Proven Strategies to Reduce App Crashes and ANRs

In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile applications, ensuring seamless user experiences is paramount. The webinar, hosted by Business of Apps Live, featured discussions around enhancing app experiences, focusing on overcoming the challenges of crashes, Application Not Responding (ANR) errors, and other performance issues. This article delves into the insights shared, emphasizing solutions and strategies to enhance mobile app performance.

Identifying Pain Points

The era of digital transformation has ushered in a reality where mobile apps have become the forefront of user interaction with brands and services. In a webinar hosted by Business of Apps Live, Colin Contreary, Head of Content at Embrace, illuminated the critical aspects of enhancing app performance, emphasizing the battle against crashes, Application Not Responding (ANR) errors, and other performance issues. Mobile app developers and teams face an increasingly competitive landscape, where the difference between a successful app and a failed one often boils down to the app’s performance and reliability.

Mobile App Builders’ Priorities and Pain Points

A survey of over 1,000 mobile engineering professionals globally, compiled into the 2024 Mobile App Builders report by Embrace, provided valuable insights into the industry’s current state. This survey revealed that improving app performance is a top priority, which was further validated by webinar participants’ responses. The emphasis on performance stems from an understanding that user retention, satisfaction, and overall app success are closely tied to how well an app performs across various devices and user scenarios.

Some key findings from the over 1,000 survey respondents:

• 43% named improving the performance of the app(s) I support as the most important aspect of their work
• 53% cited spending too long fixing bugs as the most frustrating thing at their work
• 49% said not having the right tools to do my job as the most frustrating part of their day-to-day work

Fixing bugs is a time-consuming process, and this challenge is compounded by the complexity of the mobile ecosystem, including the vast array of devices, operating systems, and network conditions apps must contend with. The survey also highlighted the difficulties in managing multiple systems, processes, and tools, which often leads to inefficiencies and delays in addressing app performance issues.

The Battle Against Crashes and ANRs

Every mobile team inevitably faces user complaints and issues, given the complexity of the mobile ecosystem. Mobile apps are deployed across a myriad of devices, operating systems, and network conditions, making crashes and Application Not Responding (ANR) errors a common headache for developers. Colin from Embrace detailed how mobile apps, compiled and shipped across diverse platforms, must operate smoothly despite the variance in system resources and network connectivity.

The Significance of Early Discovery and Diagnostics

The cornerstone of maintaining a healthy and profitable app lies in early issue detection and diagnostics. Colin emphasized the importance of having tools that allow teams to quickly identify and mitigate the impact of problems, thereby ensuring continued delivery of excellent user experiences. The goal is to be proactive, addressing issues when they’ve affected a minimal number of users rather than after they’ve become widespread.

Limitations of Current Mobile Monitoring Solutions

A significant portion of the webinar was dedicated to discussing the limitations of current mobile monitoring solutions. Colin pointed out that the reliance on free and low-cost tools often leaves mobile teams without the necessary visibility to address specialized issues like ANRs and networking problems effectively. These tools tend to offer limited functionality and lack the detail or granularity needed to get to the root cause of issues. This gap in monitoring contributes to the difficulty in improving app performance, as teams struggle to diagnose and resolve issues efficiently.

Embracing Comprehensive Visibility

Colin advocated for embracing solutions that provide comprehensive visibility into app performance. This involves not just crash reporting but a deep dive into all aspects affecting user experience, including performance metrics, networking issues, and user actions within the app. By understanding the full scope of user experiences, teams can more effectively pinpoint and address the root causes of crashes and ANRs.

Key Takeaways for Mobile Teams

• Early Detection Is Critical: Mobile teams must have tools that allow for the early discovery of issues to mitigate their impact efficiently.
• Comprehensive Visibility Is Essential: Current mobile monitoring solutions often fall short of providing the level of detail necessary for effectively addressing crashes and ANRs. Tools that offer in-depth visibility into all aspects of user experiences are crucial.
• Proactive Approach to Improving App Performance: By understanding the technical and behavioral context of user sessions, teams can be more proactive in resolving issues, thus enhancing overall app performance and user satisfaction.

Case Studies Highlighting the Impact of Enhanced Visibility

The webinar included case studies from companies like GOAT, Wildlife Studios, and adidas, illustrating how embracing detailed diagnostics and visibility tools can lead to significant improvements in app performance. Here’s a brief summary of each:

• Curve: Addressed a 40% app freeze rate during account creation by identifying and fixing a technical issue related to inefficient data synchronization.
• GOAT: Managed to maintain a 99.99% crash-free rate during Black Friday by quickly addressing edge cases, deeplinking issues, and new crash patterns with Embrace’s detailed user experience data.
• Wildlife Studios: Improved game rankings and visibility on the Google Play Store by reducing ANRs with the help of Embrace, which provided detailed insights into problematic ad vendors and the devices that were most impacted.
• Adidas Runtastic: Solved data sync issues between the app and wearables by leveraging Embrace’s comprehensive data to pinpoint how extended app backgrounds and sessions in low-power mode were resulting in data loss.
• Touch Surgery: Reduced app startup failures by 53% by identifying and fixing issues caused by poor network conditions in hospitals affecting downloads of large surgical simulations.

Each case study underscores the impact of using advanced mobile monitoring and user experience tools to quickly identify and resolve mobile app performance issues, leading to improved user experiences and business outcomes.

Leveraging Mobile Monitoring and User Experience Tools

In a landscape where mobile app performance dictates user retention and satisfaction, leveraging the right mobile monitoring and user experience tools has become crucial for developers and businesses alike. This chapter delves into the significance of such tools, as outlined by Colin from Embrace during the webinar. Colin emphasized the transformation that advanced mobile tools have brought to understanding and enhancing mobile app experiences.

The Technical Details Behind User Experiences

Traditional analytics tools have primarily focused on understanding user behavior by collecting data on user actions, screen views, and user journeys. However, these tools often fall short in diagnosing the underlying technical issues that can lead to poor app performance, such as crashes, freezes, and slow response times. Colin highlighted the necessity of tools that not only track user behavior but also provide deep insights into the technical performance of the app. This comprehensive approach enables developers to pinpoint and address the root causes of performance issues more effectively.

The Role of Mobile Monitoring Tools

Colin introduced the audience to mobile monitoring tools that go beyond traditional analytics by offering detailed insights into the app’s technical performance. These tools are designed to identify, diagnose, and resolve performance issues, including crashes, ANRs (Application Not Responding), and networking problems. Unlike basic analytics tools, mobile monitoring solutions offer a granular view of the app’s operation, including error reporting, crash reporting, and performance monitoring.

Embrace: A Case in Point

Throughout the webinar, Colin presented Embrace as an exemplary tool that embodies the advanced capabilities required for delivering seamless mobile user experiences. Embrace provides developers with detailed diagnostics and visibility, enabling them to understand the full context of user experiences. This level of detail enables quick identification of issues, from crashes to ANRs, and root cause detection without the need for manual reproduction steps or guesswork. Case studies from companies like GOAT, Wildlife Studios, and adidas were discussed, demonstrating how access to complete user experience data can lead to significant improvements in app performance.