diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/AppsDrawer.js b/src/components/views/rooms/AppsDrawer.js
index 5982c52d98..5efcefc4bc 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/AppsDrawer.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/AppsDrawer.js
@@ -28,12 +28,13 @@ import WidgetUtils from '../../../utils/WidgetUtils';
 import WidgetEchoStore from "../../../stores/WidgetEchoStore";
 import {IntegrationManagers} from "../../../integrations/IntegrationManagers";
 import SettingsStore from "../../../settings/SettingsStore";
-import {useLocalStorageState} from "../../../hooks/useLocalStorageState";
 import ResizeNotifier from "../../../utils/ResizeNotifier";
 import ResizeHandle from "../elements/ResizeHandle";
 import Resizer from "../../../resizer/resizer";
 import PercentageDistributor from "../../../resizer/distributors/percentage";
 import {Container, WidgetLayoutStore} from "../../../stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore";
+import {clamp, percentageOf, percentageWithin} from "../../../utils/numbers";
+import {useStateCallback} from "../../../hooks/useStateCallback";
 
 export default class AppsDrawer extends React.Component {
     static propTypes = {
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ export default class AppsDrawer extends React.Component {
         return (
             <div className={classes}>
                 <PersistentVResizer
-                    id={"apps-drawer_" + this.props.room.roomId}
+                    room={this.props.room}
                     minHeight={100}
                     maxHeight={this.props.maxHeight ? this.props.maxHeight - 50 : undefined}
                     handleClass="mx_AppsContainer_resizerHandle"
@@ -261,7 +262,7 @@ export default class AppsDrawer extends React.Component {
 }
 
 const PersistentVResizer = ({
-    id,
+    room,
     minHeight,
     maxHeight,
     className,
@@ -270,7 +271,24 @@ const PersistentVResizer = ({
     resizeNotifier,
     children,
 }) => {
-    const [height, setHeight] = useLocalStorageState("pvr_" + id, 280); // old fixed height was 273px
+    let defaultHeight = WidgetLayoutStore.instance.getContainerHeight(room, Container.Top);
+
+    // Arbitrary defaults to avoid NaN problems. 100 px or 3/4 of the visible window.
+    if (!minHeight) minHeight = 100;
+    if (!maxHeight) maxHeight = (window.innerHeight / 4) * 3;
+
+    // Convert from percentage to height. Note that the default height is 280px.
+    if (defaultHeight) {
+        defaultHeight = clamp(defaultHeight, 0, 100);
+        defaultHeight = percentageWithin(defaultHeight / 100, minHeight, maxHeight);
+    } else {
+        defaultHeight = 280;
+    }
+
+    const [height, setHeight] = useStateCallback(defaultHeight, newHeight => {
+        newHeight = percentageOf(newHeight, minHeight, maxHeight) * 100;
+        WidgetLayoutStore.instance.setContainerHeight(room, Container.Top, newHeight)
+    });
 
     return <Resizable
         size={{height: Math.min(height, maxHeight)}}
diff --git a/src/hooks/useStateCallback.ts b/src/hooks/useStateCallback.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f3993c1d32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/hooks/useStateCallback.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+import {Dispatch, SetStateAction, useState} from "react";
+
+// Hook to simplify interactions with a store-backed state values
+// Returns value and method to change the state value
+export const useStateCallback = <T>(initialValue: T, callback: (v: T) => void): [T, Dispatch<SetStateAction<T>>] => {
+    const [value, setValue] = useState(initialValue);
+    const interceptSetValue = (newVal: T) => {
+        setValue(newVal);
+        callback(newVal);
+    };
+    return [value, interceptSetValue];
+};
diff --git a/src/stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore.ts b/src/stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore.ts
index 7d22f6729e..12051d35bc 100644
--- a/src/stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore.ts
+++ b/src/stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore.ts
@@ -63,13 +63,15 @@ interface IStoredLayout {
     // TODO: [Deferred] Maximizing (fullscreen) widgets by default.
 }
 
+interface IWidgetLayouts {
+    [widgetId: string]: IStoredLayout;
+}
+
 interface ILayoutStateEvent {
     // TODO: [Deferred] Forced layout (fixed with no changes)
 
