diff --git a/components/account.js b/components/account.js
index ae319f0a..dd9d3248 100644
--- a/components/account.js
+++ b/components/account.js
@@ -1,114 +1,44 @@
-import { createContext, useCallback, useContext, useEffect, useMemo, useState } from 'react'
 import { useRouter } from 'next/router'
-import * as cookie from 'cookie'
-import { USER_ID, SSR } from '@/lib/constants'
+import { USER_ID } from '@/lib/constants'
 import { USER } from '@/fragments/users'
 import { useQuery } from '@apollo/client'
 import { UserListRow } from '@/components/user-list'
+import useCookie from '@/components/use-cookie'
 import Link from 'next/link'
 import AddIcon from '@/svgs/add-fill.svg'
 import { cookieOptions, MULTI_AUTH_ANON, MULTI_AUTH_LIST, MULTI_AUTH_POINTER } from '@/lib/auth'
 
-const AccountContext = createContext()
-
 const b64Decode = str => Buffer.from(str, 'base64').toString('utf-8')
 
-export const AccountProvider = ({ children }) => {
-  const [accounts, setAccounts] = useState([])
-  const [selected, setSelected] = useState(null)
-
-  const updateAccountsFromCookie = useCallback(() => {
-    const { [MULTI_AUTH_LIST]: listCookie } = cookie.parse(document.cookie)
-    const accounts = listCookie
-      ? JSON.parse(b64Decode(listCookie))
-      : []
-    setAccounts(accounts)
-  }, [])
-
-  const nextAccount = useCallback(async () => {
-    const { status } = await fetch('/api/next-account', { credentials: 'include' })
-    // if status is 302, this means the server was able to switch us to the next available account
-    // and the current account was simply removed from the list of available accounts including the corresponding JWT.
-    const switchSuccess = status === 302
-    if (switchSuccess) updateAccountsFromCookie()
-    return switchSuccess
-  }, [updateAccountsFromCookie])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (SSR) return
-
-    updateAccountsFromCookie()
-
-    const { [MULTI_AUTH_POINTER]: pointerCookie } = cookie.parse(document.cookie)
-    setSelected(pointerCookie === MULTI_AUTH_ANON ? USER_ID.anon : Number(pointerCookie))
-  }, [updateAccountsFromCookie])
-
-  const value = useMemo(
-    () => ({
-      accounts,
-      selected,
-      nextAccount
-    }),
-    [accounts, selected, nextAccount])
-  return <AccountContext.Provider value={value}>{children}</AccountContext.Provider>
-}
-
-export const useAccounts = () => useContext(AccountContext)
-
-const AccountListRow = ({ account, ...props }) => {
-  const { selected } = useAccounts()
-  const router = useRouter()
-
-  // fetch updated names and photo ids since they might have changed since we were issued the JWTs
-  const { data, error } = useQuery(USER,
-    {
-      variables: { id: account.id }
-    }
-  )
-  if (error) console.error(`query for user ${account.id} failed:`, error)
-
-  const name = data?.user?.name || account.name
-  const photoId = data?.user?.photoId || account.photoId
-
-  const onClick = async (e) => {
-    // prevent navigation
-    e.preventDefault()
-
-    // update pointer cookie
-    const options = cookieOptions({ httpOnly: false })
-    const anon = account.id === USER_ID.anon
-    document.cookie = cookie.serialize(MULTI_AUTH_POINTER, anon ? MULTI_AUTH_ANON : account.id, options)
-
-    // reload whatever page we're on to avoid any bugs due to missing authorization etc.
-    router.reload()
-  }
-
-  return (
-    <div className='d-flex flex-row'>
-      <UserListRow
-        user={{ ...account, photoId, name }}
-        className='d-flex align-items-center me-2'
-        {...props}
-        onNymClick={onClick}
-        selected={selected === account.id}
-      />
-    </div>
-  )
+export const nextAccount = async () => {
+  const { status } = await fetch('/api/next-account', { credentials: 'include' })
+  // if status is 302, this means the server was able to switch us to the next available account
+  return status === 302
 }
 
 export default function SwitchAccountList () {
-  const { accounts } = useAccounts()
   const router = useRouter()
+  const accounts = useAccounts()
+  const [pointerCookie] = useCookie(MULTI_AUTH_POINTER)
 
