Ensuring your Android App is optimised for speed and performance is crucial to the Android app development process. A poorly optimised Android app can suffer in the competitive industry as slow apps are more likely to be uninstalled quickly. To combat this, we’ve created an Atomic Labs guide on the best app development practices for optimising your Android app. We’ll cover the essentials of using techniques and tools to ensure higher performance metrics and faster loading times.
Why does Speed and Performance matter for Android Apps?
When we focus on speed and performance metrics for Android Apps, we look at improving user experience. Users value fast loading times and functional apps. In fact, a study has shown that 70% of mobile app users will abandon them if the loading times are too long. The app market is so competitive that 80% of users uninstall an app the day after they install it. This makes performance and speed essential for competing with other apps. A high-performing app can set you apart from other apps in the app store and minimise user churn rates.
Key Factors That Affect Android App Performance and Speed
The factors that can affect your Android app’s performance and loading times include:
Android App Architecture
This is where choosing professional developers with experience in Android App Development can be important for optimising performance. The app structure and coding logic can immensely impact an app's speed. Choosing developers who know the best coding practices and how to optimise an app for speed can help optimise the final product for fast loading times and performance.
Image and Media Asset Sizes
Larger images and media assets can cause an Android App to slow down. Make sure to properly size images and other assets before uploading them. Formats including WebP, SVG, or JPEG are recommended. You can also use lazy loading and enable caching to keep speed times optimised.
Network Latency and Backend Response Times
Network latency is when there is a large delay in data transferring from the app to the server. Backend response refers to the time it takes for the server to process and respond to requests. These factors can cause slow loading times and need network handling optimisation. This can be done through batch requests, using efficient data formats (ie. JSON), and caching.
App Memory Management
An Android app with poor memory management can lead to lagging, crashes, memory leaks, and low loading times. It is important to note that most Android apps have limited memory, requiring efficient memory management to ensure peak performance.
Android Consistent Updates and Testing
Ensuring your app is updated regularly and tested for bugs can help ensure it continues to perform well and load at higher speeds.
Best Practices for Optimising An Android App
Now that we’ve discussed the factors causing low speeds and underperforming Android Apps, we can discuss the best practices for optimising them.
Optimise your Android App coding structure
When creating an Android App, coding must be concise to avoid unnecessary processes and bugs. Using professional developers who can write clean code can ensure your app stays performing well and is scalable for future growth. You can also use tools like the Android Profiler to find any code bottlenecks that may interfere with your app.
Manage Android App Memory
You must efficiently manage your app's memory to avoid any memory leaks, crashes, or lagging. Android’s garbage collection tool helps to manage memory however, it does not protect against memory leaks. To fully improve memory management, use these practices:
- Recycle objects where possible - reuse important objects and media to reduce memory size
- Use LeakCanary to avoid Memory Leaks. The tool Leak Canary can help detect and fix memory leaks that can occur during app development.
- Optimise App Bitmaps—Loading bitmaps with the right size and format can be more memory-efficient than uploading large images.
Reduce App Size and Use Efficient Media
Users often prefer smaller apps as they don't take up much space on their Android phones. Lightweight apps often have faster loading times as well. To reduce app size, you can use tools, including ProGuard and R8, which help minimise code and reduce your APK size. The biggest factor that affects app size is media files. To optimise media files, follow these best practices:
- Compress images and video files—it is recommended to use formatting like WebP for images and MP4 for videos, as these are better formats for Android Apps.
- Use Vector Graphics where possible- Vector graphics are better for scalable imaging and are also much lighter. Use formatting, including SVGs, for vector graphics.
- Lazy Load Media- Lazy loading can help your app load only what is seen or needed on screen, allowing it to perform faster.
Optimise Network Usage
Some Android apps rely on network data, which can slow down app performance when too many requests occur simultaneously. Use these best practices to manage network data usage:
- Batching Network Requests—You can group multiple requests into a batch to reduce the load on the server and improve processing/ response time.
- Use Caching- Caching can help you save app data locally rather than having users constantly access the server.
- Lazy Loading - Just like for media, lazy loading can also help with data usage as it only loads what appears on the screen for the user.
Optimise App Layouts and Views
When prototyping your Android app, it is important to optimise for UX/UI design. However, very complex UI designs can often increase loading times as they take longer to render. To keep layouts and views optimised, follow these best practices:
- Use ConstraintLayout - This tool efficiently reduces hierarchy complexity, which can help you develop responsive layouts.
- Avoid Deeply Nested Views:- Keep the hierarchy shallow, as deeply nested views can often slow rendering speeds.
- Use View Binding - View binding, instead of findViewById, offers safer and faster view access.
Minimise Start Up Times in App
As the app starts, the longer users have to wait, the more likely they are to abandon the app. Here are the best practices to follow to reduce start-up times in the app:
- Defer non-essential tasks—Your app does not need all its resources at once when starting up. Try to load only the essential tasks at the beginning of the app's startup.
- Optimise main thread usage - If a process does not require immediate user interaction, you can use background threads, which include data syncing and fetching updates.
Consistently Test and Optimise Your App
Use tools like Espresso and UI Automator to test for performance issues. Consistently testing and optimising your app is essential for keeping your speed times and performance metrics at their best.
Monitoring and Analysing Performance Metrics Regularly
As your app progresses, it is important to monitor its performance as an ongoing process. Android Updates and user behaviour will always change, making app optimisation and monitoring essential in scaling and staying ahead of the competition. Use these tools to keep monitoring the performance of your app and gather insights for optimisation:
- Android Studio Profiler - use this app to track your app’s memory usage, CPU load, and network activity.
- Firebase Performance Monitoring—Use this tool to gather insights into your app's performance metrics, from start-up times to network lag.
- Analyse User Feedback - As an app, you can use crash reports to review any errors that come up. You can also use reviews and comments from users to gather insights on your app's performance.
Final Thoughts
From monitoring your app's memory usage to optimising code, these tactics are essential to optimise your app for performance and speed. Use these best practices to keep users coming back to your high-performing app. It is important to note that app performance ebbs and flows require consistent management and analysis to optimise the Android app. Atomic Digital Labs offers full support and monitoring in our Android App Development so that you don't have to sweat the small stuff.
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