In the modern, hectic digital age, everything must work flawlessly, and users want Android apps to work fast and without any problems, no matter which device or version of an OS they are using. Nevertheless, as the variety of Android devices continues to expand (including entry-level smartphones and top-tier flagships), it might be difficult to guarantee the stable functioning of apps on each of them.
In a bid to assist developers and testers in ensuring this, here are 10 best practices to ensure reliable app performance of Android applications across devices.
Advantages of Android App Testing
There are a few considerable benefits of testing an Android app:
- The Proper App Functionality: The primary objective of app testing is to ensure its smooth performance across various devices. Quality analysts thoroughly test all aspects to guarantee that they are able to interact with each other without any problem, delivering great users with a satisfying experience..
- Testing Predicting user experience: Testing can be used to model user action, thus evaluating factors such as navigation and ease of interfacing. This understanding assists in the anticipation of the interaction and perception of the app, which in turn enhances user satisfaction.
- Increasing Customer Loyalty: Approaches with a demanding, error-free application instill confidence and loyalty in the users. A set of satisfied users has a better chance of using the app as it should be, raising respect and loyalty towards the brand.
- Proper Income: Apps that are good at functionality with a user experience will drive increased income. Apps that are well tested prompt the user behaviors of choice, which simply means a better financial situation.
- Test Time and Costs Reductions: Automation testing tools minimize the time needed to carry out testing programs as well as the cost of testing as opposed to manual testing. Bugs that are spotted early in time during the development process ensure that post-deployment problems are minimal, thus cutting down on the bulk of maintenance and more expensive repairs.
- Testing guarantees the reliability of the app and optimal use of development resources; therefore, this stage can be called a significant stage of successful application deployment and sustenance.
1. Test on Real Devices, Not Just Emulators
Although emulators are useful when you are developing an application, they are ineffective at simulating the functioning of real-world devices. Such parameters as usage of hardware, battery life, the physical size of a screen, and network variances can only be properly tracked during real tests on the device.
It is also important to test Android apps using various real devices, and in this way, it becomes possible to find problems that cannot be revealed using emulators. Remote access to the real device can be made with the help of such tools as HeadSpin, Firebase Test Lab, and BrowserStack.
2. Optimize for Various Screen Sizes and Densities
Android gadgets are based on various screen sizes and densities, and therefore, it is very important to utilize responsive layouts. Take advantage of the flexibility of your UI material elements and follow Material Design standards to make your application compatible with resolution and orientation.
Density-independent pixels (dp), scalable vectors (SVGs), and reductions in Compatibility and performance can be greatly enhanced by using ConstraintLayout.
3. Minimize App Size and Resource Usage
Those heavy apps are prone to consume more memory, which quickly drains the battery and results in poor performance and particularly on low-end devices. Minify APK by eliminating unused resources, compression of code through ProGuard or R8, and modern file formats such as WebP.
Lesser, leaner apps are faster and perform better in all aspects.
4. Inspect Element on Android for UI Debugging
One of the questions that many developers would like to know is how to inspect elements on Android to debug layouts and UI problems. With Chrome DevTools and USB debugging enabled, you can attach a physical Android device and investigate your app at the level of the UI in a browser as you would in desktop development.
This method assists in detecting rendering bugs, font-size inconsistencies, and errors in the collection of particular elements in Android application testing.
5. Monitor Performance Metrics Regularly
Monitor the important performance indicators such as frame rate (FPS), memory usage, CPU utilization, battery consumption, and network requests. The Profiler tools in Android Studio, as well as external solutions such as LeakCanary and Firebase Performance Monitoring, can offer insight into the behavior of the app on a very in-depth level.
The monitoring can be used to identify or find out performance bottlenecks and optimize them before release.
6. Handle Network Calls Efficiently
Slow performance, even on slow and unstable connections, may be caused by unoptimized network requests. The load can be minimized by the use of background threads, caching techniques, and compression of data.
Install libraries such as Retrofit or Volley and improve the use of APIs in a way that does not block the main thread, and in this way, interaction will also be smooth.
7. Use Lazy Loading for Large Content
Attempting to load large pictures or videos, or heavy lists simultaneously, may take a toll on the performance, atrociously. Introduce the concept of lazy loading to libraries such as Glide or Picasso, where the content is loaded as users scroll or move between different screens.
This makes your application responsive and saves memory, especially in devices with low specs.
8. Reduce App Launch Time
The user assumes that the app will open up in 2 seconds. To obtain quick launch times, fewer superfluous operations during the onCreate() method, field in the background the most important data, and to use splash screens perceptibly.
An app that takes too long to start may be removed immediately, although it may have good performance afterward.
9. Test for OS-Level Compatibility
The Android fragmentation of the operating system implies that your app could perform differently on different Android versions. Run your app in a variety of API levels via emulators and on actual devices regularly. Maintain backward compatibility on key features and hook up version logic with feature flags.
The long-term compatibility is provided by keeping your app at par with the SDK provided by Android.
10. Automate Performance Testing and Regression Checks
The performance testing can be automated, which will allow detecting the regressions in the early stages of the development. Use an integrating platform, Espresso, UI Automator, or Appium to automatically execute functional and efficiency tests.
Continuous regression testing makes Android applications free of the periodic erosion of features as new ones are added, and it also simplifies android app testing across form factors.
Conclusion
Reliability and cross-device performance of Android apps are no longer optional; it is necessary to impose reliability and deliver a successful app and user retention. Developers and QA teams can utilize these top-10 best practices to create and support top-performance Android applications involving a smooth experience, no matter what the gadget or OS version.
The use of a real device testing, UI inspection, smart use of the data traffic, and automation of performance testing serve to provide a consistent and satisfactory user experience. Bear in mind, the reputation of your app will be based on its performance on real devices in the hands of real users.
As part of increased testing opportunities, it is possible to use such platforms as HeadSpin. HeadSpin provides access to real device cloud and device-wide testing tools. Its AI-powered platform incorporates talented QA engineers and offers actionable metrics, which makes the development of high-quality software quick and outstanding. With the help of HeadSpins’ powerful potential, organizations can address the problem of testing and achieve perfection of software quality.
Also read: The Future of Mobile App Development in a Rapidly Changing Digital World
