diff --git a/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/app_runtime_controller.dart b/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/app_runtime_controller.dart
index 0b551b2d..68230cee 100644
--- a/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/app_runtime_controller.dart
+++ b/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/app_runtime_controller.dart
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ class AppRuntimeState {
 class AppRuntimeController extends AsyncNotifier<AppRuntimeState> {
   static StartConfig? _defaultStartConfig;
   Future<void> _preferenceWrites = Future<void>.value();
+  bool _analyticsStarted = false;
 
   @override
   Future<AppRuntimeState> build() async {
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ class AppRuntimeController extends AsyncNotifier<AppRuntimeState> {
       startConfig
         ..apiEnable = true
         ..mcpEnable = config.api.mcpEnable;
+      await _initAnalytics(config);
     } else {
       startConfig
         ..apiEnable = config.api.enable
@@ -253,7 +255,8 @@ class AppRuntimeController extends AsyncNotifier<AppRuntimeState> {
   }
 
   Future<void> _initAnalytics(DownloaderConfig config) async {
-    if (!AnalyticsConfig.isConfigured || !config.extra.analyticsEnabled) return;
+    if (_analyticsStarted || !AnalyticsConfig.isConfigured || !config.extra.analyticsEnabled) return;
+    _analyticsStarted = true;
     try {
       final generatedClientId = await Analytics.instance.init(fallbackClientId: config.extra.deviceId);
       if (generatedClientId != null) {
@@ -262,6 +265,7 @@ class AppRuntimeController extends AsyncNotifier<AppRuntimeState> {
       }
       unawaited(Analytics.instance.logAppOpen());
     } catch (error, stackTrace) {
+      _analyticsStarted = false;
       logger.w('GA4 init failed', error, stackTrace);
     }
   }
diff --git a/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/downloader_config_init.dart b/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/downloader_config_init.dart
index dfe82c16..acc8d1ac 100644
--- a/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/downloader_config_init.dart
+++ b/ui/flutter/lib/app/application/downloader_config_init.dart
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Future<DownloaderConfig> loadDownloaderConfig({
     config = await load();
   } catch (error, stackTrace) {
     onLoadError?.call(error, stackTrace);
-    config = DownloaderConfig();
+    config = DownloaderConfig()..extra.analyticsEnabled = false;
     loaded = false;
   }
   final changed = await initDownloaderConfig(config, defaultDownloadDir: defaultDownloadDir);
diff --git a/ui/flutter/test/app/application/downloader_config_init_test.dart b/ui/flutter/test/app/application/downloader_config_init_test.dart
index 704a0aed..f91cdb97 100644
--- a/ui/flutter/test/app/application/downloader_config_init_test.dart
+++ b/ui/flutter/test/app/application/downloader_config_init_test.dart
@@ -32,8 +32,22 @@ void main() {
       // The in-memory fallback still gets usable defaults.
       expect(config.downloadDir, '/downloads');
       expect(config.categories, hasLength(4));
+      expect(config.extra.analyticsEnabled, isFalse);
     });
 
+    for (final analyticsEnabled in [false, true]) {
+      test('preserves the saved analytics preference ($analyticsEnabled)', () async {
+        final stored = configWith()..extra.analyticsEnabled = analyticsEnabled;
+        final config = await loadDownloaderConfig(
+          load: () async => stored,
+          save: (_) async {},
+          defaultDownloadDir: () async => '/downloads',
+        );
+
+        expect(config.extra.analyticsEnabled, analyticsEnabled);
+      });
+    }
+
     test('skips persist when init changed nothing', () async {
       var saved = 0;
       await loadDownloaderConfig(