Before trying to do android app performance optimization, we should first understand how to monitor your Android app performance. Understanding these Android app performance metrics will help you set a benchmark and better understand how much results your efforts to optimize Android app performance are yielding.
Android App Speed Metric #1- CPU Usage
First, you must keep an eye on your Android app’s CPU usage. Each app on a user’s device takes up a certain percentage of the device’s CPU capabilities. If your app takes up more CPU than generally expected of apps similar to yours, it will degrade the overall mobile app performance leading to users uninstalling your app. Hence, you need to optimize your apps to optimally use the user device’s limited resources, in this case – the CPU.
One of the biggest challenges in achieving this on the Android platform is that Android is an open-source OS used by almost all smartphone companies except Apple. Hence devices have different configurations and CPU capabilities. You should prioritize CPU optimization depending on what Android versions your users are most likely to be using.
Android App Speed Metric #2 – FPS – Frame Per Seconds (Janky Frames)
Another important Android app performance metric is FPS. Now, if you are into gaming or videography, you understand the concept fairly well. Frame per second tells how the end-user experiences your app on their device. For Android, your app needs to maintain a frame rate between 60-90 FPS for seamless and smooth performance. In Android terminology, this is known as Janky Frames – a situation where your app suffers due to slow UI rendering and is forced to skip some frames, causing a recurring flicker on the user screen.
Android App Speed Metric #3 – Memory Consumption and Management
All Android apps use up some memory when your app runs on the user’s device. Similar to the CPU, if your Android app uses more than the required memory, it could result in a memory error. Hence it is important to monitor your app memory usage and reduce it if it’s not in the optimal range. We have discussed ways to mitigate memory issues to improve Android app performance in the lower sections of this blog.
Android App Speed Metric #4 – Network Performance
If your app requires access to the internet, you’d need to ensure your app doesn’t suffer due to under-optimized network configurations. One of the biggest Android app performance bottlenecks is due to network errors such as unreliable Wi-Fi access points, network congestion, and weak or inconsistent network connectivity. A pro tip for ensuring your online Android app works fine on the network is first to build it strictly offline. This will ensure that your app functions properly even when net connectivity isn’t certain.
Android App Performance Metric #5 – Uptime and Latency
Latency is the difference between a user’s action and the returned response time of that action in your application. Naturally, higher latency has a negative impact on the user experience since it increases the overall load time of your Android app.