diff --git a/src/lib/electron/electron_relay.ts b/src/lib/electron/electron_relay.ts
index 870bbbe9..b04b5626 100644
--- a/src/lib/electron/electron_relay.ts
+++ b/src/lib/electron/electron_relay.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import { get } from 'svelte/store';
+import { ae_loc, ae_api, ae_sess, slct } from '$lib/stores/ae_stores';
+
 /**
  * electron_relay.ts
  * TypeScript relay for Aether Native (Electron) Bridge.
@@ -64,4 +67,168 @@ export async function kill_processes({ process_name_li = [] }: { process_name_li
 export async function open_local_file_v2(path: string) {
   if (!native) return { success: false, error: 'Native bridge not available' };
   return await native.open_local_file_v2(path);
+}
+
+/**
+
+ * Specialized Presentation Launcher (Phase 5)
+
+ * Handles platform-specific application selection (LibreOffice on Linux, 
+
+ * PowerPoint/Keynote on macOS).
+
+ */
+
+export async function launch_presentation({
+
+    path,
+
+    app = 'default',
+
+    os = 'auto',
+
+    log_lvl = 0
+
+}: {
+
+    path: string,
+
+    app?: 'default' | 'powerpoint' | 'keynote' | 'libreoffice',
+
+    os?: 'auto' | 'linux' | 'darwin' | 'win32',
+
+    log_lvl?: number
+
+}) {
+
+    if (!native) return { success: false, error: 'Native bridge not available' };
+
+
+
+    // 1. Detect OS if set to auto
+
+    let platform = os;
+
+    if (platform === 'auto') {
+
+        const info = await get_device_info();
+
+        platform = info?.platform || 'linux'; 
+
+    }
+
+
+
+    // 2. Prefer the Native Bridge implementation (Atomic Copy-and-Launch)
+
+    // This delegates to the hardened logic in electron_native.js
+
+    if (native.launch_presentation) {
+
+        if (log_lvl) console.log('Relay: Using native.launch_presentation');
+
+        return await native.launch_presentation({ path, app, os_platform: platform });
+
+    }
+
+
+
+    // 3. Relay-side Fallback (Mock/Legacy)
+
+    // Manually resolve placeholders using all available context
+
+    const info = await get_device_info();
+
+    const loc = get(ae_loc);
+
+    
+
+        // Attempt to find home/tmp from bridge info or local hydrated store
+
+    
+
+        const home = info?.home_directory || loc.home_directory || loc.native_device?.home_directory || '';
+
+    
+
+        const tmp = info?.tmp_directory || loc.tmp_directory || loc.native_device?.tmp_directory || '';
+
+    
+
+        
+
+    
+
+        if (log_lvl) console.log('Relay Debug:', { home, tmp, raw_path: path });
+
+    
+
+    
+
+    
+
+        // CRITICAL: Resolve all instances of placeholders using global regex (fixed pattern)
+
+    
+
+        let cleaned_path = path;
+
+    
+
+        if (home) cleaned_path = cleaned_path.replace(/\[home\]/g, home);
+
+    
+
+        if (tmp) cleaned_path = cleaned_path.replace(/\[tmp\]/g, tmp);
+
+    
+
+    
+
+    
+
+        if (log_lvl) console.log(`Relay Fallback: Resolving ${path} -> ${cleaned_path}`);
+
+
+
+    // If path still contains [home] or [tmp], it means we failed to resolve it.
+
+    // Stop here to prevent sending a broken path like /temp/... to the OS.
+
+    if (cleaned_path.includes('[home]') || cleaned_path.includes('[tmp]')) {
+
+        console.error('Relay Error: Could not resolve path placeholders. Home or Tmp directory unknown.', { home, tmp });
+
+        return { success: false, error: 'Could not resolve path placeholders' };
+
+    }
+
+
+
+    if (platform === 'linux') {
+
+        if (log_lvl) console.log(`Relay: Launching LibreOffice on Linux for path: ${cleaned_path}`);
+
+        return await run_cmd({ cmd: `libreoffice --impress "${cleaned_path}"` });
+
+    }
+
+
+
+    if (platform === 'darwin') {
+
+        if (app === 'keynote') {
+
+            return await run_osascript(`tell application "Keynote" to open POSIX file "${cleaned_path}"`);
+
+        }
+
+        return await open_local_file_v2(cleaned_path);
+
+    }
+
+
+
+    return await open_local_file_v2(cleaned_path);
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/routes/events/[event_id]/(launcher)/launcher_background_sync.svelte b/src/routes/events/[event_id]/(launcher)/launcher_background_sync.svelte
index 38da5154..9519edf6 100644
--- a/src/routes/events/[event_id]/(launcher)/launcher_background_sync.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/events/[event_id]/(launcher)/launcher_background_sync.svelte
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
      */
     import { onMount, onDestroy } from 'svelte';
     import { ae_loc, ae_api } from '$lib/stores/ae_stores';
-    import { events_slct } from '$lib/stores/ae_events_stores';
+    import { events_slct, events_sess } from '$lib/stores/ae_events_stores';
     import { events_func } from '$lib/ae_events_functions';
     import { ae_util } from '$lib/ae_utils/ae_utils';
     import { db_events } from '$lib/ae_events/db_events';
@@ -35,7 +35,21 @@
     let is_syncing = false;
     let show_monitor = $state(false);
 
