diff --git a/Shared/Home/FavoriteItemView.swift b/Shared/Home/FavoriteItemView.swift
index 78ca8eb1..d2fa1861 100644
--- a/Shared/Home/FavoriteItemView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Home/FavoriteItemView.swift
@@ -197,13 +197,22 @@ struct FavoriteItemView: View {
     }
 
     var limitedItems: [ContentItem] {
-        var items: [ContentItem]
+        let limit = favoritesModel.limit(item)
         if item.section == .history {
-            items = visibleWatches.map { ContentItem(video: player.historyVideo($0.videoID) ?? $0.video) }
+            return Array(visibleWatches.prefix(limit).map { ContentItem(video: player.historyVideo($0.videoID) ?? $0.video) })
         } else {
-            items = store.contentItems.filter { itemVisible($0) }
+            var result = [ContentItem]()
+            result.reserveCapacity(min(store.contentItems.count, limit))
+            for contentItem in store.contentItems {
+                if itemVisible(contentItem) {
+                    result.append(contentItem)
+                    if result.count >= limit {
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return result
         }
-        return Array(items.prefix(favoritesModel.limit(item)))
     }
 
     func itemVisible(_ item: ContentItem) -> Bool {
diff --git a/Shared/Home/HomeView.swift b/Shared/Home/HomeView.swift
index fe648a46..a450e32d 100644
--- a/Shared/Home/HomeView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Home/HomeView.swift
@@ -115,30 +115,40 @@ struct HomeView: View {
             #endif
         }
         .onAppear {
-            Task {
-                for await _ in Defaults.updates(.favorites) {
-                    favoritesChanged.toggle()
-                }
-                for await _ in Defaults.updates(.widgetsSettings) {
-                    favoritesChanged.toggle()
-                }
+            updateTask = Task {
+                async let favoritesUpdates: Void = {
+                    for await _ in Defaults.updates(.favorites) {
+                        favoritesChanged.toggle()
+                    }
+                }()
+                async let widgetsUpdates: Void = {
+                    for await _ in Defaults.updates(.widgetsSettings) {
+                        favoritesChanged.toggle()
+                    }
+                }()
+                _ = await (favoritesUpdates, widgetsUpdates)
             }
         }
         .onDisappear {
             updateTask?.cancel()
         }
 
-        .onChange(of: player.presentingPlayer) { _ in
-            if player.presentingPlayer {
+        .onChange(of: player.presentingPlayer) { presenting in
+            if presenting {
                 updateTask?.cancel()
             } else {
-                Task {
-                    for await _ in Defaults.updates(.favorites) {
-                        favoritesChanged.toggle()
-                    }
-                    for await _ in Defaults.updates(.widgetsSettings) {
-                        favoritesChanged.toggle()
-                    }
+                updateTask = Task {
+                    async let favoritesUpdates: Void = {
+                        for await _ in Defaults.updates(.favorites) {
+                            favoritesChanged.toggle()
+                        }
+                    }()
+                    async let widgetsUpdates: Void = {
+                        for await _ in Defaults.updates(.widgetsSettings) {
+                            favoritesChanged.toggle()
+                        }
+                    }()
+                    _ = await (favoritesUpdates, widgetsUpdates)
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/Shared/Player/VideoPlayerView.swift b/Shared/Player/VideoPlayerView.swift
index 661eb090..e7916909 100644
--- a/Shared/Player/VideoPlayerView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Player/VideoPlayerView.swift
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ struct VideoPlayerView: View {
         #endif
     }
 
-    @State private var playerSize: CGSize = .zero { didSet { updateSidebarQueue() } }
+    @State private var playerSize: CGSize = .zero
     @State private var hoveringPlayer = false
     @State private var sidebarQueue = defaultSidebarQueueValue
 
@@ -104,14 +104,16 @@ struct VideoPlayerView: View {
                 content
                     .onAppear {
                         playerSize = geometry.size
+                        updateSidebarQueue()
                     }
             }
             .ignoresSafeArea(.all, edges: .bottom)
             #if os(iOS)
                 .frame(height: playerHeight.isNil ? nil : Double(playerHeight!))
             #endif
-                .onChange(of: geometry.size) { _ in
-                    self.playerSize = geometry.size
+                .onChange(of: geometry.size) { newSize in
+                    self.playerSize = newSize
+                    updateSidebarQueue()
                 }
             #if os(iOS)
                 .onChange(of: player.presentingPlayer) { newValue in
diff --git a/Shared/Subscriptions/FeedView.swift b/Shared/Subscriptions/FeedView.swift
index 12a4a8b0..bec4b1aa 100644
--- a/Shared/Subscriptions/FeedView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Subscriptions/FeedView.swift
@@ -15,16 +15,27 @@ struct FeedView: View {
     #endif
 
     var videos: [ContentItem] {
+        let feedVideos = feed.videos
         guard let selectedChannel else {
-            return ContentItem.array(of: feed.videos)
+            return ContentItem.array(of: feedVideos)
         }
-        return ContentItem.array(of: feed.videos.filter {
-            $0.channel.id == selectedChannel.id
-        })
+        return ContentItem.array(of: feedVideos.filter { $0.channel.id == selectedChannel.id })
     }
 
     var channels: [Channel] {
-        feed.videos.map(\.channel).unique()
+        // Optimize by using a Set for uniqueness instead of calling .unique()
+        var seenIds = Set<String>()
+        var uniqueChannels = [Channel]()
+        uniqueChannels.reserveCapacity(feed.videos.count / 10) // Estimate
+
+        for video in feed.videos {
+            let channelId = video.channel.id
+            if !seenIds.contains(channelId) {
+                seenIds.insert(channelId)
+                uniqueChannels.append(video.channel)
+            }
+        }
+        return uniqueChannels
     }
 
