According to Tech Times, Apple’s recent (at the time) iOS 9.3 scored a measly 2.2% crash rate. Compared to Android’s Marshmallow’s crash rate (2.6%) and other previous iOS versions, this was a stability landslide victory.
Now, two years after the iOS 9.3 launch, there’s still a need for stable apps (and, unless developers start to enjoy fewer download rates, drops in sales, and poor reviews, we can assume there always will be).
But even with a 2.2% crash rate, there’s still room for improvement. How do you beef up your app’s stability and reduce its crash rate? Read on to find out!
What Developers Risk If They’re App Is Really Unstable
If not enough testing is done, you run the risk of developing anywhere from a slight to a very unstable app. We’re talking a high crash rate, especially if bugs in and out of the code aren’t detected and resolved.
As we alluded to earlier, a high crash rate could turn off your target audience. Who wants to use an unreliable app, especially during times where you really need it? — Say, using a finance app to process a business transaction.
If worse comes to worst, your target audience could talk, posting negative reviews and complaints on social media, and tech and app sites. In turn, this could reduce download rates and negatively affect profit margins—the start of an app financially gone wrong.
So, how do you prevent this from happening? Here are some ways that can help decrease the chances of your app crashing.
1. Consider Getting Error Monitoring Software
Error monitoring software is great for a number of reasons, more of which can be found on this webpage: for one, it tracks error rates; and two, it locates the root of the problem before your app starts running a 500 internal server error.
Let’s Play the What-If Game: What If the Error Bubbles Up and Results in a 500 Internal Server Error?
Among tight deadlines and hitting your question limit on Stack Overflow, an unnoticed bug is a developer’s worst nightmare. If your app has a 500 internal server error, unfortunately, it means users more than likely know there’s a problem.
For those who don’t know, a 500 internal server error, happens when the server is unable to process a client’s request. Meaning, developers generally have a tech glitch on their hands.
The error may be in the actual code. Or it could exist outside of it—in, for instance, the .NET framework. This is where error monitoring software comes in and saves the day. It’ll notify the team of large error rate spike and where that problem is.
The team then works and fixes it as soon as possible to restore the app to its smoothly-functioning, pre-500-internal-server-error state.
2. Don’t Just Monitor Your App’s Error Rate
There’s more to an app’s performance and stability than just its error rate. Monitoring other performance metrics like slow pages, request rate, and CPU usage. Unusual activity in these areas could indicate the start of a potential fire—and allow you extinguish it before your target audience knows about it.
3. Run More Tests
Yes, the more tests you run, the more likely you’ll be able to weed the bugs out of your app. In fact, lack of testing (as well as out of memory) is one common reason why apps crash. So, run device, server/API, network performance tests, you name it not once but again…and again.
Final Thoughts: Shoot for the Moon
Reducing your app’s crash rate to 0% is a dream come true for developers. A little far-fetched? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
At the very least, taking proactive steps to boost your app’s stability can only benefit you, your team, and, of course, your target audience. What other ways can app developers prevent their apps from crashing? Leave a comment.
