diff --git a/lib/screens/channel/video/native_video_store.dart b/lib/screens/channel/video/native_video_store.dart
index e0b789bc..9f053e16 100644
--- a/lib/screens/channel/video/native_video_store.dart
+++ b/lib/screens/channel/video/native_video_store.dart
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ abstract class NativeVideoStoreBase
   );
   ReactionDisposer? _disposeAndroidAutoPipReaction;
   ReactionDisposer? _disposeVideoModeReaction;
+  ReactionDisposer? _disposeBackgroundPlaybackReaction;
 
   /// Cached SimplePip.isAutoPipAvailable result. Populated by the Android
   /// auto-PiP reaction on first run; reused by dispose to avoid a redundant
@@ -213,6 +214,19 @@ abstract class NativeVideoStoreBase
         },
         fireImmediately: true,
       );
+
+      // Mirror the background-playback setting onto the plugin's foreground
+      // service. Driving it from a reaction (not just _onPlaying) means it
+      // fires the moment the toggle flips while the app is visible, which is
+      // what grants the service Android 17's while-in-use capability.
+      _disposeBackgroundPlaybackReaction = reaction(
+        (_) => settingsStore.backgroundPlayback,
+        (bool enabled) {
+          debugPrint('[BGAUDIO] setBackgroundPlaybackEnabled($enabled)');
+          _controller?.setBackgroundPlaybackEnabled(enabled);
+        },
+        fireImmediately: true,
+      );
     }
   }
 
@@ -515,6 +529,12 @@ abstract class NativeVideoStoreBase
       _pendingQualityIndex = null;
       _setStreamQualityIndex(index);
     }
+    // Start the background-audio foreground service now that the MediaSession
+    // exists and we're playing in the foreground (Android 17 grants the
+    // service while-in-use capability only when started while visible).
+    if (Platform.isAndroid && settingsStore.backgroundPlayback) {
+      _controller?.setBackgroundPlaybackEnabled(true);
+    }
     _updateLatency();
   }
 
@@ -1224,6 +1244,7 @@ abstract class NativeVideoStoreBase
     _stopStreamInfoTimer();
     _disposeAndroidAutoPipReaction?.call();
     _disposeVideoModeReaction?.call();
+    _disposeBackgroundPlaybackReaction?.call();
     _disposeController();
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy.dart b/lib/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de1077b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/// Decides when the native player should drop to audio-only because the screen
+/// turned off, and what video quality to restore when it turns back on.
+///
+/// Pure logic with no Flutter/MobX dependency so it can be unit-tested without
+/// constructing the heavyweight video store (mirrors ChatLatencySync).
+class ScreenLockAudioPolicy {
+  int? _savedQualityIndex;
+
+  /// The screen turned off. Returns the audio-only quality index to switch to
+  /// (remembering the current index for restore), or null if nothing should
+  /// change — disabled, not actively playing, user-paused, offline, mid ad
+  /// break, no audio-only quality available, or already audio-only.
+  int? onScreenOff({
+    required bool backgroundPlaybackEnabled,
+    required bool playing,
+    required bool userPaused,
+    required int currentQualityIndex,
+    required int? audioOnlyQualityIndex,
+    required bool offline,
+    required bool adBreakActive,
+  }) {
+    if (!backgroundPlaybackEnabled ||
+        !playing ||
+        userPaused ||
+        offline ||
+        adBreakActive) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    if (audioOnlyQualityIndex == null ||
+        currentQualityIndex == audioOnlyQualityIndex) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    _savedQualityIndex = currentQualityIndex;
+    return audioOnlyQualityIndex;
+  }
+
+  /// The screen turned on. Returns the quality index to restore (then clears
+  /// it), or null if the screen-off didn't switch.
+  int? onScreenOn() {
+    final saved = _savedQualityIndex;
+    _savedQualityIndex = null;
+    return saved;
+  }
+
+  /// Drop any pending restore (e.g. on dispose or a hard refresh).
+  void reset() => _savedQualityIndex = null;
+}
diff --git a/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.dart b/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.dart
index 333f4e38..256d10c0 100644
--- a/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.dart
+++ b/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.dart
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ abstract class _SettingsStoreBase with Store {
   static const defaultDefaultToHighestQuality = false;
   static const defaultUseTextureRendering = true;
   static const defaultUseNativePlayer = false;
+  static const defaultBackgroundPlayback = false;
 
   static const defaultShowOverlay = true;
   static const defaultToggleableOverlay = false;
@@ -88,6 +89,11 @@ abstract class _SettingsStoreBase with Store {
   @observable
   var useNativePlayer = defaultUseNativePlayer;
 
