diff --git a/src/components/FeedFilterToolbarRow/index.tsx b/src/components/FeedFilterToolbarRow/index.tsx
index b402f3cf..3beaf810 100644
--- a/src/components/FeedFilterToolbarRow/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FeedFilterToolbarRow/index.tsx
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ export default function FeedFilterToolbarRow({
       {onRefresh != null ? <RefreshButton onClick={onRefresh} /> : null}
       <KindFilter showKinds={showKinds} onShowKindsChange={onShowKindsChange} />
       {includeFeedSearchSlot ? (
-        <div ref={feedFilterTabRowSlotRef} className="flex shrink-0 flex-nowrap items-center" />
+        <div
+          ref={feedFilterTabRowSlotRef}
+          className="flex min-w-0 flex-1 flex-nowrap items-center justify-end gap-1 overflow-hidden"
+        />
       ) : null}
     </div>
   )
diff --git a/src/components/FeedRelaysIconRow/index.tsx b/src/components/FeedRelaysIconRow/index.tsx
index b9118b82..3cc20637 100644
--- a/src/components/FeedRelaysIconRow/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FeedRelaysIconRow/index.tsx
@@ -9,18 +9,27 @@ import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
 
 export function FeedRelaysIconRow({
   urls,
-  className
+  className,
+  compact = false
 }: {
   urls: readonly string[]
   className?: string
+  /** Smaller icons for inline toolbar rows (e.g. next to the feed filter toggle). */
+  compact?: boolean
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation()
   const { navigateToRelay } = useSmartRelayNavigation()
   if (urls.length === 0) return null
 
+  const buttonClass = compact
+    ? 'h-5 w-5 min-h-5 min-w-5 shrink-0 rounded-full p-0 hover:bg-muted/80'
+    : 'h-7 w-7 min-h-7 min-w-7 shrink-0 rounded-full p-0 hover:bg-muted/80'
+  const iconClass = compact ? 'h-4 w-4' : 'h-6 w-6'
+  const iconSize = compact ? 8 : 12
+
   return (
     <div
-      className={cn('flex min-w-0 flex-wrap items-center gap-1', className)}
+      className={cn('flex min-w-0 flex-nowrap items-center', compact ? 'gap-0.5' : 'gap-1', className)}
       role="group"
       aria-label={t('Feed relays', { defaultValue: 'Relays in this feed' })}
     >
@@ -36,7 +45,7 @@ export function FeedRelaysIconRow({
             type="button"
             variant="ghost"
             size="sm"
-            className="h-7 w-7 min-h-7 min-w-7 shrink-0 rounded-full p-0 hover:bg-muted/80"
+            className={buttonClass}
             title={title}
             aria-label={
               isTrending
@@ -45,7 +54,7 @@ export function FeedRelaysIconRow({
             }
             onClick={() => navigateToRelay(toRelay(url))}
           >
-            <RelayIcon url={url} className="h-6 w-6" iconSize={12} />
+            <RelayIcon url={url} className={iconClass} iconSize={iconSize} />
           </Button>
         )
       })}
diff --git a/src/components/KindFilter/index.tsx b/src/components/KindFilter/index.tsx
index a845f5ce..04c5decd 100644
--- a/src/components/KindFilter/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/KindFilter/index.tsx
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import {
 } from '@/lib/feed-kind-filter'
 import { LIVE_ACTIVITY_KINDS } from '@/lib/live-activities'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
-import { useFontSize } from '@/providers/FontSizeProvider'
 import { useKindFilterOrDefaults } from '@/providers/KindFilterProvider'
 import { useScreenSize } from '@/providers/ScreenSizeProvider'
 import { ListFilter } from 'lucide-react'
@@ -60,7 +59,6 @@ export default function KindFilter({
 }) {
   const { t } = useTranslation()
   const { isSmallScreen } = useScreenSize()
-  const { fontSize } = useFontSize()
   const {
     showKinds: savedShowKinds,
     showKind1OPs: savedShowKind1OPs,
@@ -170,7 +168,7 @@ export default function KindFilter({
       size="titlebar-icon"
       aria-label={t('Filter')}
       className={cn(
-        'relative h-8 w-fit shrink-0 px-1.5 text-xs focus:text-foreground',
+        'relative shrink-0 focus:text-foreground',
         !isDifferentFromSaved && !feedKindFilterBypass && 'text-muted-foreground',
         feedKindFilterBypass && 'text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400'
       )}
@@ -180,17 +178,9 @@ export default function KindFilter({
         }
       }}
     >
-      <ListFilter className="size-3.5 shrink-0" />
-      <span
-        className={cn(
-          'ml-1 hidden',
-          isSmallScreen && fontSize === 'large' ? 'min-[400px]:inline' : 'min-[352px]:inline'
-        )}
-      >
-        {t('Filter')}
-      </span>
+      <ListFilter className="size-5 shrink-0" />
       {isDifferentFromSaved && (
-        <div className="absolute size-1.5 rounded-full bg-primary left-6 top-1.5 ring-1 ring-background" />
+        <div className="absolute size-1.5 rounded-full bg-primary right-1.5 top-1.5 ring-1 ring-background" />
       )}
     </Button>
   )
diff --git a/src/components/NoteList/index.tsx b/src/components/NoteList/index.tsx
index c6c2144d..fe89ee37 100644
--- a/src/components/NoteList/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NoteList/index.tsx
@@ -4653,14 +4653,17 @@ const NoteList = forwardRef(
       </Button>
     )
 
