Application failures: know the main causes

No one disputes the importance of apps in today's digital world. The features offered by the apps and the practicality they generate make them essential in our day-to-day. However, for applications to fulfill their role and satisfy their users, some problems must be avoided. Application failures are an example of this type of problem.

The malfunction of an app is a determining factor for the app's success. This type of factor directly influences the user experience and can mean the success of the app.

In general, application failures can be characterized as one of the main motivating factors for dropping out of use. Therefore, before knowing the causes of failures. Let's understand how their occurrence impacts the user experience.

What makes a user delete an app?

There are several factors that lead a user to uninstall an app. This issue can be quite complex, considering that each user has a different consumption profile. The problem might even be at different stages of the application's planning.

For this reason, developers should be focused on developing a working app that works well. In addition to problems with excessive advertising, excessive battery and data consumption, difficulty in browsing and non-relevant content, application failures emerge as the main motivating factor for the user to delete the application.

In fact, when app crashes arise, these apps are quickly replaced by a non- crashing competitor. However, when we talk about startups and validation of an idea, some flaws are even tolerated. But these bugs must be fixed as the app develops.

To launch an app similar to other existing ones we must be aware and avoid app crashes. Therefore, let's now know a little more about the causes of failures and how to solve them.

What causes cause application failures? And how to solve them?

When we talk about application failures, several causes can be identified. The importance of understanding what causes the failure and knowing how to solve the problem can be the app's differential.

According to studies, application users expect a certain application to function. And if they are not met, they tend to no longer use it. It is estimated that over 50% of users expect the app to launch within 4 seconds. Data also show that errors such as crashing or freezing lead more than half of users to delete the app.

But what are the main causes of application failures? And how can we fix application crashes that come up?

RAM Memory Management Problems

One of the most common flaws in apps is that the app consumes a lot of RAM resources and ends up crashing. In these application failures an app can be running multiple threads or multiple APIs and thus consume a lot of memory.

In general, we say that this is one of the most common problems that cause application failures. This flaw tends to be even greater when the app is running on low-performance mobile phones or tablets. This issue is of great concern, as more than half of users consider an uninstall in case of a crash.

Ideally, an app doesn't use all the features of a phone. For this reason, it is essential to develop applications that demand little cell phone memory.

How to solve the problem?

To solve the problem of excessive use of the cell's RAM memory, just keep in mind that the application is just one of the functions that will require memory.

Also, remember that each user will access an app from a different device. That is, many users will not have the high-end phones that developers have. And as we've seen, application crashes due to memory are quite common in these cases.

And controlling the memory needed to run the app can be easier through its own tools. For example, the Android ecosystem provides really powerful memory management tools. With this, developers are free to set memory as they wish.

On the iOS platform, the Swift and Objective-C programming languages ​​also provide tools for controlling memory. These are tools to manage memory, making it possible to carry out such control automatically.

But application failures can also occur as specific memory errors. For example, applications can have problems managing files that are large in megabytes, such as images. In this case, the solution might be to load only the parts of the file needed, instead of loading it into memory.

Another tip is to be aware when apps need to do very complex calculations. In these cases it may be necessary to free memory for the process to complete. If on Android devices this release can be done automatically, on iOS it may be necessary to create an auto release pool.

Finally, we can indicate how to solve these flaws in applications are the “lite” versions. These versions are like mini apps that simplify processing and consume less memory.

poorly performed tests

One more reason why apps are being tested less and less is the low budget. In this sense, even though several simulators and emulators are available, they have some disadvantages.

For example, they cannot reproduce the effect of low or overheated batteries. They are also not capable of reproducing situations such as interruptions in incoming calls or interaction with the camera.

How to solve the problem?

Releasing apps without proper testing can cause app crashes. The absence of proper testing brings great harm to the stability and performance of the application.

