diff --git a/Tusker/Screens/Onboarding/InstanceSelectorTableViewController.swift b/Tusker/Screens/Onboarding/InstanceSelectorTableViewController.swift
index a39dc661..fecc7125 100644
--- a/Tusker/Screens/Onboarding/InstanceSelectorTableViewController.swift
+++ b/Tusker/Screens/Onboarding/InstanceSelectorTableViewController.swift
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ class InstanceSelectorTableViewController: UITableViewController {
     
     override func viewDidLoad() {
         super.viewDidLoad()
+        
+        // disable transparent background when scrolled to top because it gets weird with animating table items in and out
+        let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
+        appearance.configureWithDefaultBackground()
+        navigationItem.scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
 
         tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "InstanceTableViewCell", bundle: .main), forCellReuseIdentifier: instanceCell)
         
@@ -120,14 +125,18 @@ class InstanceSelectorTableViewController: UITableViewController {
         client.run(request) { (response) in
             var snapshot = self.dataSource.snapshot()
             if snapshot.indexOfSection(.selected) != nil {
-                snapshot.deleteItems(snapshot.itemIdentifiers(inSection: .selected))
+                snapshot.deleteSections([.selected])
             }
 
             if case let .success(instance, _) = response {
-                if !snapshot.sectionIdentifiers.contains(.selected) {
+                if snapshot.indexOfSection(.recommendedInstances) != nil {
+                    snapshot.insertSections([.selected], beforeSection: .recommendedInstances)
+                } else {
                     snapshot.appendSections([.selected])
                 }
+                
                 snapshot.appendItems([.selected(url, instance)], toSection: .selected)
+                
                 DispatchQueue.main.async {
                     self.dataSource.apply(snapshot)
                 }
@@ -137,14 +146,47 @@ class InstanceSelectorTableViewController: UITableViewController {
     
     private func loadRecommendedInstances() {
         InstanceSelector.getInstances(category: nil) { (response) in
-            guard case let .success(instances, _) = response else { fatalError() }
-            
-            self.recommendedInstances = instances
-            self.filterRecommendedResults()
+            DispatchQueue.main.async {
+                switch response {
+                case let .failure(error):
+                    self.showRecommendationsError(error)
+                case let .success(instances, _):
+                    self.recommendedInstances = instances
+                    self.filterRecommendedResults()
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
     
-    func filterRecommendedResults() {
+    private func showRecommendationsError(_ error: Client.Error) {
+        let footer = UITableViewHeaderFooterView()
+        footer.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
+        
+        let label = UILabel()
+        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
+        label.textColor = .secondaryLabel
+        label.textAlignment = .center
+        label.font = .boldSystemFont(ofSize: 17)
+        label.numberOfLines = 0
+        label.text = "Could not fetch suggested instances: \(error.localizedDescription)"
+
+        footer.contentView.addSubview(label)
+        
+        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
+            label.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalToSystemSpacingAfter: footer.contentView.leadingAnchor, multiplier: 1),
+            footer.contentView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalToSystemSpacingAfter: label.trailingAnchor, multiplier: 1),
+            label.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: footer.contentView.topAnchor, constant: 8),
+            label.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: footer.contentView.bottomAnchor, constant: 8),
+        ])
+        
+        let fittingSize = CGSize(width: tableView.bounds.width - (tableView.safeAreaInsets.left + tableView.safeAreaInsets.right), height: 0)
+        let size = footer.systemLayoutSizeFitting(fittingSize, withHorizontalFittingPriority: .required, verticalFittingPriority: .fittingSizeLevel)
+        footer.frame = CGRect(origin: .zero, size: size)
+        
+        tableView.tableFooterView = footer
+    }
+    
+    private func filterRecommendedResults() {
         let filteredInstances: [InstanceSelector.Instance]
         if let currentQuery = currentQuery, !currentQuery.isEmpty {
             filteredInstances = recommendedInstances.filter {
@@ -155,12 +197,20 @@ class InstanceSelectorTableViewController: UITableViewController {
         }
 
         var snapshot = self.dataSource.snapshot()
-        snapshot.deleteSections([.recommendedInstances])
-        snapshot.appendSections([.recommendedInstances])
-        snapshot.appendItems(filteredInstances.map { Item.recommended($0) }, toSection: .recommendedInstances)
-        DispatchQueue.main.async {
-            self.dataSource.apply(snapshot)
+        if snapshot.indexOfSection(.recommendedInstances) != nil {
+            let toRemove = snapshot.itemIdentifiers(inSection: .recommendedInstances).filter {
+                if case .recommended(_) = $0 {
+                    return true
+                } else {
+                    return false
+                }
+            }
+            snapshot.deleteItems(toRemove)
+        } else {
+            snapshot.appendSections([.recommendedInstances])
         }
+        snapshot.appendItems(filteredInstances.map { Item.recommended($0) }, toSection: .recommendedInstances)
+        self.dataSource.apply(snapshot)
     }
     
     // MARK: - Table view delegate
@@ -194,29 +244,30 @@ extension InstanceSelectorTableViewController {
         case recommended(InstanceSelector.Instance)
         
         static func ==(lhs: Item, rhs: Item) -> Bool {
-            if case let .selected(url, instance) = lhs,
-                case let .selected(otherUrl, other) = rhs {
-                return url == otherUrl && instance.uri == other.uri
-            } else if case let .recommended(instance) = lhs,
-                case let .recommended(other) = rhs {
-                return instance.domain == other.domain
+            switch (lhs, rhs) {
+            case let (.selected(urlA, instanceA), .selected(urlB, instanceB)):
+                return urlA == urlB && instanceA.uri == instanceB.uri
+            case let (.recommended(a), .recommended(b)):
+                return a.domain == b.domain
+            default:
+                return false
             }
-            return false
         }
         
         func hash(into hasher: inout Hasher) {
             switch self {
             case let .selected(url, instance):
-                hasher.combine(Section.selected)
+                hasher.combine(0)
                 hasher.combine(url)
                 hasher.combine(instance.uri)
             case let .recommended(instance):
-                hasher.combine(Section.recommendedInstances)
+                hasher.combine(1)
                 hasher.combine(instance.domain)
             }
         }
     }
     class DataSource: UITableViewDiffableDataSource<Section, Item> {
+        
     }
 }