diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
index d63178f..a8d8e8a 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
@@ -141,10 +141,19 @@ fun ColumnScope.BuddyList(model: MessengerViewModel, phase: MessengerViewModel.P
     }
 
     if (phase.buddies.isEmpty()) {
+        // ⚠️ Only claim the list is empty if it was actually FETCHED. A failed
+        // load also produces an empty list, and "Nobody here yet" is then a
+        // statement about the person's account rather than about the request —
+        // which is how somebody concludes their contacts are gone.
+        //
         // Says what to do, not merely that there is nothing. An empty state
         // that only reports emptiness leaves the person stuck.
         Text(
-            "Nobody here yet. Add someone by the username they signed up with.",
+            if (phase.buddiesLoaded) {
+                "Nobody here yet. Add someone by the username they signed up with."
+            } else {
+                "Couldn't load your contacts. Check the connection and sign in again."
+            },
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium,
         )
         return
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MessengerViewModel.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MessengerViewModel.kt
index 51471a9..5c636d1 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MessengerViewModel.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MessengerViewModel.kt
@@ -51,6 +51,20 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
             val relay: String,
             val status: String,
             val buddies: List<MessengerApi.Buddy> = emptyList(),
+
+            /**
+             * Whether the contact list was actually FETCHED, as opposed to
+             * defaulted to empty because the fetch failed.
+             *
+             * 🔴 Both load sites swallow failures with
+             * `runCatching { … }.getOrDefault(emptyList())`, so a network
+             * hiccup, an expired token or a rate limit all produced an empty
+             * roster — and the UI then told the user "Nobody here yet", which
+             * is a claim about their account rather than about the request.
+             * The same swallow-and-look-empty shape hid a decode bug that made
+             * groups invisible on iOS for far longer.
+             */
+            val buddiesLoaded: Boolean = false,
             val groups: List<io.flamenet.client.RelayClient.Group> = emptyList(),
             val blocked: Set<Long> = emptySet(),
             val notifications: List<MessengerApi.Notification> = emptyList(),
@@ -221,13 +235,15 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
                         api = MessengerApi(
                             credential.relayBaseUrl, credential.username, credential.appPassword),
                     )
+                    val fetchedBuddies = runCatching { session!!.api.buddies() }
                     stored to Phase.SignedIn(
                         handle = credential.username,
                         userId = credential.userId,
                         deviceId = stored.deviceId,
                         relay = SiteConfig(credential.relayBaseUrl).host,
                         status = "Signed in on this device.",
-                        buddies = runCatching { session!!.api.buddies() }.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
+                        buddies = fetchedBuddies.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
+                        buddiesLoaded = fetchedBuddies.isSuccess,
                         groups = runCatching { session!!.relay.listGroups() }.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
                     )
                 }
@@ -334,13 +350,15 @@ class MessengerViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
             api = io.flamenet.client.MessengerApi(config.baseUrl, account.username, credential),
         )
 
+        val fetchedBuddies = runCatching { session!!.api.buddies() }
         return Phase.SignedIn(
             handle = account.username,
             userId = account.userId,
             deviceId = device.deviceId,
             relay = config.host,
             status = "Registered with ${preKeys.size} one-time prekeys published.",
-            buddies = runCatching { session!!.api.buddies() }.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
+            buddies = fetchedBuddies.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
+            buddiesLoaded = fetchedBuddies.isSuccess,
             groups = runCatching { session!!.relay.listGroups() }.getOrDefault(emptyList()),
         )
     }
diff --git a/app/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/EmptyVersusFailedTest.kt b/app/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/EmptyVersusFailedTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8abab0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/EmptyVersusFailedTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package io.flamenet.messenger.app
+
+import org.junit.Assert.assertNotEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+
+/**
+ * "Nobody here yet" is a claim about the ACCOUNT. It must not be made about a
+ * request that failed.
+ *
+ * 🔴 Both roster load sites swallow failures with
+ * `runCatching { … }.getOrDefault(emptyList())`, so a hiccup, an expired token
+ * or a rate limit all produced an empty list — indistinguishable from a real
+ * empty account. The same swallow-and-look-empty shape hid a decode bug that
+ * made groups invisible on iOS.
+ */
+class EmptyVersusFailedTest {
+
+    private fun phase(loaded: Boolean) = MessengerViewModel.Phase.SignedIn(
+        handle = "someone",
+        userId = 1,
+        deviceId = "d",
+        relay = "relay.example",
+        status = "",
+        buddies = emptyList(),
+        buddiesLoaded = loaded,
+    )
+
+    @Test
+    fun `an empty roster that loaded is not the same state as one that failed`() {
+        assertNotEquals(phase(loaded = true), phase(loaded = false))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a failed load does not default to claiming the roster loaded`() {
+        // The default matters: a phase built without saying so must not assert
+        // that the fetch succeeded.
+        val untouched = MessengerViewModel.Phase.SignedIn(
+            handle = "someone", userId = 1, deviceId = "d",
+            relay = "relay.example", status = "",
+        )
+        assertTrue("the default must be 'not loaded', so the copy stays honest",
+                   !untouched.buddiesLoaded)
+    }
+}