diff --git a/docs/expo-router.md b/docs/expo-router.md
index 6ff9d14c9c..cc65eb57a7 100644
--- a/docs/expo-router.md
+++ b/docs/expo-router.md
@@ -157,7 +157,9 @@ a small `withUnistyles` boundary without subscribing the route tree itself to
 every Unistyles runtime update.
 
 Navigators keep their identity across appearance changes. `ThemedStack` remounts
-each screen's content below the native stack when appearance tokens change; a
+each ordinary screen's content below the native stack when appearance tokens change.
+Workspace screens own retained panel lifetimes and update appearance at their
+leaves through `screenOwnedAppearance` ([Explorer](explorer-sidebar.md)). A
 keyed wrapper above a stack remounts the stack itself, and Android crashes when
 that happens while a FragmentManager transaction is running, which settings
 hydration at startup makes likely. A screen that mounts a nested navigator (the
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/split-container.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/split-container.tsx
index 52a51a2a3a..660b5f4e6b 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/split-container.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/split-container.tsx
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ import {
 } from "@/stores/workspace-layout-store";
 import type { WorkspaceTab } from "@/workspace-tabs/model";
 import { recordRenderProfileReasons, RenderProfile } from "@/utils/render-profiler";
-import { inlineUnistylesStyle } from "@/styles/unistyles-inline-style";
 import { isNative } from "@/constants/platform";
 
 interface SplitContainerProps {
diff --git a/packages/app/src/screens/workspace/explorer-sidebar/geometry.web.tsx b/packages/app/src/screens/workspace/explorer-sidebar/geometry.web.tsx
index 09b6599197..8864cd1e81 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/screens/workspace/explorer-sidebar/geometry.web.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/screens/workspace/explorer-sidebar/geometry.web.tsx
@@ -53,5 +53,5 @@ export function useExplorerGeometry({
   };
 }
 const styles = StyleSheet.create({
-  resize: { position: "absolute", left: 0, top: 0, bottom: 0, zIndex: 2 },
+  resize: { position: "absolute", left: 0, top: 0, bottom: 0, zIndex: 2, flexDirection: "row" },
 });
diff --git a/packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/explorer-sidebar.test.ts b/packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/explorer-sidebar.test.ts
index 6d76af4a66..15fd44f649 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/explorer-sidebar.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/workspace-tabs/explorer-sidebar.test.ts
@@ -37,10 +37,9 @@ beforeEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe("Explorer sidebar", () => {
-  it("selects the Explorer shell from layout and split capabilities", () => {
+  it("selects the Explorer shell from the form factor", () => {
     expect(resolveExplorerSidebarPresentation({ isCompact: true })).toBe("overlay");
     expect(resolveExplorerSidebarPresentation({ isCompact: false })).toBe("dock");
-    expect(resolveExplorerSidebarPresentation({ isCompact: false })).toBe("dock");
   });
 
   it("uses the same Explorer pane inside the compact overlay", () => {