+    const feedRelayToolbarRow =
+      feedRelayUrls.length > 0 ? (
+        <FeedRelaysIconRow
+          urls={feedRelayUrls}
+          compact
+          className="min-w-0 flex-1 overflow-x-auto scrollbar-hide"
+        />
+      ) : null
+
     const feedClientFilterPanel = feedClientFilterOpen ? (
       <div id="feed-client-filter-panel" className={feedClientFilterPanelSurfaceClass}>
-            {feedRelayUrls.length > 0 ? (
-              <div className={feedClientFilterSectionClass}>
-                <p className="text-sm font-medium">{t('Feed relays', { defaultValue: 'Relays in this feed' })}</p>
-                <FeedRelaysIconRow urls={feedRelayUrls} />
-              </div>
-            ) : null}
             <div className={feedClientFilterSectionClass}>
               <Label htmlFor="feed-client-search" className="text-sm font-medium">
                 {t('Search loaded posts')}
@@ -4839,10 +4842,16 @@ const NoteList = forwardRef(
     ) : null
 
     const feedClientFilterChrome = feedClientFilterPanelPortalMode ? (
-      feedClientFilterToggleButton
+      <div className="flex min-w-0 w-full flex-nowrap items-center gap-1">
+        {feedRelayToolbarRow}
+        <div className="shrink-0">{feedClientFilterToggleButton}</div>
+      </div>
     ) : (
       <>
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-1">{feedClientFilterToggleButton}</div>
+        <div className="flex min-w-0 flex-nowrap items-center gap-1 px-0.5">
+          {feedRelayToolbarRow}
+          <div className="ml-auto shrink-0">{feedClientFilterToggleButton}</div>
+        </div>
         {feedClientFilterPanel}
       </>
     )
@@ -4870,15 +4879,21 @@ const NoteList = forwardRef(
     // Relay-op rows arrive only after every relay in the wave reports terminal state. A slow or
     // wedged connection (e.g. NIP-42 re-auth) can delay that indefinitely while events already stream
     // in — without this guard the "Looking for more events…" banner never clears.
+    const showFeedInitialLoading =
+      listSourceEvents.length === 0 &&
+      !feedFullSearchActive &&
+      (loading || (subRequests.length > 0 && !feedTimelineEmptyUiReady))
+
     const showRelaySubscribeWavePendingBanner =
       !oneShotFetch &&
       !feedFullSearchActive &&
       subRequests.length > 0 &&
       relayCapabilityReady &&
       timelineKey != null &&
-      feedSubscribeRelayOutcomes.length === 0 &&
-      feedTimelineEmptyUiReady &&
-      timelineEventsForFilter.length === 0
+      timelineEventsForFilter.length === 0 &&
+      (loading ||
+        !feedTimelineEmptyUiReady ||
+        (feedSubscribeRelayOutcomes.length === 0 && feedTimelineEmptyUiReady))
     const showProgressiveLayersPendingBanner =
       Boolean(progressiveWarmupTrimmed) && progressiveLayersSearching && !feedFullSearchActive
     const showLookingForMoreEventsBanner =
@@ -4950,9 +4965,7 @@ const NoteList = forwardRef(
             />
           ))
         )}
-        {listSourceEvents.length === 0 &&
-        !feedFullSearchActive &&
-        (loading || (subRequests.length > 0 && !feedTimelineEmptyUiReady)) ? (
+        {showFeedInitialLoading ? (
           <div
             ref={bottomRef}
             className={gridLayout ? 'grid grid-cols-3 gap-0.5 pr-4 min-h-[40vh]' : 'min-h-[40vh] space-y-2 px-1 py-4'}
@@ -4960,6 +4973,9 @@ const NoteList = forwardRef(
             aria-live="polite"
             aria-busy="true"
           >
+            <p className="col-span-full px-2 pb-2 text-center text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+              {t('Loading feed…')}
+            </p>
             {gridLayout
               ? Array.from({ length: 9 }).map((_, i) => (
                   <div key={i} className="aspect-square animate-pulse bg-muted" />
diff --git a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
index df7bff2b..5949f180 100644
--- a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -1638,7 +1638,9 @@ export default {
     'Loading follow list…': 'Loading follow list…',
     'Could not load recommended follows': 'Could not load recommended follows',
     'Your follow list is empty': 'Your follow list is empty',
+    'Loading feed…': 'Loading feed…',
     'Loading recent posts from follows…': 'Loading recent posts from follows…',
+    'Loading notifications…': 'Loading notifications…',
     'Loading more…': 'Loading more…',
     'No recent posts from this user in the current fetch':
       'No recent posts from this user in the current fetch',
diff --git a/src/pages/primary/NoteListPage/RelaysFeed.tsx b/src/pages/primary/NoteListPage/RelaysFeed.tsx
index 24c475d5..65b1c01b 100644
--- a/src/pages/primary/NoteListPage/RelaysFeed.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/primary/NoteListPage/RelaysFeed.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import NormalFeed from '@/components/NormalFeed'
 import type { TNoteListRef } from '@/components/NoteList'
 import { ensureHomeFeedTrendingRelay } from '@/lib/home-feed-relays'
 import { checkAlgoRelay } from '@/lib/relay'
+import { dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered } from '@/lib/relay-url-priority'
 import { normalizeUrl } from '@/lib/url'
 import { useFeed } from '@/providers/feed-context'
 import { useKindFilterOrDefaults } from '@/providers/KindFilterProvider'
@@ -21,7 +22,8 @@ const RelaysFeed = forwardRef<
   const { relayUrls, replyRelayUrls } = useFeed()
   const { showKinds } = useKindFilterOrDefaults()
   const [areAlgoRelays, setAreAlgoRelays] = useState(false)
-  const [relayCapabilityReady, setRelayCapabilityReady] = useState(false)
+  /** Timeline REQs must not wait on NIP-11; cache/IDB serves algo detection in the background. */
+  const [relayCapabilityReady, setRelayCapabilityReady] = useState(true)
 
