▸Example Segment (Twilio) call (the "before")
import com.segment.analytics.kotlin.android.Analytics
val analytics = Analytics("YOUR_WRITE_KEY", context) {
collectDeviceId = true
flushAt = 20
}
analytics.identify(userId, traitsOf("email" to email, "plan" to "pro"))
analytics.track("Paywall Purchase", buildJsonObject {
put("value", price)
put("currency", "USD")
})Heavy analytics SDKs do work at app launch — reading identifiers, initialising queues, network dispatch — that compounds visibly on lower-end devices. Respectlytics's SDK adds typically under 30ms to cold start, vs 100-300ms for Firebase Analytics's full initialisation chain.
☑Remove Segment (Twilio) cleanly
-
1
Remove the Segment Analytics SDK from your build (
Analytics-Swift/analytics-android/@segment/analytics-react-native/segment_analytics_flutter) -
2
Remove
Analytics.client(writeKey: ...)andanalytics.track(...)call sites — replace withRespectlytics.track("event_name") -
3
Critically: review your Segment destinations and decide which destinations you still need data flowing to from Respectlytics (most don't — that's the point)
-
4
Delete the Segment workspace's mobile source once events have stopped flowing
-
5
Audit and remove the downstream destination SDKs that Segment was the only reason to forward to (e.g., Facebook Pixel, Google Ads)
⇋Segment (Twilio) vs Respectlytics — faster cold start
| Segment (Twilio) | Respectlytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical cold-start contribution (p50) | — see tool note above | < 30ms |
| Initialisation work on launch | Reads IDFA/AAID, opens SQLite, spins up threads | Allocates ring buffer (RAM-only) |
| Number of background threads spawned | — typically 2-4 | 1 |
| Synchronous I/O on init | — typical (SQLite open) | None |
❓Frequently asked questions
How do I measure cold start before / after?
iOS: Xcode Organizer's Launch Time metric (aggregate from real users) or Instruments → App Launch template (synthetic). Android: adb shell am start -W <package>/.<activity> or Play Console's Vitals → Startup time. Measure before removing the old SDK, after, and compare on the same device class.
Does Respectlytics block the main thread on init?
No. Respectlytics.configure(appKey:) is synchronous but does only in-memory work (allocates the ring buffer). The network flush runs on a background dispatch queue / coroutine.
What's typical magnitude of improvement?
On a mid-range Android device, removing Firebase Analytics + AppsFlyer typically saves 100-300ms off cold start, depending on Google Play Services init state. On iOS the delta is usually 50-150ms. Effect is more pronounced on cold-start (uncached) than warm-start launches.
Does cold-start improvement actually affect business metrics?
Yes — first-session abandonment correlates with launch latency in published benchmarks. A 100ms improvement on the slowest deciles of your device distribution can show a measurable first-day retention lift.