLATFORMS = new Set(['Windows', 'macOS', 'Linux', 'Chrome OS'])
+
+/**
+ * The experimental on-device speech API is eligible only with explicit,
+ * trustworthy User-Agent Client Hints that identify a desktop platform. Android
+ * WebViews can expose a partial shape whose native `available()` call crashes
+ * the renderer, so missing, unknown, and mobile environments fail closed.
+ */
+export function isConfirmedDesktopSpeechEnvironment(
+    _userAgent: string,
+    userAgentData?: BrowserLocalSpeechEnvironment['userAgentData']
+): boolean {
+    return userAgentData?.mobile === false
+        && typeof userAgentData.platform === 'string'
+        && SAFE_DESKTOP_PLATFORMS.has(userAgentData.platform)
+}
+
+function staticAvailabilityMethod(candidate: Function): LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability | null {
+    for (let target: object | null = candidate; target && target !== Function.prototype; target = Object.getPrototypeOf(target)) {
+        const descriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(target, 'available')
+        if (descriptor) return typeof descriptor.value === 'function'
+            ? descriptor.value as LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability
+            : null
+    }
+    return null
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks only the browser API shape. It intentionally does not instantiate
+ * recognition or call the experimental `SpeechRecognition.available()` method.
+ */
+export function getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport(
+    environment: BrowserLocalSpeechEnvironment = {}
+): BrowserLocalSpeechSupport | null {
+    const userAgent = environment.userAgent ?? currentUserAgent()
+    const userAgentData = environment.userAgentData ?? currentUserAgentData()
+    if (!isConfirmedDesktopSpeechEnvironment(userAgent, userAgentData)) return null
+
+    const candidate = environment.speechRecognition ?? currentSpeechRecognition()
+    if (typeof candidate !== 'function') return null
+    const constructor = candidate as LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
+    if (!constructor.prototype || !('processLocally' in constructor.prototype)) return null
+    const available = staticAvailabilityMethod(candidate)
+    return available ? { constructor, available } : null
+}
+
+export function hasBrowserLocalSpeechSupport(): boolean {
+    return getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport() !== null
+}
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.test.ts b/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.test.ts
index 9106384c..10cc6812 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,191 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { startDeepgramRealtimeTranscription, startOpenAIRealtimeTranscription } from './realtimeTranscription'
+import {
+    BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS,
+    getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbeSubscriberCountForTesting,
+    startBrowserLocalTranscription,
+    startDeepgramRealtimeTranscription,
+    startOpenAIRealtimeTranscription
+} from './realtimeTranscription'
+
+function browserLocalCallbacks() {
+    return {
+        onConnected: vi.fn(),
+        onPartial: vi.fn(),
+        onFinal: vi.fn(),
+        onError: vi.fn()
+    }
+}
+
+function installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available: () => Promise<string> | string, onConstruct = vi.fn()) {
+    class MockSpeechRecognition extends EventTarget {
+        static available = available
+        continuous = false
+        interimResults = false
+        lang = ''
+        processLocally = false
+        onresult: ((event: Event) => void) | null = null
+        onerror: ((event: Event) => void) | null = null
+        onend: (() => void) | null = null
+        start = vi.fn()
+        stop = vi.fn()
+        abort = vi.fn()
+        constructor() {
+            super()
+            onConstruct()
+        }
+    }
+    Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false, writable: true })
+    vi.stubGlobal('SpeechRecognition', MockSpeechRecognition)
+    vi.stubGlobal('navigator', {
+        userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+        userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+        language: 'en-US'
+    })
+    return { available, onConstruct, constructor: MockSpeechRecognition }
+}
+
+describe('browser-local realtime transcription', () => {
+    afterEach(() => {
+        vi.useRealTimers()
+        vi.unstubAllGlobals()
+    })
+
+    it('calls available only after an explicit browser-local dictation start', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+        const callbacks = browserLocalCallbacks()
+
+        const session = await startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks })
+
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ langs: ['en-US'], processLocally: true })
+        expect(callbacks.onConnected).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+        session.cancel()
+    })
+
+    it('shares one successful native probe across concurrent browser-local starts', async () => {
+        let resolveAvailable!: (status: string) => void
+        const available = vi.fn(() => new Promise<string>((resolve) => { resolveAvailable = resolve }))
+        const onConstruct = vi.fn()
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available, onConstruct)
+        const firstCallbacks = browserLocalCallbacks()
+        const secondCallbacks = browserLocalCallbacks()
+
+        const first = startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: firstCallbacks })
