It’s not reasonable to expect app developers to constantly be looking out for trouble on their apps. Even if that were the case, there are so many undetectable things that could happen on the back end that even the most vigilant developer could easily miss something. That’s where app monitoring and logging enters the picture.
Using a program like Papertrail can help capture logs and maintain them in a way that’s easy to access and affordable, which is integral for app developers. These logs can be monitored to provide insights into what’s causing an issue and how to fix it. Some monitoring programs can even trigger a short-term fix until the issue is dealt with and prevent a data breach when suspicious activity is detected.
Stagger Your Loading Time
The modern app user as an average attention span of two seconds. Unless you have a highly anticipated app, chances are that a loading time of five seconds or more is going to be perceived as a significant barrier for user entry, causing early abandonment of your app.
Rather than having a front-loaded application load time, stagger the loadWith each passing year, the technological landscape changes. As a result, apps must also change to stay relevant and functional. In addition to maintaining functionality, apps must also stand out in a crowd of thousands of similar offerings.
Fortunately, there are simple tasks that app developers can do to keep their app optimized in 2019. Here are a few easy steps to take today.
Use App Monitoring and Logging
ing periods throughout various areas in the app. For example, you might be able to pare it down so that it only takes two seconds for the app itself to load. With this, there is no prolonged waiting time at the start. Within the application, some things may be instantly accessible while others may require an additional two to three seconds of loading time.
While the loading time is ultimately the same, the customer experience (and thus their perception) is vastly different.
Visible Validation
In addition to keeping loading time as short as possible, having visible validation that the app is working is essential from a UI design standpoint. Your users need to know that when they click a button, it worked. They need to know that the app is loading, and not frozen.
There are many ways to incorporate visible validation through UI design in your app. A small loading bar to indicate progress can be useful, or a spinning wheel or changed text after a button has been pressed can go a long way. Again, it’s about changing the user’s perception.
Manage Your Images
The more images and the higher the quality, the slower the app may be. However, the visual components of the app are often what gets noticed first. In fact, those visuals might be what attracts a customer above other apps of a similar nature.
To keep your app optimized in 2019, you must find the balance between visual stimulation and performance. Use caching when possible to reduce the work on the back end for repeat users. Rather than having an image load every time they log on, caching will speed up the process after the initial visit.
Resizing images is also essential for app performance optimization. While crisp, clear images are important for applications, they need not be of the same quality as a photo that’s being printed and framed.
Keep the User in Mind
When optimizing your app, the user should be at the forefront of your mind. Be flexible when considering how to optimize your app. You may need to eliminate features that you enjoy to create a better global experience for users. Test your changes in development settings as well as with real users.
Make purposeful changes, and your app will continue to grow and be successful in 2019.
