Embodiments are presented herein of techniques for a mobile device to control timing of inter-RAT handovers. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes one or more processing elements configured to execute an interactive wireless communication application using a wireless communication configuration between the apparatus and a communications network for a first RAT. In some embodiments, the wireless communication configuration does not have a QoS guarantee. In some embodiments, the apparatus is configured to store information from the communications network that specifies one or more wireless thresholds relating to handover from the first RAT to a second RAT. In some embodiments, based on executing the application and current wireless conditions, the apparatus is configured to send a report to a base station of the communications network, prior to at least one of the thresholds being met, to trigger a handover from the first RAT to the second RAT.