How do you handle mobile app crashes?

1 Causes of crashes

Mobile app crashes can be caused by a variety of issues, including coding errors or bugs in the app logic, user interface, or third-party libraries; compatibility issues with different devices, operating systems, or network conditions; memory leaks or insufficient resources on the device or the server; unhandled exceptions or errors in the app flow or data processing; and user actions or inputs that trigger unexpected scenarios or edge cases. The complexity and scale of the app and the availability of diagnostic tools and data will determine how easy it is to identify and resolve these causes.

2 Types of crashes

Mobile app crashes can be divided into two primary categories: fatal and non-fatal. Fatal crashes are the most severe and noticeable, as they abruptly terminate the app without warning or feedback to the user, potentially leading to data loss or corruption. On the other hand, non-fatal crashes are more subtle and insidious, often going unnoticed by the user or developer, yet still impacting the app functionality and quality. These crashes can be caused by uncaught exceptions, memory errors, system failures, logic errors, network errors, or user errors. Both types of crashes can have detrimental effects on your app reputation, retention, and revenue, so it is essential to minimize them as much as possible.

3 Troubleshooting and fixing crashes

Identifying and diagnosing mobile app crashes is the first step to handle them. To do this, you can use various tools and methods such as crash reporting tools like Firebase Crashlytics, Sentry, or Bugsnag; debugging tools like Xcode, Android Studio, or Chrome DevTools; and testing tools like Espresso, XCTest, or Appium. After you have identified the cause and location of the crash, you can proceed to fix it by modifying your code, updating your libraries, or changing your configuration. Always test your fixes before deploying them to your users and document your changes and solutions.

4 Improving app quality and performance

It is best to prevent mobile app crashes from occurring in the first place. To do this, you should focus on improving the app quality and performance by following coding standards and conventions, using version control and code review systems, implementing error handling and logging mechanisms, optimizing memory and resource usage, and testing the app thoroughly and regularly. With these best practices, you can handle mobile app crashes effectively and deliver a better mobile experience to your users. Understanding their causes and types, troubleshooting and fixing them will also help you manage them more efficiently.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?