Optimizing App Performance: Speed, Security, and Reliability

Mobile applications are responsible for generating 15% of all traffic on the internet. Your mobile app most likely excels in every category, from user experience to immersive navigational expertise. If, on the other hand, the required information is not visible to your users in less than FIVE seconds, then it is irrelevant.

Why? Simply because it has a poor performance.

The functionality of a mobile application is the first thing that users notice. You have less than 11 seconds to get people to see that, so make it count. As a result, it is essential to do so before you even begin to solve their problems. Creating an ecommerce app that users want to keep using requires developing a version with flawless performance. However, conducting regular performance audits isn’t a walk in the park.

It requires optimization from the first day of development until its latest update. It requires attention, testing and analysis. App performance depends upon many factors, but the most essential and primary are Speed, Security and Reliability. This is because if your app isn’t loading quickly and doesn’t show signs of security and reliability, users will immediately uninstall it.

An optimized app gains SEO benefits as well. Thus, developers should focus on it.

This blog aims to help developers and potential people who want to get their ecommerce app developed with all the measures and factors that need to be seen in 2023. Let’s dive into the details:

What Factors Contribute to Poor App Performance?

Your app or ecommerce store may not be optimized for several reasons, the most common of which are connected to the server side, the application main thread, and the application interface.

Part of the server: Receiving a significant amount of data that is both pointless and burdensome from the server;

• Making a great deal of HTTP request calls;
• API delays, errors, and data compression.

Main thread: The main thread of the application performs intensive operations. • The application also performs database operations on the main thread of the application, in addition to having an inaccurate database design and data retrieval techniques.

Interface: Techniques for rendering shadows on the interface elements that were not correct.

In a nutshell, these are the most typical and widespread factors that result in problems with the performance of an app or explain why the app might run slowly. There are frequent instances that are particular to each solution.

What Happens if an App Fails to Perform Fast?

You should be aware of the potential consequences before we discuss the crucial factors and indicators to boost app performance.

Users wouldn’t think twice and switch to another better alternative.

40% of users said that if they didn’t like how well an app performed, they would prefer a better alternative because many apps are available on search results for users. Additionally, it ranks as the main deterrent to users using it again. Sometimes they would never return. They would either immediately switch to a better alternative or uninstall it entirely. Almost one in two apps are uninstalled within the first month of downloading.

Users’ Expectations often surpass the anticipations.

A company offering custom mobile app development services should constantly invest in behavioral research. Why? Because users frequently demand better app experiences than they have had in the past. 70% of consumers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by the website speed at which a page loads.

They only put up with subpar performance because their first encounters were always sluggish and because they continued to encounter numerous slow websites. Even a one-second delay in app opening can cause you to lose nearly 7% by conversion rate. The only standard they would expect is fluid performance as the market introduces new and faster apps. 

Poor performance will result in low ratings & app downloads.

The performance of an app depends on both the front and back ends, which product teams and creators must comprehend. Even if customers download the app, if it performs poorly, they will uninstall it. On the other hand, users would probably give the app a low rating if it loaded successfully but crashed during a busy period. Over 70% of users will give up on an app if it takes too long to load.

Decrease in click-through rates (CTRs) and Conversions.

The strategic success of your app rests on the quality of the experience and user retention. Users gain potential customers and business if they aren’t getting what they want from your app. Every app needs conversions to remain competitive in the market. And the main reason why most apps fail is because of performance problems.

Your app’s performance must be prioritized if you want to maintain user interest. The only way to solve this issue is to lengthen load times, directly increasing conversions.

Important Metrics to Track for App Performance Monitoring

People typically only discuss a well-written codebase and high-quality architecture when discussing factors/ areas to measure app performance. Other crucial factors can also be used to measure ecommerce website or store performance, and you should also be aware of when to improve them. Early optimization can sabotage the procedure.

Let’s discuss the key performance factors you should consider for monitoring app performance.

