Why is My App Slow?

The App is Not Supported Effectively

If you’re in the app development business, it is important that you consistently update your app; ensuring your application is compatible with the latest operating system. For example, if you have recently created an Android app and your application is not adjusted to their minimum supported platform Oreo requirements, it is likely that the app will run far slower than it should. If you haven’t optimised your app for the newest version, you risk being left behind, as many app stores do not provide the required support.

The real solution to the problem is ensuring you continuously make updates to your app and optimise the software when needed. This will enhance the performance of your mobile app and improve your users’ experience simultaneously. 

Slow Server Speed

A common issue that people experience with their application is a message indicating that the server is down. You may receive this message on your website, and a mobile app is no different in this case. Below is a list of common reasons as to why the backend of the server may be sluggish.

• The slowness of the server can be due to multi-tiered infrastructure
• Issues accessing the file from the disk
  
  The main cause of a mobile app running slow is the overloaded server and sometimes, there may be functionality issues with the important processes that your app relies on. 

Overload of Data

This is a straight forward concept – if your mobile application has too much data then consequently the app will appear slow and sluggish. However, it’s important to understand that you shouldn’t be deleting large data features on your app, that isn’t the solution. Comparable to a website that is running slow, we would recommend compressing the images. To make your application appear faster to users you should compress the data e.g. images and videos. Compression has a large effect on load speeds and offers users a seamless experience.

Too Many Requests

Another regular problem which can cause your application to appear slow is that the app is making too many requests to the server for data which does not need to be refreshed. Often, applications feature data which does not need to be 100% up to date, so in order to cut down the number of requests made to a server, and therefore the amount of time the application spends waiting for a response, applications can make use of caching methods. This involves the app saving a copy of the data it last received from the server for a certain amount of time, until it’s sensible to refresh that data (if necessary).

App Structure

Another, often overlooked, issue is the structure of the data within the app, and how it is accessed. It is faster to access data directly from memory than it is to fetch it from storage, or compute it on the fly. An issue with a lot of applications on the market, is that they do not take this into account when they are loading large data sets for items like tables and lists. Instead of pre-fetching all the data necessary they, instead, fetch it from storage when needed or process the data when it is needed. At Appoly we always like to take the time to consider what would be the best approach to achieve the desired result.

Contact Appoly for App Development

If you’ve got an app idea that you’d like to discuss, or for any of our other key services, get in touch and speak to one of our expert UK based development team members.

We’re always happy to discuss new projects, whether big or small.

You can get in touch via phone, email, or by using the contact form on our contact page.