   const relayUrlsKey = useMemo(
     () =>
@@ -41,47 +43,40 @@ const RelaysFeed = forwardRef<
         .join('|'),
     [replyRelayUrls]
   )
-  const stableRelayUrls = useMemo(() => relayUrls, [relayUrlsKey])
-  const stableReplyRelayUrls = useMemo(() => replyRelayUrls, [replyRelayUrlsKey])
+  const stableRelayUrls = useMemo(
+    () => dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(relayUrls),
+    [relayUrlsKey]
+  )
+  const stableReplyRelayUrls = useMemo(
+    () => dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(replyRelayUrls),
+    [replyRelayUrlsKey]
+  )
   const homeFeedSeenOnAllowlistOp = useMemo(() => stableRelayUrls, [relayUrlsKey])
   const homeFeedSeenOnAllowlistReplies = useMemo(() => stableReplyRelayUrls, [replyRelayUrlsKey])
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (relayUrls.length === 0) {
+    if (stableRelayUrls.length === 0) {
       setAreAlgoRelays(false)
       setRelayCapabilityReady(false)
       return
     }
-    let cancelled = false
-    setRelayCapabilityReady(false)
-
-    const init = async () => {
-      const timeoutPromise = new Promise<never>((_, reject) => {
-        setTimeout(() => {
-          reject(new Error('getRelayInfos timeout after 8 seconds'))
-        }, 8000)
-      })
+    setRelayCapabilityReady(true)
 
+    let cancelled = false
+    void (async () => {
       try {
-        const relayInfos = await Promise.race([
-          relayInfoService.getRelayInfos(relayUrls),
-          timeoutPromise
-        ])
+        // Memory + IndexedDB cache first; network only for stale/missing (see relay-info.service).
+        const relayInfos = await relayInfoService.getRelayInfos(stableRelayUrls)
         if (cancelled) return
-        const areAlgo = relayInfos.every((relayInfo) => checkAlgoRelay(relayInfo))
-        setAreAlgoRelays(areAlgo)
+        setAreAlgoRelays(relayInfos.every((relayInfo) => checkAlgoRelay(relayInfo)))
       } catch {
         if (!cancelled) setAreAlgoRelays(false)
-      } finally {
-        if (!cancelled) setRelayCapabilityReady(true)
       }
-    }
-
-    void init()
+    })()
     return () => {
       cancelled = true
     }
-  }, [relayUrlsKey, relayUrls.length])
+  }, [relayUrlsKey, stableRelayUrls])
 
