Track Android App Startup Delay - Performance Monitoring
Automatic Detection: This feature is automatically activated for both debug and release builds.
Appxiom SDK provides comprehensive app startup performance monitoring for Android applications, automatically detecting startup delays that impact user experience. Monitor cold starts, warm starts, and hot starts.
Understanding Android App Startup Types
Cold Startup Performance Monitoring
What is a Cold Start? A cold start occurs when your Android application launches from a completely fresh state. This happens when:
- App is launched for the first time after device boot
- App process was completely terminated by the system
- User hasn't used the app recently and it's not in memory
Performance Threshold: 5+ seconds is considered excessive by Android Vitals
Warm Startup Performance Monitoring
What is a Warm Start? A warm start occurs when your app process is still running but the activity needs to be recreated. This typically happens when:
- User navigates back to your app from recent apps
- App was backgrounded and the activity was destroyed
- User exits app and relaunches it while process remains alive
Performance Threshold: 2+ seconds is considered excessive by Android Vitals
Hot Startup Performance Monitoring
What is a Hot Start? A hot start is the fastest type of app launch, occurring when:
- App is already running in the background
- Activity is already created and in memory
- System just brings your activity to the foreground
Performance Threshold: 1.5+ seconds is considered excessive by Android Vitals
Android Vitals Performance Standards
Appxiom SDK follows Google's Android Vitals performance benchmarks:
| Startup Type | Excessive Duration |
|---|---|
| Cold Start | 5+ seconds |
| Warm Start | 2+ seconds |
| Hot Start | 1.5+ seconds |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: How does Appxiom detect app startup delays?
A: Appxiom SDK automatically monitors app launch times using Android's built-in performance metrics. It measures the time from app process start to first screen load, categorizing launches as cold, warm, or hot starts.
Q: Do I need to add any code to track startup performance?
A: No additional code is required. Startup delay tracking is automatically enabled when you integrate the Appxiom SDK following the integration guide.
Q: Can I customize the startup delay thresholds?
A: The SDK follows Android Vitals standards by default. Custom thresholds are not currently supported to maintain consistency with Google's performance recommendations.
Q: Does startup tracking work in debug builds?
A: Yes, startup delay tracking works in both debug and release builds.
Q: My app shows frequent cold/warm/hot start delays. How can I optimize?
A: Use Appxiom's activity trail feature to identify bottlenecks, then apply these optimization strategies:
Step 1: Analyze with Activity Trail
- Review the activity trail in your Appxiom dashboard to see the exact sequence of activities during cold start
- Identify which part of activity take the longest to load
- Use
Ax.setActivityMarker()to mark specific initialization phases for detailed tracking
Step 2: Apply Targeted Optimizations
- Move heavy initialization to background threads: Use
AsyncTaskorExecutorServicefor database setup, network config, or large object creation - Optimize Application class onCreate() method: Keep it minimal - move complex setup to background threads or defer until needed
Q: Why am I not seeing startup delay reports?
A: Ensure that:
- Appxiom SDK is properly integrated
- Network connectivity is available for report transmission
Q: Are startup measurements accurate on emulators?
A: Emulator performance may not reflect real device performance. Test on physical devices for accurate startup time measurements.
Q: How often does the SDK check for startup delays?
A: The SDK monitors every app launch automatically. Reports are generated only when startup times exceed the defined thresholds.
Q: Does startup tracking affect app performance?
A: No, the monitoring has minimal performance impact. Appxiom uses efficient, non-blocking measurement techniques that don't affect your app's startup time.
Q: Can I disable startup delay tracking?
A: No. App startup tracking is part of the core SDK functionality.