diff --git a/src/components/backgrounds/BackgroundRenderer.tsx b/src/components/backgrounds/BackgroundRenderer.tsx
index d9dcb27..d712f5d 100644
--- a/src/components/backgrounds/BackgroundRenderer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/backgrounds/BackgroundRenderer.tsx
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ export function BackgroundRenderer() {
     <div
       className="pointer-events-none fixed inset-0"
       style={{
-        zIndex: -1,
+        zIndex: -2,
         opacity: effectiveConfig.opacity,
         filter: effectiveConfig.blur > 0 ? `blur(${effectiveConfig.blur}px)` : undefined,
         contain: 'strict',
diff --git a/src/components/ui/backgrounds/background-boxes.tsx b/src/components/ui/backgrounds/background-boxes.tsx
index 55b0350..62af05e 100644
--- a/src/components/ui/backgrounds/background-boxes.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ui/backgrounds/background-boxes.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useMemo } from 'react';
+import React, { useEffect, useRef, useMemo } from 'react';
 import { sanitizeColor, clampNumber } from './types';
 
 interface Props {
@@ -16,60 +16,150 @@ const COLORS = [
   '#c4b5fd',
 ];
 
+function hexToRgb(hex: string): [number, number, number] {
+  const v = parseInt(hex.slice(1), 16);
+  return [(v >> 16) & 255, (v >> 8) & 255, v & 255];
+}
+
+interface CellData {
+  rgb: [number, number, number];
+  phase: number;
+  period: number;
+}
+
+// Pre-computed transform constants for skewX(-48deg) skewY(14deg) scale(0.675)
+const SKEW_X_TAN = Math.tan((-48 * Math.PI) / 180);
+const SKEW_Y_TAN = Math.tan((14 * Math.PI) / 180);
+const GRID_SCALE = 0.675;
+
+/**
+ * Animated boxes background rendered on a single <canvas> element.
+ *
+ * Previous implementation used 225 DOM <div> elements with CSS @keyframes.
+ * Chrome's compositor created a separate paint region per div; any hover
+ * state change on page content forced Chrome to re-composite all 225 regions,
+ * causing visible flickering. A single canvas bypasses the DOM style/layout/paint
+ * pipeline entirely — hover interactions on other elements cannot trigger
+ * repaints of canvas content.
+ */
 export default React.memo(function BackgroundBoxes({ settings }: Props) {
+  const canvasRef = useRef<HTMLCanvasElement>(null);
   const rows = clampNumber(settings.rows, 4, 30, 15);
   const cols = clampNumber(settings.cols, 4, 30, 15);
   const boxColor = sanitizeColor(settings.boxColor, '#818cf8');
 