Ratings, Uninstalls, and Downloads

The number of downloads uninstalls, and user reviews an app receives across all app stores determines its marketability. How many people have installed it is shown by the downloads. It consequently reflects the success of your marketing initiatives. It shows that you have gained users and that they have accepted your idea. There is a greater chance of increased user engagement as the number of downloads rises.

Similarly, the quantity of uninstalls reveals an app’s popularity decline. Users aren’t finding any value in your app if downloads are declining and uninstalls are rising. They must be more eager to download your app because they no longer hold my attention or appeal.

Downloads boost your app’s potential for revenue, as was already mentioned. But how does your company discover its user base’s potential for income? Ratings give you information about how you stack up against competitors in the market.

Tracking these three indicators will provide information on user engagement and retention.

Crash or Error reports

App crashes typically result from the inability to test every scenario thoroughly. The functionality of an app is impacted by hardware and operating systems. An operating system might not support specific app actions. Other times, an app’s firmware also ends up being incompatible with the app.

Since app crashes contribute significantly to user experience, it’s a factor that aids in determining the cause of crashes. To help prevent potential future problems, app crash metrics must be carefully monitored.

Impact vs. Reach

The two key areas to evaluate the success of marketing campaigns are reach and impressions. How many users your app reached is referred to as reach. Impressions show how many times your content has been viewed. Reach is a valuable tool for determining how well-known your brand is and how well-informed your users are about it. A greater reach shows that your marketing impacts a wider audience and increases brand exposure.

Both factors are crucial for assessing your brand’s success and improving how well your app performs in app stores. They raise user awareness of your app and increase user engagement. Reach and impression comparisons offer essential insights into the market positioning of your app.

Eventually, you’ll be able to pinpoint problem areas and create more effective custom app development strategies.

Device performance and app size

Testing and performance optimization is crucial for any app, native or cross-platform. When assessing the performance of the device, keep the following in mind:

• duration of the app’s startup
• UI and UX that is understandable on all devices
• Balance in battery usage
• background running smoothly,

Average Session Length and Churn Rate

The length of a user session and churn rates depend on user engagement. These factors demonstrate how successfully users have interacted with it.

• Most typical exit intent pop-ups include discounts, subscriptions, and other offers that appear on the screen as a user is about to leave a website. These actions are brought about by particular user behaviors, such as moving the cursor or leaving the page. The intention is to persuade visitors to stay on the website and complete the desired action.
• Various screens are seen during each user session. A user’s visit is counted as three screens if they visit the home or landing page, the service or product page, and the checkout page. A more significant number of screens explored during a session suggests a more profound interest in exploring several screens.

App and Store Optimization Check-List

An optimized app is a good ROI for your app development investment and helps you rank on search engines or the play store/app store so users can find your app easily. The following optimization strategy improves app performance and reliability.

Cache data effectively

Caching files and computations accelerates the application. Storing resources and operations on the device’s hard drive ensures instant app data access and eliminates network interruption performance issues.

Set caching intervals. A product catalog should be cached until the admin updates it, while a user profile should be cached for one session.

To avoid showing outdated data, data caching and loading must be balanced. When space is limited, don’t cache everything.

Images Optimization

Users may think bigger images are better. Using an image larger than the screen makes no sense. Optimize ecommerce website/ app images and graphics to reduce app lag and screen content loading time.

Therefore, use image resizing and compression. Compression reduces image weight without lowering the resolution. Resizing means altering a photo’s size to fit the app.

Seek balance, not the smallest size. Choose the larger image for profile and news feed images to ensure proper display.

App loading should be under 2 seconds.

The app launch interval makes a big impression and affects user-experience. Studies and benchmarks recommend a 1.5–2 second app launch time.

It requires monitoring application startup resource-intensive tasks. Delete old cache data.

• Delay heavy activity until the first screen is rendered.
• Load data only when needed (e.g., user profile).
• Show the most critical data first and use placeholders for less important data.

Uphold code quality.

Remove unused frameworks and update code. Invalid code slows app launch. Eliminate memory leaks immediately. If unnecessary objects cannot be removed from RAM (random access memory), the system closes an application due to memory shortage. Memory profilers track object lifecycles and improve memory usage.

