diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9fa0adbd..5a1e8246 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ the frozen-backend fallback mirror it for their toolchains.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- The Linux app icon is no longer blank: the AppImage shipped `.DirIcon` as a symlink into the machine that built it, so file managers and app menus drew nothing. (#1518)
+- The Linux desktop entry no longer ships an empty `Categories=`, which `desktop-file-validate` rejects and menu builders skip. (#1518)
 - The Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) translation no longer mistranslates brand names and technical terms — Discord, Tailscale, Hugging Face, IPA, and LLM (Cinematic) were rendered as nonsensical literal translations, and ~250 more awkward machine-translation strings are now natural Chinese. (#1508) — thanks @anyingiit!
 - Worker restart coverage now waits for the registration response to persist its identity instead of racing the client callback in CI. (#1505)
 - Dub language and export selections now restore without false schema warnings, and remote-worker port 7443 is identified instead of reported as a generic timeout. (#1504)
diff --git a/frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index be50e40b..263a0bb6 100644
--- a/frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
       "icons/icon.icns",
       "icons/icon.ico"
     ],
+    "category": "Music",
     "resources": [
       "../../pyproject.toml",
       "../../uv.lock",
@@ -88,7 +89,8 @@
     "linux": {
       "appimage": {
         "files": {
-          "usr/lib/.bundled-webkitgtk-version": "target/.tauri/bundled-webkitgtk-version"
+          "usr/lib/.bundled-webkitgtk-version": "target/.tauri/bundled-webkitgtk-version",
+          ".DirIcon": "icons/128x128.png"
         }
       }
     },
diff --git a/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.sh b/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.sh
index ef9d36e4..fe53de2f 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.sh
@@ -27,4 +27,53 @@ fi
 cmp -s "$ROOT/usr/lib/.bundled-webkitgtk-version" "$EXPECTED_MARKER" \
   || fail "bundled WebKitGTK version marker is stale or mismatched"
 
-echo "OK — AppImage uses the custom launcher and current WebKitGTK marker"
+# ── Icon integrity ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# v0.4.2 shipped with .DirIcon as an ABSOLUTE symlink into the build machine:
+#
+#   .DirIcon -> /home/runner/work/OmniVoice-Studio/…/OmniVoice Studio.AppDir/…
+#
+# That path exists on nobody's computer, so the link dangled the moment the
+# AppImage left CI, and every tool that reads .DirIcon — file managers for the
+# file's own icon, AppImageLauncher and appimaged for desktop integration — got
+# nothing and drew a blank. A dangling symlink is not a build error, the bundle
+# packs and runs fine, so nothing noticed for an entire release.
+#
+# `readlink -f` resolves the whole chain; the result has to stay inside the
+# AppDir, because anything outside it does not travel with the bundle.
+resolved_inside() {
+  local target
+  target="$(readlink -f -- "$1" 2>/dev/null)" || return 1
+  [ -f "$target" ] || return 1
+  case "$target" in
+    "$(readlink -f -- "$ROOT")"/*) return 0 ;;
+    *) return 1 ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+[ -e "$ROOT/.DirIcon" ] || fail ".DirIcon is missing — the AppImage will show no icon"
+resolved_inside "$ROOT/.DirIcon" \
+  || fail ".DirIcon does not resolve to a file inside the bundle (dangling or absolute symlink): $(readlink -- "$ROOT/.DirIcon" 2>/dev/null)"
+
+# The desktop entry is what puts the app in the menu, and the icon it names has
+# to be reachable — as a root-level file next to the entry, which is where
+# desktop integration looks.
+DESKTOP="$(find "$ROOT" -maxdepth 1 -name '*.desktop' | head -1)"
+[ -n "$DESKTOP" ] || fail "no .desktop entry at the AppImage root"
+resolved_inside "$DESKTOP" || fail ".desktop entry does not resolve inside the bundle"
+
+ICON_NAME="$(sed -n 's/^Icon=//p' "$DESKTOP" | head -1)"
+[ -n "$ICON_NAME" ] || fail "the .desktop entry names no Icon"
+case "$ICON_NAME" in
+  /*) fail "Icon= must be a theme name, not an absolute path: $ICON_NAME" ;;
+esac
+resolved_inside "$ROOT/$ICON_NAME.png" \
+  || fail "the .desktop names Icon=$ICON_NAME but $ICON_NAME.png is not at the AppImage root"
+
+# An empty Categories= is not the same as omitting it: desktop-file-validate
+# rejects the entry outright, and menu builders that honour it skip the app.
+if grep -q '^Categories=' "$DESKTOP"; then
+  grep -q '^Categories=..*' "$DESKTOP" \
+    || fail "Categories= is present but empty — set bundle.category in tauri.conf.json"
+fi
+
+echo "OK — AppImage uses the custom launcher, current WebKitGTK marker, and a resolvable icon"
diff --git a/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.test.sh b/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.test.sh
index 36409518..b2dbf8ee 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.test.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify-apprun-bundle.test.sh
@@ -9,8 +9,21 @@ trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
 