+        const second = startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: secondCallbacks })
+        await vi.waitFor(() => expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce())
+
+        resolveAvailable('available')
+        const sessions = await Promise.all([first, second])
+
+        expect(onConstruct).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+        expect(firstCallbacks.onConnected).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+        expect(secondCallbacks.onConnected).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+        sessions.forEach((session) => session.cancel())
+    })
+
+    it('surfaces a synchronous available failure', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => { throw new Error('native failure') })
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+
+        await expect(startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks() }))
+            .rejects.toThrow('native failure')
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    })
+
+    it('surfaces a rejected available probe', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.reject(new Error('probe rejected')))
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+
+        await expect(startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks() }))
+            .rejects.toThrow('probe rejected')
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    })
+
+    it('times out a stalled available probe', async () => {
+        vi.useFakeTimers()
+        const available = vi.fn(() => new Promise<string>(() => {}))
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+        const starting = startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks() })
+        const expectation = expect(starting).rejects.toThrow('availability check timed out')
+
+        await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS)
+
+        await expectation
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    })
+
+    it('does not invoke available when its start signal aborts before the native microtask', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+        const controller = new AbortController()
+        const starting = startBrowserLocalTranscription({
+            language: 'en-US',
+            signal: controller.signal,
+            callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks()
+        })
+        const expectation = expect(starting).rejects.toBeDefined()
+
+        controller.abort()
+        await expectation
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('shares a stalled native probe across timeout retries and ignores its late result', async () => {
+        vi.useFakeTimers()
+        let resolveAvailable!: (status: string) => void
+        const available = vi.fn(() => new Promise<string>((resolve) => { resolveAvailable = resolve }))
+        const onConstruct = vi.fn()
+        const speechRecognition = installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available, onConstruct)
+        const firstCallbacks = browserLocalCallbacks()
+        const first = startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: firstCallbacks })
+        const firstExpectation = expect(first).rejects.toThrow('availability check timed out')
+
+        await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS)
+        await firstExpectation
+        expect(getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbeSubscriberCountForTesting(speechRecognition.constructor, 'en-US')).toBe(0)
+
+        const second = startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks() })
+        const secondExpectation = expect(second).rejects.toThrow('availability check timed out')
+        await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS)
+        await secondExpectation
+        expect(getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbeSubscriberCountForTesting(speechRecognition.constructor, 'en-US')).toBe(0)
+
+        const controller = new AbortController()
+        const aborted = startBrowserLocalTranscription({
+            language: 'en-US',
+            signal: controller.signal,
+            callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks()
+        })
+        const abortedExpectation = expect(aborted).rejects.toBeDefined()
+        controller.abort()
+        await abortedExpectation
+        expect(getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbeSubscriberCountForTesting(speechRecognition.constructor, 'en-US')).toBe(0)
+
+        expect(available).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+        resolveAvailable('available')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+        await Promise.resolve()
+        expect(onConstruct).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+        expect(firstCallbacks.onConnected).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('rejects Android browser-local startup without calling a partial native available API', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
+        installBrowserLocalSpeechRecognition(available)
+        vi.stubGlobal('navigator', {
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 15; WebView)',
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'Android', mobile: true },
+            language: 'en-US'
+        })
+
+        await expect(startBrowserLocalTranscription({ language: 'en-US', callbacks: browserLocalCallbacks() }))
+            .rejects.toThrow('not supported by this browser')
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+})
 