-  // can't show hat since the streak is not included in the JWT payload
   return (
     <>
       <div className='my-2'>
         <div className='d-flex flex-column flex-wrap mt-2 mb-3'>
           <h4 className='text-muted'>Accounts</h4>
-          <AccountListRow account={{ id: USER_ID.anon, name: 'anon' }} showHat={false} />
+          <AccountListRow
+            account={{ id: USER_ID.anon, name: 'anon' }}
+            selected={pointerCookie === MULTI_AUTH_ANON}
+            showHat={false}
+          />
           {
-            accounts.map((account) => <AccountListRow key={account.id} account={account} showHat={false} />)
+            accounts.map((account) =>
+              <AccountListRow
+                key={account.id}
+                account={account}
+                selected={Number(pointerCookie) === account.id}
+                showHat={false}
+              />)
           }
         </div>
         <Link
@@ -124,3 +54,45 @@ export default function SwitchAccountList () {
     </>
   )
 }
+
+const AccountListRow = ({ account, selected, ...props }) => {
+  const router = useRouter()
+  const [, setPointerCookie] = useCookie(MULTI_AUTH_POINTER)
+
+  // fetch updated names and photo ids since they might have changed since we were issued the JWTs
+  const { data, error } = useQuery(USER, { variables: { id: account.id } })
+  if (error) console.error(`query for user ${account.id} failed:`, error)
+
+  const name = data?.user?.name || account.name
+  const photoId = data?.user?.photoId || account.photoId
+
+  const onClick = async (e) => {
+    // prevent navigation
+    e.preventDefault()
+
+    // update pointer cookie
+    const options = cookieOptions({ httpOnly: false })
+    const anon = account.id === USER_ID.anon
+    setPointerCookie(anon ? MULTI_AUTH_ANON : account.id, options)
+
+    // reload whatever page we're on to avoid any bugs due to missing authorization etc.
+    router.reload()
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className='d-flex flex-row'>
+      <UserListRow
+        user={{ ...account, photoId, name }}
+        className='d-flex align-items-center me-2'
+        selected={selected}
+        {...props}
+        onNymClick={onClick}
+      />
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
+export const useAccounts = () => {
+  const [listCookie] = useCookie(MULTI_AUTH_LIST)
+  return listCookie ? JSON.parse(b64Decode(listCookie)) : []
+}
diff --git a/components/nav/common.js b/components/nav/common.js
index c3aedaa2..b7963293 100644
--- a/components/nav/common.js
+++ b/components/nav/common.js
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@ import classNames from 'classnames'
 import SnIcon from '@/svgs/sn.svg'
 import { useHasNewNotes } from '../use-has-new-notes'
 import { useWallets } from '@/wallets/index'
-import SwitchAccountList, { useAccounts } from '@/components/account'
+import SwitchAccountList, { nextAccount, useAccounts } from '@/components/account'
 import { useShowModal } from '@/components/modal'
 import { numWithUnits } from '@/lib/format'
+
 export function Brand ({ className }) {
   return (
     <Link href='/' passHref legacyBehavior>
@@ -273,7 +274,6 @@ export default function LoginButton () {
 function LogoutObstacle ({ onClose }) {
   const { registration: swRegistration, togglePushSubscription } = useServiceWorker()
   const { removeLocalWallets } = useWallets()
-  const { nextAccount } = useAccounts()
   const router = useRouter()
 
   return (
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ export function LogoutDropdownItem ({ handleClose }) {
 