-    onMount(() => {
+    onMount(async () => {
+        // 1. Initial hydration of native metadata (Phase 5)
+        if ($ae_loc.is_native) {
+            try {
+                const info = await native.get_device_info();
+                if (info) {
+                    $ae_loc.home_directory = info.home_directory;
+                    $ae_loc.tmp_directory = info.tmp_directory;
+                    if (log_lvl) console.log('Sync: Native OS metadata hydrated.', { home: info.home_directory });
+                }
+            } catch (err) {
+                console.error('Sync: Metadata hydration FAILED:', err);
+            }
+        }
+
         const dev = $ae_loc.native_device || {};
         
         // Load timings from device config
@@ -107,6 +121,7 @@
 
                 missing_count++;
                 currently_syncing = file_obj.filename;
+                $events_sess.launcher.sync_stats.currently_syncing = currently_syncing;
 
                 const url = `${$ae_api.base_url}/hosted_file/${file_obj.hosted_file_id}/download?return_file=true&filename=${encodeURIComponent(file_obj.filename)}`;
                 const result = await native.download_to_cache({
@@ -119,10 +134,19 @@
             }
             sync_stats.cached = cached_count;
             sync_stats.missing = missing_count;
+
+            // Sync to shared store
+            $events_sess.launcher.sync_stats = {
+                total: sync_stats.total,
+                cached: sync_stats.cached,
+                missing: sync_stats.missing,
+                currently_syncing: null
+            };
         } catch (err) {
             console.error('Sync Engine Error:', err);
         } finally {
             currently_syncing = null;
+            $events_sess.launcher.sync_stats.currently_syncing = null;
             is_syncing = false;
         }
     }
@@ -137,6 +161,7 @@
         
         if (!device_id) {
             if (log_lvl) console.warn('Sync: Heartbeat skipped, no device_id found in $ae_loc.native_device.');
+            $events_sess.launcher.heartbeat_info.status = 'error';
             return;
         }
 
@@ -149,8 +174,8 @@
             }
 
             const update_payload: any = {
-                // Use standard toISOString() for unambiguous UTC on server
-                heartbeat: new Date().toISOString()
+                // Use standard SQL format YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss for MySQL compatibility
+                heartbeat: ae_util.iso_datetime_formatter(new Date(), 'datetime_iso')
             };
 
             if (info) {
@@ -177,9 +202,14 @@
             });
 
             last_heartbeat = new Date().toLocaleTimeString();
+            $events_sess.launcher.heartbeat_info = {
+                last_timestamp: last_heartbeat,
+                status: 'success'
+            };
             if (log_lvl > 1) console.log('Sync: Device heartbeat SUCCESS.');
         } catch (err) {
             console.error('Sync: Device heartbeat FAILED:', err);
+            $events_sess.launcher.heartbeat_info.status = 'error';
         }
     }