diff --git a/build-logic/convention/src/main/kotlin/org/meshtastic/buildlogic/ProjectExtensions.kt b/build-logic/convention/src/main/kotlin/org/meshtastic/buildlogic/ProjectExtensions.kt
index 3f2afaaf32..6c7e717bbd 100644
--- a/build-logic/convention/src/main/kotlin/org/meshtastic/buildlogic/ProjectExtensions.kt
+++ b/build-logic/convention/src/main/kotlin/org/meshtastic/buildlogic/ProjectExtensions.kt
@@ -94,6 +94,12 @@ internal fun Project.configureTestOptions() {
             }
         maxHeapSize = "2g"
 
+        // Keep forked test JVMs headless: Robolectric/Compose tests otherwise initialize
+        // AWT on macOS, spawning a Dock icon per fork and stealing window focus.
+        // apple.awt.UIElement covers anything that flips headless back off.
+        systemProperty("java.awt.headless", "true")
+        jvmArgs("-Dapple.awt.UIElement=true")
+
         // JUnit Jupiter parallel execution within each Gradle fork.
         // Classes run sequentially ("same_thread") because 19+ ViewModel test classes use
         // Dispatchers.setMain() — a JVM-global singleton that races when classes execute
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 94fa8b8916..0f7b4eb87a 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ ksp.project.isolation.enabled=true
 org.gradle.caching=true
 org.gradle.configuration-cache=true
 org.gradle.isolated-projects=true
-org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx8g -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:+UseStringDeduplication -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=512m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=2g -Xss2m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8
+org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx8g -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:+UseStringDeduplication -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=512m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=2g -Xss2m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dapple.awt.UIElement=true
 org.gradle.parallel=true
+# Run the daemon and its workers at low OS priority so full builds don't starve
+# the foreground UI on developer laptops. Negligible on dedicated CI runners.
+org.gradle.priority=low
 org.gradle.welcome=never
diff --git a/gradle/build-cache.settings.gradle b/gradle/build-cache.settings.gradle
index ebc4a52ab7..688011d8aa 100644
--- a/gradle/build-cache.settings.gradle
+++ b/gradle/build-cache.settings.gradle
@@ -21,17 +21,13 @@ def getMeshProperty(String key) {
 
     def currentDir = settingsDir
     while (currentDir != null) {
-        def localFile = new File(currentDir, "local.properties")
-        if (localFile.exists()) {
-            def props = new Properties()
-            localFile.withInputStream { props.load(it) }
-            if (props.containsKey(key)) return props.getProperty(key)
-        }
-        def configFile = new File(currentDir, "config.properties")
-        if (configFile.exists()) {
-            def props = new Properties()
-            configFile.withInputStream { props.load(it) }
-            if (props.containsKey(key)) return props.getProperty(key)
+        for (name in ["local.properties", "config.properties", "secrets.properties"]) {
+            def file = new File(currentDir, name)
+            if (file.exists()) {
+                def props = new Properties()
+                file.withInputStream { props.load(it) }
+                if (props.containsKey(key)) return props.getProperty(key)
+            }
         }
         currentDir = currentDir.parentFile
     }