[jurialmunkey]

Reading through this API and cache issues, an idea arises:
would it be possible to have an option per tmdbhelper widget to cache the widget locally and refresh silently each week/specified days in the background.
So everytime you bootup your system, or go back and forth your Kodi (especially on low ram devices like shield tv, that will gladly kill Kodi as soon as you multitask), you get instant loadup of your home screen, without spamming the servers.
There's tons of trakt lists that are not updated too often, no need to query and refresh them every single time.

Is something like this even possible?

TMDbHelper already has extensive caching of items and lists. Most basic lists are cached for at least 24 hours. Trakt sync lists check Trakt last activities cache before updating. Item details are cached for at least a week.

Startup delays are due to Kodi initialising it's services and the python subinterpreters for plugins. It's impossible for a plugin to beat the startup delay because it has to wait for Kodi to initialise first.