diff --git a/desktop/main.go b/desktop/main.go
index 6226888..0f35345 100644
--- a/desktop/main.go
+++ b/desktop/main.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"embed"
 	"log"
+	runtime2 "runtime"
 
 	"github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2"
 	"github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/options"
@@ -66,13 +67,23 @@ func main() {
 		// Closing the window hides it rather than quitting: the engine must
 		// keep recognising after a shop assistant clicks the X, and the tray
 		// is where they get the window back.
-		HideWindowOnClose: true,
+		// Windows hides on close because the tray is how the window comes
+		// back and how recognition is stopped. macOS has no tray here (see
+		// tray_run_darwin.go), so hiding would leave a running engine with no
+		// window, no tray and no way to reach either - force-quit or nothing.
+		// Closing the window therefore quits, which also stops the engine
+		// through OnShutdown. Same rule as the tray's Quit: never leave it
+		// watching with no visible control.
+		HideWindowOnClose: runtime2.GOOS == "windows",
 		OnStartup: func(ctx context.Context) {
 			ctxRef = ctx
 			app.startup(ctx)
 			tray.start(ctx)
 		},
 		OnBeforeClose: func(ctx context.Context) bool {
+			if runtime2.GOOS != "windows" {
+				return false // let it close, and OnShutdown stops the engine
+			}
 			// WindowHide, not Hide. They are different calls on Windows -
 			// WindowHide locks the OS thread for the Win32 work and Hide does
 			// not - and the tray's reopen uses WindowShow, so hiding through
diff --git a/desktop/tray.go b/desktop/tray.go
index 83dea70..9c04879 100644
--- a/desktop/tray.go
+++ b/desktop/tray.go
@@ -55,9 +55,7 @@ func (t *tray) start(ctx context.Context) {
 	if trayDisabled() {
 		return
 	}
-	t.once.Do(func() {
-		go systray.Run(func() { t.onReady(ctx) }, func() {})
-	})
+	t.once.Do(func() { startSystray(func() { t.onReady(ctx) }) })
 }
 
 func (t *tray) stop() {
diff --git a/desktop/tray_run_darwin.go b/desktop/tray_run_darwin.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..559cbdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/tray_run_darwin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+//go:build darwin
+
+package main
+
+// There is no tray on macOS, and that is a decision rather than an omission.
+//
+// macOS has exactly ONE main run loop and AppKit insists that windows and
+// status items are created on it. Wails already owns that loop. Two attempts,
+// both crashing within a second of launch:
+//
+//	systray.Run              -> SIGTRAP inside cgo: nativeLoop() takes the
+//	                            main loop for itself, and Wails has it
+//	systray.RunWithExternalLoop -> "NSWindow should only be instantiated on
+//	                            the main thread!" - it registers in the
+//	                            existing NSApplication but still builds
+//	                            AppKit objects, and Wails' OnStartup is not
+//	                            the main thread
+//
+// Making it work needs the status item created through a main-queue dispatch
+// inside Wails' own lifecycle, which is real work for a build whose entire
+// purpose is demoing on a developer's Mac. Windows is the platform this ships
+// to and its tray is the shop manager's only control surface; here the window
+// is right there in the Dock.
+//
+// The consequence is handled rather than left: with no tray there would be no
+// way back from a hidden window and no way to quit, so on macOS closing the
+// window stops the engine and exits. See main.go.
+func startSystray(onReady func()) {}
diff --git a/desktop/tray_run_windows.go b/desktop/tray_run_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30d727a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/tray_run_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package main
+
+import "fyne.io/systray"
+
+// systray.Run owns a message loop, and on Windows it is free to have its own:
+// the tray lives in its own thread with its own pump, beside the one Wails
+// runs for the window. A goroutine is all it needs.
+func startSystray(onReady func()) { go systray.Run(onReady, func() {}) }