Therefore, the tests carried out should be a reason for a lot of attention. What matters is that, regardless of the tool used, the tests are carried out. In general, tests go through the following steps:

– Creation of the application behaviors and requirements pattern table;

– User experience tests focusing on the application's functionalities;

– In case of a new version, UX fix tests. In this step, all items in the table and in the user experience are reviewed;

– After that, the application is submitted so that the customer can evaluate it before publishing and list possible issues. The process can be repeated until the user no longer indicates any problem in the app;

– Once approved by the customer, the app passes the latest UX-focused tests. Then it's ready to be released.

And to prevent application failures, it's essential that testing is performed by expert professionals. Having a professional in this case is important because there are several cell phone models and the app can behave differently in each one of them.

While it is not possible to prevent all application failures, following a testing methodology increases the chances of success.

Lifetime of API's or Software Lifecycle

It is quite common that when an API is updated, applications can fail. The issues generated relate especially to the app's interactive process.

When an app launches, the natural process is that gradual improvements are released and the app is updated. At this point iterative development can be the solution. But this process also presents several challenges.

The complexity of a staged release needs to be kept in check so that every time you release a new version or feature, all previous testing must be rerun.

But integrating third-party APIs and services can be challenging, especially if the development team is not staffed with professionals. So be careful before launching the app. The more premature the launch, the chances of application failures occur.

How to solve the problem?

For those looking for interactive development, it is necessary to be clear about the resources needed and the strategy. Special attention needs to be paid to problems with operating systems.

Although it is not possible to anticipate these issues, it is necessary to pay attention to possible issues that may arise when updating the app. Another tip is to always be ready to update your app as soon as a new version of a third-party operating system or API is released.

Exceptional Errors

Even though several tests are performed and a great strategy is made, some mistakes cannot be avoided. These types of errors depend on variables and parameters that are simply out of your control.

For example, if the user's Wi-Fi goes down during a file transfer, that is, the wrong data is entered. These situations can cause the app to freeze or generate error messages.

These are unexpected issues that can lead to application failures. When this kind of problem happens, users get frustrated and lose a lot in their experience.

The decrease in experience quality is even greater when application crashes occur and the user has to wait without knowing what is happening. That's why it is necessary to evaluate and try to predict errors as much as possible and make them easy to solve.

How to solve the problem?

When you notice that the app has crashed, a good strategy is to shut down the app and inform the user of what happened. In these situations it is essential to establish good communication with users and give them advance notice of any interruption. With this action, the chances of the user abandoning the application can significantly decrease.

With the use of user messages, as long as they are informative and useful, users feel attended to. But it is necessary to avoid technical jargon and developer speech. The message has to be clear and direct, formulated with the user in mind.

In addition to the message, it is necessary to offer a solution to the user. For example, “Oops! There is no internet connection right now, look for a good place and try again! ”

bad network management

Internet speed can be one of the causes of application crashes. It turns out that most developers have access to a fast internet connection, but users don't. That's why it's important to plan and understand that users can use the app in environments with low internet speed.

Thus, it is necessary to test the behavior of the app for the most diverse internet speeds. These tests must be done for the most diverse activities and functionalities, from sending messages to processing games.

As many features depend on the network, forgetting this detail can lead to many application failures. This issue reduces the responsiveness of an app leading to instabilities and future app crashes.

How to solve the problem?

A good way to fix these application glitches is to use low internet speeds when running the tests. Test the app on both slow networks and mobile networks with poor coverage.

Some tools can help perform these tests. Such tools allow the developer to define what internet speed they want to use. And these tools are available on all major operating systems. For iOS, there is the Link Coordinator from the Apple developer page. For Android, the emulator in the Android SDK.

Test various internet speeds and make sure your app is optimized to work under these conditions. Also, schedule messages to be displayed when there are not enough speeds available.

What can we conclude about application failures?

Application failures can represent a huge loss of user satisfaction. Therefore, testing before launching the application is an indispensable part of development.

Testing can be quite a challenge, sometimes requiring in-house tools or very powerful resources. Therefore, it is essential to choose the development company chosen to make the application.

If you are looking for a company that specializes in app development, you need to know FWC. FWC has a specialized team that will assist you in all stages of development.

This makes it easier for application failures to be avoided.

Get in touch with us and get to know our portfolio!