diff --git a/src/AUTH/GoogleAUTH.js b/src/AUTH/GoogleAUTH.js
index c8bb260..ae7f206 100644
--- a/src/AUTH/GoogleAUTH.js
+++ b/src/AUTH/GoogleAUTH.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as AuthSession from 'expo-auth-session';
 import * as WebBrowser from 'expo-web-browser';
 import * as Application from 'expo-application';
-import * as FileSystem from 'expo-file-system';
+import { File, Directory, Paths } from 'expo-file-system';
 import { AuthServiceBase } from './AuthServiceBase';
 import { logError } from '../services/ErrorHandler';
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const SCOPES = [
 
 const PICKER_API = 'https://photospicker.googleapis.com/v1';
 
-const CACHE_DIR = `${FileSystem.cacheDirectory}google_photos/`;
+const CACHE_DIR = new Directory(Paths.cache, 'google_photos');
 
 const REDIRECT_URI = `${Application.applicationId}:/oauthredirect`;
 
@@ -274,32 +274,55 @@ class GoogleAUTH extends AuthServiceBase {
       return { mediaItems: [], nextPageToken: null };
     }
 
-    return await res.json();
+    const data = await res.json();
+
+    // Debug: log raw response structure
+    if (data.mediaItems?.length) {
+      console.log('Picker raw item[0]:', JSON.stringify(data.mediaItems[0], null, 2));
+    } else {
+      console.log('Picker returned no mediaItems. Keys:', Object.keys(data));
+    }
+
+    return data;
   }
 
   /**
    * Normalise Picker API media items to the app's standard format.
    *
-   * NOTE: The Picker API's baseUrl requires an Authorization header to
-   * fetch the image. We store it in `remote_path` / `picker_base_url`
-   * so the caller can download it to a local cache file for rendering.
+   * The Picker API response shape per item:
+   *   { id, mediaFile: { baseUrl, mimeType, filename, mediaFileMetadata: { ... } } }
+   *
+   * baseUrl requires an Authorization header to fetch the actual image bytes.
    */
   _normalisePickerItems(items) {
-    return (items || []).map((item) => {
-      const file = item.mediaFile || {};
-      const isVideo = file.mimeType?.startsWith('video');
+    if (!items?.length) return [];
+
+    return items.map((item, idx) => {
+      // The item may have mediaFile nested, or may be flat
+      const file = item.mediaFile || item;
+      const baseUrl = file.baseUrl || item.baseUrl || null;
+      const filename = file.filename || item.filename || 'Untitled';
+      const mimeType = file.mimeType || item.mimeType || null;
+      const isVideo = mimeType?.startsWith('video');
+      const creationTime = file.mediaFileMetadata?.creationTime
+        || item.mediaFileMetadata?.creationTime
+        || null;
+
+      if (idx === 0) {
+        console.log(`Normalising item[0]: id=${item.id}, baseUrl=${baseUrl?.substring(0, 60)}…, filename=${filename}, mime=${mimeType}`);
+      }
+
       return {
         source_service: 'GOOGLE_PHOTOS',
-        source_id: item.id || file.id,
-        title: file.filename || 'Untitled',
+        source_id: item.id || file.id || `picker_${Date.now()}_${idx}`,
+        title: filename,
         description: '',
-        // local_path is null until we download it with the auth token
         local_path: null,
-        remote_path: file.baseUrl || '',
-        picker_base_url: file.baseUrl || null,
+        remote_path: baseUrl || '',
+        picker_base_url: baseUrl,
         media_type: isVideo ? 'video' : 'photo',
-        mime_type: file.mimeType || null,
-        created_date: file.mediaFileMetadata?.creationTime || null,
+        mime_type: mimeType,
+        created_date: creationTime,
       };
     });
   }
@@ -318,9 +341,18 @@ class GoogleAUTH extends AuthServiceBase {
     const token = await this.getAccessToken();
 
     // Ensure cache directory exists
-    const dirInfo = await FileSystem.getInfoAsync(CACHE_DIR);
-    if (!dirInfo.exists) {
-      await FileSystem.makeDirectoryAsync(CACHE_DIR, { intermediates: true });
+    if (!CACHE_DIR.exists) {
+      CACHE_DIR.create({ intermediates: true });
+    } else {
+      // Clean up stale files from previous failed downloads (< 1KB = likely error pages)
+      try {
+        const entries = CACHE_DIR.list();
+        for (const entry of entries) {
+          if (entry instanceof File && entry.size < 1024) {
+            entry.delete();
+          }
+        }
+      } catch (_) { /* ignore cleanup errors */ }
     }
 
     const results = [];
@@ -331,31 +363,52 @@ class GoogleAUTH extends AuthServiceBase {
       }
 
       try {
-        // Use the source_id as a safe filename
         const safeId = (item.source_id || 'photo').replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, '_');
         const ext = item.mime_type?.includes('png') ? '.png'
           : item.mime_type?.includes('gif') ? '.gif'
           : item.mime_type?.includes('webp') ? '.webp'
           : '.jpg';
-        const localUri = `${CACHE_DIR}${safeId}${ext}`;
+        const destFile = new File(CACHE_DIR, `${safeId}${ext}`);
 
