Thanks for the good info here. It will be neat yo see how wallets handle it as more roll out support. 

Yes correct, even if opening once a year I think the sync is fast. And all wallets are displaying a progress bar to inform the user sync is happening, usually with a percentage indicator and in the best cases with a stopwatch.

I feel the most challenging UX is due to first use, more than periodic use. Once user know how the sync works its fine, but when it does not, and the birthdate or block is not set, then it can be annoying. Especially when there's no inform telling the user why the wallet is syncing and how long it could take.

Setting up such input should be by default, or it could also be a learning opportunity for the users as part of the onboarding.

deSign_r

bitdevs

My Second Thoughts on Silent Payments

Once synced, it doesn't have to look at any old blocks, though, right? But, I suppose if the user is only occasionally (couple times a year) the sync might take a few minutes every time they open the wallet. That could be challenging for user experience. 