The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for performance monitoring for mobile applications. In an embodiment, a method of monitoring performance of a mobile application is provided. A mobile application is operated on a wireless mobile device. A progress indicator being displayed on a display screen of the mobile device during operation of the mobile application on the wireless mobile device is automatically detected. Data indicative of a time duration of the progress indicator is obtained. The data indicative of the time duration is communicated to a centralized server.