-  const cells = useMemo(() => {
-    const result: { color: string; delay: number; duration: number }[] = [];
-    for (let i = 0; i < rows * cols; i++) {
-      result.push({
-        color:
-          boxColor === '#818cf8' ? COLORS[Math.floor(Math.random() * COLORS.length)] : boxColor,
-        delay: Math.random() * 8,
-        duration: 3 + Math.random() * 4,
-      });
-    }
-    return result;
+  const cells = useMemo((): CellData[] => {
+    return Array.from({ length: rows * cols }, () => ({
+      rgb: hexToRgb(
+        boxColor === '#818cf8' ? COLORS[Math.floor(Math.random() * COLORS.length)] : boxColor,
+      ),
+      phase: Math.random() * 8,
+      period: 3 + Math.random() * 4,
+    }));
   }, [rows, cols, boxColor]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const canvas = canvasRef.current;
+    if (!canvas) return;
+    const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
+    if (!ctx) return;
+
+    let animId = 0;
+
+    const resize = () => {
+      const dpr = devicePixelRatio || 1;
+      const parent = canvas.parentElement;
+      if (!parent) return;
+      const rect = parent.getBoundingClientRect();
+      canvas.width = rect.width * dpr;
+      canvas.height = rect.height * dpr;
+    };
+
+    resize();
+    window.addEventListener('resize', resize);
+
+    const draw = (now: number) => {
+      const t = now * 0.001;
+      const w = canvas.width;
+      const h = canvas.height;
+
+      ctx.clearRect(0, 0, w, h);
+      ctx.save();
+
+      // Transform origin: center of viewport
+      const cx = w / 2;
+      const cy = h / 2;
+      ctx.translate(cx, cy);
+
+      // Replicate CSS: skewX(-48deg) skewY(14deg) scale(0.675)
+      ctx.transform(1, 0, SKEW_X_TAN, 1, 0, 0);
+      ctx.transform(1, SKEW_Y_TAN, 0, 1, 0, 0);
+      ctx.scale(GRID_SCALE, GRID_SCALE);
+
+      ctx.translate(-cx, -cy);
+
+      // Grid: 300% of viewport, offset by -100% (matches the original CSS layout)
+      const gw = w * 3;
+      const gh = h * 3;
+      const ox = -w;
+      const oy = -h;
+      const cellW = gw / cols;
+      const cellH = gh / rows;
+
+      // Draw colored cells
+      for (let i = 0; i < cells.length; i++) {
+        const cell = cells[i];
+        const cycleT = ((t + cell.phase) % cell.period) / cell.period;
+        const alpha = 0.15 * Math.sin(cycleT * Math.PI);
+        if (alpha < 0.005) continue;
+
+        const col = i % cols;
+        const row = (i - col) / cols;
+        const [r, g, b] = cell.rgb;
+
+        ctx.fillStyle = `rgba(${r},${g},${b},${alpha})`;
+        ctx.fillRect(ox + col * cellW, oy + row * cellH, cellW, cellH);
+      }
+
+      // Draw grid lines as a single batch (much cheaper than 225 individual strokeRects)
+      ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba(51,65,85,0.5)';
+      ctx.lineWidth = 1;
+      ctx.beginPath();
+
+      for (let r = 0; r <= rows; r++) {
+        const y = oy + r * cellH;
+        ctx.moveTo(ox, y);
+        ctx.lineTo(ox + gw, y);
+      }
+      for (let c = 0; c <= cols; c++) {
+        const x = ox + c * cellW;
+        ctx.moveTo(x, oy);
+        ctx.lineTo(x, oy + gh);
+      }
+
+      ctx.stroke();
+      ctx.restore();
+
+      animId = requestAnimationFrame(draw);
+    };
+
+    animId = requestAnimationFrame(draw);
+
+    return () => {
+      cancelAnimationFrame(animId);
+      window.removeEventListener('resize', resize);
+    };
+  }, [cells, rows, cols]);
+
   return (
-    <div className="absolute inset-0 overflow-hidden">
-      {/* CSS keyframes for box fade — runs on compositor thread, zero main-thread cost */}
-      <style>{`
-        @keyframes boxFade {
-          0%, 100% { opacity: 0; }
-          50% { opacity: 0.15; }
-        }
-      `}</style>
-      <div
-        style={{
-          position: 'absolute',
-          top: '-100%',
-          left: '-100%',
-          width: '300%',
-          height: '300%',
-          display: 'grid',
-          gridTemplateRows: `repeat(${rows}, 1fr)`,
-          gridTemplateColumns: `repeat(${cols}, 1fr)`,
-          transform: 'skewX(-48deg) skewY(14deg) scale(0.675) translateZ(0)',
-          transformOrigin: 'center center',
-          contain: 'strict',
-        }}
-      >
-        {cells.map((cell, i) => (
-          <div
-            key={i}
-            className="border border-slate-700/50"
-            style={{
-              backgroundColor: cell.color,
-              animation: `boxFade ${cell.duration}s ${cell.delay}s ease-in-out infinite`,
-              opacity: 0,
-            }}
-          />
-        ))}
-      </div>
-    </div>
+    <canvas
+      ref={canvasRef}
+      style={{
+        position: 'absolute',
+        inset: 0,
+        width: '100%',
+        height: '100%',
+      }}
+    />
   );
 });
diff --git a/src/styles/globals.css b/src/styles/globals.css
index 0951096..8ad536d 100644
--- a/src/styles/globals.css
+++ b/src/styles/globals.css
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   @media (min-width: 1024px) {
     .bento-card {
-      @apply bg-dark-900/50 backdrop-blur-sm;
+      @apply bg-dark-900/60;
     }
   }
 
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   @media (min-width: 1024px) {
     .light .bento-card {
-      @apply bg-champagne-50/80 backdrop-blur-sm;
+      @apply bg-champagne-50/85;
     }
   }
 
@@ -487,10 +487,9 @@ img.twemoji {
     box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05);
   }
 
