diff --git a/js/read_syncs.js b/js/read_syncs.js
index 70aebf1c4..c7337ec07 100644
--- a/js/read_syncs.js
+++ b/js/read_syncs.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
         // If message is unread, we mark it read. Otherwise, we update the expiration
         //   timer to the time specified by the read sync if it's earlier than
         //   the previous read time.
-        if (message.isUnread()) {
+        if (message.isUnread() && window.isFocused()) {
           await message.markRead(readAt);
 
           // onReadMessage may result in messages older than this one being
diff --git a/preload.js b/preload.js
index 87b3d051b..b9f6206c9 100644
--- a/preload.js
+++ b/preload.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ window.lokiFeatureFlags = {
   useFileOnionRequests: true,
   useFileOnionRequestsV2: true, // more compact encoding of files in response
   padOutgoingAttachments: true,
-  enablePinConversations: false,
+  enablePinConversations: true,
 };
 
 if (typeof process.env.NODE_ENV === 'string' && process.env.NODE_ENV.includes('test-integration')) {
diff --git a/ts/components/ConversationListItem.tsx b/ts/components/ConversationListItem.tsx
index b17f00bbd..c23db163a 100644
--- a/ts/components/ConversationListItem.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/ConversationListItem.tsx
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ const ConversationListItem = (props: Props) => {
     isMe,
     isPinned,
     isTyping,
+    isPublic,
+    left,
     type,
     lastMessage,
     memberAvatars,
@@ -126,6 +128,8 @@ const ConversationListItem = (props: Props) => {
           triggerId={triggerId}
           type={type}
           isMe={isMe}
+          isPublic={isPublic}
+          left={left}
           notificationForConvo={notificationForConvo}
           currentNotificationSetting={currentNotificationSetting}
         />
diff --git a/ts/components/conversation/Message.tsx b/ts/components/conversation/Message.tsx
index 407574d58..dda2867bc 100644
--- a/ts/components/conversation/Message.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/conversation/Message.tsx
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import { MessageInteraction } from '../../interactions';
 import autoBind from 'auto-bind';
 import { AudioPlayerWithEncryptedFile } from './H5AudioPlayer';
 import { ClickToTrustSender } from './message/ClickToTrustSender';
+import { ReadableMessage } from './ReadableMessage';
 
 // Same as MIN_WIDTH in ImageGrid.tsx
 const MINIMUM_LINK_PREVIEW_IMAGE_WIDTH = 200;
@@ -728,8 +729,8 @@ class MessageInner extends React.PureComponent<MessageRegularProps, State> {
       divClasses.push('flash-green-once');
     }
 
-    const onVisible = (inView: boolean) => {
-      if (inView && shouldMarkReadWhenVisible) {
+    const onVisible = (inView: boolean | Object) => {
+      if (inView === true && shouldMarkReadWhenVisible && window.isFocused()) {
         // mark the message as read.
         // this will trigger the expire timer.
         void markRead(Date.now());
@@ -737,14 +738,10 @@ class MessageInner extends React.PureComponent<MessageRegularProps, State> {
     };
 
     return (
-      <InView
+      <ReadableMessage
         id={id}
-        as="div"
         className={classNames(divClasses)}
         onChange={onVisible}
-        threshold={1}
-        delay={200}
-        triggerOnce={true}
         onContextMenu={this.handleContextMenu}
       >
         {this.renderAvatar()}
@@ -818,7 +815,7 @@ class MessageInner extends React.PureComponent<MessageRegularProps, State> {
           {this.renderError(!isIncoming)}
           {this.renderContextMenu()}
         </div>
-      </InView>
+      </ReadableMessage>
     );
   }
 
diff --git a/ts/components/conversation/ReadableMessage.tsx b/ts/components/conversation/ReadableMessage.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d56fa2c4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ts/components/conversation/ReadableMessage.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import { useFocus } from '../../hooks/useFocus';
+import { InView, useInView } from 'react-intersection-observer';
+
+type ReadableMessageProps = {
+  children: React.ReactNode;
+  id: string;
+  className: string;
+  onChange: (inView: boolean) => void;
+  onContextMenu: (e: any) => void;
+};
+
+export const ReadableMessage = (props: ReadableMessageProps) => {
+  const { onChange } = props;
+  useFocus(onChange);
+
+  return (
+    <InView {...props} as="div" threshold={1} delay={200} triggerOnce={false}>
+      {props.children}
+    </InView>
+  );
+};
diff --git a/ts/components/session/conversation/SessionMessagesList.tsx b/ts/components/session/conversation/SessionMessagesList.tsx
index e3af18792..922a40d31 100644
--- a/ts/components/session/conversation/SessionMessagesList.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/session/conversation/SessionMessagesList.tsx
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ export class SessionMessagesList extends React.Component<Props, State> {
       return;
     }
 
