diff --git a/lib/providers/download_provider.dart b/lib/providers/download_provider.dart
index 62feb8d3..81812a3f 100644
--- a/lib/providers/download_provider.dart
+++ b/lib/providers/download_provider.dart
@@ -483,10 +483,8 @@ class DownloadProvider extends ChangeNotifier with DisposableChangeNotifierMixin
   }
 
   void _onWatchStateChanged(WatchStateEvent event) {
-    // Progress ticks fire continuously during playback; only react when a
-    // progress update crosses the watched threshold.
-    if (event.changeType == WatchStateChangeType.progressUpdate && event.isNowWatched != true) return;
-    if (event.isNowWatched == null) return;
+    final snapshot = WatchStateResolver.fromEvent(event);
+    if (snapshot.isEmpty) return;
 
     final globalKey = buildGlobalKey(event.serverId, event.itemId);
     final base = _metadata[globalKey];
@@ -497,17 +495,29 @@ class DownloadProvider extends ChangeNotifier with DisposableChangeNotifierMixin
       return;
     }
 
-    final isWatched = event.isNowWatched!;
-    _metadata[globalKey] = base.copyWith(viewCount: isWatched ? 1 : 0, viewOffsetMs: 0);
+    _metadata[globalKey] = snapshot.apply(base);
+
+    final isWatched = snapshot.isWatched;
+    // Sub-threshold progress ticks are frequent; offline reloads re-apply them
+    // from queued watch actions, so only durable watch flips hit the cache here.
+    final shouldPersistToCache =
+        isWatched != null && (event.changeType != WatchStateChangeType.progressUpdate || event.isNowWatched == true);
+
     // Persist into the per-backend pinned cache so the patch survives reloads
     // (`_loadPersistedDownloads` rehydrates `_metadata` from the cache).
-    unawaited(
-      ApiCache.forBackend(base.backend)
-          .applyWatchState(serverId: event.cacheServerId ?? event.serverId, itemId: event.itemId, isWatched: isWatched)
-          .catchError((Object e) {
-            appLogger.w('Failed to apply watch state to cache for $globalKey', error: e);
-          }),
-    );
+    if (shouldPersistToCache) {
+      unawaited(
+        ApiCache.forBackend(base.backend)
+            .applyWatchState(
+              serverId: event.cacheServerId ?? event.serverId,
+              itemId: event.itemId,
+              isWatched: isWatched,
+            )
+            .catchError((Object e) {
+              appLogger.w('Failed to apply watch state to cache for $globalKey', error: e);
+            }),
+      );
+    }
     safeNotifyListeners();
   }
 
diff --git a/test/providers/download_provider_test.dart b/test/providers/download_provider_test.dart
index c192ee79..952d3bc6 100644
--- a/test/providers/download_provider_test.dart
+++ b/test/providers/download_provider_test.dart
@@ -782,6 +782,32 @@ void main() {
 
       p.dispose();
     });
+
+    test('sub-threshold progress events update downloaded metadata resume', () async {
+      final p = DownloadProvider.forTesting(downloadManager: downloadManager, database: db);
+      await p.ensureInitialized();
+
+      final item = MediaItem(
+        id: '42',
+        backend: MediaBackend.plex,
+        kind: MediaKind.movie,
+        title: 'Movie',
+        serverId: 'srv',
+        durationMs: 100000,
+        viewOffsetMs: 0,
+        viewCount: 1,
+      );
+      p.debugSeedState(metadata: {'srv:42': item});
+
+      WatchStateNotifier().notifyProgress(item: item, viewOffset: 50000, duration: 100000, watchedThreshold: 0.9);
+      await Future<void>.delayed(Duration.zero);
+
+      final updated = p.getMetadata('srv:42');
+      expect(updated?.isWatched, isFalse);
+      expect(updated?.viewOffsetMs, 50000);
+
+      p.dispose();
+    });
   });
 
   group('DownloadProvider — progress stream', () {