diff --git a/packages/react-native-sandbox/android/src/main/java/io/callstack/rnsandbox/SandboxReactNativeDelegate.kt b/packages/react-native-sandbox/android/src/main/java/io/callstack/rnsandbox/SandboxReactNativeDelegate.kt
index 6b0ce06..4727614 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-sandbox/android/src/main/java/io/callstack/rnsandbox/SandboxReactNativeDelegate.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native-sandbox/android/src/main/java/io/callstack/rnsandbox/SandboxReactNativeDelegate.kt
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ import com.facebook.react.runtime.ReactHostImpl
 import com.facebook.react.runtime.hermes.HermesInstance
 import com.facebook.react.shell.MainReactPackage
 import com.facebook.react.uimanager.ViewManager
+import java.io.File
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection
+import java.net.URL
 
 class SandboxReactNativeDelegate(
     private val context: Context,
@@ -34,6 +37,10 @@ class SandboxReactNativeDelegate(
     companion object {
         private const val TAG = "SandboxRNDelegate"
 
+        private const val REMOTE_BUNDLE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000
+        private const val REMOTE_BUNDLE_READ_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000
+        private const val REMOTE_BUNDLE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 20_000L
+
         private val sharedHosts = mutableMapOf<String, SharedReactHost>()
         private val registeredSubstitutionPackages = mutableListOf<ReactPackage>()
         private val registeredHostPackages = mutableListOf<ReactPackage>()
@@ -166,13 +173,21 @@ class SandboxReactNativeDelegate(
                 val componentFactory = ComponentFactory()
                 DefaultComponentsRegistry.register(componentFactory)
 
+                // For a remote (http/https) bundle, disable developer support on this
+                // ReactHost. With dev support enabled the runtime ignores jsBundleLoader
+                // and fetches the bundle from the Metro dev server using jsMainModulePath,
+                // turning the URL into http://localhost:8081/<url>.bundle (a 404). Local
+                // sources ("index"/asset names) keep dev support so Fast Refresh works.
+                val isRemoteBundle =
+                    capturedBundleSource.startsWith("http://") ||
+                        capturedBundleSource.startsWith("https://")
                 host =
                     ReactHostImpl(
                         sandboxContext,
                         hostDelegate,
                         componentFactory,
-                        true,
-                        true,
+                        !isRemoteBundle,
+                        !isRemoteBundle,
                     )
 
                 ownsReactHost = true
@@ -259,7 +274,12 @@ class SandboxReactNativeDelegate(
         if (bundleSource.isEmpty()) return null
         return when {
             bundleSource.startsWith("http://") || bundleSource.startsWith("https://") -> {
-                JSBundleLoader.createFileLoader(bundleSource)
+                // createFileLoader(url) treats its argument as a local path and never
+                // downloads. Prefetch to a cache file on a worker thread instead.
+                val cacheFile = downloadRemoteBundle(bundleSource) ?: return null
+                // Load synchronously: on RN 0.85 bridgeless an async load executes the
+                // bundle before TurboModule JSI bindings are installed, causing a fatal.
+                JSBundleLoader.createFileLoader(cacheFile.absolutePath, bundleSource, true)
             }
 
             else -> {
@@ -268,6 +288,41 @@ class SandboxReactNativeDelegate(
         }
     }
 
+    private fun downloadRemoteBundle(bundleSource: String): File? {
+        val cacheFile = File(context.cacheDir, "sandbox-remote-${bundleSource.hashCode()}.bundle")
+        if (cacheFile.exists() && cacheFile.length() > 0L) {
+            Log.d(TAG, "Reusing cached bundle '$bundleSource' (${cacheFile.length()} bytes)")
+            return cacheFile
+        }
+        var downloadError: Exception? = null
+        val worker =
+            Thread {
+                try {
+                    val connection = URL(bundleSource).openConnection() as HttpURLConnection
+                    connection.connectTimeout = REMOTE_BUNDLE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS
+                    connection.readTimeout = REMOTE_BUNDLE_READ_TIMEOUT_MS
+                    try {
+                        connection.inputStream.use { input ->
+                            cacheFile.outputStream().use { output -> input.copyTo(output) }
+                        }
+                    } finally {
+                        connection.disconnect()
+                    }
+                } catch (e: Exception) {
+                    downloadError = e
+                }
+            }
+        worker.start()
+        worker.join(REMOTE_BUNDLE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS)
+        if (downloadError != null || !cacheFile.exists() || cacheFile.length() == 0L) {
+            cacheFile.delete()
+            Log.e(TAG, "Failed to download remote bundle '$bundleSource'", downloadError)
+            return null
+        }
+        Log.d(TAG, "Downloaded remote bundle '$bundleSource' (${cacheFile.length()} bytes)")
+        return cacheFile
+    }
+
     fun onJSIBindingsInstalled(stateHandle: Long) {
         jsiStateHandle = stateHandle
     }