diff --git a/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.tsx b/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.tsx
index a5fea5d4de..ea3cbc7f17 100644
--- a/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import {StyleSheet, View} from 'react-native'
-
-import {atoms as a} from '#/alf'
+import {BlurView} from 'expo-blur'
 
 type Props = {
   count: number
@@ -14,26 +13,38 @@ const GAP = 5
 export function PagerDots({count, activeIndex}: Props) {
   if (count <= 1) return null
   return (
-    <View style={[a.flex_row, a.align_center, a.justify_center, styles.row]}>
-      {Array.from({length: count}).map((_, i) => {
-        const isActive = i === activeIndex
-        return (
-          <View
-            key={i}
-            style={[
-              isActive ? styles.active : styles.inactive,
-              isActive ? styles.activeDot : styles.inactiveDot,
-            ]}
-          />
-        )
-      })}
+    <View style={styles.root}>
+      <BlurView intensity={20} tint="dark" style={styles.inner}>
+        {Array.from({length: count}).map((_, i) => {
+          const isActive = i === activeIndex
+          return (
+            <View
+              key={i}
+              style={[
+                isActive ? styles.active : styles.inactive,
+                isActive ? styles.activeDot : styles.inactiveDot,
+              ]}
+            />
+          )
+        })}
+      </BlurView>
     </View>
   )
 }
 
 const styles = StyleSheet.create({
-  row: {
+  root: {
+    borderRadius: 999,
+    overflow: 'hidden',
+  },
+  inner: {
+    flexDirection: 'row',
+    alignItems: 'center',
+    justifyContent: 'center',
     gap: GAP,
+    paddingHorizontal: 10,
+    paddingVertical: 6,
+    backgroundColor: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5)',
   },
   activeDot: {
     width: ACTIVE,
diff --git a/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.web.tsx b/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.web.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..370917254f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Lightbox/chrome/PagerDots.web.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import {StyleSheet, View} from 'react-native'
+
+type Props = {
+  count: number
+  activeIndex: number
+}
+
+const ACTIVE = 6
+const INACTIVE = 4
+const GAP = 5
+
+export function PagerDots({count, activeIndex}: Props) {
+  if (count <= 1) return null
+  return (
+    <View style={styles.root}>
+      {Array.from({length: count}).map((_, i) => {
+        const isActive = i === activeIndex
+        return (
+          <View
+            key={i}
+            style={[
+              isActive ? styles.active : styles.inactive,
+              isActive ? styles.activeDot : styles.inactiveDot,
+            ]}
+          />
+        )
+      })}
+    </View>
+  )
+}
+
+const styles = StyleSheet.create({
+  root: {
+    flexDirection: 'row',
+    alignItems: 'center',
+    justifyContent: 'center',
+    gap: GAP,
+    paddingHorizontal: 10,
+    paddingVertical: 6,
+    borderRadius: 999,
+    backgroundColor: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75)',
+    // @ts-expect-error web-only
+    backdropFilter: 'blur(8px)',
+    WebkitBackdropFilter: 'blur(8px)',
+  },
+  activeDot: {
+    width: ACTIVE,
+    height: ACTIVE,
+    borderRadius: ACTIVE / 2,
+  },
+  inactiveDot: {
+    width: INACTIVE,
+    height: INACTIVE,
+    borderRadius: INACTIVE / 2,
+  },
+  active: {
+    backgroundColor: '#fff',
+  },
+  inactive: {
+    backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4)',
+  },
+})
diff --git a/src/components/images/Gallery/index.tsx b/src/components/images/Gallery/index.tsx
index 8f722959cf..58df7fe431 100644
--- a/src/components/images/Gallery/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/images/Gallery/index.tsx
@@ -165,13 +165,6 @@ export function Gallery({
   const containerRefsRef = useRef<Map<number, AnimatedRef<any>>>(new Map())
   const thumbDimsRef = useRef<Map<number, Dimensions>>(new Map())
   const currentIndexRef = useRef(0)
-  /*
-   * Reactive mirror of currentIndexRef for the numbering badge. The ref drives
-   * scroll/keyboard logic without re-rendering; this state only updates when
-   * the index actually changes (once per image, not per scroll frame), so the
-   * badge stays live and cheap.
-   */
-  const [currentIndex, setCurrentIndexState] = useState(0)
 
   const emitSwipeMetric = useMemo(
     () =>
@@ -189,7 +182,6 @@ export function Gallery({
     const prev = currentIndexRef.current
     if (prev !== index) {
       currentIndexRef.current = index
-      setCurrentIndexState(index)
       emitSwipeMetric(prev, index)
     }
   }
@@ -356,70 +348,10 @@ export function Gallery({
           }}
         />
       </BlockDrawerGesture>
-
-      {!hideBadges && images.length > 1 ? (
-        <GalleryCounter
-          currentIndex={currentIndex}
-          imageCount={images.length}
-        />
-      ) : null}
     </View>
   )
 }
 
-/*
- * Top-right "{n}/{total}" badge for the in-feed carousel. The visible pill is
- * decorative (accessible={false}) since the digits are redundant for screen
- * reader users.
- *
- * On native, screen reader users never reach this carousel branch - the Gallery
- * renders a separate per-image stack early when screenReaderEnabled is true,
- * and each slide there is labelled "Image N of M". So the live region only
- * needs to exist on web, where screenReaderEnabled is always false and the
- * carousel is the only branch. There we announce position changes via a
- * visually-hidden aria-live region.
- */
-function GalleryCounter({
-  currentIndex,
-  imageCount,
-}: {
-  currentIndex: number
-  imageCount: number
-}) {
-  const {t: l} = useLingui()
-
-  return (
-    <>
-      <View
-        accessible={false}
-        pointerEvents="none"
-        style={[
-          a.absolute,
-          a.justify_center,
-          {
-            top: a.p_xs.padding,
-            right: a.p_xs.padding,
-            paddingHorizontal: 6,
-            paddingVertical: 2,
-            borderRadius: 999,
-            backgroundColor: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6)',
-          },
-        ]}>
-        <Text
-          style={[a.font_bold, a.text_xs, a.leading_tight, {color: '#fff'}]}>
-          {currentIndex + 1}/{imageCount}
-        </Text>
-      </View>
-
-      {IS_WEB ? (
-        <View aria-live="polite" style={a.sr_only}>
-          <Text>{l`Image ${currentIndex + 1} of ${imageCount}`}</Text>
-        </View>
-      ) : null}
-    </>
-  )
-}
-
 function computeDims({
   height,
   aspectRatio,
@@ -551,6 +483,34 @@ function GalleryImage({
             useAppleWebpCodec
           />
 
+          {!hideBadges && imageCount > 1 ? (
+            <View
+              accessible={false}
+              pointerEvents="none"
+              style={[
+                a.absolute,
+                a.justify_center,
+                {
+                  top: a.p_sm.padding,
+                  right: a.p_sm.padding,
+                  paddingHorizontal: 6,
+                  paddingVertical: 2,
+                  borderRadius: 999,
+                  backgroundColor: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6)',
+                },
+              ]}>
+              <Text
+                style={[
+                  a.font_bold,
+                  a.text_xs,
+                  a.leading_tight,
+                  {color: '#fff'},
+                ]}>
+                {index + 1}/{imageCount}
+              </Text>
+            </View>
+          ) : null}
+
           {(hasAlt || isCropped) && !hideBadges ? (
             <View
               accessible={false}