+  /// Keep audio playing when the screen is locked (native player only).
+  @JsonKey(defaultValue: defaultBackgroundPlayback)
+  @observable
+  var backgroundPlayback = defaultBackgroundPlayback;
+
   // Overlay options
   @JsonKey(defaultValue: defaultShowOverlay)
   @observable
@@ -107,6 +113,7 @@ abstract class _SettingsStoreBase with Store {
     defaultToHighestQuality = defaultDefaultToHighestQuality;
     useTextureRendering = defaultUseTextureRendering;
     useNativePlayer = defaultUseNativePlayer;
+    backgroundPlayback = defaultBackgroundPlayback;
 
     showOverlay = defaultShowOverlay;
     toggleableOverlay = defaultToggleableOverlay;
diff --git a/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.g.dart b/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.g.dart
index 2e713294..44953841 100644
--- a/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.g.dart
+++ b/lib/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.g.dart
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ SettingsStore _$SettingsStoreFromJson(
   ..defaultToHighestQuality = json['defaultToHighestQuality'] as bool? ?? false
   ..useTextureRendering = json['useTextureRendering'] as bool? ?? true
   ..useNativePlayer = json['useNativePlayer'] as bool? ?? false
+  ..backgroundPlayback = json['backgroundPlayback'] as bool? ?? false
   ..showOverlay = json['showOverlay'] as bool? ?? true
   ..toggleableOverlay = json['toggleableOverlay'] as bool? ?? false
   ..showLatency = json['showLatency'] as bool? ?? false
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ Map<String, dynamic> _$SettingsStoreToJson(
   'defaultToHighestQuality': instance.defaultToHighestQuality,
   'useTextureRendering': instance.useTextureRendering,
   'useNativePlayer': instance.useNativePlayer,
+  'backgroundPlayback': instance.backgroundPlayback,
   'showOverlay': instance.showOverlay,
   'toggleableOverlay': instance.toggleableOverlay,
   'showLatency': instance.showLatency,
@@ -350,6 +352,24 @@ mixin _$SettingsStore on _SettingsStoreBase, Store {
     });
   }
 
+  late final _$backgroundPlaybackAtom = Atom(
+    name: '_SettingsStoreBase.backgroundPlayback',
+    context: context,
+  );
+
+  @override
+  bool get backgroundPlayback {
+    _$backgroundPlaybackAtom.reportRead();
+    return super.backgroundPlayback;
+  }
+
+  @override
+  set backgroundPlayback(bool value) {
+    _$backgroundPlaybackAtom.reportWrite(value, super.backgroundPlayback, () {
+      super.backgroundPlayback = value;
+    });
+  }
+
   late final _$showOverlayAtom = Atom(
     name: '_SettingsStoreBase.showOverlay',
     context: context,
@@ -1231,6 +1251,7 @@ showVideo: ${showVideo},
 defaultToHighestQuality: ${defaultToHighestQuality},
 useTextureRendering: ${useTextureRendering},
 useNativePlayer: ${useNativePlayer},
+backgroundPlayback: ${backgroundPlayback},
 showOverlay: ${showOverlay},
 toggleableOverlay: ${toggleableOverlay},
 showLatency: ${showLatency},
diff --git a/lib/screens/settings/video_settings.dart b/lib/screens/settings/video_settings.dart
index 4e2aedd4..0d82963a 100644
--- a/lib/screens/settings/video_settings.dart
+++ b/lib/screens/settings/video_settings.dart
@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@ class VideoSettings extends StatelessWidget {
               onChanged: (newValue) =>
                   settingsStore.useNativePlayer = newValue,
             ),
+          if (settingsStore.showVideo && settingsStore.useNativePlayer)
+            SettingsListSwitch(
+              title: 'Background audio when screen locked',
+              subtitle: const Text(
+                'Keep the stream playing as audio-only when the screen is off. '
+                'Native player only.',
+              ),
+              value: settingsStore.backgroundPlayback,
+              onChanged: (newValue) =>
+                  settingsStore.backgroundPlayback = newValue,
+            ),
           if (!Platform.isIOS || isIPad())
             SettingsListSwitch(
               title: 'Default to highest quality',
diff --git a/pubspec.lock b/pubspec.lock
index 9e8b63a4..fadc7c03 100644
--- a/pubspec.lock
+++ b/pubspec.lock
@@ -101,9 +101,9 @@ packages:
     dependency: "direct main"
     description:
       path: "."
-      ref: frosty-patches
-      resolved-ref: "6460859318b7b44034fe44016cddff02d0bd4c0a"
-      url: "https://github.com/tommyxchow/flutter-native-video-player.git"
+      ref: background-playback
+      resolved-ref: "01f20e0a62fc79a839f5cc3eff052c2d2d602a59"
+      url: "https://github.com/francislavoie/flutter-native-video-player.git"
     source: git
     version: "0.4.11"
   boolean_selector:
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 3bc63b18..a7b88f77 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -81,8 +81,12 @@ dependencies:
     native_device_orientation: ^2.1.0
     better_native_video_player:
         git:
-            url: https://github.com/tommyxchow/flutter-native-video-player.git
-            ref: frosty-patches
+            # TEMP: points at francislavoie's fork while developing the
+            # background-playback foreground service. Revert to
+            # tommyxchow/flutter-native-video-player @ frosty-patches once the
+            # change is merged upstream. Branch is based on the same pinned ref.
+            url: https://github.com/francislavoie/flutter-native-video-player.git
+            ref: background-playback
 