     // The widget layouts.
-    widgets: {
-        [widgetId: string]: IStoredLayout;
-    };
+    widgets: IWidgetLayouts;
 }
 
 interface ILayoutSettings extends ILayoutStateEvent {
@@ -79,8 +81,11 @@ interface ILayoutSettings extends ILayoutStateEvent {
 // Dev note: "Pinned" widgets are ones in the top container.
 const MAX_PINNED = 3;
 
-const MIN_WIDGET_WIDTH_PCT = 10; // Don't make anything smaller than 10% width
-const MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT = 20;
+// These two are whole percentages and don't really mean anything. Later values will decide
+// minimum, but these help determine proportions during our calculations here. In fact, these
+// values should be *smaller* than the actual minimums imposed by later components.
+const MIN_WIDGET_WIDTH_PCT = 10; // 10%
+const MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT = 2; // 2%
 
 export class WidgetLayoutStore extends ReadyWatchingStore {
     private static internalInstance: WidgetLayoutStore;
@@ -230,7 +235,7 @@ export class WidgetLayoutStore extends ReadyWatchingStore {
 
         // Determine width distribution and height of the top container now (the only relevant one)
         const widths: number[] = [];
-        let maxHeight = 0;
+        let maxHeight = null; // null == default
         let doAutobalance = true;
         for (let i = 0; i < topWidgets.length; i++) {
             const widget = topWidgets[i];
@@ -246,9 +251,11 @@ export class WidgetLayoutStore extends ReadyWatchingStore {
                 widths.push(100); // we'll figure this out later
             }
 
-            const defRoomHeight = defaultNumber(widgetLayout?.height, MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT);
-            const h = defaultNumber(userWidgetLayout?.height, defRoomHeight);
-            maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, clamp(h, MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT, 100));
+            if (widgetLayout?.height || userWidgetLayout?.height) {
+                const defRoomHeight = defaultNumber(widgetLayout?.height, MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT);
+                const h = defaultNumber(userWidgetLayout?.height, defRoomHeight);
+                maxHeight = Math.max(maxHeight, clamp(h, MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT, 100));
+            }
         }
         let remainingWidth = 100;
         for (const width of widths) {
@@ -330,12 +337,35 @@ export class WidgetLayoutStore extends ReadyWatchingStore {
             localLayout[w.id] = {
                 width: numbers[i],
                 index: i,
+                height: this.byRoom[room.roomId]?.[container]?.height || MIN_WIDGET_HEIGHT_PCT,
             };
         });
+        this.updateUserLayout(room, localLayout);
+    }
+
+    public getContainerHeight(room: Room, container: Container): number {
+        return this.byRoom[room.roomId]?.[container]?.height; // let the default get returned if needed
+    }
+
+    public setContainerHeight(room: Room, container: Container, height: number) {
+        const widgets = this.getContainerWidgets(room, container);
+        const widths = this.byRoom[room.roomId]?.[container]?.distributions;
+        const localLayout = {};
+        widgets.forEach((w, i) => {
+            localLayout[w.id] = {
+                width: widths[i],
+                index: i,
+                height: height,
+            };
+        });
+        this.updateUserLayout(room, localLayout);
+    }
+
+    private updateUserLayout(room: Room, newLayout: IWidgetLayouts) {
         const layoutEv = room.currentState.getStateEvents(WIDGET_LAYOUT_EVENT_TYPE, "");
         SettingsStore.setValue("Widgets.layout", room.roomId, SettingLevel.ROOM_ACCOUNT, {
             overrides: layoutEv?.getId(),
-            widgets: localLayout,
+            widgets: newLayout,
         });
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/numbers.ts b/src/utils/numbers.ts
index e26db0d5aa..c8b9e7248f 100644
--- a/src/utils/numbers.ts
+++ b/src/utils/numbers.ts
@@ -32,3 +32,11 @@ export function clamp(i: number, min: number, max: number): number {
 export function sum(...i: number[]): number {
     return [...i].reduce((p, c) => c + p, 0);
 }
+
+export function percentageWithin(pct: number, min: number, max: number): number {
+    return (pct * (max - min)) + min;
+}
+
+export function percentageOf(val: number, min: number, max: number): number {
+    return (val - min) / max;
+}