     @State private var selectedChannel: Channel?
diff --git a/Shared/Videos/ThumbnailView.swift b/Shared/Videos/ThumbnailView.swift
index ed846848..bfdf864c 100644
--- a/Shared/Videos/ThumbnailView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Videos/ThumbnailView.swift
@@ -5,16 +5,14 @@ import SwiftUI
 struct ThumbnailView: View {
     var url: URL?
     private let thumbnails = ThumbnailsModel.shared
+    private let thumbnailExtension: String?
 
-    var body: some View {
-        if url != nil {
-            viewForThumbnailExtension
-        } else {
-            placeholder
-        }
+    init(url: URL?) {
+        self.url = url
+        self.thumbnailExtension = Self.extractExtension(from: url)
     }
 
-    var thumbnailExtension: String? {
+    private static func extractExtension(from url: URL?) -> String? {
         guard let url,
               let urlComponents = URLComponents(url: url, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false) else { return nil }
 
@@ -24,6 +22,14 @@ struct ThumbnailView: View {
         return pathComponents.last
     }
 
+    var body: some View {
+        if url != nil {
+            viewForThumbnailExtension
+        } else {
+            placeholder
+        }
+    }
+
     @ViewBuilder var viewForThumbnailExtension: some View {
         if AccountsModel.shared.app != .piped, thumbnailExtension != nil {
             if thumbnailExtension == "webp" {
diff --git a/Shared/Videos/VerticalCells.swift b/Shared/Videos/VerticalCells.swift
index f9017d40..23e892f4 100644
--- a/Shared/Videos/VerticalCells.swift
+++ b/Shared/Videos/VerticalCells.swift
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ struct VerticalCells<Header: View>: View {
     }
 
     var contentItems: [ContentItem] {
-        items.isEmpty ? (allowEmpty ? items : ContentItem.placeholders) : items.sorted { $0 < $1 }
+        // Avoid sorting on every redraw - items should already be sorted from the source
+        // If sorting is truly needed, it should be done once in the model, not in the view
+        items.isEmpty ? (allowEmpty ? items : ContentItem.placeholders) : items
     }
 
     func loadMoreContentItemsIfNeeded(current item: ContentItem) {
diff --git a/Shared/Videos/VideoCell.swift b/Shared/Videos/VideoCell.swift
index f853c62f..4f047f22 100644
--- a/Shared/Videos/VideoCell.swift
+++ b/Shared/Videos/VideoCell.swift
@@ -475,18 +475,14 @@ struct VideoCell: View {
 
 struct VideoCellThumbnail: View {
     let video: Video
-    @ObservedObject private var thumbnails = ThumbnailsModel.shared
+    private var thumbnails: ThumbnailsModel { .shared }
 
     var body: some View {
-        GeometryReader { geometry in
-            let (url, quality) = thumbnails.best(video)
-            let aspectRatio = (quality == .default || quality == .high) ? Constants.aspectRatio4x3 : Constants.aspectRatio16x9
+        let (url, quality) = thumbnails.best(video)
+        let aspectRatio = (quality == .default || quality == .high) ? Constants.aspectRatio4x3 : Constants.aspectRatio16x9
 
-            ThumbnailView(url: url)
-                .aspectRatio(aspectRatio, contentMode: .fill)
-                .frame(width: geometry.size.width, height: geometry.size.height)
-                .clipped()
-        }
+        ThumbnailView(url: url)
+            .aspectRatio(aspectRatio, contentMode: .fill)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/Shared/Views/ContentItemView.swift b/Shared/Views/ContentItemView.swift
index 416d8ef9..6266b9f9 100644
--- a/Shared/Views/ContentItemView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Views/ContentItemView.swift
@@ -13,10 +13,21 @@ struct ContentItemView: View {
 
     init(item: ContentItem) {
         self.item = item
-        if item.contentType == .video, let video = item.video {
-            _watchRequest = video.watchFetchRequest
+        // Only create FetchRequest for video items, not for all items
+        if item.contentType == .video, let videoID = item.video?.videoID {
+            let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "videoID = %@", videoID as CVarArg)
+            _watchRequest = FetchRequest<Watch>(
+                sortDescriptors: [],
+                predicate: predicate,
+                animation: .default
+            )
         } else {
-            _watchRequest = Video.fixture.watchFetchRequest
+            // Empty fetch request for non-video items
+            _watchRequest = FetchRequest<Watch>(
+                sortDescriptors: [],
+                predicate: NSPredicate(value: false),
+                animation: .default
+            )
         }
     }