diff --git a/crates/Cargo.lock b/crates/Cargo.lock
index e11b41cd1..536df6797 100644
--- a/crates/Cargo.lock
+++ b/crates/Cargo.lock
@@ -6624,6 +6624,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "ksni",
  "libc",
  "log",
+ "objc2 0.5.2",
+ "objc2-app-kit 0.2.2",
  "open",
  "qbz-app",
  "qbz-audio",
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/Cargo.toml b/crates/qbz-qt/Cargo.toml
index c8d091b6a..acd068eea 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/Cargo.toml
@@ -157,3 +157,35 @@ ksni = { version = "0.3", default-features = false, features = ["blocking", "asy
 
 [build-dependencies]
 cxx-qt-build = "0.7"
+
+# macOS only: the Dock-icon activation policy behind the "Hide Dock icon when
+# closed to menu bar" setting (Spotify behaviour — close puts the app in the
+# menu bar and drops the Dock icon; minimize still goes to the Dock).
+#
+# objc2 0.5 / objc2-app-kit 0.2 are pinned to the SAME generation the Slint
+# crate uses (crates/qbz/Cargo.toml:166-172). That matters even though this
+# crate has no winit: mixing objc2 generations in one binary registers
+# duplicate objc classes, which is the failure the reference documents at
+# length. Only the two items `set_mac_dock_hidden` names are enabled.
+#
+# ⚠ NOT COMPILED OR TESTED HERE. This tree builds on Linux; the macOS arm is
+# behind cfg, so `cargo build` cannot see it. First real check is a macOS
+# build — the Mac mini (192.168.0.69) is where that happens.
+[target.'cfg(target_os = "macos")'.dependencies]
+objc2 = "0.5"
+objc2-app-kit = { version = "0.2", default-features = false, features = [
+    "std",
+    # NSApplication: the class and `setActivationPolicy`.
+    "NSApplication",
+    # NSResponder: `sharedApplication` is behind `cfg(feature = "NSResponder")`
+    # (objc2-app-kit-0.2.2/src/generated/NSApplication.rs:326-329) — it is
+    # NSApplication's superclass, and the NSApplication feature does NOT pull
+    # it.
+    "NSResponder",
+    # NSRunningApplication: where `NSApplicationActivationPolicy` actually
+    # lives (…/src/generated/NSRunningApplication.rs:33-35), NOT in
+    # NSApplication.rs as the name suggests. Verified by reading the crate
+    # rather than by compiling — this arm cannot be built on Linux, and the
+    # reference's own proven set (crates/qbz/Cargo.toml) lists the same three.
+    "NSRunningApplication",
+] }
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_bridge.rs b/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_bridge.rs
index f99518719..acd524573 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_bridge.rs
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_bridge.rs
@@ -183,8 +183,27 @@ impl qbz_tray::QbzTray {
     }
 
     /// D18's report-back. Flag only — it never touches a window.
+    ///
+    /// It IS, however, the one place that knows the main window just became
+    /// hidden or visible, and it is called from exactly two sites
+    /// (`hideToTray` / `showFromTray`), so the macOS Dock-icon policy hangs
+    /// here rather than growing a third visibility owner.
+    ///
+    /// Hiding drops the Dock icon only when the user asked for it; showing
+    /// ALWAYS restores it, with no setting check — a user who turns the option
+    /// off while the app sits in the menu bar must still get their icon back,
+    /// and restoring an icon that is already there is free.
     pub fn set_window_shown(self: Pin<&mut Self>, shown: bool) {
         crate::tray_qt::set_window_shown(shown);
+        if shown {
+            crate::tray_qt::set_mac_dock_hidden(false);
+        } else if crate::settings_qt::tray()
+            .get_settings()
+            .map(|t| t.mac_hide_dock)
+            .unwrap_or(false)
+        {
+            crate::tray_qt::set_mac_dock_hidden(true);
+        }
     }
 
     /// The close-choreography evidence line — see the declaration above. The
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_qt.rs b/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_qt.rs
index a104beff7..ec7cbe40d 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_qt.rs
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/src/tray_qt.rs
@@ -166,6 +166,44 @@ pub(crate) fn handle() -> Option<&'static TrayHandle> {
     TRAY.get()
 }
 
+/// Apply the macOS Dock-icon activation policy: `.accessory` hides the icon
+/// (menu-bar-only), `.regular` keeps it. No-op off macOS.
+///
+/// This is the Spotify behaviour the owner asked for on 2026-08-04: closing
+/// puts the app in the menu bar and DROPS the Dock icon when the setting is
+/// on, while a plain minimize still goes to the Dock like any app. Only the
+/// close path calls this; minimize is untouched by design.
+///
+/// **Main thread only.** Its one caller is `QbzTray::set_window_shown`, a
+/// `#[qinvokable]` — those run on the Qt GUI thread, which on macOS IS the
+/// AppKit main thread, so `MainThreadMarker::new()` succeeds there. It returns
+/// `None` and no-ops anywhere else rather than panicking.
+///
+/// Port of `crates/qbz/src/tray/macos.rs:320-331`, reached through the
+/// reference's own `tray::set_mac_dock_hidden` (`tray/mod.rs:285-291`).
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+pub(crate) fn set_mac_dock_hidden(hidden: bool) {
+    use objc2::MainThreadMarker;
+    use objc2_app_kit::{NSApplication, NSApplicationActivationPolicy};
+
+    let Some(mtm) = MainThreadMarker::new() else {
+        log::warn!("[tray] dock policy skipped: not on the AppKit main thread");
+        return;
+    };
+    let app = NSApplication::sharedApplication(mtm);
+    app.setActivationPolicy(if hidden {
+        NSApplicationActivationPolicy::Accessory
+    } else {
+        NSApplicationActivationPolicy::Regular
+    });
+    log::info!("[tray] dock icon {}", if hidden { "hidden" } else { "shown" });
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "macos"))]
+pub(crate) fn set_mac_dock_hidden(hidden: bool) {
+    let _ = hidden;
+}
+
 /// The close-to-tray predicate, ported verbatim from the reference's
 /// `tray_settings::get().close_to_tray && tray::handle().is_some()`
 /// (`crates/qbz/src/main.rs:23253`, WM arm `:23276`). QML evaluates the same