diff --git a/webui-src/app/chat/chat.js b/webui-src/app/chat/chat.js
index 15319a5..9faed6e 100644
--- a/webui-src/app/chat/chat.js
+++ b/webui-src/app/chat/chat.js
@@ -128,6 +128,29 @@ function updateChatStickToBottom(element) {
     element.scrollHeight - element.scrollTop - element.clientHeight <= CHAT_STICK_SLACK_PX;
 }
 
+//  Far enough from the top to have the next slice ready before the reader gets
+//  there, close enough not to fire on the first flick of a long conversation.
+const CHAT_LOAD_OLDER_AT_PX = 120;
+
+function loadOlderWhenAtTop(element) {
+  if (!element || element.scrollTop > CHAT_LOAD_OLDER_AT_PX) return;
+
+  //  Older messages are inserted above the ones on screen, which pushes
+  //  everything down by exactly the height they add. Put that height back into
+  //  scrollTop and the reader does not move at all -- without it the pane jumps
+  //  to a different part of the conversation each time a slice lands.
+  const previousHeight = element.scrollHeight;
+  const previousTop = element.scrollTop;
+
+  ChatLobbyModel.loadOlderHistory(() => {
+    requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+      const pane = document.querySelector('.chat-hub-messages');
+      if (!pane) return;
+      pane.scrollTop = previousTop + (pane.scrollHeight - previousHeight);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
 function renderUserTooltip(gxsId, name) {
   const details = ChatHubState.gxsDetails[gxsId];
   if (!details) return null;
@@ -390,6 +413,7 @@ const ChatConversationView = () => {
                 //  while the reader drags the pane.
                 event.redraw = false;
                 updateChatStickToBottom(event.target);
+                loadOlderWhenAtTop(event.target);
               },
             },
             ChatLobbyModel.messages
diff --git a/webui-src/app/chat/chat_state.js b/webui-src/app/chat/chat_state.js
index 9d6b319..dee841f 100644
--- a/webui-src/app/chat/chat_state.js
+++ b/webui-src/app/chat/chat_state.js
@@ -734,7 +734,12 @@ const ChatLobbyModel = {
     }
   },
 
-  loadHistory(id, type) {
+  //  How much of a conversation is on screen when it opens. Small on purpose:
+  //  every room opening pays for it, and on a phone each request is a fresh
+  //  connection on a core that answers one at a time.
+  HISTORY_PAGE: 20,
+
+  historyChatPeerId(id, type) {
     const chatPeerId = {
       broadcast_status_peer_id: '00000000000000000000000000000000',
       type,
@@ -746,20 +751,66 @@ const ChatLobbyModel = {
     if (type === 3) chatPeerId.lobby_id.xstr64 = id;
     else if (type === 2) chatPeerId.distant_chat_id = id;
     else if (type === 1) chatPeerId.peer_id = id;
+    return chatPeerId;
+  },
+
+  loadHistory(id, type) {
+    this.historyLoaded = this.HISTORY_PAGE;
+    this.historyExhausted = false;
+    this.historyLoading = false;
 
     rs.rsJsonApiRequest(
       '/rsHistory/getMessages',
       {
-        chatPeerId,
-        loadCount: 20,
+        chatPeerId: this.historyChatPeerId(id, type),
+        loadCount: this.HISTORY_PAGE,
       },
       (data, success) => {
         if (success && data.msgs) {
+          if (data.msgs.length < this.HISTORY_PAGE) this.historyExhausted = true;
           this.addMessages(data.msgs);
         }
       }
     );
   },
+
+  //  Reading further back. p3HistoryMgr::getMessages takes a count and nothing
+  //  else -- no cursor, no "before this message" -- and always answers with the
+  //  newest ones, so the only way to see older text is to ask for a bigger slice
+  //  and let addMessages() drop what is already here. It re-sends what we hold,
+  //  which is the price of that API; a page is small and the core keeps ten days
+  //  at most anyway (mMaxStorageDurationSeconds).
+  loadOlderHistory(done) {
+    const detail = this.currentLobby;
+    if (!detail || this.historyLoading || this.historyExhausted) return false;
+
+    const id = this.lastLobbyId;
+    if (!id) return false;
+
+    this.historyLoading = true;
+    const wanted = (this.historyLoaded || this.HISTORY_PAGE) + this.HISTORY_PAGE * 2;
+
+    rs.rsJsonApiRequest(
+      '/rsHistory/getMessages',
+      {
+        chatPeerId: this.historyChatPeerId(id, detail.chatType),
+        loadCount: wanted,
+      },
+      (data, success) => {
+        this.historyLoading = false;
+        if (!success || !data.msgs) {
+          if (done) done();
+          return;
+        }
+        //  Fewer than asked for means the core has nothing older left.
+        if (data.msgs.length < wanted) this.historyExhausted = true;
+        this.historyLoaded = wanted;
+        this.addMessages(data.msgs);
+        if (done) done();
+      }
+    );
+    return true;
+  },
   loadAllHistoryForRoom(lobbyId, callback) {
     ChatHubState.isHistoryLoading = true;
     ChatHubState.fullHistoryMessages = [];
diff --git a/webui-src/app/main.js b/webui-src/app/main.js
index 3b88edc..99ab9a9 100644
--- a/webui-src/app/main.js
+++ b/webui-src/app/main.js
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ const navbar = () => {
                       ? 'Connected to RetroShare Core'
                       : 'Connection Lost',
                   }),
-                  m('span.webui-version', { style: { fontSize: '0.7em' } }, 'v156'),
+                  m('span.webui-version', { style: { fontSize: '0.7em' } }, 'v157'),
                   m('i.fas.fa-sync-alt.refresh-icon', {
                     style: { cursor: 'pointer', fontSize: '0.8em' },
                     onclick: () => window.location.reload(true),
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ const MobileStatus = () => {
               m('small', statusbar.formatBytes(state.totalOut)),
             ]),
           ]),
-          m('.mobile-status-sheet__version', 'WebUI v156'),
+          m('.mobile-status-sheet__version', 'WebUI v157'),
         ])),
       ];
     },