-  /* Enable backdrop-blur only on desktop */
   @media (min-width: 1024px) {
     .card {
-      @apply bg-dark-900/50 backdrop-blur-sm;
+      @apply bg-dark-900/60;
     }
   }
 
@@ -520,7 +519,8 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   /* Buttons - Dark */
   .btn {
-    @apply inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-lg px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium transition-all duration-200 ease-smooth focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-dark-900 active:scale-[0.98] disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-50;
+    @apply inline-flex items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-lg px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium duration-200 ease-smooth focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-dark-900 active:scale-[0.98] disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-50;
+    transition-property: color, background-color, border-color, box-shadow, transform, opacity;
   }
 
   .btn-primary {
@@ -540,7 +540,8 @@ img.twemoji {
   }
 
   .btn-icon {
-    @apply rounded-lg p-2 text-dark-400 transition-all duration-200 hover:bg-dark-800 hover:text-dark-100 focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-accent-500/50 active:scale-95;
+    @apply rounded-lg p-2 text-dark-400 duration-200 hover:bg-dark-800 hover:text-dark-100 focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-accent-500/50 active:scale-95;
+    transition-property: color, background-color, transform;
   }
 
   /* Highlighted button for onboarding */
@@ -550,7 +551,8 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   /* Inputs - Dark */
   .input {
-    @apply w-full rounded-xl border border-dark-700/50 bg-dark-800/50 px-4 py-3 text-sm text-dark-100 placeholder-dark-500 transition-all duration-200 focus:border-accent-500/50 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-accent-500/20;
+    @apply w-full rounded-xl border border-dark-700/50 bg-dark-800/50 px-4 py-3 text-sm text-dark-100 placeholder-dark-500 duration-200 focus:border-accent-500/50 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-accent-500/20;
+    transition-property: color, background-color, border-color, box-shadow;
   }
 
   .input-error {
@@ -613,7 +615,8 @@ img.twemoji {
   }
 
   .progress-fill {
-    @apply h-full rounded-full transition-all duration-500 ease-smooth;
+    @apply h-full rounded-full duration-500 ease-smooth;
+    transition-property: width, background-color;
   }
 
   /* Stat card - Dark */
@@ -627,7 +630,8 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   /* Navigation - Dark */
   .nav-item {
-    @apply flex items-center gap-3 rounded-xl px-4 py-3 text-dark-400 transition-all duration-200 hover:bg-dark-800/50 hover:text-dark-100;
+    @apply flex items-center gap-3 rounded-xl px-4 py-3 text-dark-400 duration-200 hover:bg-dark-800/50 hover:text-dark-100;
+    transition-property: color, background-color;
   }
 
   .nav-item-active {
@@ -654,7 +658,8 @@ img.twemoji {
   }
 
   .bottom-nav-item {
-    @apply flex min-w-[56px] flex-1 shrink-0 flex-col items-center justify-center rounded-2xl px-3 py-2.5 text-dark-500 transition-all duration-200;
+    @apply flex min-w-[56px] flex-1 shrink-0 flex-col items-center justify-center rounded-2xl px-3 py-2.5 text-dark-500 duration-200;
+    transition-property: color, background-color;
   }
 
   .bottom-nav-item:hover {
@@ -662,7 +667,8 @@ img.twemoji {
   }
 
   .bottom-nav-item-active {
-    @apply flex min-w-[56px] flex-1 shrink-0 flex-col items-center justify-center rounded-2xl bg-accent-500/15 px-3 py-2.5 text-accent-400 transition-all duration-200;
+    @apply flex min-w-[56px] flex-1 shrink-0 flex-col items-center justify-center rounded-2xl bg-accent-500/15 px-3 py-2.5 text-accent-400 duration-200;
+    transition-property: color, background-color;
   }
 
   /* Divider - Dark */
@@ -697,7 +703,7 @@ img.twemoji {
 
   @media (min-width: 1024px) {
     .light .card {
-      @apply bg-champagne-50/80 backdrop-blur-sm;
+      @apply bg-champagne-50/85;
     }
   }
 
@@ -1252,7 +1258,9 @@ input[type='checkbox'] {
   border-radius: 0.375rem;
   background-color: rgb(var(--color-dark-700));
   cursor: pointer;
-  transition: all 0.15s ease;
+  transition:
+    border-color 0.15s ease,
+    background-color 0.15s ease;
   position: relative;
   flex-shrink: 0;
 }