diff --git a/commonsUI/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPill.kt b/commonsUI/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPill.kt
index 3c261ee149..2c93718755 100644
--- a/commonsUI/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPill.kt
+++ b/commonsUI/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPill.kt
@@ -141,9 +141,16 @@ fun BrowserPill(
 }
 
 /**
- * The collapsed grabber. It tells the page's story before it's opened: the bar takes the error colour on
- * plain HTTP and the Tor accent when onion-routed, a hairline fills while the page loads, and a dot
- * appears when the console has errors.
+ * The collapsed grabber.
+ *
+ * It is on screen the whole time a page is, and almost nobody pulls it down: it is there for when you
+ * are stuck on a site, not as a status display. So it stays quiet, and spends colour only on the states
+ * a reader should act on.
+ *
+ * Onion routing is not one of them. It is the normal case here rather than an exception, and an accent
+ * that is always lit is one nobody reads — it just makes the handle loud on every page. Tor keeps its
+ * badge inside the pill, where the address and "Onion-routed" say it in words for anyone who opens it.
+ * What is left in the handle is plain HTTP, which is a warning, and a dot for console errors.
  */
 @Composable
 fun PillHandle(
@@ -155,8 +162,7 @@ fun PillHandle(
     val barColor =
         when (ui.security) {
             BrowserChrome.Security.HTTP -> MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error
-            BrowserChrome.Security.TOR -> MaterialTheme.colorScheme.tertiary
-            else -> MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant.copy(alpha = 0.7f)
+            else -> MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant.copy(alpha = 0.45f)
         }
     Box(
         modifier
@@ -200,9 +206,9 @@ fun PillHandle(
                 Modifier
                     .align(Alignment.CenterEnd)
                     .padding(start = 44.dp)
-                    .size(7.dp)
+                    .size(5.dp)
                     .clip(CircleShape)
-                    .background(MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error),
+                    .background(MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error.copy(alpha = 0.8f)),
             )
         }
     }
diff --git a/commonsUI/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPillRenderTest.kt b/commonsUI/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPillRenderTest.kt
index 3ac0d504e9..d449a33afb 100644
--- a/commonsUI/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPillRenderTest.kt
+++ b/commonsUI/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/browser/ui/pill/BrowserPillRenderTest.kt
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ class BrowserPillRenderTest {
         name: String,
         widthDp: Int,
         heightDp: Int,
+        minColours: Int = 20,
         content: @Composable () -> Unit,
     ) {
         val density = 2f
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ class BrowserPillRenderTest {
             val pixels = image.peekPixels() ?: error("no pixels for $name")
             val distinct = HashSet<Int>()
             for (y in 0 until height step 7) for (x in 0 until width step 7) distinct += pixels.getColor(x, y)
-            assertTrue(distinct.size > 20, "$name rendered almost nothing (${distinct.size} colours)")
+            assertTrue(distinct.size > minColours, "$name rendered almost nothing (${distinct.size} colours)")
         } finally {
             scene.close()
         }
@@ -75,7 +76,12 @@ class BrowserPillRenderTest {
 
     @Test fun napplet() = render("04-napplet", 820, 800) { BrowserPillNappletPreview() }
 
-    @Test fun handles() = render("05-handles", 820, 160) { PillHandlesPreview() }
+    // Three small bars on a mostly empty canvas, and deliberately the quietest thing
+    // the redesign draws — so it clears the "did anything render" bar by less than the
+    // full screens do. It scored 18 when the accent came off; a blank render is 1-3, so
+    // 12 still catches the failure this guard is for without demanding a colour the
+    // component is not supposed to have.
+    @Test fun handles() = render("05-handles", 820, 160, minColours = 12) { PillHandlesPreview() }
 
     @Test fun find() = render("06-find", 820, 220) { FindInPagePreview() }