 function SwitchAccountButton ({ handleClose }) {
   const showModal = useShowModal()
-  const { accounts } = useAccounts()
+  const accounts = useAccounts()
 
   if (accounts.length === 0) return null
 
diff --git a/components/use-cookie.js b/components/use-cookie.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29c333a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/use-cookie.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
+import * as cookie from 'cookie'
+import { cookieOptions } from '@/lib/auth'
+
+export default function useCookie (name) {
+  const [value, setValue] = useState(null)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const checkCookie = () => {
+      const oldValue = value
+      const newValue = cookie.parse(document.cookie)[name]
+      if (oldValue !== newValue) setValue(newValue)
+    }
+    checkCookie()
+    // there's no way to listen for cookie changes that is supported by all browsers
+    // so we poll to detect changes
+    // see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Cookie_Store_API
+    const interval = setInterval(checkCookie, 1000)
+    return () => clearInterval(interval)
+  }, [value])
+
+  const set = useCallback((value, options = {}) => {
+    document.cookie = cookie.serialize(name, value, { ...cookieOptions(), ...options })
+    setValue(value)
+  }, [name])
+
+  const remove = useCallback(() => {
+    document.cookie = value.serialize(name, '', { expires: 0, maxAge: 0 })
+    setValue(null)
+  }, [name])
+
+  return [value, set, remove]
+}
diff --git a/pages/_app.js b/pages/_app.js
index 9c540d55..1c2ee9b3 100644
--- a/pages/_app.js
+++ b/pages/_app.js
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import { ChainFeeProvider } from '@/components/chain-fee.js'
 import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'
 import { HasNewNotesProvider } from '@/components/use-has-new-notes'
 import { WebLnProvider } from '@/wallets/webln/client'
-import { AccountProvider } from '@/components/account'
 import { WalletsProvider } from '@/wallets/index'
 
 const PWAPrompt = dynamic(() => import('react-ios-pwa-prompt'), { ssr: false })
@@ -118,24 +117,22 @@ export default function MyApp ({ Component, pageProps: { ...props } }) {
                   <LoggerProvider>
                     <WebLnProvider>
                       <ServiceWorkerProvider>
-                        <AccountProvider>
-                          <PriceProvider price={price}>
-                            <LightningProvider>
-                              <ToastProvider>
-                                <ShowModalProvider>
-                                  <BlockHeightProvider blockHeight={blockHeight}>
-                                    <ChainFeeProvider chainFee={chainFee}>
-                                      <ErrorBoundary>
-                                        <Component ssrData={ssrData} {...otherProps} />
-                                        {!router?.query?.disablePrompt && <PWAPrompt copyBody='This website has app functionality. Add it to your home screen to use it in fullscreen and receive notifications. In Safari:' promptOnVisit={2} />}
-                                      </ErrorBoundary>
-                                    </ChainFeeProvider>
-                                  </BlockHeightProvider>
-                                </ShowModalProvider>
-                              </ToastProvider>
-                            </LightningProvider>
-                          </PriceProvider>
-                        </AccountProvider>
+                        <PriceProvider price={price}>
+                          <LightningProvider>
+                            <ToastProvider>
+                              <ShowModalProvider>
+                                <BlockHeightProvider blockHeight={blockHeight}>
+                                  <ChainFeeProvider chainFee={chainFee}>
+                                    <ErrorBoundary>
+                                      <Component ssrData={ssrData} {...otherProps} />
+                                      {!router?.query?.disablePrompt && <PWAPrompt copyBody='This website has app functionality. Add it to your home screen to use it in fullscreen and receive notifications. In Safari:' promptOnVisit={2} />}
+                                    </ErrorBoundary>
+                                  </ChainFeeProvider>
+                                </BlockHeightProvider>
+                              </ShowModalProvider>
+                            </ToastProvider>
+                          </LightningProvider>
+                        </PriceProvider>
                       </ServiceWorkerProvider>
                     </WebLnProvider>
                   </LoggerProvider>