7 App Performance Metrics to Check Before Rolling It Out to the Market

Mobile apps are a dominating division of the digitized world. From entertainment to IT, businesses are perceiving their importance and making them a part of their success endeavours. However, the intent behind having a mobile app for business may vary and range from service usage to revenue generation, or simply getting user engagement. 

Although the app ideas are distinct and diverse, the parameters to determine their technical performance are more or less the same . To put the entire concept into a nutshell, we bring to you a list of 7 app performance metrics that can help you in optimization of your app during development phase and achieve the anticipated success rate. 

1. API Latency

Most of the consumer centric apps communicate back and forth. Take example of apps used for flight booking, food ordering, travel packages etc. which interacts with back-end-server from time to time. Such apps have high dependency upon APIs or web services and thus it is essential to minimize API latency and optimize it to have 1 second response time.  

2. App Load Per Period

Continuous user engagement or use of services is the ultimate target of every business. And therefore, it is important to prepare the app to manage the load of multiple events and transactions, when needed. Mobile apps must undergo stress test where its potential to respond to rapid succession of tasks is tested. And because the development process include iterative testing against various functionalities, it is recommended to choose a flexible methodology like Agile for mobile app development.

3. Screen Rendering

Alongside smooth functionality, an app is expected to render as well. Add images, content, animations, and figure out rendering on different screen sizes. Also, look out for factors like font size consistency, image presentation, zoom in/out for content accessibility, navigation throughout the app etc. This will engage the user and will decrease response time as well.

4. Resource Hogging

Smartphones today are substantial than before in terms of storage, battery life, and memory. Despite that, they have limited resources in comparison to desktop devices. So, if your mobile app drains the battery,  takes up a lot of space, has a high RAM consumption or sends pop up notifications very often; it may annoy the users, resulting in app uninstallation.

5. Time to First Byte

Testing a web server response is another app performance metrics that you should check. For this, you can measure Time to First Byte (TTFB) factor, which gives an estimate of time when a request is sent by user and the first byte of requested data reaches the end user’s device. If the TTFB is high, look out for aspects like API latency, post-query logics etc.

6. App Marketplace Rules

Post app development, its deployment to the app marketplace (i.e. Google Play Store or App Store) is the major to-do. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly go through the defined rules as per the industry standards so that there is no rejection for the reason that could be fixed in times gone by.

7. App Crash Analytics

For a smartphone user, it is likely to experience an app crash. But, how often? Although, users understand that an app crash could happen due to network errors or technical issues at the backend, still they are reluctant to frequent crashes. As a workaround, the idea is to regularly determine crash rate of an app, which is the average number of crashes per app load. Ideally, it should not be more than 1-2%; however, may vary depending upon factors like usage, type, or maturity of app.

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Final Step in App Performance Optimization:

The best of mobile apps are developed after rigorous testing and revisions. While an attractive UI/UX does its job at the front-end, an app’s functionality at the back-end helps to conclude the end product. Once the weak points of your app’s functionality are determined, it is suggested to sit with the developer and set up things accordingly.