-        // Skip download if already cached
-        const fileInfo = await FileSystem.getInfoAsync(localUri);
-        if (fileInfo.exists && fileInfo.size > 0) {
-          results.push({ ...item, local_path: localUri });
+        // Skip download if already cached and non-empty
+        if (destFile.exists && destFile.size > 1024) {
+          results.push({ ...item, local_path: destFile.uri });
           continue;
         }
 
-        // Download with auth header — append =d to get the full-res download
-        const downloadUrl = `${item.picker_base_url}=d`;
-        const download = await FileSystem.downloadAsync(downloadUrl, localUri, {
-          headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
-        });
+        // The Picker API baseUrl is a direct download link when used with
+        // the Authorization header. No suffix needed.
+        console.log(`Downloading: ${item.title} (${item.picker_base_url.substring(0, 80)}…)`);
 
-        if (download.status === 200) {
-          results.push({ ...item, local_path: download.uri });
+        const downloaded = await File.downloadFileAsync(
+          item.picker_base_url,
+          destFile,
+          { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }, idempotent: true }
+        );
+
+        console.log(`  → uri=${downloaded.uri}, size=${downloaded.size}`);
+
+        if (downloaded.exists && downloaded.size > 1024) {
+          results.push({ ...item, local_path: downloaded.uri });
+        } else if (downloaded.exists && downloaded.size > 0) {
+          // Suspiciously small — check if it's an error page
+          try {
+            const peek = await downloaded.text();
+            if (peek.startsWith('<') || peek.startsWith('{')) {
+              logError('Download Picker Photo',
+                `Got error page for ${item.title}: ${peek.substring(0, 150)}`);
+              downloaded.delete();
+              results.push(item); // no local_path
+            } else {
+              results.push({ ...item, local_path: downloaded.uri });
+            }
+          } catch (_) {
+            // Can't read as text = probably binary = probably an image
+            results.push({ ...item, local_path: downloaded.uri });
+          }
         } else {
-          logError('Download Picker Photo', `HTTP ${download.status} for ${item.title}`);
+          logError('Download Picker Photo', `Empty file for ${item.title}`);
+          if (downloaded.exists) downloaded.delete();
           results.push(item);
         }
       } catch (err) {
diff --git a/src/components/PhotoGrid.js b/src/components/PhotoGrid.js
index 4b56f3a..c7b252e 100644
--- a/src/components/PhotoGrid.js
+++ b/src/components/PhotoGrid.js
@@ -54,7 +54,12 @@ const PhotoGrid = ({
       activeOpacity={0.8}
     >
       {item.local_path ? (
-        <Image source={{ uri: item.local_path }} style={styles.gridImage} resizeMode="cover" />
+        <Image
+          source={{ uri: item.local_path }}
+          style={styles.gridImage}
+          resizeMode="cover"
+          onError={(e) => console.warn(`Image load failed [${item.source_service}]: ${item.local_path?.substring(0, 80)}`, e.nativeEvent?.error)}
+        />
       ) : (
         <View style={[styles.placeholder, { backgroundColor: theme.borderLight }]}>
           <Text style={{ fontSize: 28 }}>📷</Text>
diff --git a/src/screens/HomeScreen.js b/src/screens/HomeScreen.js
index 49099f0..a615533 100644
--- a/src/screens/HomeScreen.js
+++ b/src/screens/HomeScreen.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import DatabaseService from '../services/DatabaseService';
 import DeviceMediaService from '../services/DeviceMediaService';
 import GoogleAUTH from '../AUTH/GoogleAUTH';
 import NASAUTH from '../AUTH/NASAUTH';
+import { File } from 'expo-file-system';
 import TopBar from '../components/TopBar';
 import PhotoGrid from '../components/PhotoGrid';
 import MediaViewer from '../components/MediaViewer';
@@ -132,7 +133,23 @@ const HomeScreen = ({ navigation, route }) => {
       // ─── Previously imported Google Photos (stored in DB) ───
       try {
         const googleMedia = await DatabaseService.getMediaByService(userId, 'GOOGLE_PHOTOS');
-        if (googleMedia?.length) newMedia.push(...googleMedia);
+        if (googleMedia?.length) {
+          // Validate cached files still exist — clear stale paths
+          const validated = googleMedia.map((item) => {
+            if (item.local_path) {
+              try {
+                const f = new File(item.local_path);
+                if (!f.exists || f.size === 0) {
+                  return { ...item, local_path: null };
+                }
+              } catch (_) {
+                return { ...item, local_path: null };
+              }
+            }
+            return item;
+          });
+          newMedia.push(...validated);
+        }
       } catch (err) {
         console.error('DB Google media fetch error:', err);
       }