diff --git a/app/app.json b/app/app.json
index ffcaf4d..0f67bfb 100644
--- a/app/app.json
+++ b/app/app.json
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
     "name": "BigBrainParking",
     "slug": "bigbrainparking",
     "scheme": "bigbrainparking",
-    "version": "0.6.0",
+    "version": "0.6.1",
     "orientation": "portrait",
     "userInterfaceStyle": "automatic",
     "newArchEnabled": true,
     "icon": "./assets/icon.png",
     "android": {
       "package": "top.mowden.bigbrainparking",
-      "versionCode": 21,
+      "versionCode": 22,
       "edgeToEdgeEnabled": true,
       "adaptiveIcon": {
         "foregroundImage": "./assets/adaptive-icon.png",
diff --git a/app/src/auth/AuthContext.tsx b/app/src/auth/AuthContext.tsx
index 1d94e82..4f894a4 100644
--- a/app/src/auth/AuthContext.tsx
+++ b/app/src/auth/AuthContext.tsx
@@ -31,9 +31,21 @@ export function AuthProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
   const [validity, setValidity] = useState<ApplicationValidityResponse | null>(null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
+  // Let the non-React modules see the mode. Kept in sync here rather than read
+  // from storage: anonymous mode is deliberately not persisted across restarts.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    authBus.isAnonymous = status === 'anonymous';
+  }, [status]);
+
   // Any 401 from the API (expired/rotated token) bounces us back to sign-in.
   useEffect(() => {
     authBus.onUnauthorized = () => {
+      // ...except in Anonymous Mode, where there is no session to expire. A 401
+      // there just means something asked ParkSmarter a question it had no
+      // business asking, and bouncing to sign-in would make the app unusable
+      // without an account — which is the whole point of the mode. Read at call
+      // time, so this stays correct as the status changes.
+      if (authBus.isAnonymous) return;
       setError('Your session expired — please sign in again.');
       setStatus('signedOut');
     };
diff --git a/app/src/auth/authBus.ts b/app/src/auth/authBus.ts
index 075d9fd..02c1a3b 100644
--- a/app/src/auth/authBus.ts
+++ b/app/src/auth/authBus.ts
@@ -2,5 +2,13 @@
  * Tiny bridge so the API client (created at module load) can notify the React
  * auth layer when a 401 happens, without a circular import. AuthProvider
  * registers a handler; the client calls it via app/src/api/client.ts.
+ *
+ * `isAnonymous` mirrors the auth status for the non-React modules that need it.
+ * It matters because the 401 hook is global: it fires on every unauthorized
+ * response whether or not the caller caught the error, so without this a single
+ * stray ParkSmarter call in Anonymous Mode throws the user to the sign-in screen.
  */
-export const authBus: { onUnauthorized?: () => void } = {};
+export const authBus: {
+  onUnauthorized?: () => void;
+  isAnonymous: boolean;
+} = { isAnonymous: false };
diff --git a/app/src/features/session/activeParking.ts b/app/src/features/session/activeParking.ts
index 456a040..61a2e4d 100644
--- a/app/src/features/session/activeParking.ts
+++ b/app/src/features/session/activeParking.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type { NativeStackNavigationProp } from '@react-navigation/native-stack';
 import * as Notifications from 'expo-notifications';
 import type { Zone } from 'parksmarter-client';
 import { ps } from '@/api/client';
+import { authBus } from '@/auth/authBus';
 import { parseApiTime } from '@/api/parseTime';
 import type { LabelKind } from '@/api/zoneLabels';
 import type { RootStackParamList } from '@/navigation/RootNavigator';
@@ -326,8 +327,9 @@ export async function syncActiveParking(onExtend: (zone?: Zone) => void): Promis
   }
 
   // A city-map session is never on the ParkSmarter server, so don't let a stale
-  // server session overwrite it.
-  if (!current) current = await discoverPaidSession();
+  // server session overwrite it. In Anonymous Mode there is no account to ask at
+  // all — asking anyway would 401 on every single foreground.
+  if (!current && !authBus.isAnonymous) current = await discoverPaidSession();
 
   if (current) {
     await postNotification(current);
diff --git a/app/src/screens/MapScreen.tsx b/app/src/screens/MapScreen.tsx
index 36da5d1..eaf81b8 100644
--- a/app/src/screens/MapScreen.tsx
+++ b/app/src/screens/MapScreen.tsx
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ export function MapScreen() {
   // Look up the LAST session's parking-lot coordinate (the meter's own location
   // from history — never the user's GPS). Used to open the map and by "Last lot".
   const lastSessionLot = useCallback(async (): Promise<Coords | null> => {
+    // No account, no session history — and asking anyway 401s, which the global
+    // handler would turn into a bogus "session expired" bounce.
+    if (isAnonymous) return null;
     try {
       const past = await ps.getPastParkingSessions({ currentPage: 1, pageSize: 1 });
       const s = past.Session?.[0] as Record<string, any> | undefined;
@@ -125,7 +128,7 @@ export function MapScreen() {
       /* ignore */
     }
     return null;
-  }, []);
+  }, [isAnonymous]);
 
   // Open on your last parking lot — NOT your GPS. Your location is only ever sent
   // to the API when you explicitly tap "My location", so we never auto-center on it.
@@ -257,6 +260,10 @@ export function MapScreen() {
   // Center on the LAST SESSION's parking lot (the meter's own coordinate from
   // history — never your GPS) and search around it with a ~couple-mile view.
   const searchLastSessionLot = async () => {
+    if (isAnonymous) {
+      setStatus('Sign in to use your last parking lot — it comes from your account history.');
+      return;
+    }
     setLoading(true);
     setStatus('Finding your last parking lot…');
     const lot = await lastSessionLot();