diff --git a/mobile/lib/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager.dart b/mobile/lib/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager.dart
index b9c00e904..775fea452 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager.dart
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
   void Function()? _unsubscribe;
   bool _disposed = false;
 
+  /// Base delay for the startup-sync retry backoff. Overridable in tests.
+  final Duration _startupRetryBaseDelay;
+  Timer? _startupRetryTimer;
+  int _startupRetryAttempt = 0;
+  bool _startupFetchSucceeded = false;
+
   /// Unix seconds of the oldest unpublished local edit; 0 when clean.
   /// Persisted so unpublished edits survive manager teardown and restarts.
   int _dirtySince;
@@ -67,12 +73,15 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
     required SignedEventRelay? signedEventRelay,
     required bool remoteEnabled,
     required VoidCallback onChanged,
+    @visibleForTesting
+    Duration startupRetryBaseDelay = const Duration(seconds: 2),
   }) : _storage = ChannelSortStorage(prefs),
        _crypto = crypto,
        _relaySession = relaySession,
        _signedEventRelay = signedEventRelay,
        _remoteEnabled = remoteEnabled,
        _onChanged = onChanged,
+       _startupRetryBaseDelay = startupRetryBaseDelay,
        _store = ChannelSortStorage(prefs).read(pubkey),
        _dirtySince = ChannelSortStorage(prefs).readDirtySince(pubkey);
 
@@ -89,8 +98,20 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
       return;
     }
 
-    final foundRemote = await _fetchAndMerge();
-    await _startLiveSubscription();
+    await _syncWithRelay();
+    _onChanged();
+  }
+
+  /// One startup-sync attempt: fetch the remote blob, start the live
+  /// subscription, then reconcile dirty/seed state. Either step can lose a
+  /// transient race on cold start (the relay rate-limits the burst of
+  /// per-channel subscriptions and rejects with `rate-limited: quota
+  /// exceeded`) — retry with backoff instead of silently giving up.
+  Future<void> _syncWithRelay() async {
+    final foundRemote = _startupFetchSucceeded ? true : await _fetchAndMerge();
+    if (foundRemote != null) _startupFetchSucceeded = true;
+
+    final subscribed = _unsubscribe != null || await _startLiveSubscription();
 
     // Publish-on-reconnect for unpublished local edits, and seed-publish when
     // the relay confirmed it has no blob but local prefs exist. `foundRemote`
@@ -98,13 +119,41 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
     if (_dirtySince > 0 || (foundRemote == false && _store.groups.isNotEmpty)) {
       markDirty();
     }
-    _onChanged();
+
+    if (!_startupFetchSucceeded || !subscribed) {
+      _scheduleStartupRetry();
+    }
+  }
+
+  void _scheduleStartupRetry() {
+    if (_disposed) return;
+    _startupRetryTimer?.cancel();
+    final delayMs = min(
+      _startupRetryBaseDelay.inMilliseconds << min(_startupRetryAttempt, 5),
+      30000,
+    );
+    _startupRetryAttempt++;
+    debugPrint(
+      '[ChannelSortManager] startup sync incomplete; '
+      'retrying in ${delayMs}ms (attempt $_startupRetryAttempt)',
+    );
+    _startupRetryTimer = Timer(Duration(milliseconds: delayMs), () {
+      _startupRetryTimer = null;
+      unawaited(
+        _syncWithRelay().then((_) {
+          if (!_disposed) _onChanged();
+        }),
+      );
+    });
   }
 
   void dispose({bool flushPending = true}) {
     if (_disposed) return;
     _disposed = true;
 
+    _startupRetryTimer?.cancel();
+    _startupRetryTimer = null;
+
     final hadPending = _publishDebounce != null;
     _publishDebounce?.cancel();
     _publishDebounce = null;
@@ -177,14 +226,16 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
       return events.any(
         (e) => e.pubkey == pubkey && e.getTagValue('d') == 'channel-sort',
       );
-    } catch (_) {
+    } catch (error) {
+      debugPrint('[ChannelSortManager] fetch failed: $error');
       // Local state remains usable when relay is unavailable.
       return null;
     }
   }
 
