diff --git a/neode-ui/public/assets/audio/pop.mp3 b/neode-ui/public/assets/audio/pop.mp3
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f6f5434
Binary files /dev/null and b/neode-ui/public/assets/audio/pop.mp3 differ
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/components/SplashScreen.vue b/neode-ui/src/components/SplashScreen.vue
index 40b3b098..549f02b8 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/components/SplashScreen.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/components/SplashScreen.vue
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
 import { ref, onMounted, onBeforeUnmount, watch } from 'vue'
 import ScreensaverLogo from '@/components/ScreensaverLogo.vue'
-import { playIntroTyping, playLoopStart, playWelcomeNoderunnerSpeech, resumeAudioContext, startSynthwave, stopIntroTyping } from '@/composables/useLoginSounds'
+import { playIntroTyping, playLoopStart, playPop, playWelcomeNoderunnerSpeech, resumeAudioContext, startSynthwave, stopIntroTyping } from '@/composables/useLoginSounds'
 
 const emit = defineEmits<{
   complete: []
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ const seenIntro = localStorage.getItem('neode_intro_seen') === '1'
 function handleTapToStart() {
   if (!showTapToStart.value || tapStartTransitioning.value) return
   resumeAudioContext()
+  playPop()
   tapStartTransitioning.value = true
   // Logo: grow (150ms) then zoom out to background (850ms). Total 1s.
   setTimeout(() => {
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/composables/useLoginSounds.ts b/neode-ui/src/composables/useLoginSounds.ts
index 7905da5e..0740df3c 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/composables/useLoginSounds.ts
+++ b/neode-ui/src/composables/useLoginSounds.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@ export function stopSynthwave() {
   }
 }
 
+/** Pop sound - plays when intro initiator (tap to start) is pressed */
+export function playPop() {
+  const audio = new Audio('/assets/audio/pop.mp3')
+  audio.volume = 0.6
+  audio.play().catch(() => {})
+}
+
 /** Whoosh transition on successful login */
 export function playLoginSuccessWhoosh() {
   const woosh = new Audio('/assets/audio/woosh.mp3')