 describe('OpenAI realtime transcription', () => {
     afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllGlobals())
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.ts b/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.ts
index 4dec17b7..4737beea 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/realtimeTranscription.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 import { DEEPGRAM_TRANSCRIPTION_MODEL } from '@hapi/protocol/voice'
+import {
+    getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport,
+    type LocalSpeechRecognition,
+    type LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability,
+    type LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor,
+    type LocalSpeechRecognitionEvent
+} from './browserLocalSpeech'
 
 export interface RealtimeTranscriptionCallbacks {
     onConnected: () => void
@@ -330,43 +337,120 @@ export async function startDeepgramRealtimeTranscription(options: {
     }
 }
 
-interface LocalSpeechRecognitionResult {
-    readonly isFinal: boolean
-    readonly 0: { readonly transcript: string }
+export const BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000
+
+interface BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe {
+    readonly available: LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability
+    readonly constructor: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
+    readonly language: string
+    readonly subscribers: Set<BrowserLocalAvailabilitySubscriber>
 }
 
-interface LocalSpeechRecognitionEvent extends Event {
-    readonly results: { readonly length: number; readonly [index: number]: LocalSpeechRecognitionResult }
+interface BrowserLocalAvailabilitySubscriber {
+    resolve: (status: string) => void
+    reject: (error: unknown) => void
 }
 
-interface LocalSpeechRecognition extends EventTarget {
-    continuous: boolean
-    interimResults: boolean
-    lang: string
-    processLocally: boolean
-    onresult: ((event: LocalSpeechRecognitionEvent) => void) | null
-    onerror: ((event: Event & { error?: string }) => void) | null
-    onend: (() => void) | null
-    start: () => void
-    stop: () => void
-    abort: () => void
+const browserLocalAvailabilityProbes = new WeakMap<LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor, Map<string, BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe>>()
+
+function browserLocalProbeMap(constructor: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor): Map<string, BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe> {
+    let probes = browserLocalAvailabilityProbes.get(constructor)
+    if (!probes) {
+        probes = new Map()
+        browserLocalAvailabilityProbes.set(constructor, probes)
+    }
+    return probes
 }
 
-interface LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor {
-    new(): LocalSpeechRecognition
-    prototype: LocalSpeechRecognition
-    available: (options: { langs: string[]; processLocally: true }) => Promise<string>
+function getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe(options: {
+    available: LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability
+    constructor: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
+    language: string
+}): BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe {
+    const probes = browserLocalProbeMap(options.constructor)
+    const existing = probes.get(options.language)
+    if (existing) return existing
+
+    const probe: BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe = {
+        ...options,
+        subscribers: new Set()
+    }
+    probes.set(options.language, probe)
+    queueMicrotask(() => {
+        if (probe.subscribers.size === 0) {
+            probes.delete(options.language)
+            return
+        }
+        Promise.resolve()
+            .then(() => probe.available.call(probe.constructor, { langs: [probe.language], processLocally: true }))
+            .then(
+                (status) => settleBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe(probes, probe, (subscriber) => subscriber.resolve(status)),
+                (error) => settleBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe(probes, probe, (subscriber) => subscriber.reject(error))
+            )
+    })
+    return probe
 }
 
-function localSpeechRecognitionConstructor(): LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor | null {
-    const constructor = (globalThis as typeof globalThis & {
-        SpeechRecognition?: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
-    }).SpeechRecognition
-    return constructor
-        && typeof constructor.available === 'function'
-        && 'processLocally' in constructor.prototype
-        ? constructor
-        : null
+function settleBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe(
+    probes: Map<string, BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe>,
+    probe: BrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe,
+    notify: (subscriber: BrowserLocalAvailabilitySubscriber) => void
+): void {
+    if (probes.get(probe.language) !== probe) return
+    probes.delete(probe.language)
+    const subscribers = Array.from(probe.subscribers)
+    probe.subscribers.clear()
+    subscribers.forEach(notify)
+}
+
+export function getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbeSubscriberCountForTesting(
+    constructor: object,
+    language: string
+): number {
+    return browserLocalAvailabilityProbes
+        .get(constructor as LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor)
+        ?.get(language)
+        ?.subscribers.size ?? 0
+}
+
+function abortError(signal: AbortSignal): unknown {
+    return signal.reason ?? new Error('On-device speech recognition availability check was aborted')
+}
+
+async function checkBrowserLocalSpeechAvailability(options: {
+    available: LocalSpeechRecognitionAvailability
+    constructor: LocalSpeechRecognitionConstructor
+    language: string
+    signal?: AbortSignal
+}): Promise<string> {
+    options.signal?.throwIfAborted()
+    const probe = getBrowserLocalAvailabilityProbe(options)
+
+    return await new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
+        let settled = false
+        const subscriber: BrowserLocalAvailabilitySubscriber = { resolve, reject }
+        const detach = () => probe.subscribers.delete(subscriber)
+        const finish = (callback: () => void) => {
+            if (settled) return
+            settled = true
+            clearTimeout(timeout)
+            options.signal?.removeEventListener('abort', onAbort)
+            detach()
+            callback()
+        }
+        const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+            finish(() => reject(new Error('On-device speech recognition availability check timed out')))
+        }, BROWSER_LOCAL_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS)
+        const onAbort = () => finish(() => reject(abortError(options.signal!)))
+        if (options.signal?.aborted) {
+            onAbort()
+            return
+        }
+        probe.subscribers.add(subscriber)
+        options.signal?.addEventListener('abort', onAbort, { once: true })
+        subscriber.resolve = (status) => finish(() => resolve(status))
+        subscriber.reject = (error) => finish(() => reject(error))
+    })
 }
 
