diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt
index 60cb0f9..31b40a2 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ import com.shonar.R
  * the default view already has full controls.
  * Light system card (DecoratedCustomViewStyle + CATEGORY_SERVICE) — never
  * the dark media-player template.
+ *
+ * LOCKED 2026-09-14 (user-verified on-device): do NOT revert build() to
+ * system MediaStyle — that renders the small "SHONAR • SHONAR" text row
+ * with truncated filename and hides the big timer. Any layout change here
+ * must keep the custom RemoteViews card + big timer, and must keep
+ * RecordingNotificationLayoutTest green.
  */
 object RecordingNotificationHelper {
     const val CHANNEL_ID = "shonar_recording_ongoing"
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingService.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingService.kt
index 28a4d73..23b01b0 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingService.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingService.kt
@@ -338,64 +338,14 @@ class RecordingService : Service() {
         val nm = getSystemService(android.app.NotificationManager::class.java)
         runCatching {
             nm.notify(
-                activeNotifId,
+                RecordingNotificationHelper.NOTIFICATION_ID,
                 RecordingNotificationHelper.build(
                     this, s.phase, s.elapsedMs, displayFileName(), s.confirmingDiscard,
-                    alertOnce = true, sessionToken = mediaSession?.sessionToken,
                 ),
             )
         }
     }
 
-    private fun startMediaSession(playing: Boolean, positionMs: Long) {
-        releaseMediaSession()
-        val session = android.support.v4.media.session.MediaSessionCompat(this, "ShonarRec").apply {
-            setFlags(android.support.v4.media.session.MediaSessionCompat.FLAG_HANDLES_TRANSPORT_CONTROLS)
-            setMetadata(
-                android.support.v4.media.MediaMetadataCompat.Builder()
-                    .putString(
-                        android.support.v4.media.MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_TITLE,
-                        "Recording",
-                    )
-                    .putString(
-                        android.support.v4.media.MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ARTIST,
-                        displayFileName(),
-                    )
-                    .build(),
-            )
-            setActive(true)
-        }
-        mediaSession = session
-        updateMediaSession(playing, positionMs)
-    }
-
-    private fun updateMediaSession(playing: Boolean, positionMs: Long) {
-        val session = mediaSession ?: return
-        val state = if (playing) {
-            android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PLAYING
-        } else {
-            android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PAUSED
-        }
-        session.setPlaybackState(
-            android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.Builder()
-                .setActions(
-                    android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_PLAY or
-                        android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_PAUSE or
-                        android.support.v4.media.session.PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_STOP,
-                )
-                .setState(state, positionMs, if (playing) 1f else 0f, SystemClock.elapsedRealtime())
-                .build(),
-        )
-    }
-
-    private fun releaseMediaSession() {
-        runCatching {
-            mediaSession?.setActive(false)
-            mediaSession?.release()
-        }
-        mediaSession = null
-    }
-
     private fun displayFileName(): String {
         val base = RecordingFiles.defaultDisplayName(createdAtMs.takeIf { it > 0 } ?: System.currentTimeMillis())
         return "$base.m4a"
@@ -554,7 +504,6 @@ class RecordingService : Service() {
         // a 0-byte temp here; anything with audio is NEVER silently dropped.
         if (_snapshot.value.phase != RecordingSnapshot.Phase.IDLE) {
             val tmp = currentTemp
-            releaseMediaSession()
             shutdownRecorder(releaseOnly = true, keepTemp = true)
             if (tmp != null && tmp.exists() && tmp.length() == 0L) {
                 runCatching { tmp.delete() }
diff --git a/android/app/src/test/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationLayoutTest.kt b/android/app/src/test/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationLayoutTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd1b6e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/app/src/test/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationLayoutTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package com.shonar.recording
+
+import java.io.File
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+
+/**
+ * Locks the user-approved ongoing-recording card (verified on-device
+ * 2026-09-14): a single custom RemoteViews card with big timer + X/pause/
+ * check pills, same view collapsed and expanded.
+ *
+ * A previous revert to system MediaStyle rendered the small
+ * "SHONAR • SHONAR" text row with truncated filename and no big timer.
+ * This plain-JVM test guards the source + layout so that regression fails
+ * the build instead of shipping silently. (NotificationCompat needs the
+ * Android framework, hence source-level assertions — no Robolectric.)
+ */
+class RecordingNotificationLayoutTest {
+
+    private fun moduleDir(): File {
+        var dir = File(System.getProperty("user.dir"))
+        while (dir.resolve("src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt").exists().not()) {
+            dir = dir.parentFile ?: error("cannot locate android/app module dir from ${System.getProperty("user.dir")}")
+        }
+        return dir
+    }
+
+    private fun helperSource(): String {
+        val f = moduleDir().resolve("src/main/java/com/shonar/recording/RecordingNotificationHelper.kt")
+        assertTrue("helper source missing: $f", f.exists())
+        return f.readText()
+    }
+
+    private fun layout(name: String): String {
+        val f = moduleDir().resolve("src/main/res/layout/$name.xml")
+        assertTrue("layout missing: $f", f.exists())
+        return f.readText()
+    }
+
+    @Test fun ongoingCard_usesCustomRemoteViewsWithBigTimer() {
+        val src = helperSource()
+        assertTrue("must inflate R.layout.notification_recording", src.contains("R.layout.notification_recording"))
+        assertTrue("must bind big timer view", src.contains("R.id.notif_timer"))
+        assertTrue("must use DecoratedCustomViewStyle", src.contains("DecoratedCustomViewStyle"))
+        assertTrue("must set same card for collapsed view", src.contains("setCustomContentView"))
+        assertTrue("must set same card for expanded view", src.contains("setCustomBigContentView"))
+    }
+
+    @Test fun ongoingCard_doesNotUseMediaStyle() {
+        val src = helperSource()
+        assertTrue(
+            "import of MediaStyle renders the old small text row — do not reintroduce",
+            "import androidx.media.app.NotificationCompat.MediaStyle" !in src,
+        )
+        assertTrue(
+            "MediaStyle() renders the old small text row — do not reintroduce",
+            "MediaStyle(" !in src,
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test fun ongoingCard_layoutHasTimerAndThreePills() {
+        val xml = layout("notification_recording")
+        for (id in listOf("notif_title", "notif_subtitle", "notif_timer", "notif_btn_discard", "notif_btn_pause", "notif_btn_save")) {
+            assertTrue("layout missing @$id", xml.contains("@+id/$id"))
+        }
+    }
+}