diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/blocker/BlockerScreen.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/blocker/BlockerScreen.kt
index 0af805c..26ad238 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/blocker/BlockerScreen.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/blocker/BlockerScreen.kt
@@ -244,7 +244,11 @@ fun BlockerScreen(
                         "stop enforcing."
                 },
                 checked = ui.enabled,
-                enabled = ui.connection != Connection.Unconfigured,
+                // The rules are the server's document and there is no outbox for it:
+                // a settings PUT is a deep merge of a shared object, and queueing one
+                // would mean replaying a stale version over whatever the web UI did
+                // meanwhile. So offline these say no, rather than appearing to work.
+                enabled = ui.connection == Connection.Online,
                 onChange = { value -> patch(mapOf("enabled" to value)) },
             )
         }
@@ -398,7 +402,11 @@ fun BlockerScreen(
             horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(10.dp),
             verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
         ) {
-            PrimaryButton(text = "Save lists", enabled = dirty, onClick = ::saveLists)
+            PrimaryButton(
+                text = "Save lists",
+                enabled = dirty && ui.connection == Connection.Online,
+                onClick = ::saveLists,
+            )
             GhostButton(
                 text = "Discard",
                 enabled = dirty,
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/onboarding/OnboardingScreen.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/onboarding/OnboardingScreen.kt
index 7aa76b3..b4084fd 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/onboarding/OnboardingScreen.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/tech/kadence/android/ui/onboarding/OnboardingScreen.kt
@@ -68,6 +68,32 @@ fun OnboardingScreen(
     var problem by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
     var reassurance by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
 
+    /** Set once an attempt has failed for want of a network, which unlocks the way in. */
+    var unreachable by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
+
+    /**
+     * Go in with the address saved but unconfirmed.
+     *
+     * The honest half of the old "there is no skip" argument was that an app which
+     * shows nothing is worse than one that insists. The dishonest half was that it
+     * *would* show nothing: the timer ticks from the kept anchor, the focus guard
+     * enforces the kept rules, taps go to the outbox, and the lists show what they
+     * last held. Keeping someone at this screen because their train is in a tunnel
+     * is the worse failure, so once an attempt has actually failed on the network
+     * this becomes available — and says plainly what it does and does not do.
+     */
+    fun enterUnconfirmed() {
+        val normalized = KadencePrefs.normalizeBaseUrl(url)
+        onSave(
+            config.copy(
+                baseUrl = normalized,
+                apiToken = token.takeIf { it.isNotBlank() },
+                onboarded = true,
+            ),
+        )
+        onDone()
+    }
+
     fun connect() {
         val normalized = KadencePrefs.normalizeBaseUrl(url)
         if (normalized.isBlank()) {
@@ -78,6 +104,7 @@ fun OnboardingScreen(
         checking = true
         problem = null
         reassurance = null
+        unreachable = false
 
         // Saved first, because the repository reads the live config — there is no way
         // to make a call "as if" configured. Onboarded stays false until it works, so
@@ -95,6 +122,7 @@ fun OnboardingScreen(
                 is ApiResult.Ok -> Unit
                 is ApiResult.NetworkError -> {
                     checking = false
+                    unreachable = true
                     problem = "Nothing answered at $normalized.\n\n" +
                         "If the backend is on your LAN, check that an always-on VPN " +
                         "is not swallowing the address."
@@ -252,9 +280,22 @@ fun OnboardingScreen(
             Spacer(Modifier.fillMaxWidth(0.1f))
         }
 
-        // There is no "skip": without a backend every screen is empty, and an app
-        // that lets you past this point only to show nothing is worse than one that
-        // insists. The escape hatch is that a wrong answer is editable in Settings.
+        // No unconditional "skip": a first run with a *wrong* address is better
+        // stopped here, where the message can explain it, than three screens deep. But
+        // once the attempt has failed for want of a network, insisting is pointless —
+        // see [enterUnconfirmed].
+        if (unreachable) {
+            Column(verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(8.dp)) {
+                GhostButton(text = "Use it offline for now", onClick = ::enterUnconfirmed)
+                Text(
+                    text = "The address is saved and nothing syncs until it answers. " +
+                        "The timer, the focus guard and what you last loaded all work; " +
+                        "anything you change is kept and sent when it is back.",
+                    style = KadenceTheme.type.caption,
+                    color = colors.inkMuted,
+                )
+            }
+        }
         if (config.onboarded) {
             GhostButton(text = "Back", onClick = onDone)
         }