Android and iOS Performance Best Practices

Android and iOS Performance Best Practices                                                                                      


The success of any mobile app actually depends on the kind of experience that it provides to users. However, the performance also plays a very important role in its success. Find out about some of the top parameters that can affect the performance of mobile apps. When you create a mobile app and deploy it, you need to consider these parameters and use the best practices for its improvement.
UI/UX Design
A compelling design for an app is often decided based on its architecture and UI/UX. Both Android and iOS technologies have laid down some particular guidelines when it comes to User Interface designing and layout optimizing. These guidelines have a lot of importance in the search, effective navigation and notifications.
Proper Coding methods
It is important follow proper coding techniques. As an owner or developer, you have to make your apps responsive without a lot of user blocking. Make use of asynchronous calls for database and network access for quicker launch of the app. You should also concentrate on identity management, app vulnerability and network security while determining permissions usage and security. Lower the consumption of power by maximizing the use of various features including the disk, location, Wi-Fi network and CPU. Use time-tested methods to reduce memory footprint and manage data flow design, caching and app memory.
Device Variety
Various device models and specs can be found today, and the differences in battery, CPU, OS and performance of individual device has a big impact on the performance of Android and iOS performance. It is more prominent for Android apps and the following tips can ensure better device coverage –
·       Creating varied layouts which match varied densities and sizes
·       Use of string resources that come with support for various languages
·       Use of existing best practices for data transfer without a drain on the battery, scheduling and accomplishing downloads with prefetching, caching and polling.
·       Assigning target and minimum API levels and use of themes and styles specific to platforms and verifying versions of systems.
·       Use of powerful downloading methods and preventing excess downloads, which can also boost the performance.
Using Crash Profiling and Monitoring tools                                                                                          
It is important to leverage effective third party tools or tools in the IDE, for the detection and resolution of memory management problems, monitoring and reporting crashes, effective codes etc. It can also include performance tuning tools. A few tools that are used widely in this domain include ddtracedump for Android, xCode for Traceview and iOS, and Crittercism for monitoring crashes.
APIs for Proper Integration
Proper API design makes sure that data can be accessed by mobile apps much quicker, and App performance can be improved. It is better to make use of open source libraries that are supported widely, and standard plugins and APIs wherever they are to be found.
Network Connectivity
When it comes to app design, connectivity is another important factor that needs to be taken into account. The status of the connection, bandwidth and latency should be considered. Connectivity can differ in terms of latency availability and capacity. Naturally, apps need to allow a change in network while an app is in use.
TCP and HTTP best practices
The app should also be designed keeping in consideration the best practices regarding the usage of TCP and HTTP connections. It is important to lower the network connections and sending proper data over the network with minimal traffic hops.
Right Testing Strategies                                                                                                                           


It is important to test the performance of a mobile app before deploying it. You have to consider various tasks –
·       Make sure that the coverage is tested to be excellent on different OS versions and various mobile devices.
·       With privacy being important, you have to be serious about the security
·       Conduct tests for performance for changes in size, images and network
·       Interface and usability testing, with special focus on online and offline zones, if possible
·       Focus on Load or Stress testing in case large images and complicated operational procedures are used by the App
·       Conduct Comparison Testing, by pitting your app with rivals and checking superiority in performance and features
Use of large files and images
In many cases, the files and images used in apps can be large in sized. Use different best practices for regulating the image resolution for faster loading. You should also look at the network traffic and image caching for downloading of images. With the existing best practices, you can show a bitmap image in Android OS with reference to Android – whether in terms of bitmap memory management, processing, caching or loading. Best practices should also be used for Video Streaming with proper methods in Android as well as iOS operating systems.
Integration of app with other SDKs                                                                                                       
Think about the features of the performance and latency of the 3rd party services, and spot the best set for satisfying the requirements. Mobile app dependencies consist of SDKs and tools from third party modules and platform vendors such as ADT+Android SDK, Android Studio or Xcode+iOS SDK. You should keep such dependencies completely updated in order to get maximum benefits of stability enhancements and bug fixes.
User Experience and Page Loading
With an unresponsive, sluggish UI, you are sure to lose many users. Studies have proven that mobile device users demand more speed, given the fact that they are often in a hurry and look for information while on the move. You can reduce loading and waiting time when you optimize UI elements, individual screens and flows.
·       You should offer a fully professional touch to your app, whether it comes to aesthetics or appearance.
·       Provide users with a perception of the performance of your app through the optimization of specific user interface elements and introduction of progress indicators

It is also important to consider the expectations of end-users when you are in the stage of developing or designing the app. It is best to compare the app with those from competitors in the similar segment and finding out whether your app performs better or lesser than them.


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Comments

Saurabh Sinha said…
Excellent Post..got idea and clarity on usage.🙂

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