There is a trade off here for convenience as always.
Sync wait is a real problem. If you're trying to pay someone and the app is hundreds of blocks behind, background sync is not a fix. The OS kills it. On Cake it's Android-only, and it only checks on an interval.
Where I'd split it is what you're actually offloading.
A node you run does not need your view key. Point Cake at it and the phone still does the trial decrypt. The node sees a sync request and, if you're not on LAN or Tor, an IP. It does not see your outputs, amounts, or balance. That scan is the privacy.
LWS removes the wait by HOLDING the private view key and scanning for you. Self-hosted, the spend key stays yours, so the funds are safe. The server can still see EVERY incoming payment. That's closer to MyMonero you run yourself than it is to "a node, but faster."
If the node is already yours, Cake on it is the better default. Subaddresses work without a server flag. More than one wallet. A day offline on the LAN is a short catch-up, not dialup. Dialup is usually a public node, a restore height set way too low, or the app having been dead for weeks.
Skylight in node mode is the same idea. The LWS switch is the privacy trade, not a requirement for a decent wallet.
LWS is the right call when the phone has been offline a long time and you need it instant, or you want the server to tell you the moment something lands. Fair, if the box is yours. I just wouldn't call getting the phone out of the scan the more elegant design. Elegant is the view key staying on the phone, and the node only doing node work.
There is a trade off here for convenience as always.
Sync wait is a real problem. If you're trying to pay someone and the app is hundreds of blocks behind, background sync is not a fix. The OS kills it. On Cake it's Android-only, and it only checks on an interval.
Where I'd split it is what you're actually offloading.
A node you run does not need your view key. Point Cake at it and the phone still does the trial decrypt. The node sees a sync request and, if you're not on LAN or Tor, an IP. It does not see your outputs, amounts, or balance. That scan is the privacy.
LWS removes the wait by HOLDING the private view key and scanning for you. Self-hosted, the spend key stays yours, so the funds are safe. The server can still see EVERY incoming payment. That's closer to MyMonero you run yourself than it is to "a node, but faster."
If the node is already yours, Cake on it is the better default. Subaddresses work without a server flag. More than one wallet. A day offline on the LAN is a short catch-up, not dialup. Dialup is usually a public node, a restore height set way too low, or the app having been dead for weeks.
Skylight in node mode is the same idea. The LWS switch is the privacy trade, not a requirement for a decent wallet.
LWS is the right call when the phone has been offline a long time and you need it instant, or you want the server to tell you the moment something lands. Fair, if the box is yours. I just wouldn't call getting the phone out of the scan the more elegant design. Elegant is the view key staying on the phone, and the node only doing node work.