 make_root() {
   local root="$1"
-  mkdir -p "$root/usr/lib"
+  mkdir -p "$root/usr/lib" "$root/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps"
   printf '%s\n' '2.52.3' > "$root/usr/lib/.bundled-webkitgtk-version"
+  # A healthy icon set: a real root-level PNG named after Icon=, a .DirIcon
+  # that resolves to it, and a categorised desktop entry.
+  printf 'PNG' > "$root/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/omnivoice-studio.png"
+  cp "$root/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/omnivoice-studio.png" "$root/omnivoice-studio.png"
+  ln -sf omnivoice-studio.png "$root/.DirIcon"
+  cat > "$root/VoiceStudio.desktop" <<'DESKTOP'
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Name=VoiceStudio
+Exec=omnivoice-studio
+Icon=omnivoice-studio
+Categories=AudioVideo;Audio;
+DESKTOP
 }
 
 printf '%s\n' '2.52.3' > "$TMP/expected-marker"
@@ -37,4 +50,45 @@ if bash "$VERIFY" "$TMP/broken" "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/expected-marker" >/dev/null 2>
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "PASS: direct, wrapped, and broken AppImage launcher chains classified"
+# ── Icon integrity ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# The exact shape that shipped in v0.4.2: .DirIcon pointing at the build
+# machine's path, which dangles everywhere else.
+make_root "$TMP/absicon"
+install -m 755 "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/absicon/AppRun"
+ln -sf "$TMP/absicon/omnivoice-studio.png" "$TMP/absicon/.DirIcon"
+rm -f "$TMP/absicon/omnivoice-studio.png"
+if bash "$VERIFY" "$TMP/absicon" "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/expected-marker" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "FAIL: a dangling .DirIcon was accepted" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+make_root "$TMP/noicon"
+install -m 755 "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/noicon/AppRun"
+rm -f "$TMP/noicon/.DirIcon"
+if bash "$VERIFY" "$TMP/noicon" "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/expected-marker" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "FAIL: a missing .DirIcon was accepted" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Icon= naming a file that is not at the AppImage root: integration finds
+# nothing to install and the menu entry draws blank.
+make_root "$TMP/iconmismatch"
+install -m 755 "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/iconmismatch/AppRun"
+rm -f "$TMP/iconmismatch/omnivoice-studio.png"
+printf 'PNG' > "$TMP/iconmismatch/SomethingElse.png"
+ln -sf SomethingElse.png "$TMP/iconmismatch/.DirIcon"
+if bash "$VERIFY" "$TMP/iconmismatch" "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/expected-marker" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "FAIL: Icon= with no matching root PNG was accepted" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# The empty Categories= tauri emits when bundle.category is unset.
+make_root "$TMP/nocategory"
+install -m 755 "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/nocategory/AppRun"
+sed -i 's/^Categories=.*/Categories=/' "$TMP/nocategory/VoiceStudio.desktop"
+if bash "$VERIFY" "$TMP/nocategory" "$EXPECTED" "$TMP/expected-marker" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "FAIL: an empty Categories= was accepted" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "PASS: launcher chains classified; dangling, missing, mismatched icons and empty Categories rejected"