 export async function startBrowserLocalTranscription(options: {
@@ -375,15 +459,18 @@ export async function startBrowserLocalTranscription(options: {
     callbacks: RealtimeTranscriptionCallbacks
 }): Promise<RealtimeTranscriptionSession> {
     options.signal?.throwIfAborted()
-    const constructor = localSpeechRecognitionConstructor()
-    if (!constructor) throw new Error('On-device speech recognition is not supported by this browser')
+    const support = getBrowserLocalSpeechSupport()
+    if (!support) throw new Error('On-device speech recognition is not supported by this browser')
     const language = options.language || navigator.language
-    if (await constructor.available({ langs: [language], processLocally: true }) !== 'available') {
+    // `available()` is deferred to a microtask so an abort between start and
+    // native invocation detaches its only consumer before touching the API.
+    options.signal?.throwIfAborted()
+    if (await checkBrowserLocalSpeechAvailability({ ...support, language, signal: options.signal }) !== 'available') {
         throw new Error(`On-device speech recognition is not installed for ${language}`)
     }
     options.signal?.throwIfAborted()
 
-    const recognition = new constructor()
+    const recognition = new support.constructor()
     recognition.continuous = true
     recognition.interimResults = true
     recognition.lang = language
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/useDictation.test.ts b/web/src/hooks/useDictation.test.ts
index e151f60d..77d3870c 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/useDictation.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/useDictation.test.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ describe('useDictation', () => {
     })
 
     it('shows on-device partial text and inserts only the final transcript', async () => {
+        vi.stubGlobal('navigator', {
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+            language: 'en-US'
+        })
         let recognition: MockSpeechRecognition | null = null
         class MockSpeechRecognition {
             static async available() { return 'available' }
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.test.tsx b/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e41141cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { renderHook, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type { ApiClient } from '@/api/client'
+import { useVoiceInputPreferences } from './useVoiceInputPreferences'
+
+function installPartialSpeechRecognition(available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))) {
+    class MockSpeechRecognition {
+        static available = available
+        processLocally = false
+    }
+    Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false })
+    vi.stubGlobal('SpeechRecognition', MockSpeechRecognition)
+    return available
+}
+
+describe('useVoiceInputPreferences', () => {
+    afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllGlobals())
+
+    it('discovers browser-local support from its shape without probing available on mount', async () => {
+        const available = installPartialSpeechRecognition()
+        vi.stubGlobal('navigator', {
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+            language: 'en-US'
+        })
+        const api = {
+            fetchTranscriptionProviders: vi.fn(async () => ({ providers: [] }))
+        }
+
+        const { result } = renderHook(() => useVoiceInputPreferences(api as unknown as ApiClient))
+
+        await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('browser-local'))
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('does not expose or probe partial browser-local speech APIs on Android', async () => {
+        const available = installPartialSpeechRecognition()
+        vi.stubGlobal('navigator', { userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 15; WebView)', language: 'en-US' })
+        const api = {
+            fetchTranscriptionProviders: vi.fn(async () => ({
+                providers: [{ id: 'openai', label: 'OpenAI', modes: ['standard', 'realtime'] }]
+            }))
+        }
+
+        const { result } = renderHook(() => useVoiceInputPreferences(api as unknown as ApiClient))
+
+        await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('openai'))
+        expect(result.current.providers).toHaveLength(1)
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.ts b/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.ts
index df107572..c655522b 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences.ts
@@ -7,33 +7,17 @@ import {
     type TranscriptionProviderInfo,
     type VoiceMode
 } from '@hapi/protocol/voice'
+import { hasBrowserLocalSpeechSupport } from './browserLocalSpeech'
 