   /** Stable identity when kind filter is empty so `subRequests` does not invalidate every render. */
   const fallbackNoteKinds = useMemo(() => [kinds.ShortTextNote], [])
@@ -92,14 +87,14 @@ const RelaysFeed = forwardRef<
   }, [kindsOverride, showKinds, fallbackNoteKinds])
   const defaultKindsKey = useMemo(() => JSON.stringify(defaultKinds), [defaultKinds])
 
-  const canRenderFeed = relayUrls.length > 0
+  const canRenderFeed = stableRelayUrls.length > 0
 
   // Hooks must run every render — never place useMemo after conditional returns.
   const subRequests = useMemo(() => {
     if (!canRenderFeed) return []
     return [
       {
-        urls: ensureHomeFeedTrendingRelay(stableRelayUrls),
+        urls: dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(ensureHomeFeedTrendingRelay(stableRelayUrls)),
         filter: {
           kinds: defaultKinds
         }
@@ -112,7 +107,7 @@ const RelaysFeed = forwardRef<
       stableReplyRelayUrls.length > 0 ? stableReplyRelayUrls : stableRelayUrls
     return [
       {
-        urls: ensureHomeFeedTrendingRelay(replyUrls),
+        urls: dedupeNormalizeRelayUrlsOrdered(ensureHomeFeedTrendingRelay(replyUrls)),
         filter: {
           kinds: defaultKinds
         }
diff --git a/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/index.tsx b/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/index.tsx
index cd57187c..c2e2ef5d 100644
--- a/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/index.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/index.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import NoteList, { type TNoteListRef } from '@/components/NoteList'
+import { NoteCardLoadingSkeleton } from '@/components/NoteCard'
 import StoredAccountSwitchSelect from '@/components/StoredAccountSwitchSelect'
 import { RefreshButton } from '@/components/RefreshButton'
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button'
@@ -230,6 +231,7 @@ const SpellsPage = forwardRef<TPageRef>(function SpellsPage(
     notificationsMentionExtraHide,
     hideRepliesFollowing,
     fauxSubRequests,
+    followingFeedPreparing,
     NOTIFICATION_SPELL_LOADING_SAFETY_MS,
     NOTIFICATION_SPELL_KINDS
   } = useSpellsPageFeed({
@@ -1046,6 +1048,15 @@ const SpellsPage = forwardRef<TPageRef>(function SpellsPage(
                 refreshKey={profileInteractionsRefreshKey}
               />
             </div>
+          ) : selectedFauxSpell && followingFeedPreparing ? (
+            <div className="space-y-2 px-1 py-8" role="status" aria-busy="true" aria-live="polite">
+              <p className="text-center text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+                {t('Loading recent posts from follows…')}
+              </p>
+              {Array.from({ length: 5 }).map((_, i) => (
+                <NoteCardLoadingSkeleton key={i} />
+              ))}
+            </div>
           ) : selectedFauxSpell && fauxSubRequests.length === 0 ? (
             <div className="py-8 text-center text-muted-foreground">{fauxFeedEmptyMessage}</div>
           ) : selectedFauxSpell && fauxSubRequests.length > 0 ? (
diff --git a/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/useSpellsPageFeed.ts b/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/useSpellsPageFeed.ts
index e9acb469..a49c6632 100644
--- a/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/useSpellsPageFeed.ts
+++ b/src/pages/primary/SpellsPage/useSpellsPageFeed.ts
@@ -631,11 +631,23 @@ export function useSpellsPageFeed(a: UseSpellsPageFeedArgs) {
     ]
   )
 
+  const followingFeedPreparing = useMemo(() => {
+    if (!pubkey || !isFollowFeedFauxSpellId(selectedFauxSpell ?? '')) return false
+    if (followSetCatalogLoading) return true
+    return followingSubRequests.length === 0
+  }, [
+    pubkey,
+    selectedFauxSpell,
+    followSetCatalogLoading,
+    followingSubRequests.length
+  ])
+
   return {
     relayMailboxStableKey,
     sortedFavoriteRelaysKey,
     sortedBlockedRelaysKey,
     followingSubRequests,
+    followingFeedPreparing,
     fauxSubRequests,
     subRequests,
     spellFeedSubscriptionKey,
diff --git a/src/services/relay-info.service.ts b/src/services/relay-info.service.ts
index ad95902a..5afae5e5 100644
--- a/src/services/relay-info.service.ts
+++ b/src/services/relay-info.service.ts
@@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ class RelayInfoService {
     if (urls.length === 0) {
       return []
     }
-    const relayInfos = await this.fetchDataloader.loadMany(urls)
-    return relayInfos.map((relayInfo) => (relayInfo instanceof Error ? undefined : relayInfo))
+    const results = await Promise.allSettled(urls.map((url) => this._getRelayInfo(url)))
+    return results.map((res) => (res.status === 'fulfilled' ? res.value : undefined))
   }
 
   async getRelayInfo(url: string) {