diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 80ed7e05..1135808e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all build build-cli test test-coverage test-http-client test-http-client-rotate check fmt vet lint clean dev help screenshots build-stockholm-image prepare-stockholm update-static-deps dev-docs dev-docs-tidy hugo
+.PHONY: all build build-cli test test-coverage test-browser test-http-client test-http-client-rotate check fmt vet lint clean dev help screenshots build-stockholm-image prepare-stockholm update-static-deps dev-docs dev-docs-tidy hugo
 
 # Load .env if present (simple KEY=VALUE format, no shell quoting)
 -include .env
@@ -147,6 +147,15 @@ test-coverage:
 	$(GOCMD) tool cover -html=coverage.out -o coverage.html
 	@echo "Coverage report generated: coverage.html"
 
+# Browser-level regression tests for the embedded player's static assets
+# (see pkg/service/soundtouchweb/browser_compatibility_test.go). Opt-in via
+# the "browsertest" build tag, not part of `test`/`check`, since they need a
+# Chrome/Chromium binary that chromedp can find on PATH or in a standard
+# install location.
+test-browser:
+	@echo "Running browser-level compatibility tests..."
+	$(GOTEST) -tags browsertest -v ./pkg/service/soundtouchweb/...
+
 check: fmt vet test test-http-client
 
 # Archive any existing tests/integration/testdata/ to a timestamped sibling
@@ -501,6 +510,7 @@ help:
 	@echo "  build-linux-armv7 - Build for Linux ARMv7 (kernel 3.14+ compatible, CGO_ENABLED=0)"
 	@echo "  test          - Run tests"
 	@echo "  test-coverage - Run tests with coverage report"
+	@echo "  test-browser             - Run browser-level (chromedp) player compatibility tests"
 	@echo "  test-http-client         - Run .http integration tests via Docker Compose"
 	@echo "  test-http-client-rotate  - Archive tests/integration/testdata/ before a fresh run (non-destructive)"
 	@echo "  check         - Run fmt, vet, and tests"
diff --git a/pkg/service/soundtouchweb/browser_compatibility_test.go b/pkg/service/soundtouchweb/browser_compatibility_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6e336b17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/service/soundtouchweb/browser_compatibility_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+//go:build browsertest
+
+// Package soundtouchweb browser-level regression tests for #649. These drive
+// a real headless Chrome via chromedp (already a project dependency, used
+// today for the doc-screenshot tool) instead of only asserting on the raw
+// HTML/JS source. They are opt-in (build tag "browsertest", run via `make
+// test-browser`) rather than part of the default `go test ./...`/`make
+// check` path, since they require a Chrome/Chromium binary to be present --
+// see CONTRIBUTING or the Makefile for how to run them locally or in CI.
+package soundtouchweb
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/chromedp/chromedp"
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+)
+
+// newHeadlessChromeContext returns a context bound to a fresh headless
+// Chrome instance, torn down automatically at the end of the test.
+func newHeadlessChromeContext(t *testing.T) context.Context {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	allocCtx, cancelAlloc := chromedp.NewExecAllocator(context.Background(),
+		append(chromedp.DefaultExecAllocatorOptions[:],
+			chromedp.Flag("headless", true),
+			chromedp.Flag("disable-gpu", true),
+			// CI runners commonly execute as a user without the namespace
+			// permissions Chrome's sandbox needs; harmless to also set
+			// locally.
+			chromedp.Flag("no-sandbox", true),
+		)...,
+	)
+	t.Cleanup(cancelAlloc)
+
+	ctx, cancelCtx := chromedp.NewContext(allocCtx)
+	t.Cleanup(cancelCtx)
+
+	ctx, cancelTimeout := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second)
+	t.Cleanup(cancelTimeout)
+
+	return ctx
+}
+
+// TestPlayerRendersNatively confirms the shipped page (native import maps,
+// es-module-shims left uninjected) still renders in an ordinary modern
+// browser -- i.e. that restoring import maps for #649 didn't break the
+// common case for the vast majority of users who never need the shim.
+func TestPlayerRendersNatively(t *testing.T) {
+	app := NewWebApp()
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+	app.Mount(r, nil)
+
+	server := httptest.NewServer(r)
+	t.Cleanup(server.Close)
+
+	ctx := newHeadlessChromeContext(t)
+
+	var shimInjected bool
+	if err := chromedp.Run(ctx,
+		chromedp.Navigate(server.URL+"/app"),
+		chromedp.WaitVisible(`.nav-discover-icon`, chromedp.ByQuery),
+		chromedp.Evaluate(`document.querySelectorAll('script[src*="es-module-shims"]').length > 0`, &shimInjected),
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chromedp run: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if shimInjected {
+		t.Error("es-module-shims should not be injected on a browser with native import map support")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPlayerRendersUnderForcedShimMode exercises the actual old-Safari code
+// path -- es-module-shims resolving the same import map and vendored files
+// the real app uses -- without needing physical iPadOS 15 hardware. It
+// serves a variant of index.html that forces es-module-shims into shimMode
+// (see the library's README: shimMode is triggered by
+// window.esmsInitOptions.shimMode or by using importmap-shim/module-shim
+// script types), which routes every browser -- including this ordinary
+// headless Chrome -- through the library's own polyfill resolution instead
+// of native import map support.
+func TestPlayerRendersUnderForcedShimMode(t *testing.T) {
+	app := NewWebApp()
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+	app.MountWeb(r, nil) // only need /app/static/* and /api/control/*
+
+	const shimModePage = `<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+<meta charset="UTF-8" />
+<script>window.esmsInitOptions = { shimMode: true };</script>
+<script src="/app/static/lib/es-module-shims.js"></script>
+<script type="importmap-shim">
+{
+    "imports": {
+        "preact": "/app/static/lib/preact.module.js",
+        "preact/hooks": "/app/static/lib/preact-hooks.module.js",
+        "htm": "/app/static/lib/htm.module.js"
+    }
+}
+</script>
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/app/static/css/app.css" />
+</head>
+<body>
+<div id="app"></div>
+<script type="module-shim" src="/app/static/js/app.js"></script>
+</body>
+</html>`
+
+	r.Get("/test-shim-mode", func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/html")
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(shimModePage))
+	})
+
+	server := httptest.NewServer(r)
+	t.Cleanup(server.Close)
+
+	ctx := newHeadlessChromeContext(t)
+
+	var rendered bool
+	if err := chromedp.Run(ctx,
+		chromedp.Navigate(server.URL+"/test-shim-mode"),
+		chromedp.WaitVisible(`.nav-discover-icon`, chromedp.ByQuery),
+		chromedp.Evaluate(`document.getElementById('app').children.length > 0`, &rendered),
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chromedp run (forced shim mode): %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !rendered {
+		t.Error("app did not render under forced es-module-shims shim mode")
+	}
+}