diff --git a/apps/ios/Sources/Model/NodeAppModel.swift b/apps/ios/Sources/Model/NodeAppModel.swift
index 75950f55a4..5b59af1585 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Sources/Model/NodeAppModel.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Sources/Model/NodeAppModel.swift
@@ -1626,6 +1626,10 @@ private extension NodeAppModel {
                     try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
                     continue
                 }
+                if !self.gatewayAutoReconnectEnabled {
+                    try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
+                    continue
+                }
                 if await self.isOperatorConnected() {
                     try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
                     continue
@@ -1708,6 +1712,10 @@ private extension NodeAppModel {
                     try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
                     continue
                 }
+                if !self.gatewayAutoReconnectEnabled {
+                    try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
+                    continue
+                }
                 if await self.isGatewayConnected() {
                     try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
                     continue
@@ -1795,10 +1803,18 @@ private extension NodeAppModel {
                     }
                     GatewayDiagnostics.log("gateway connect error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
 
+                    // If auth is missing/rejected, pause reconnect churn until the user intervenes.
+                    // Reconnect loops only spam the same failing handshake and make onboarding noisy.
+                    let lower = error.localizedDescription.lowercased()
+                    if lower.contains("unauthorized") || lower.contains("gateway token missing") {
+                        await MainActor.run {
+                            self.gatewayAutoReconnectEnabled = false
+                        }
+                    }
+
                     // If pairing is required, stop reconnect churn. The user must approve the request
                     // on the gateway before another connect attempt will succeed, and retry loops can
                     // generate multiple pending requests.
-                    let lower = error.localizedDescription.lowercased()
                     if lower.contains("not_paired") || lower.contains("pairing required") {
                         let requestId: String? = {
                             // GatewayResponseError for connect decorates the message with `(requestId: ...)`.
diff --git a/apps/ios/Sources/Onboarding/OnboardingWizardView.swift b/apps/ios/Sources/Onboarding/OnboardingWizardView.swift
index 7320099f19..cbe9db2575 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Sources/Onboarding/OnboardingWizardView.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Sources/Onboarding/OnboardingWizardView.swift
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ struct OnboardingWizardView: View {
 
     private func retryLastAttempt() async {
         self.connectingGatewayID = "retry"
-        self.issue = .none
+        // Keep current auth/pairing issue sticky while retrying to avoid Step 3 UI flip-flop.
         self.connectMessage = "Retrying…"
         self.statusLine = "Retrying last connection…"
         defer { self.connectingGatewayID = nil }