Android network usage

The Network Usage metric measures the amount of data the device uploads and downloads (in KB) through the network during a session.

In App Performance, Network Logs are available for manual (App Live) sessions. The Network Data Usage graph is available for all profiled sessions. When Network Logs are enabled, the data captured there also feeds into the totals shown in the Network Data Usage graph.

• Network Data Usage graph:
  Visualizes total data uploaded and downloaded by your device over the session timeline (X-axis: seconds since start; Y-axis: KB transferred). Great for spotting spikes and correlating with user actions.

• Network Logs (manual App Live only):
  A request-level table with per-API details; method, URL, status, response time, payload/headers, and bytes sent/received. Use it to confirm what was transferred and why.

Example

In the following example, you can see that the total data uploaded to the internet throughout the session was 5162.05 KB and the total data downloaded was 216.88 KB. You can also see the graph for the uploaded and downloaded data by the device at a particular time during the session since the session started.

To identify the actions or workflows that caused excessive network usage, you can play the session video. Alongside the video, a bar moves on the graph to help you identify the actions or workflows of your interest. To view uploads or downloads individually, use the legends given on the graph.

Impact on user experience

Excessive network data usage can cause user experience issues in Android apps by slowing down device performance, increasing battery drain, and incurring additional data charges. This can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction among users, ultimately resulting in decreased device usage and negative reviews.

Threshold guidelines

Recommended thresholds are:

• Total Network Uploads to be less than 5000 Kb in a session
• Total Network Downloads to be less than 20,000 Kb in a session

If your device exceeds these thresholds, App Performance Testing flags an issue in the performance report. To know more about the issue, see App performance issues - Network Usage.

View Android Network Logs for Manual App Tests

1. In App Live, after starting a session, open the DEVTOOLS pane and select NETWORK.
2. Under Configure Network Tracking, choose Enable for all traffic or Enable for specific domains. If you choose Enable for specific domains, enter the domains in the text field, separated by commas.
3. Click Save configuration. This action will restart the device to apply the changes. It will also display the message: Network Tracking enabled successfully. Note that if device profiling is already in progress and you modify the network configuration, the device will restart.
4. You can now go to the PERFORMANCE tab and run the device performance test. Now, click View Full Report and scroll to the Network Logs section.

In the Network Logs section, you can view the following details:

• API Requests: The number of API requests made throughout the session.
• Avg Response Time: The average of the time taken by the APIs to take the request, process it, and send back the response to the device.
• Total Data Transferred: The total data exchanged (uploaded or downloaded) from the internet by the device throughout the session.
• API requests table: Click one of the APIs to access the API requests table. This table lists all the requested APIs, the response status, the size of the data transferred, and the time taken to process the request. For individual APIs, it also shows details such as response, headers, payload and timing. For more details about the table, see API requests table.

API requests table

In the Network Logs section, you can see a table that lists the APIs that were requested, the method used, response details, and more. The following table explains the details listed in the APIs table:

After you click any API entry from the table, another pane opens that shows further details of the API request:

Use filters

To find a particular API request, you can use the search box given at top of the table. Or, you can use the following filters:

• Search in logs: Find specific log entries by searching for text or keywords.
• Errors only: Only shows the APIs that returned error response.
• Request types: Filter the table according to the request type such as XHR, JS, CSS, images, and more.

Download the log file

To download the log file, you can click the three-dot menu and then click View RAW Logs to download the HAR file. The HAR files are stored in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format.

Recommendations

The following are the recommendations to improve Network Usage:

• Use network caching: Implement network caching to store frequently accessed data on the device. This helps reduce the number of network requests and improve response time.
• Minimize network requests: Reduce the number of network requests by combining multiple requests into a single request, compressing data, or using other techniques to optimize data transfer.
• Use background threads: Move network operations off the main UI thread to prevent the device from freezing or becoming unresponsive.
• Implement network connection callbacks: Use network connection callbacks to detect changes in network connectivity and adapt the device’s behavior accordingly, such as by pausing network-intensive tasks when the user has a weak or unreliable network connection.

Related topics

• View complete list of performance metrics for Android