diff --git a/home/graphical.nix b/home/graphical.nix
index 9aca12a6..84f2ce5d 100644
--- a/home/graphical.nix
+++ b/home/graphical.nix
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ in rec {
       { command = [ "${pkgs.xwayland-satellite}/bin/xwayland-satellite" XWAYLAND_DISPLAY ]; }
       { command = [ "${x-wayland-clipboard-daemon}" ]; }
       { command = [ "${pkgs.dbus}/bin/dbus-update-activation-environment" "--systemd" "WAYLAND_DISPLAY" "XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" ]; } # needed for screen-sharing to work
+      { command = [ "systemctl" "--user" "start" "background" "nm-applet" ]; }
     ];
     environment.DISPLAY = XWAYLAND_DISPLAY;
 
@@ -476,20 +477,20 @@ in rec {
     };
   };
 
+  # started by niri
   systemd.user.services.nm-applet = {
     Unit = {
       Description = "Network manager applet";
-      After = [ "waybar.service" ];
     };
     Service = {
       ExecStart = "${pkgs.networkmanagerapplet}/bin/nm-applet --indicator";
     };
   };
 
+  # started by niri
   systemd.user.services.background = {
     Unit = {
       Description = "Desktop background";
-      After = [ "niri.service" ];
     };
     Service = {
       ExecStart = pkgs.lib.escapeShellArgs [ "${pkgs.swaybg}/bin/swaybg" "--image" "${../backgrounds/eta-tak.jpg}" ];