There are more apps than ever before, and more people are spending time on apps on their mobile phones. In fact, global consumer spending on mobile apps reached $170 billion in 2021, a 19% increase from the year before. It’s easy to see why small businesses and organizations are interested in creating apps to help engage with their customers.
Unfortunately, some apps do not perform as expected for the end-user. This isn’t just about a poor customer experience – it can also affect your organization’s reputation and revenue, since users are less likely to convert with a negative app experience. What steps can you take to ensure that your app isn’t running slowly?
What Is Slowing Your App Down?
Many organizations are interested in launching an MVP for their app. MVP stands for a minimum viable product for those who don’t know, and it’s a common business term. The term “MVP” refers to a version of a product with enough features to gather as much customer knowledge as possible with the least effort.
Once your app is launched, it’s time to determine issues not addressed in the MVP. Your business will have to narrow down the particular problems that might be slowing down your app. Your app’s speed may be affected by various issues, including database optimization, queries, stored procedure efficiency, and API effectiveness.
Database Optimization
One of the most critical aspects of your mobile app is understanding database optimization. If you are concerned about speed, your organization will have to monitor database performance. It also means you will have to examine how, why, and where any data errors might be occurring. Ultimately, database optimization is about maximizing the speed and efficiency of retrieving data.
Experts can sometimes address simple issues to address slow app speed, such as using proper indexing, avoiding unused tables, and avoiding coding loops. Here are some other ways to potentially speed up your app.
Queries
When people are using an app; they want it to be responsive to be satisfied with their user experience. Slow queries can have a negative impact on your business, and the speed of the queries can vary depending on application and architecture.
Let’s say that you make a decision on an app, but instead of responding – the app ends up showing a spinning or loading screen. This is an example of queries slowing down your app, and it’s something that your organization should work to resolve as soon as possible.
Stored Procedure Efficiency
Many apps are built using SQL, and it’s one of the most essential programming languages in the world. It’s also critical for designing and managing data in general.
A stored procedure is a type of SQL code that can be stored for later use. Stored procedures can help with productivity, scalability, and security. If you increase stored procedure efficiency, then there’s a good chance that your app will speed up and become more responsive and scalable.
API Effectiveness
If your app is slow, it might also be because of your APIs. APIs are incredibly important to apps because they help facilitate between apps and services and can be key to opening up your business to new revenue streams.
Find the right set of tools and metrics to measure your APIs, and these metrics can give you a better idea of how and why your apps might be slower than usual.
Find The Right Hosting Platform
Another reason your app might be running slow is that you ended up choosing the wrong hosting platform. There are various hosting platforms to choose from, and many of them have unique advantages and features. Here is a quick comparison of some of the most popular hosting platforms and what might make sense for your app.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is usually considered the most user-friendly way to go when it comes to a hosting platform. If you’re looking for the most straightforward option for hosting, many would say that GoDaddy is the best way to go.
GoDaddy usually has a low fixed monthly cost and is highly affordable.
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Amazon Web Services is a better option for more advanced developers and apps. AWS is geared towards larger businesses and offers a range of more features, many of which can cost more money than more basic platforms like GoDaddy.
AWS offers much more business and customer support in general and is pricier than other platforms.
Microsoft Azure
It seems like every giant tech company has a hosting platform of some kind, and Microsoft is no exception. Azure stands out from the competition for its AI and analytic capabilities.
Azure is known for having a range of data storage and data recovery services, and it’s also geared towards Microsoft-specific services. If your organization relies heavily on Microsoft, then it might be the smartest choice for you.
Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud Platform, or GCP, is another popular hosting platform. It costs more than other platforms, especially if you are hoping for more support than usual. GCP also boasts features with flexible pricing, so that you can choose exactly what you need for your business.
If your organization is interested in improving security or getting better worldwide coverage, GCP might make the most sense.
Oracle
Oracle is a great hosting platform for businesses that are doing a significant number of B2B commerce transactions. It also regularly updates on an automatic basis, which is ideal for organizations with website traffic that want to consistently keep up with upgrades.
What are some factors that you should consider when choosing a hosting platform? Obviously, one of the main factors for your business is the price. Second, it’s important to factor in account the amount of traffic to determine the best possible hosting platform. Third, it’s best to understand what your upgrade options are, so you can adapt as your business begins to scale quicker.
Serverless vs On-Server Architecture
It’s also important to make a choice regarding whether your app will rely on on-server architecture or serverless architecture.
Many business apps rely on a specific server. In some situations, your server might also be hosting other apps – which is why it eventually causes your app to slow. In other cases, your server might perform based on its location. A physical server is a powerful and safe way to host an app, although it does not scale up or down as easily as serverless architecture.
An extra reverse proxy server is also a great way for some businesses to deal with an overloaded server. You may want to contact your hosting platform to get a dedicated server for your app, but this will almost always come at an additional cost.
Serverless architecture has several key advantages. First, they allow for faster deployments and decreased time to market. Second, they provide better flexibility, and vendors only charge you for what you use. Third, there’s no need for server maintenance costs.
The downside? You will be relying on a third-party provider, and running workloads can be more costly with serverless architecture. Also, many serverless architecture providers offer long-term contracts rather than short-term contracts.
How Blue Whale Apps Can Help?
Many businesses are able to make millions, or even billions, of dollars thanks to their apps. However, your app cannot become a major revenue stream if it is constantly lagging, not responding to users, or just not operating as smoothly as the competition. We can spot the issues causing your app to slow down and eliminate them.
Worried about whether your app is responsive enough for users, or getting feedback that it is running too slowly? Our experts can help improve your app to make it seamless, responsive, and smooth.
A positive app experience can do wonders for your retention rates and also increase the customer lifetime value (CLV) for your business. Contact Blue Whale Apps to find out how we can become your strategic technological partner, and address your app issues today.
