diff --git a/.github/scripts/smoke-test.sh b/.github/scripts/smoke-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..2a2da4d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/smoke-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Installs a release APK on the running emulator, launches it and waits for the
+# first-run welcome screen. Fails if the app crashes, dies, or never shows the
+# screen. Matches the screen by view id, not text, so it holds in any locale.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+APK="$1"
+PKG="io.pezkuwichain.wallet"
+OUT="${SMOKE_OUT:-smoke-out}"
+TIMEOUT=120
+mkdir -p "$OUT"
+
+fail() {
+  echo "::error::$1"
+  adb exec-out screencap -p > "$OUT/screen.png" || true
+  adb shell uiautomator dump /sdcard/ui.xml >/dev/null 2>&1 && adb pull /sdcard/ui.xml "$OUT/ui.xml" >/dev/null || true
+  adb logcat -d > "$OUT/logcat.txt" || true
+  exit 1
+}
+
+adb install -r "$APK" >/dev/null || fail "install failed"
+adb logcat -c
+adb shell monkey -p "$PKG" -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1 >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail "launch failed"
+
+for _ in $(seq 1 $((TIMEOUT / 3))); do
+  sleep 3
+  if adb logcat -d -b crash | grep -q "Process: $PKG"; then
+    fail "the app crashed on launch"
+  fi
+  adb shell pidof "$PKG" >/dev/null || fail "the app process is gone"
+  adb shell uiautomator dump /sdcard/ui.xml >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
+  if adb exec-out cat /sdcard/ui.xml | grep -q "$PKG:id/welcomeCreateWalletButton" &&
+     adb exec-out cat /sdcard/ui.xml | grep -q "$PKG:id/welcomeRestoreWalletButton"; then
+    echo "welcome screen shown, both create and restore buttons present"
+    adb exec-out screencap -p > "$OUT/screen.png" || true
+    exit 0
+  fi
+done
+fail "the welcome screen did not appear within ${TIMEOUT}s"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/appium-mobile-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/appium-mobile-tests.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7a564e0e..00000000
--- a/.github/workflows/appium-mobile-tests.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-name: Appium Mobile Tests
-
-on:
-  workflow_call:
-    inputs:
-      app_url:
-        type: string
-        description: URL to download the app from
-        required: true
-      test_grep:
-        type: string
-        description: Test pattern to run (pytest marker or test name)
-        required: false
-        default: "android"
-      allure_job_run_id:
-        type: string
-        description: ALLURE_JOB_RUN_ID service parameter. Leave blank.
-        required: false
-        default: ""
-      allure_username:
-        type: string
-        description: ALLURE_USERNAME service parameter. Leave blank.
-        required: false
-        default: ""
-    secrets:
-      WORKFLOW_TOKEN:
-        required: true
-      ALLURE_TOKEN:
-        required: false
-
-env:
-  PYTHON_VERSION: '3.9'
-  CI: true
-  ALLURE_ENDPOINT: https://pezkuwi.testops.cloud/
-  ALLURE_PROJECT_ID: 103
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  trigger-tests:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Trigger mobile tests in test repository
-        uses: actions/github-script@v7
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.WORKFLOW_TOKEN }} 
-          script: |
-            const response = await github.rest.actions.createWorkflowDispatch({
-              owner: 'pezkuwichain', 
-              repo: 'appium-mobile-tests', 
-              workflow_id: 'browserstack-tests.yml',
-              ref: 'master', 
-              inputs: {
-                app_url: '${{ inputs.app_url }}',                
-                ALLURE_JOB_RUN_ID: '${{ inputs.allure_job_run_id }}',
-                ALLURE_USERNAME: '${{ inputs.allure_username }}'
-              }
-            });
-            
-            console.log('Mobile tests triggered successfully');
-            console.log('App URL:', '${{ inputs.app_url }}');            
-            
-      - name: Wait for test completion (optional)
-        if: false 
-        uses: actions/github-script@v7
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.WORKFLOW_TOKEN }} 
-          script: |            
-            console.log('Waiting for test completion...');
-            
diff --git a/.github/workflows/emulator_smoke_test.yml b/.github/workflows/emulator_smoke_test.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89455d91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/emulator_smoke_test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+name: Emulator smoke test
+
+# Installs the release APK on an Android emulator and checks it starts and
+# reaches the welcome screen. Called by the release workflow on every build.
+# A pull request that changes the test runs it against the latest release APK
+# from main; it can also be run by hand against the APK of a given run.
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      run-id:
+        description: "Run whose 'apk' artifact to test"
+        required: true
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - .github/workflows/emulator_smoke_test.yml
+      - .github/scripts/smoke-test.sh
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  actions: read
+
+jobs:
+  smoke-test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Pick the APK to test
+        id: apk
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          RUN_ID: ${{ inputs.run-id }}
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            RUN_ID=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/actions/artifacts?name=apk&per_page=20" \
+              --jq '[.artifacts[] | select(.expired | not) | select(.workflow_run.head_branch == "main")][0].workflow_run.id')
+            [ -n "$RUN_ID" ] && [ "$RUN_ID" != "null" ] || { echo "::error::no release APK from main to test"; exit 1; }
+          fi
+          echo "run-id=${RUN_ID:-${{ github.run_id }}}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Download built artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: apk
+          path: app
+          run-id: ${{ steps.apk.outputs.run-id }}
+          github-token: ${{ github.token }}
+
+      - name: Enable KVM
+        run: |
+          echo 'KERNEL=="kvm", GROUP="kvm", MODE="0666", OPTIONS+="static_node=kvm"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-kvm4all.rules
+          sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
+          sudo udevadm trigger --name-match=kvm
+
+      - name: Launch the app on an emulator
+        uses: reactivecircus/android-emulator-runner@a421e43855164a8197daf9d8d40fe71c6996bb0d # v2.38.0
+        with:
+          api-level: 34
+          target: google_apis
+          arch: x86_64
+          disable-animations: true
+          script: .github/scripts/smoke-test.sh app/releaseMarket/app-releaseMarket.apk
+
+      - name: Upload screen, view tree and logcat
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: smoke-test-output
+          path: smoke-out/
+          if-no-files-found: ignore
diff --git a/.github/workflows/push_develop.yml b/.github/workflows/push_develop.yml
index 912981b9..072cfa30 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/push_develop.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/push_develop.yml
@@ -69,14 +69,9 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           echo "App uploaded to: ${{ steps.s3_upload.outputs.s3_url }}"
 
-  appium-mobile-tests:
-    needs: [upload-to-s3]
-    if: ${{ always() && needs.upload-to-s3.result == 'success' }}
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/appium-mobile-tests.yml
-    with:
-      app_url: ${{ needs.upload-to-s3.outputs.s3_url }}
-      test_grep: "android"
-      allure_job_run_id: ""
-    secrets:
-      WORKFLOW_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}
-      ALLURE_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ALLURE_TOKEN }}
+  smoke-test:
+    needs: build
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      actions: read
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/emulator_smoke_test.yml