I wrote a practical guide on measuring app startup time (Android, iOS, Flutter)

Hey folks,

I have been working on mobile performance for a while, and startup time keeps coming up as one of those things everyone knows is important, but very few teams measure properly.

We have all seen it. You tap an app, the screen stays blank for a couple of seconds, and you just close it. Users do the same thing.

So, I put together a practical guide on how to measure app startup time in a way that actually reflects reality. Not debug builds. Not emulators only. Not one lucky run on a flagship phone.

It covers:

• What startup really means (cold vs warm vs hot)

• Which numbers actually matter (first frame, time to initial display, etc.)

• How to measure it on Android, iOS, and Flutter using real tools

• Common mistakes that make numbers look better than they really are

• Simple ways to improve startup without rewriting your whole app

It is written for people shipping real apps, not for theory.

I would genuinely love to hear how you measure startup today and what has worked (or not worked) for you.

Here is the full post:
https://www.digia.tech/post/app-startup-time-performance-guide?utm_campaign=012-why-smooth-apps-win-understanding-fps-jank-and-runtime-performance&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=dispatch.digia.tech