 const VOICE_MODE_KEY = 'hapi-voice-mode'
 const TRANSCRIPTION_PROVIDER_KEY = 'hapi-transcription-provider'
 const TRANSCRIPTION_MODE_KEY = 'hapi-transcription-mode'
 const CHANGE_EVENT = 'hapi-voice-input-change'
-export const VOICE_LANGUAGE_CHANGE_EVENT = 'hapi-voice-language-change'
 
 function notifyChange(): void {
     window.dispatchEvent(new Event(CHANGE_EVENT))
 }
 
-async function browserLocalTranscriptionSupported(): Promise<boolean> {
-    const constructor = (globalThis as typeof globalThis & {
-        SpeechRecognition?: {
-            prototype: object
-            available?: (options: { langs: string[]; processLocally: true }) => Promise<string>
-        }
-    }).SpeechRecognition
-    if (!constructor || typeof constructor.available !== 'function' || !('processLocally' in constructor.prototype)) return false
-    const language = localStorage.getItem('hapi-voice-lang') || navigator.language
-    try {
-        return await constructor.available({ langs: [language], processLocally: true }) === 'available'
-    } catch {
-        return false
-    }
-}
-
 function readVoiceMode(): VoiceMode {
     return localStorage.getItem(VOICE_MODE_KEY) === 'dictation' ? 'dictation' : 'assistant'
 }
@@ -64,27 +48,21 @@ export function useVoiceInputPreferences(api: ApiClient | null) {
     useEffect(() => {
         if (!api) return
         let cancelled = false
-        let request = 0
-        const refreshProviders = () => {
-            const current = ++request
-            Promise.all([api.fetchTranscriptionProviders(), browserLocalTranscriptionSupported()]).then(([{ providers: configured }, browserLocal]) => {
-                if (cancelled || current !== request) return
-                const available = browserLocal
-                    ? [...configured, BROWSER_LOCAL_TRANSCRIPTION_PROVIDER]
-                    : configured
-                setProviders(available)
-                const selectedProvider = resolveProvider(available, localStorage.getItem(TRANSCRIPTION_PROVIDER_KEY))
-                setProviderState(selectedProvider)
-                setTranscriptionModeState(resolveMode(available, selectedProvider, localStorage.getItem(TRANSCRIPTION_MODE_KEY)))
-            }).catch(() => {
-                if (!cancelled && current === request) setProviders([])
-            })
-        }
-        refreshProviders()
-        window.addEventListener(VOICE_LANGUAGE_CHANGE_EVENT, refreshProviders)
+        const browserLocal = hasBrowserLocalSpeechSupport()
+        api.fetchTranscriptionProviders().then(({ providers: configured }) => {
+            if (cancelled) return
+            const available = browserLocal
+                ? [...configured, BROWSER_LOCAL_TRANSCRIPTION_PROVIDER]
+                : configured
+            setProviders(available)
+            const selectedProvider = resolveProvider(available, localStorage.getItem(TRANSCRIPTION_PROVIDER_KEY))
+            setProviderState(selectedProvider)
+            setTranscriptionModeState(resolveMode(available, selectedProvider, localStorage.getItem(TRANSCRIPTION_MODE_KEY)))
+        }).catch(() => {
+            if (!cancelled) setProviders([])
+        })
         return () => {
             cancelled = true
-            window.removeEventListener(VOICE_LANGUAGE_CHANGE_EVENT, refreshProviders)
         }
     }, [api])
 
