diff --git a/Shared/FuelStore.swift b/Shared/FuelStore.swift
index dc05a2b..eccb247 100644
--- a/Shared/FuelStore.swift
+++ b/Shared/FuelStore.swift
@@ -934,15 +934,19 @@ struct FuelStore {
     }
 
     // MARK: Onboarding — the app shows the intro screen on first launch only
-    // (a test button in the Alerts tab re-opens it). Stored in the app group
-    // so the widget can see it too if ever needed.
+    // (a test button in the Alerts tab re-opens it). Stored KEYCHAIN-FIRST
+    // (with an app-group mirror) for the same reason as favourites/distance
+    // unit: free SideStore accounts don't provision the app-group container,
+    // so an app-group-only flag silently fails to save AND reloads as false,
+    // making onboarding re-appear on every launch. Keychain survives reinstall
+    // and is shared with the extension.
 
     static func loadHasCompletedOnboarding() -> Bool {
-        UserDefaults(suiteName: appGroupSuite)?.bool(forKey: onboardingCompletedKey) ?? false
+        (loadString(service: onboardingCompletedKey) ?? "0") == "1"
     }
 
     static func saveHasCompletedOnboarding(_ completed: Bool) {
-        UserDefaults(suiteName: appGroupSuite)?.set(completed, forKey: onboardingCompletedKey)
+        saveString(completed ? "1" : "0", service: onboardingCompletedKey)
     }
 
     // MARK: Road distances (Apple-Maps-matched, computed by the app)