diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/noti/restore/overlay/OverlayPanelManager.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/noti/restore/overlay/OverlayPanelManager.kt
index 282c108..6e35c6d 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/noti/restore/overlay/OverlayPanelManager.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/noti/restore/overlay/OverlayPanelManager.kt
@@ -129,17 +129,38 @@ object OverlayPanelManager {
         stripContext = context
         loadSavedBrightness(context)
 
-        // Watch for system brightness changes and override with our target
+        // Watch for system brightness changes and adopt them as our new target, so the
+        // stock System UI slider (or any other writer of Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS)
+        // stays in sync with KompaktX's overlay instead of being immediately reverted by it.
+        //
+        // applyBrightness() below sets currentBrightnessTarget *before* writing
+        // Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS, so a change we triggered ourselves always finds
+        // sys == target here and is a no-op. Only a genuinely external write reaches the
+        // branch below, which is what lets this safely distinguish "someone else changed it"
+        // from "we just changed it" without an extra flag.
         brightnessObserver = object : ContentObserver(handler) {
             override fun onChange(selfChange: Boolean) {
                 val target = currentBrightnessTarget
                 if (target < 0) return
                 try {
+                    // Don't fight Adaptive Brightness: an external write to SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS
+                    // while the system is in automatic mode (e.g. Settings' own Display screen
+                    // mirroring its live auto-brightness value into this setting) is not KompaktX
+                    // being asked to sync anything — adopting it as a new target and pinning the
+                    // overlay to it here would fight Adaptive Brightness the same way reverting
+                    // did before this branch, just with a different stale-ish value.
+                    if (isAdaptiveBrightnessOn(context.contentResolver)) return
                     val sys = Settings.System.getInt(context.contentResolver, Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS)
                     if (sys != target) {
-                        Settings.System.putInt(context.contentResolver, Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS, target)
-                        val screenVal = if (target <= 0) 0.001f else target / 255f
+                        currentBrightnessTarget = sys
+                        val screenVal = if (sys <= 0) 0.001f else sys / 255f
+                        // Mirror applyBrightness()'s side effects so the externally-set value
+                        // actually reaches the physical backlight (the overlay's screenBrightness
+                        // param drives it, not Settings.System by itself), persists across a
+                        // KompaktX process restart, and still applies above the lockscreen.
                         applyScreenBrightnessToView(brightnessOverlay, screenVal)
+                        com.noti.restore.service.RecentsButtonService.applyAccessibilityBrightness(screenVal)
+                        saveBrightness(context)
                     }
                 } catch (_: Exception) {}
             }
@@ -2319,6 +2340,14 @@ object OverlayPanelManager {
         } catch (_: Exception) {}
     }
 
+    /** True when the system's own Adaptive Brightness is currently on. */
+    private fun isAdaptiveBrightnessOn(resolver: android.content.ContentResolver): Boolean {
+        return try {
+            Settings.System.getInt(resolver, Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS_MODE) ==
+                Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS_MODE_AUTOMATIC
+        } catch (_: Exception) { false }
+    }
+
     /** Re-apply our brightness target after screen wake. Forces both Settings.System and overlay. */
     fun reapplyBrightness() {
         val ctx = stripContext ?: return