-  Future<void> _startLiveSubscription() async {
-    if (_relaySession == null) return;
+  /// Returns whether the live subscription was established.
+  Future<bool> _startLiveSubscription() async {
+    if (_relaySession == null) return false;
     try {
       _unsubscribe = await _relaySession.subscribe(
         NostrFilter(
@@ -197,8 +248,12 @@ class ChannelSortManager {
         ),
         _handleIncomingEvent,
       );
-    } catch (_) {
-      // Non-fatal — local state and history still work.
+      return true;
+    } catch (error) {
+      debugPrint('[ChannelSortManager] live subscription failed: $error');
+      // Non-fatal — local state and history still work; retried by the
+      // startup-sync backoff.
+      return false;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/mobile/test/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager_test.dart b/mobile/test/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager_test.dart
index eb3cd6ce3..70941a4f3 100644
--- a/mobile/test/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager_test.dart
+++ b/mobile/test/features/channels/channel_sort/channel_sort_manager_test.dart
@@ -149,6 +149,50 @@ void main() {
     expect(manager.store.groups.keys, ['channels']);
     manager.dispose(flushPending: false);
   });
+
+  test('startup fetch rejected by relay rate limit retries until the remote '
+      'blob is adopted (cold-start regression)', () async {
+    await setUpEnv();
+    final relay = _RateLimitedRelaySession(
+      failuresBeforeSuccess: 2,
+      historyEvents: [
+        sortEvent(groups: {'channels': 'recent'}, createdAt: 100),
+      ],
+    );
+
+    final manager = ChannelSortManager(
+      pubkey: keychain.public,
+      prefs: prefs,
+      crypto: crypto,
+      relaySession: relay,
+      signedEventRelay: _RecordingSignedEventRelay(),
+      remoteEnabled: true,
+      onChanged: () {},
+      startupRetryBaseDelay: const Duration(milliseconds: 10),
+    );
+    await manager.initialize();
+
+    expect(manager.sortModeFor('channels'), ChannelSortMode.alpha);
+
+    await _waitUntil(
+      () => manager.sortModeFor('channels') == ChannelSortMode.recent,
+    );
+    expect(relay.subscribeCalls, greaterThan(1));
+    manager.dispose(flushPending: false);
+  });
+}
+
+Future<void> _waitUntil(
+  bool Function() condition, {
+  Duration timeout = const Duration(seconds: 2),
+}) async {
+  final deadline = DateTime.now().add(timeout);
+  while (!condition()) {
+    if (DateTime.now().isAfter(deadline)) {
+      fail('condition not met within $timeout');
+    }
+    await Future<void>.delayed(const Duration(milliseconds: 10));
+  }
 }
 
 class _SubmittedEvent {
@@ -211,3 +255,46 @@ class _FakeRelaySession extends RelaySessionNotifier {
     void Function(String message)? onClosed,
   }) async => () {};
 }
+
+/// Rejects the first [failuresBeforeSuccess] fetch and subscribe calls with
+/// the relay's rate-limit error, then succeeds — the Android cold-start
+/// failure mode where the channel-list REQ burst exhausts the relay's
+/// per-connection quota before the sort manager gets a turn.
+class _RateLimitedRelaySession extends RelaySessionNotifier {
+  _RateLimitedRelaySession({
+    required this.failuresBeforeSuccess,
+    this.historyEvents = const [],
+  });
+
+  final int failuresBeforeSuccess;
+  final List<NostrEvent> historyEvents;
+  int fetchCalls = 0;
+  int subscribeCalls = 0;
+  final List<void Function(NostrEvent)> _listeners = [];
+
+  @override
+  Future<List<NostrEvent>> fetchHistory(
+    NostrFilter filter, {
+    Duration timeout = const Duration(seconds: 8),
+  }) async {
+    fetchCalls++;
+    if (fetchCalls <= failuresBeforeSuccess) {
+      throw Exception('rate-limited: quota exceeded; retry in 2s');
+    }
+    return historyEvents;
+  }
+
+  @override
+  Future<void Function()> subscribe(
+    NostrFilter filter,
+    void Function(NostrEvent) onEvent, {
+    void Function(String message)? onClosed,
+  }) async {
+    subscribeCalls++;
+    if (subscribeCalls <= failuresBeforeSuccess) {
+      throw Exception('rate-limited: quota exceeded; retry in 1s');
+    }
+    _listeners.add(onEvent);
+    return () => _listeners.remove(onEvent);
+  }
+}