Best practice for multi state Button?

I am building an (Android) app having a button whose text values represent states:

  • "Start" --> pressing it will initiate connection to my server
  • "Starting" --> gives visual cue that button was pressed, and now waiting for server to respond
  • "Stop" --> pressing it will connect to the server and ask it to end the action
  • "Stopping" --> gives visual cue that button was pressed, and now waiting for server to respond.

I noticed that during jumpy ride without glasses, the text "Stop" and "Start" look too similar and the User needs a better indication of the current state.

Questions:

  1. Is it better to replace the (localized)text with images? if so, what are reasonable international symbols?
  2. OR add image to the text ( e.g. on left side )?
  3. If I replace the background color based on the state, what are reasonable colors? ( e.g. concept of traffic lights)

I looked into this question which touches a similar topic.

PS: the app has to work on a wide variety of phones, and must be trivial to operate. No training, no small fonts, no fine shades. Only clear bold symbols that can be read while the phone is mounted on vibrating mountain bike handlebar in bright sunlight :)

I thought about the old paradigm (in the '90?) of depressed button image which was so clear, but the contemporary theme guidelines seems to be against it.

Thanks

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