diff --git a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.test.tsx b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.test.tsx
index 897f8fff..c2d263e6 100644
--- a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.test.tsx
+++ b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.test.tsx
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ describe('useVoiceSettings', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
         vi.clearAllMocks()
         localStorage.clear()
+        vi.stubGlobal('navigator', {
+            userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/140.0 Safari/537.36',
+            userAgentData: { platform: 'macOS', mobile: false },
+            language: 'en-US'
+        })
         fetchVoiceBackend.mockResolvedValue({ backend: 'elevenlabs', backends: ['elevenlabs'] })
         fetchVoices.mockResolvedValue([])
         class MockAudio {
@@ -85,8 +90,9 @@ describe('useVoiceSettings', () => {
     })
 
     it('uses realtime for the realtime-only browser provider', async () => {
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
         class MockSpeechRecognition {
-            static available() { return Promise.resolve('available') }
+            static available = available
             processLocally = false
         }
         Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false })
@@ -97,46 +103,28 @@ describe('useVoiceSettings', () => {
 
         await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('browser-local'))
         expect(result.current.transcriptionMode).toBe('realtime')
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     })
 
-    it('does not expose browser dictation without the selected language pack', async () => {
+    it('does not probe browser-local speech availability when the language changes', async () => {
         fetchTranscriptionProviders.mockResolvedValueOnce({
             providers: [{ id: 'openai', label: 'OpenAI', modes: ['standard', 'realtime'] }]
         })
+        const available = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve('available'))
         class MockSpeechRecognition {
-            static available() { return Promise.resolve('unavailable') }
+            static available = available
             processLocally = false
         }
         Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false })
         vi.stubGlobal('SpeechRecognition', MockSpeechRecognition)
-
-        const { result } = renderHook(() => useVoiceSettings(), { wrapper: Wrapper })
-
-        await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('openai'))
-        expect(result.current.providers).toHaveLength(1)
-    })
-
-    it('rechecks the on-device language pack when the language changes', async () => {
-        fetchTranscriptionProviders.mockResolvedValue({
-            providers: [{ id: 'openai', label: 'OpenAI', modes: ['standard', 'realtime'] }]
-        })
-        class MockSpeechRecognition {
-            static available({ langs }: { langs: string[] }) {
-                return Promise.resolve(langs[0] === 'en-US' ? 'available' : 'unavailable')
-            }
-            processLocally = false
-        }
-        Object.defineProperty(MockSpeechRecognition.prototype, 'processLocally', { value: false })
-        vi.stubGlobal('SpeechRecognition', MockSpeechRecognition)
-        localStorage.setItem('hapi-voice-lang', 'en-US')
         localStorage.setItem('hapi-transcription-provider', 'browser-local')
+
         const { result } = renderHook(() => useVoiceSettings(), { wrapper: Wrapper })
+
         await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('browser-local'))
 
         act(() => result.current.setVoiceLanguage({ code: 'zh-CN', name: 'Chinese', nativeName: '中文' }))
-        await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('openai'))
-
-        act(() => result.current.setVoiceLanguage({ code: 'en-US', name: 'English', nativeName: 'English' }))
-        await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.provider).toBe('browser-local'))
+        expect(result.current.provider).toBe('browser-local')
+        expect(available).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     })
 })
diff --git a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
index 5a9481cf..9fe048d8 100644
--- a/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
+++ b/web/src/routes/settings/useVoiceSettings.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
     writeStoredVoiceSelection,
 } from '@/lib/voicePickerPreferences'
 import type { VoiceBackendType } from '@hapi/protocol/voice'
-import { useVoiceInputPreferences, VOICE_LANGUAGE_CHANGE_EVENT } from '@/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences'
+import { useVoiceInputPreferences } from '@/hooks/useVoiceInputPreferences'
 
 export function useVoiceSettings() {
     const { api } = useAppContext()
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ export function useVoiceSettings() {
         setVoiceLanguageState(language.code)
         if (language.code === null) localStorage.removeItem('hapi-voice-lang')
         else localStorage.setItem('hapi-voice-lang', language.code)
-        window.dispatchEvent(new Event(VOICE_LANGUAGE_CHANGE_EVENT))
     }, [])
 
     const stopPreview = useCallback(() => {