A Developer's Guide to Optimizing Mobile App Performance

The invention of mobile phones led to wireless connections between people communicating over a long distance. Users were happy to stay connected with wide coverage offered to them via different cellular phone networks.

Gradually, it became a normal thing for anyone to have a portable phone in their pockets.

As time passed, different innovations influenced the mobile phone technology, thereby, making many functions easier and hassle-free for users.

Today, mobile phones are updated with the latest applications that make various processes and activities easier for daily life. In fact, one cannot imagine life without a mobile phone.

Why Mobile App Optimization Is Essential

Mobile phones were once a device that enabled communication over a long distance, but now, it has become a tool that makes everything accessible anytime anywhere in just a few clicks.

Starting from booking a cab to ordering food from your favorite restaurant, mobile apps have made life much easier and more convenient than ever before.

As these apps play a dominating role in the lives of individuals, it is important that the performance of these mobile applications is never negatively impacted. This is what makes optimizing mobile app performance a necessity.

Imagine you are too hungry to wait at a restaurant and you pick up your mobile phone to order your favorite food from your favorite restaurant. But, the app is not working properly.

As a result, you are unable to place your order. Will you go back to the same app ever again after the issue? No, right? So, when asked why it is important to optimize a mobile app, the most important answer is user retention.

To be more precise, a mobile app used for any service becomes an important platform for communication between the user and the service provider via easy navigation and proper interface. You can only hold on to a relationship when you can communicate properly.

Hence, having a better communicative platform will definitely lead to improved user retention.

What Factors Affect Mobile App Optimization?

As soon as a developer decides to work on optimizing a mobile app, there are multiple factors that need need their attention:

1. User Expectations

When you are developing a mobile app, think about the customers you or your client are going to serve.

Hence, the process must consider customers or users as the prime factor influencing the development procedure.

While using a mobile app, people want to have an easy user interface along with a stable speed to help the app run. Keep in mind the same concepts when initially developing mobile apps, as well.

2. Adaptive Nature

Mobile applications are used by people irrespective of the places they are in or the time they are contacting their service providers. In short, they may use it from home or on the go.

However, cellular network coverage is not always the same. Hence, being a developer, you must ensure that your app can adapt to changing network coverage offered by different network carriers.

3. User Loss

Remember, if users are not happy while using your app, they won’t come back. Keep this factor in mind and then develop one. If your client loses users, neither they will get the customer back nor will you get your client back. So, be prepared.

When the mobile apps that you develop are in line with the users’ expectations, the latter proves relevant and results in solid feedback and positive reviews online.

How to Optimize Mobile App Performance

Mobile apps are a medium for promoting your business by offering a convenient platform to users so that they can receive your services in just a few clicks.

1. Focus on the User Interface

A user interface is not about how colorful your application looks on the screen. It is about how convenient it is for users.

As a user, what would you want your mobile application to have? Conduct an analysis and jot down the points; you will get your answer.

Of course, the look and feel are an important aspect, and it can neither be ignored nor denied. However, something that is even more vital is the navigation and browsability.

When you can’t even easily find the menu and the item description, how can you trust a mobile app in that case? You can’t. Thus, focusing on the user interface and making it easy-to-use should be your first focus as a mobile app developer and optimizer.

2. Emphasize on Increasing App Usability

As already stated above, mobile applications are mostly used by people on the go. As a result, network availability cannot be guaranteed.

In some places, users may have strong network coverage, while in some areas, like traveling, they may get stuck and find themselves unable to use the app. But, on the other hand, a rival app performs well.

It, therefore, will be obvious for users to opt for the latter while abandoning the former.

As a developer, you can’t let such things happen. Make sure your mobile app is usable at a different network, be it 2G, 3G, 4G, and others. If the network adaptability is uncertain, your mobile app development is at a higher risk.

3. Use Profiling Tools for Monitoring

Keeping a check on user interaction and consistency is important. With the help of a profiling tool, you may come across iOS issues that directly or indirectly affect the mobile app.

In short, monitoring and keeping track of the functioning and malfunctioning of the applications is easier with the proper tools. With the help of profiling tools, you will be able to detect the crashes and, thereby, get an alternate code against the same instantly.

As a result, you get a chance to tune the app in accordance with the changes identified.

4. Try and Test

As soon as you develop a mobile app, try it and test the functioning before distributing it to users.

The testing, however, must be done with stricter standards so that you can assess it according to the toughest and worst scenario that may affect the usability and controllability of the mobile apps you are developing.

You can also try and test the same during the maintenance phase.

5. Check the Mobile Apps' Efficiency

The collaboration of mobile apps with different smartphones makes this efficiency check mandatory for you as a developer. You must make sure that the app is compatible with all kinds of tools and devices.

You never know which smartphone is going to be used by users once they decide to have your mobile app installed in their device.

Following the above facts, factors, and determinants will surely help you in the robust mobile app development, which will not only be accessible to all on any device or tool but will be equally efficient at different levels of network coverage.

Once you are done testing, you can be assured of better user feedback.

However, maintenance tasks should be done from time to time to make sure the app is effective and customers are satisfied.