Best Practices for Performance Optimization in Android Apps

Performance is undoubtedly the most important aspect of a mobile app. Users require the app to start in no time so they can carry on with their work smoothly. While there are thousands of tutorials on how to build Android apps, making it seem like an easy task, that’s not the case in reality. In a mobile app, every single detail matters. So, what are those details that impact the performance of an Android app? Let’s learn in this blog post and understand what practices you can follow to optimize it.

Ways to Enhance the Performance of Android Apps

The more smooth your Android app performs, the more it is likely it is to be successful in the market. Here are a few things that you should consider if the performance of an app is important to you:

Reduce the App Size

According to SEO Toronto Experts, many smartphones, especially the ones with modest configurations, dominate the market globally. This proves that apps that take up less space are preferred by users. But how can you reduce the size of an app? Well, there are some ways. An Android app bundle is a new way of uploading apps. It includes all resources and code. It can postpone APK building and signing until the app is uploaded to the Play Store. Now, app bundles create APKs optimized for each device, and this makes the process much simpler. Though the maximum size of app downloads on the Play Store is 150 Mb, it’s good to keep the app size small.

Then, there is an Android size analyzer. It offers various solutions to reduce the size of your app. You can access it as a plugin in the Android Studio or as a standalone JAR file for command-line use.

How to access an Android size analyzer as a Plugin?

1. Install the Android Size Analyzer from the plugin marketplace within Android Studio.
2. Run an analysis on your Android app using this plugin.
3. After running the analysis, a tool window will display suggestions on how to enhance your app’s performance.

How to access an Android size analyzer as a Command Line?

1. The latest version of Android Size Analyzer is available on Github as a ZIP or TAR file.
2. Download and extract the ZIP file.
3. Run the size-analyzer script to analyze the size of your files.
4. For Windows users, there’s a size analyzer.bat script available to run these commands conveniently.

CPU Performance

First, it’s important to monitor how much CPU your Android app is using. Each app running on a user’s device takes up some of the device’s CPU power. If your app uses more CPU than other similar apps, it can slow down the device and cause users to delete your app. So, it’s crucial to make sure your app uses the device’s CPU efficiently.

One of the main challenges in doing this on Android is that it’s used by many different smartphone companies, unlike Apple’s closed iOS. This means that devices have varying configurations and CPU power. You should focus on optimizing CPU usage based on the Android versions your users are likely using.

Improve Networking

Always put text first, then images in Android apps. Load text before images, and do it asynchronously.

Manage network requests well because they use up battery, especially cellular and WiFi data. Downloading files stimulates the mobile or WiFi radio, keeping it active for a while, even after the download finishes.

How to handle this?

Batch prefetching. Download data users might need soon to avoid waking up the radio frequently.

Adjust batch parameters based on charging status and internet connection. Be careful with cellular data and low battery.

Good API design is crucial for Android app performance. Make sure your API payloads are complete and consistent for better performance. Start with UI, then work on data to design a solid API payload.

Choose the Right Data Type

Before you start coding, decide which data types to use for your collection. For instance, if you require a collection that’s thread-safe, meaning only one thread can work with it at a time, go for a Vector since it’s synchronized. Otherwise, stick to an ArrayList unless you have a specific reason for using vectors.

When you need a collection with unique objects, go for a Set. Sets automatically avoid duplicates, so you won’t need to manage that yourself. There are different types of sets, like HashSet for simple groups of unique items, LinkedHashSet to maintain insertion order, and TreeSet for automatic sorting without needing sorting methods.

Remember, data is key. Choosing the right data structures is crucial. Algorithms usually become obvious if you’ve organized your data well.

The Importance of Optimizing Android App Performance

Businessess that implement the optimization of the apps for Android can increase sales and revenue. Successful apps increase user engagement, boosting income in the process. Slow and buggy apps can turn users off and hence lead to the loss of revenue.

Applications that are professionally optimized provide the best experience since they are reliable and have no delays.

1. Customer Satisfaction: Fast and reliable apps cater to users, leading to their repeat use and, consequently, loyalty.
2. Brand Reputation: Quality apps generate a business with a good reputation among app users, thereby leaving them with a favourable view.
3. App Store Visibility: Well-performing apps get a preferential treatment in app store algorithms, boosting their chances of discovery and being presented, which, in turn, increases the number of downloads.
4. Market Share: Up-to-date apps attract new users and keep the existing ones, which consequently leads to business market share growth.
5. Cost Reduction: Efficient applications require less support and maintenance, meaning that the resources and time allocated to fix user issues and bugs are now minimized.

Optimizing Android apps guarantees the best experience for the users, which in turn increases competitiveness and profits.

Conclusion

It is crucial to understand that if your app doesn’t meet its objectives for success and fails to dominate the market, it isn’t of much use to you. It will be worthwhile to put some initial money into the creation of an amazing app. By means of performance enhancement like app size reduction, CPU usage optimization, networking improvement, data type selection etc, businesses can boost sales, raise customer loyalty and enhance brand awareness.

At last, application optimization translates into higher market share, lower costs, and more profits by means of positive user experience and app performance that ensure long-term success.