Cold start
Launching an app whose process isn't running, the slowest kind of launch, compared with a warm or hot start.
Definition
A cold start loads everything from scratch. In a warm start the process is still alive but the screen must be rebuilt; in a hot start the app simply comes back to the foreground. Testers check launch time, splash screens and opening the app from a notification or deep link when it's fully closed.
In practice
Tapping a delivery notification while the app is fully closed should still open the order screen after the cold start.
Learn it in context
Lessons that use this term.