3 Solid Tips for Using Data to Improve a Commercial App
Programmers are constantly working to ensure that their software is free of bugs and provides the features users actually need from them. Even apps that work well won’t necessarily attract customers if they don’t solve problems people find themselves struggling with. Getting an audience today is so difficult because there’s an enormous amount of competition.
Some estimates claim there are upwards of 8.93 million smartphone apps currently in use. This number would be even higher if you were to include the countless programs no longer receiving any support from their developers. Companies that want to be certain they can compete in this kind of challenging environment should take a look at these tips to see if they can improve the apps their organizations ship.
1. Log Failed Network Connections
Each time an app fails to connect to a remote server, it should be making a log of this error. By keeping tabs on network hiccups, you’ll know if something is misconfigured on the server side. Working with professional app development consultants is the best way to improve the underlying functionality of any app. Give your team a copy of all these error messages so they have a better idea of what’s going on. While many of them are probably due to someone leaving their phone in airplane mode, at least a few could indicate a serious issue.
2. Check File Sizes
Content compression can effectively slash how much data your app uses in half. You can see the exact size of every file that goes back and forth between your servers and client devices. You’ll want to start thinking about compression if any of these are larger than they need to be. Unless you’re managing an online video streaming service, you probably don’t need to share much data. Implementing something like the deflate algorithm is fairly easy to do since there are countless open source libraries for it that you could normally include in any project you’re working on.
3. Offer Users an Opt-In Feature
Software developers usually collect information from their users to see what sorts of things need to be tweaked for a better user experience. While some of this data could be collected from polls or questionnaires, the majority could be from usage information compiled from users who agreed to help make apps better. If you’ve ever looked through the settings screen of your web browser, then there’s a good possibility you’ve seen an option to let you share information with the developers who can then use it to add new features. This will help make the commercial app an overall better investment for your company.
Developers may want to consider adding this kind of option in their own apps so they can collect more information after gaining the appropriate level of consent from their users. Never push an opt-out data collection service to your users. Always ask them first and you may find they’re more than willing to help you polish your software since it helps them in turn by giving them a better user experience.
