I've not done any important change in new release, and none could change the respond time !
Anyway what you describe is exactly what I tried to explain : the option is increasing the video buffer, and as the video is starting when the buffer is full, then it'll take longer to start ! If the server is responding quickly and the connection is fast, then the difference should not be visible, but if the connection is slow, then it will be visible !
I think that there are several comparison (written by some users) available in the thread, you should have a look at previous pages !
You'll see that I'm doing my best to solve problems I can solve ! For now I'm only stuck with a video streaming issue on some HDHomeRun devices ...
Beside that, the app is in constant evolution and it'll improve itself a lot and be sure than it'll become more than a media player

For now the biggest lacks in my app are "favorites" miss and AC3/DTS passthrough (for people with DD 5.1 or more), but I'm working on that right now
Anyway I'll let other users answer to your question ! But to be able to respond, maybe you could tell what you are expecting from that kind of app !