diff --git a/src/app.cpp b/src/app.cpp
index d8bcaa5..7552aeb 100644
--- a/src/app.cpp
+++ b/src/app.cpp
@@ -403,6 +403,12 @@ void App::update()
 
     // Apply any lite-wallet refresh the controller's background worker produced (main thread).
     if (lite_wallet_) {
+        // Lite has no RPC daemon (tryConnect() is a no-op in lite builds), so derive the app's
+        // "online" state — which gates the wallet UI via isConnected() — from the lite wallet.
+        // A wallet is open only after a successful backend init against the lite server, so this
+        // is a non-blocking proxy for "lite backend operational".
+        state_.connected = lite_wallet_->walletOpen();
+
         wallet::LiteWalletAppRefreshModel liteModel;
         if (lite_wallet_->takeRefreshedModel(liteModel)) {
             wallet::applyLiteRefreshModelToWalletState(liteModel, state_);
diff --git a/src/app_network.cpp b/src/app_network.cpp
index 60ed328..8330535 100644
--- a/src/app_network.cpp
+++ b/src/app_network.cpp
@@ -164,8 +164,13 @@ static WarmupText translateWarmup(const std::string& raw)
 
 void App::tryConnect()
 {
+    // Lite builds have no full node / RPC daemon, so never run the RPC connection state machine
+    // (it would just fail every tick). The lite controller drives the wallet; "online" status is
+    // derived from it each frame in App::update(), which also gates the wallet UI (isConnected()).
+    if (isLiteBuild()) return;
+
     if (connection_in_progress_) return;
-    
+
     static int connect_attempt = 0;
     ++connect_attempt;