Maximum drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough fall on record: from a high point to the lowest point before a new high. The recovery period is how long it then took to climb back to the old high. Together they describe the worst experience of holding something over a given history — how deep, and for how long.
Both depend entirely on the window being measured. A holding with a short history may not have been through a bad market yet, so its worst-ever number can look reassuringly small. Recovery also has to be bigger than the fall: after a 50% drop the price has to double to get back. The app doesn't calculate a maximum drawdown. A holding's price chart shows up to five years of daily closes — less for anything listed more recently — and the Portfolio Value chart covers your own history, so each only shows the falls that happened inside its window.
A fall and the recovery it needs are not the same size.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.