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Mobile app developers are probably more than a little tired of empty promises about the grand future of mobile networks. But take a quick look at history and it becomes obvious that the technology has come a long way.
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Mobile networks were initially used solely for voice calls. Then, lower power requirements of 2G and higher network capacities gave rise to a plethora of small devices with SMS and email capabilities. The widespread rollout of 3G-increased bandwidth on those devices, making mobile multimedia and functional Web access a reality.
Do You 4G?
That was all just a prelude to LTE (the dominant 4G technology). Also known as 3GPP Long Term Evolution, LTE is being rolled out globally and is now the uncontested replacement for both GSM and CDMA networks. This new technology gives network providers the ability to deliver faster and more reliable access, richer experiences for mobile device users, and a more secure environment.
4G networks are being deployed across the globe. When developers know how networks function, better apps get built. More efficient and powerful apps make networks better, which accelerates customer adoption of apps. What follows are concrete steps developers can take to make apps perform their best on these new networks.
As an App Developer, Why Do I Care?
LTE was designed to offer more than two times the bandwidth of 3G and half the response time. The radio signals from cell towers have less interference in LTE and increased signal capacity means more users can access the network simultaneously without noticeably affecting performance. These improvements mean apps will be able to pull down more data from the network with less noticeable lag. When users pull up maps, they’ll come up faster and scroll more smoothly. Graphics-heavy web pages will load faster and video playback will start sooner and play with fewer hiccups.
Almost every aspect of the mobile experience will be improved with LTE. Unlike earlier network technologies, LTE uses an all-IP backbone with highly efficient routing. Data moves through the backbone more rapidly and, because voice and various data types are all handled as IP packets, apps can shift between them more easily. There are nine content types defined in LTE and quality of service levels can be assigned to content on the basis of type. This means that voice data won’t over-consume bandwidth that should be reserved for web video, for example.
LTE’s security and reliability are also major improvements over 3G. As data is being sent to and from a user’s mobile device, it is automatically encrypted. A sophisticated key mechanism provides further security and temporary user IDs make it more difficult for malicious hackers to gain entry to devices. To enhance reliability, session tracking keeps users connected to applications even when they switch from 3G or 2G to LTE and back again, even when there are delays.
Leveraging LTE in Your Apps
LTE will provide increased performance for all apps, but you can get even more out of the network to create a truly exceptional user experience. Take advantage of these tips now and your apps will perform better and make your customers happier, whether they are on LTE or older networks.
Plan for a Mix of 2G, 3G and LTE Use
Give your app the ability to make an intelligent decision about how to fetch data, depending on the network being accessed. Also remember that latency and bandwidth vary within a given span of network coverage, so data transfer rates will not remain constant within an LTE network. It can be a challenge to determine not only what sort of network performance you’re getting, but also why. For example, the same response figures could indicate that you’re on a fast 3G network or a slow LTE network. If your app relies on constant network connectivity, periodically have your IT department check both bandwidth and latency to make an educated guess about what kind of network it is on and adjust accordingly. Service providers are working with industry standards organizations to define consistent interfaces that will allow developers to receive information from the network about latency, bandwidth and saturation, but this is not yet a reality.
Speed Results with Pre-fetching
In many situations data retrieval needs can be anticipated with pre-fetching. By giving your application a way to access necessary data before it is requested by the user, you can provide an even more frictionless user experience. If you expect that users will be making many data-intensive requests that have to go through the network to a server, invest some effort in creating a pre-fetching system. By definition, pre-fetching is imperfect, but if your app can use a solid pre-fetching algorithm to pull down data and cache it on the device before it is needed, you can give users a demonstrably better experience. Because LTE provides lower latency and higher bandwidth, pre-fetching is a more practical approach than with older networks.
Cache More
Mobile devices are no longer computing lightweights. By caching extensively you can increase the responsiveness of your application and eliminate the spikes in network requests that cause user-discernable performance problems. Spikes in network activity typically occur at predictable times. Think about how and when your app needs data and if possible cache in advance of periods of high network activity. Of course, don’t forget to periodically flush caches.
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