-    if (this.getScrollOffsetBottomPx() === 0) {
+    if (this.getScrollOffsetBottomPx() === 0 && window.isFocused()) {
       void conversation.markRead(messages[0].attributes.received_at);
     }
   }
diff --git a/ts/components/session/registration/RegistrationTabs.tsx b/ts/components/session/registration/RegistrationTabs.tsx
index d3128df43..9c94ec543 100644
--- a/ts/components/session/registration/RegistrationTabs.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/session/registration/RegistrationTabs.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
 import { fromHex } from '../../../session/utils/String';
 import { TaskTimedOutError } from '../../../session/utils/Promise';
 import { mn_decode } from '../../../session/crypto/mnemonic';
-import { SwarmPolling } from '../../../session/snode_api/swarmPolling';
+import { getSwarmPollingInstance } from '../../../session/snode_api/swarmPolling';
 
 export const MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH = 20;
 // tslint:disable: use-simple-attributes
@@ -191,11 +191,9 @@ export async function signInWithLinking(signInDetails: {
   try {
     await resetRegistration();
     await window.setPassword(password);
-    const pubkeyStr = await signInByLinkingDevice(userRecoveryPhrase, 'english');
-
+    await signInByLinkingDevice(userRecoveryPhrase, 'english');
     let displayNameFromNetwork = '';
-    SwarmPolling.getInstance().addPubkey(pubkeyStr);
-    SwarmPolling.getInstance().start();
+    await getSwarmPollingInstance().start();
 
     await PromiseUtils.waitForTask(done => {
       window.Whisper.events.on('configurationMessageReceived', (displayName: string) => {
diff --git a/ts/hooks/useFocus.ts b/ts/hooks/useFocus.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8f62de92e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ts/hooks/useFocus.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { useEffect } from 'react';
+
+export const useFocus = (action: (param: any) => void) => {
+  useEffect(() => {
+    window.addEventListener('focus', action);
+    return () => {
+      window.removeEventListener('focus', action);
+    };
+  });
+};
diff --git a/ts/models/conversation.ts b/ts/models/conversation.ts
index 5110bad0f..7b879d0a4 100644
--- a/ts/models/conversation.ts
+++ b/ts/models/conversation.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ export class ConversationModel extends Backbone.Model<ConversationAttributes> {
   private typingRefreshTimer?: NodeJS.Timeout | null;
   private typingPauseTimer?: NodeJS.Timeout | null;
   private typingTimer?: NodeJS.Timeout | null;
+  private lastReadTimestamp: number;
 
   private pending: any;
 
@@ -188,11 +189,19 @@ export class ConversationModel extends Backbone.Model<ConversationAttributes> {
     this.updateLastMessage = _.throttle(this.bouncyUpdateLastMessage.bind(this), 1000);
     this.throttledNotify = _.debounce(this.notify, 500, { maxWait: 1000 });
     //start right away the function is called, and wait 1sec before calling it again
-    this.markRead = _.debounce(this.markReadBouncy, 1000, { leading: true });
+    const markReadDebounced = _.debounce(this.markReadBouncy, 1000, { leading: true });
+    this.markRead = (newestUnreadDate: number) => {
+      const lastReadTimestamp = this.lastReadTimestamp;
+      if (newestUnreadDate > lastReadTimestamp) {
+        this.lastReadTimestamp = newestUnreadDate;
+      }
+      void markReadDebounced(newestUnreadDate);
+    };
     // Listening for out-of-band data updates
 
     this.typingRefreshTimer = null;
     this.typingPauseTimer = null;
+    this.lastReadTimestamp = 0;
 
     window.inboxStore?.dispatch(conversationActions.conversationChanged(this.id, this.getProps()));
   }
@@ -914,6 +923,11 @@ export class ConversationModel extends Backbone.Model<ConversationAttributes> {
   }
 
   public async markReadBouncy(newestUnreadDate: number, providedOptions: any = {}) {
+    const lastReadTimestamp = this.lastReadTimestamp;
+    if (newestUnreadDate < lastReadTimestamp) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     const options = providedOptions || {};
     _.defaults(options, { sendReadReceipts: true });
 
@@ -959,7 +973,7 @@ export class ConversationModel extends Backbone.Model<ConversationAttributes> {
       const cachedUnreadCountOnConvo = this.get('unreadCount');
       if (cachedUnreadCountOnConvo !== read.length) {
         // reset the unreadCount on the convo to the real one coming from markRead messages on the db
-        this.set({ unreadCount: 0 });
+        this.set({ unreadCount: realUnreadCount });
         await this.commit();
       } else {
         // window?.log?.info('markRead(): nothing newly read.');
diff --git a/ts/models/message.ts b/ts/models/message.ts
index 339058372..ec58ecf97 100644
--- a/ts/models/message.ts
+++ b/ts/models/message.ts
@@ -1047,6 +1047,8 @@ export class MessageModel extends Backbone.Model<MessageAttributes> {
   public async markRead(readAt: number) {
     this.markReadNoCommit(readAt);
 
+    this.getConversation()?.markRead(this.attributes.received_at);
+
     await this.commit();
   }
 
diff --git a/ts/window.d.ts b/ts/window.d.ts
index 5f43a4e83..5a7b1e7d5 100644
--- a/ts/window.d.ts
+++ b/ts/window.d.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ declare global {
     getFriendsFromContacts: any;
     getSettingValue: any;
     i18n: LocalizerType;
+    isFocused: () => boolean;
     libloki: Libloki;
     libsignal: LibsignalProtocol;
     log: any;