Users probably will let you off the hook if your app crashes once. C’mon, the server could have randomly glitch out; the stars just happened to align. But two, let alone three or four times…a day, and you’re looking at some not just slightly annoyed but angry users.
Especially if, for instance, it happens to be a productivity app that holds the user’s business meetings, errands, and chores. Not a happy consumer if they don’t know when their next client appointment is.
After hours of work put into developing this app—prototyping, beta- and alpha-testing, you name it—the last thing you want to do is irritate, much less anger your consumer base, and endure a flood of negative reviews. To prevent this from happening, answer these 3 questions.
1. Do you use performance monitoring?
Using performance monitoring software can help you get to the main root of the problem before your target audience even knows about it. How does this work?
Let’s say there’s a bug in some of your app’s code. Before the issue has time to bubble up and cause a fiasco, your performance monitoring software will notify you. Your team debugs the code. Problem solved—it’s as simple as that.
What are you tracking?
Know that not all performance monitoring is made the same. One mistake developers can make is choosing software that only tracks a limited number of performance metrics. This, in turn, leaves you and your team blindsided to the amount of potential issues that could burst to the surface any minute.
That said, play it safe; Stackify has performance monitoring software that not only tracks error rate but request rate, CPU usage, caching, HTTP calls, among several others.
No matter what type of performance monitoring software you choose, consider getting and using it in the early phases—as well as after launch.
2. Which Device Are You Designing Your App for?
Some crashes may have to do with users using your app on different types of devices. A one-gig mobile app is going to eat up a lot of that user’s memory. It could even reach its memory limit and pull an out of memory.
What it comes down to is being considerate of which devices you’re designing your app for. Even if your app is extremely user-friendly, chances are, users are going to use eight other apps a day. Play it safe, and take memory-saving steps like downsizing large images to avoid taking up too much storage.
3. Is Your Team in Sync?
It’s easy to point to the technology when your app crashes. But guess who’s responsible for preventing bugs and 500 internal server errors? Two words: the team.
Communication is huge. Assumptions on the coding language, let alone spaces vs. tabs (don’t get us started) can lead to chaos and, yes, crashing. The point is, discuss every part of the design and development process to make sure everyone is on the same page (no pun intended).
Bonus: When in Doubt, Test
Run multiple tests daily on your app to catch those sneaky errors that fall between the code. We’re talking server/API, network, device performance tests, the works. Doing so will help reduce your crash rate and leave consumers happy. Enough said.
Final Thoughts: Aim for That 0%
Yep, we know, even big-names like Apple and Google haven’t had apps that reached this holy grail. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. At the very least, your efforts will ensure fewer crashes, and potentially even improve download rates and drive revenue.
The best apps win the hearts of their customers and are almost addictive. Nope, users never mind spending time as long as they feel a high using your app.
What do you think? Have any more tips that’ll help create a more stable app? Have you built an app with a crash rate below .25%? Let us know by commenting in the comments section below.
About Author
Wendy Dessler
Wendy Dessler is a super-connector with OutreachMama who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans. You can contact her via Twitter @outreachmama.
