diff --git a/frontend/assets/styles.css b/frontend/assets/styles.css
index aca9571..848036e 100644
--- a/frontend/assets/styles.css
+++ b/frontend/assets/styles.css
@@ -3413,6 +3413,33 @@ details.thinking .thinking-text ul { margin: 0 0 0.5rem; }
 @media (max-width: 640px) {
   :root { --header-h: 58px; }
   .container { padding-inline: 0.9rem; }
+  /* Owner report 2026-09-08: the hamburger "won't extend" on a real
+     phone while the same width in a desktop browser works. The page
+     opts into `viewport-fit=cover` (the <meta>), so on notched phones
+     the layout viewport runs UNDER the status bar / Dynamic Island —
+     and this bar (58px, toggle tap zone y≈7–51px) sits entirely in the
+     system top-edge zone: visually under the battery/signal icons, and
+     in the region where a real device does not reliably deliver taps
+     to the page (desktop emulation has no system top zone, so it works
+     there — the device-only failure). Pad the bar DOWN by the top
+     safe-area inset: the header surface still fills the notch region
+     (that is the point of viewport-fit=cover) but every control — the
+     #nav-toggle first — lands in the reliably tappable area, and the
+     dropdown's top:100% follows the taller bar automatically. The
+     .app-header rule doubles as the document viewer's row-1 bar (the
+     same class), so the viewer's hamburger is covered by the same
+     rule. env() resolves to 0 on every non-notch surface (desktop,
+     headless, no-island phones) — byte-identical rendering there. */
+  .app-header {
+    height: calc(var(--header-h) + env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px));
+    padding-top: env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px);
+  }
+  /* The share toast rests just under the bar — the bar is taller by
+     the same inset on notched phones, so the offset must carry it too
+     (the toast would otherwise tuck under the padded bar). */
+  .toast {
+    top: calc(var(--header-h) + 0.75rem + env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px));
+  }
   /* Phase 14: the New chat pill joins the header — tighten the bar so
      brand + nav + pill fit at 360px without horizontal overflow (the
      brand text may ellipsize as the designated squeeze target). */
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_hamburger_nav.py b/tests/unit/test_hamburger_nav.py
index 17b9d58..62bdaa9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_hamburger_nav.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_hamburger_nav.py
@@ -251,6 +251,35 @@ def test_mobile_block_renders_the_44px_toggle() -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_mobile_block_pads_the_bar_for_the_top_safe_area() -> None:
+    """Owner report 2026-09-08: on a real notched phone (the page opts
+    into `viewport-fit=cover`) the whole 58px bar — including the
+    #nav-toggle tap zone (y≈7–51px) — sat under the status bar /
+    Dynamic Island system top-edge zone, where a device does not
+    reliably deliver taps to the page (desktop emulation has no such
+    zone, so the menu only "broke" on the phone). The ≤640px block
+    must pad the bar down by the top safe-area inset (explicit 0
+    fallback — the house `env(..., 0)` pattern, so non-notch surfaces
+    render byte-identical) and grow the height by the same amount
+    (border-box: the control row keeps its 58px). The share toast's
+    under-bar offset must carry the same inset."""
+    mobile = _media_block(_css(), "@media (max-width: 640px)")
+    header = _rule_block(mobile, ".app-header")
+    assert "padding-top: env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px)" in header, (
+        "the mobile bar must pad down by the top safe-area inset "
+        "(the viewport-fit=cover contract)"
+    )
+    assert "height: calc(var(--header-h) + env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px))" in header, (
+        "the bar height must grow by the same inset (border-box keeps "
+        "the control row at --header-h)"
+    )
+    toast = _rule_block(mobile, ".toast")
+    assert (
+        "top: calc(var(--header-h) + 0.75rem + env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px))"
+        in toast
+    ), "the toast's under-bar offset must carry the same inset"
+
+
 def test_mobile_block_turns_the_nav_into_the_dropdown() -> None:
     """The closed (default) mobile nav is the invisible, non-interactive
     dropdown panel: absolute edge-to-edge under the sticky .app-header