diff --git a/containers/libreportal/frontend/css/apps.css b/containers/libreportal/frontend/css/apps.css
index 1b4bddb..6c94b50 100644
--- a/containers/libreportal/frontend/css/apps.css
+++ b/containers/libreportal/frontend/css/apps.css
@@ -6,23 +6,25 @@
   --app-min: 300px;
   --app-gap: 20px;
   display: grid;
-  /* JS sets --app-cols to a balanced track count: as many as fit the
-     row at min-width, but reduced by 1 if the natural count would
-     orphan a single card on the last row (e.g. 4 cards on a 3-col
-     viewport becomes a 2x2 grid instead of 3+1). Falls back to
-     auto-fill while JS hasn't run yet. Cards stretch via 1fr so the
-     last row never leaves a card-shaped hole — accepting some width
-     variation across categories in exchange for no internal gaps. */
-  grid-template-columns: repeat(var(--app-cols, auto-fill), minmax(var(--app-min), 1fr));
+  /* Fixed-width tracks so cards stay exactly --app-min wide regardless
+     of how many are visible — a 2-card category lines up with a 3-card
+     category at the same X positions. auto-fill packs as many tracks
+     as the row fits at the current viewport. The partial-row orphan
+     (e.g. 4 cards on a 3-col viewport → 3+1 with the 4th alone on row
+     2) is an accepted tradeoff: we tried rebalancing to 2x2, but that
+     dropped the cards-per-row count too aggressively for larger
+     viewports — keeping rows dense beats avoiding the orphan. */
+  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, var(--app-min));
   gap: var(--app-gap);
   margin: 22px;
   padding: 22px;
   background: rgba(var(--text-rgb), 0.025);
   border: 1px solid var(--border-subtle);
   border-radius: 16px;
-  /* Box reaches the layout edge for 2+ visible cards (sentinel from
-     apps-manager.js); for a single card the formula caps the box to
-     one card's worth instead of stretching it across the full row.
+  /* Box reaches the layout edge when the visible cards already fill a
+     natural row (sentinel from apps-manager.js sets --app-count to 99);
+     for fewer cards the formula caps the box to exactly that many so
+     no card-shaped hole sits to the right of a small category.
      Outer under border-box (global, style.css:4): N*min + (N-1)*gap +
      44px padding + 2px border + 2px sub-pixel buffer. */
   max-width: min(
diff --git a/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/app/apps-manager.js b/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/app/apps-manager.js
index 89f9f7b..dff30e8 100755
--- a/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/app/apps-manager.js
+++ b/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/app/apps-manager.js
@@ -552,20 +552,10 @@ class AppsManager {
     });
   }
 
-  // Sync --app-cols + --app-count on .apps-section so the grid lays out
-  // without orphans on the last row.
-  //
-  // --app-cols picks a balanced column count: as many as the row fits
-  // naturally, but reduced by 1 when the natural choice would leave a
-  // single card alone on the last row (e.g. 4 cards on a 3-col viewport
-  // becomes 2x2 instead of 3+1). 5+2, 6+3, etc are accepted — only the
-  // worst case (last row has exactly 1 orphan) is rebalanced.
-  //
-  // --app-count drives the CSS max-width cap: 1 visible card shrinks
-  // the box to one card's worth (stretching one card to 1000px+ looks
-  // bad); 2+ cards pass a sentinel (99) so the cap defers to the
-  // 100%-44px parent and the box runs edge-to-edge.
-  //
+  // Sync --app-count on .apps-section so the CSS max-width cap shrinks
+  // the box around a few visible cards (no card-shaped hole on the
+  // right for a half-empty row) but disengages when visible cards meet
+  // the natural full-width column count (box reaches the parent edge).
   // Driven from render, sidebar search filter, and window resize.
   updateAppsCount() {
     const container = document.getElementById('apps-section');
@@ -583,22 +573,11 @@ class AppsManager {
     // 22px margin + 22px padding + 1px border, doubled.
     const parent = container.parentElement;
     const inside = parent ? Math.max(0, parent.clientWidth - 90) : 0;
-    const maxCols = inside > 0
+    const naturalCols = inside > 0
       ? Math.max(1, Math.floor((inside + gap) / (minCol + gap)))
       : visible;
-
-    let cols = Math.min(visible, maxCols);
-    // Avoid orphaning a single card on the last row — reduce columns
-    // by one so the layout becomes (cols-1)+(cols-1)+… with a fuller
-    // tail. Don't drop below 2; a 1-col stack looks worse than an
-    // orphan. Only handles the immediate "last row is 1" case;
-    // last-row-of-2 etc are accepted as good enough.
-    if (cols > 2 && visible > cols && visible % cols === 1) {
-      cols--;
-    }
-
-    container.style.setProperty('--app-cols', cols);
-    container.style.setProperty('--app-count', visible === 1 ? 1 : 99);
+    const effective = visible >= naturalCols ? 99 : visible;
+    container.style.setProperty('--app-count', effective);
   }
 
   // Client-side substring filter wired to the sidebar search box.