diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 99f0a15..85bc454 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,11 +57,12 @@ The background is your actual sky, computed in the browser:
 - **Controls**: the `▶︎ 24h` chip plays the whole day as a time-lapse;
   the `sky:` chip pins day or night (persisted in localStorage) for
   anyone who'd rather not read on a sunset. The status line and the
-  browser's own chrome follow along: every repaint rewrites a
-  `theme-color` meta tag with the horizon's computed chip color, so
-  mobile Safari's toolbar tints to match the sky instead of keeping
-  whatever it sampled at load. In the dev console,
-  `__skyAt('2026-07-16T20:30')` previews any moment.
+  browser's own chrome follow along: every repaint rewrites a pair of
+  `theme-color` meta tags (one per light/dark color scheme — iOS Safari
+  ignores a bare one in dark mode and shows grey chrome) with the
+  horizon's computed chip color, so mobile Safari's toolbar tints to
+  match the sky instead of keeping whatever it sampled at load. In the
+  dev console, `__skyAt('2026-07-16T20:30')` previews any moment.
 
 The page paints immediately with the fallback sky, then refines once
 the geo lookup resolves, and re-renders every minute.
diff --git a/src/layouts/Layout.astro b/src/layouts/Layout.astro
index 1abaa37..64b80e5 100644
--- a/src/layouts/Layout.astro
+++ b/src/layouts/Layout.astro
@@ -20,10 +20,18 @@ const ogImage = new URL('/og.png', Astro.site);
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
     <meta name="description" content={description} />
     <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/favicon.svg" />
-    <!-- Tints mobile browser chrome (Safari's toolbar) to match the sky.
-         Starts at the midnight chip fallback; sky.ts rewrites it on every
-         render so the tint tracks day/night, including manual switches. -->
-    <meta name="theme-color" content="oklch(23.43% 0.067 272.85deg)" />
+    <!-- Tints mobile browser chrome (Safari's toolbar) to match the sky;
+         sky.ts rewrites both on every render so the tint tracks
+         day/night, including manual switches. Two media-gated metas, not
+         one: iOS Safari treats a bare theme-color as a light-mode
+         suggestion and falls back to its own neutral grey chrome in dark
+         mode unless a dark-scheme variant exists. Content stays plain
+         hex/rgb — Safari's theme-color parser rejects oklch(), and a
+         rejected value also lands on the default grey. The fallback is
+         the pre-render midnight chip (the hex twin of
+         --color-chip-bg-fallback). -->
+    <meta name="theme-color" media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" content="#141a3d" />
+    <meta name="theme-color" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" content="#141a3d" />
     <title>{title}</title>
 
     <!-- Link previews (LinkedIn, Slack, iMessage, X): without these a
diff --git a/src/scripts/sky.ts b/src/scripts/sky.ts
index 41e2049..2810ce0 100644
--- a/src/scripts/sky.ts
+++ b/src/scripts/sky.ts
@@ -530,9 +530,12 @@ function render(place: Place, mode: Mode, at = new Date(), demo = false) {
   }
 
   // Mobile browser chrome (Safari's toolbar tint) follows the horizon's
-  // settled chip color. Without this, Safari samples the page once at
-  // load and keeps that tint after a manual day/night switch (issue #60).
-  document.querySelector('meta[name="theme-color"]')?.setAttribute('content', css(chip.bg));
+  // settled chip color. Both metas — Safari picks the one matching the
+  // device's light/dark scheme and ignores the other, so each must carry
+  // the current sky (issue #60).
+  for (const meta of document.querySelectorAll('meta[name="theme-color"]')) {
+    meta.setAttribute('content', css(chip.bg));
+  }
 
   // The stars come out as the sun drops below civil twilight.
   const starOpacity = altDeg <= -12 ? 1 : altDeg >= -6 ? 0 : (-altDeg - 6) / 6;
diff --git a/src/styles/global.css b/src/styles/global.css
index abbd6f4..eaa4993 100644
--- a/src/styles/global.css
+++ b/src/styles/global.css
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ body {
   min-height: 100dvh;
   color: var(--ink);
   background: linear-gradient(180deg, var(--sky-top), var(--sky-bottom));
+
+  /* The shorthand above resets background-color to transparent; give it
+     the sky's ground color explicitly. Mobile Safari derives its chrome
+     and overscroll tint from a real background-color when it distrusts
+     (or lacks) a theme-color — a transparent body reads as white/grey
+     there, which is what a night sky must never fade into. */
+  background-color: var(--sky-bottom);
   transition:
     --sky-top 1.6s ease,
     --sky-bottom 1.6s ease,