diff --git a/harnesses/gtauri/gen/android/app/src/main/java/wow/gmp/gallery/MainActivity.kt b/harnesses/gtauri/gen/android/app/src/main/java/wow/gmp/gallery/MainActivity.kt
index c804fba..cb5d5d0 100644
--- a/harnesses/gtauri/gen/android/app/src/main/java/wow/gmp/gallery/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/harnesses/gtauri/gen/android/app/src/main/java/wow/gmp/gallery/MainActivity.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import android.content.ContentUris
 import android.database.ContentObserver
 import android.net.Uri
 
+import android.os.FileObserver
 import android.os.Build
 import android.os.Bundle
 import android.os.Handler
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.Executors
 
 class MainActivity : TauriActivity() {
   private var observer: ContentObserver? = null
+  private val fileObservers = mutableListOf<FileObserver>()
 
   // MediaStore event path: the OS tells us WHICH URI changed; we query
   // that one row (~ms) and hand the result to Rust via a payload file +
@@ -77,6 +79,50 @@ class MainActivity : TauriActivity() {
     }
   }
 
+  private fun startFileObservers() {
+    val roots = listOf(
+      android.os.Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(android.os.Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES),
+      android.os.Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(android.os.Environment.DIRECTORY_DCIM)
+    )
+    for (root in roots) {
+      if (root != null && root.exists()) {
+        val dirs = mutableListOf(root)
+        root.listFiles()?.forEach { if (it.isDirectory) dirs.add(it) }
+        for (dir in dirs) {
+          try {
+            val observer = object : FileObserver(dir.absolutePath, CLOSE_WRITE or DELETE or MOVED_TO or MOVED_FROM) {
+              override fun onEvent(event: Int, path: String?) {
+                if (path.isNullOrEmpty()) return
+                if (path.startsWith(".")) return
+                val fullPath = java.io.File(dir, path).absolutePath
+                val ext = fullPath.substringAfterLast('.', "").lowercase()
+                val imageExts = setOf("jpg", "jpeg", "png", "webp", "heic", "heif", "bmp")
+                if (!imageExts.contains(ext)) return
+
+                fsExecutor.execute {
+                  when (event and FileObserver.ALL_EVENTS) {
+                    FileObserver.CLOSE_WRITE, FileObserver.MOVED_TO -> {
+                      val f = java.io.File(fullPath)
+                      if (f.exists() && f.length() > 0) {
+                        deliver("A|0|$fullPath|${f.length()}")
+                      }
+                    }
+                    FileObserver.DELETE, FileObserver.MOVED_FROM -> {
+                      deliver("D_PATH|$fullPath")
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+            observer.startWatching()
+            fileObservers.add(observer)
+          } catch (e: Exception) {
+            android.util.Log.w("gallery-ms", "FileObserver error: " + e)
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
   /** Handle ONE changed URI: query that exact MediaStore row.
    *  Row exists → A (added/modified). Row gone → D (deleted). */
   private fun handleUri(uri: Uri?) {
@@ -180,9 +226,12 @@ class MainActivity : TauriActivity() {
     // the observer won't replay — push whatever was indexed recently.
     mainHandler.postDelayed({ fsExecutor.execute { windowQuery() } }, 1500)
     requestMediaPermission()
+    startFileObservers()
   }
 
   override fun onDestroy() {
+    fileObservers.forEach { it.stopWatching() }
+    fileObservers.clear()
     android.util.Log.i("gallery-ms", "onDestroy: unregistering observer")
     observer?.let { contentResolver.unregisterContentObserver(it) }
     fsExecutor.shutdownNow()
diff --git a/harnesses/gtauri/src/lib.rs b/harnesses/gtauri/src/lib.rs
index f87d707..f221cd0 100644
--- a/harnesses/gtauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/harnesses/gtauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -1068,6 +1068,25 @@ fn mediastore_apply(app: &tauri::AppHandle, text: &str) -> bool {
                     let _ = db::unmap_media(&mut conn, id);
                 }
             }
+            "D_PATH" => {
+                let Some(path) = f.next() else { continue };
+                if let Some(rid) = conn
+                    .query_row(
+                        "SELECT rowid FROM items WHERE path = ?1",
+                        rusqlite::params![path],
+                        |r| r.get(0),
+                    )
+                    .ok()
+                {
+                    FAILS.lock().unwrap().remove(&rid);
+                }
+                if let Ok(n) = db::delete_by_path(&mut conn, path) {
+                    removed += n;
+                    if n > 0 {
+                        tr(&format!("mediastore del path={path}"));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             _ => {}
         }
     }
@@ -1230,7 +1249,7 @@ fn watch_files(app: tauri::AppHandle) {
     let mut last_full = std::time::Instant::now();
 
     loop {
-        let woke = match rx.recv_timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(1)) {
+        let woke = match rx.recv_timeout(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)) {
             Ok(e) => Some(e),
             Err(mpsc::RecvTimeoutError::Timeout) => None,
             Err(mpsc::RecvTimeoutError::Disconnected) => break,