Prioritize operations and reduce heavy activity initialization to avoid bottlenecks. Asynchronously offload blocking work from the main thread to background threads.

Track app energy consumption during operation and background mode.

Use offline mode to access data without a network. It protects data and provides user comfort. By using analytics to understand user behavior, developers can save in-app progress, indicate if the network is offline, and design an empty state for offline use; best practices include delivering content and functionality offline. Music players and maps should allow offline downloads.

Improve client-server interaction

• Avoid unnecessary data in client-server API design. Request content by purpose. This reduces data loading and speeding app load.
• Consider 4G, 3G, and even slower and less stable connections when designing and developing the API. To adapt to such cases, divide complex requests into smaller ones to perform gradually and test your app on a poor network.
• Reduce data load time by decreasing user-to-data source distance with CDN.
• Add data pagination. Instead of loading 100 news feed items simultaneously, display the first ten and load as the user scrolls or switches pages.
• Redirects during app launch slow data delivery to users.

How to Optimize App Performance for Speed?

Speed optimization improves user-experience. Apps should load and respond quickly. Slow apps can frustrate users and cause high churn. To boost user engagement and retention, optimize your ecommerce app speed.

Users have high expectations for how quickly apps load and respond to their input.

If users leave an app due to poor performance, its reputation and engagement can suffer. Optimizing app speed improves user-experience, engagement, and retention.

Tips for Improving App Speed:

• Reduce App Startup Time:  Customers may uninstall apps that start slowly. Lazy loading, code optimization, and reducing third-party libraries can speed up app loading.
• Optimize Database Queries: Optimizing database queries can greatly improve app speed. Wasteful database queries can slow an app, frustrating users. Indexing, caching, and query optimization speed up database queries.
• Optimize Image Size: App speed depends on image size. Loading large photos may slow the app. TinyPNG, ImageOptim, and others compress images.
• Minimize Network Usage: To improve app performance, minimize network usage. Server requests can slow apps.
• Lazy Loading: Data is loaded only when needed. Reducing data load speeds up apps. It lets you download photos and movies later.

How to Optimize App Performance for Security and Reliability?

For the protection of user data and to fend off attacks, app security optimization is essential. Developers must put security first when creating mobile apps because they are susceptible to attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

Let’s investigate this further and discover why these ideas are crucial.

Backend security

A safe backend is needed to protect user data. Developers should use encryption and authentication to secure data in transit and at rest. They should also follow secure coding practices to prevent vulnerabilities like SQL injection.

Identity verification and encryption

Developers can protect data both in transit and at rest by using encryption. In order to ensure that only authorized and genuine users have access to sensitive data, they should also use authentication methods like two-factor authentication and OAuth.

Fighting Off Security Threats

Input validation and parameterized queries can help developers protect against common security risks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. They should also implement a Content Security Policy (CSP) to stop malicious scripts from running on their app.

Encrypted User Data

Due to increasing cyber crimes and cyber threats, customers are not trusting any app until they promise 100% security. Thus, it is the duty of developers to use secured data storage or servers to ensure that data is only assessed by users themselves.

Developers should focus highly on encryption to protect user information. They should also put user authentication and authorization processes in place to guarantee that only authorized people can access sensitive data. Additionally, the amount of data the app collects should be kept to a minimum, and only what is necessary should be saved.

Wrapping Up

The market for ecommerce business is extremely competitive today due to the demand for apps and ecommerce sites. But to stay competitive, it is essential to optimize the ecommerce store and app to its fullest. Apps with good audience retention and higher downloads tend to offer huge revenue and profits to the business.

For increasing app revenue, it is becoming more and more important to develop better app performance optimization strategies. The path to providing an excellent user experience, retaining users, and attracting potential customers is paved with lighter app development.

With all the above strategies and tips for optimization, one can easily stay competitive and increase app downloads whether you own a full-featured application or convert your ecommerce store into an app. And, if you’re new in this app market, then we at Twinr welcome you with guaranteed success and assurance that our web to app converter will help you win the market. Let us strategize app optimization for you!