 dev_dependencies:
     flutter_test:
diff --git a/test/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy_test.dart b/test/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac7adc54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:frosty/screens/channel/video/screen_lock_audio_policy.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  late ScreenLockAudioPolicy policy;
+  setUp(() => policy = ScreenLockAudioPolicy());
+
+  int? off({
+    bool enabled = true,
+    bool playing = true,
+    bool userPaused = false,
+    int current = 2,
+    int? audioOnly = 5,
+    bool offline = false,
+    bool ad = false,
+  }) => policy.onScreenOff(
+    backgroundPlaybackEnabled: enabled,
+    playing: playing,
+    userPaused: userPaused,
+    currentQualityIndex: current,
+    audioOnlyQualityIndex: audioOnly,
+    offline: offline,
+    adBreakActive: ad,
+  );
+
+  test('switches to the audio-only index and restores the prior index', () {
+    expect(off(), 5); // current defaults to 2, audio-only to 5
+    expect(policy.onScreenOn(), 2);
+  });
+
+  test('onScreenOn returns null once consumed', () {
+    off();
+    policy.onScreenOn();
+    expect(policy.onScreenOn(), isNull);
+  });
+
+  test('no-op when disabled', () => expect(off(enabled: false), isNull));
+  test('no-op when paused', () => expect(off(playing: false), isNull));
+  test('no-op when user paused', () => expect(off(userPaused: true), isNull));
+  test('no-op when offline', () => expect(off(offline: true), isNull));
+  test('no-op during ad break', () => expect(off(ad: true), isNull));
+  test(
+    'no-op when no audio-only quality',
+    () => expect(off(audioOnly: null), isNull),
+  );
+  test(
+    'no-op when already audio-only',
+    () => expect(off(current: 5), isNull), // current == audio-only default (5)
+  );
+
+  test('onScreenOn returns null if screen-off was a no-op', () {
+    off(enabled: false);
+    expect(policy.onScreenOn(), isNull);
+  });
+
+  test('reset clears a pending restore', () {
+    off();
+    policy.reset();
+    expect(policy.onScreenOn(), isNull);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/test/screens/settings/background_playback_setting_test.dart b/test/screens/settings/background_playback_setting_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5eb14d8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/screens/settings/background_playback_setting_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:frosty/screens/settings/stores/settings_store.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  test('backgroundPlayback defaults to false', () {
+    final store = SettingsStore.fromJson({});
+    expect(store.backgroundPlayback, isFalse);
+  });
+
+  test('backgroundPlayback round-trips through json', () {
+    final store = SettingsStore.fromJson({})..backgroundPlayback = true;
+    final restored = SettingsStore.fromJson(store.toJson());
+    expect(restored.backgroundPlayback, isTrue);
+  });
+}