The most common Android application performance issues are slow app startup times, dependency resolution bottlenecks, complex dependency graph structures, background processing problems, and ANR (Application Not Responding) errors. These issues affect user retention and Google Play Store rankings.
The Kotzilla Platform automatically detects and helps Android and Kotlin Multiplatform devs resolve these performance problems for applications using the Koin dependency injection framework.
If you're building mobile applications with Kotlin, here's a reality check that might sting: every single app has performance issues - performance bottlenecks that impact user experience and app store rankings.
Mobile application performance encompasses multiple technical aspects, including startup optimization, memory management, thread handling, and dependency injection efficiency. For Android developers using Kotlin and frameworks like Koin, performance bottlenecks often emerge during production deployment despite successful local testing.
Based on extensive analysis of mobile app performance metrics, these are the most common problems affecting Kotlin applications:
1. Slow App Startup Times
Android users abandon apps that take more than 3 seconds to load. Slow startup directly impacts user retention and app store rankings. According to Google's official Android Vitals documentation, "Apps whose metrics are higher have greater promotability, which raises their ranking in Google Play Store searches. They are also more likely to be eligible for the New & Updated and Editor's Choice collections on Google Play."
2. Dependency Resolution Performance Problems
A single dependency that takes too long to resolve can delay multiple components, causing widespread slowdowns and reduced responsiveness. These issues often stem from overall graph complexity, making detection and root cause analysis difficult without proper tools. Google's Android Vitals specifically tracks startup performance, noting that "slow startups can be caused by a range of issues but usually indicate the execution of heavy workloads or complex logic when initializing the app."
3. Dependency Graph Structure Issues
Complex dependency graphs with many first-level child nodes and deeply nested dependencies not only slow down app startup but can also create runtime performance issues. Long dependency resolution processes, whether during initialization or later as part of component resolution, may block the main or background threads, leading to dropped frames, reduced responsiveness, and even ANRs. In addition, such tightly coupled structures make the codebase harder to maintain
4. Background Processing Performance Bottlenecks
Inefficient background processing can drain device resources such as CPU and battery, slow down the app’s performance, cause ANRs (Application Not Responding) errors.and ultimately lead to frustrated users. Poorly optimized background tasks reduce app efficiency and can cause the app to lag or become unresponsive during user interactions.
Background Tasks competing for resources and blocking the main thread cause ANRs (Application Not Responding) errors.
5. ANRs (Application Not Responding) Issues
The ultimate user experience killer - ANRs lead to negative reviews and app uninstalls. Google's Android Vitals measures "ANR rate: The percentage of users who experienced at least one application not responding (ANR) event during a daily session," emphasizing how critical this metric is for app performance evaluation.
Relying on manual tracing to debug performance is difficult, especially in production. Custom traces require identifying critical app paths in advance, which is often hard to predict, intrusive to implement, and time-consuming for engineers. Without this foresight, debugging slowdowns or ANRs efficiently becomes nearly impossible once the app is live.
Built-in performance monitoring solves these problems by automatically capturing key metrics during both development and production. It provides continuous visibility into app behavior without adding extra instrumentation code, allowing teams to detect and address performance issues faster and more reliably.
For developers using Koin dependency injection, the Kotzilla Platform offers comprehensive application performance monitoring specifically designed for Kotlin and Android development workflows.
Key features of Kotzilla APM:
Traditional manual performance optimization approaches are time-consuming and error-prone. Kotzilla eliminates common debugging tasks:
Join our upcoming webinar featuring Arnaud Giuliani, Technical Lead for Koin dependency injection framework, and Miguel Valdes-Faura, the head of Product Marketing & Strategy :
Webinar topics include:
Ready to implement professional-grade performance monitoring in your Kotlin application? Kotzilla integrates seamlessly with existing Koin-based Android projects.