Mobile Performance Requirements Template

Test on three tiers: a current flagship (iPhone 15 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro), a 2-year-old mid-range device (iPhone 13, Pixel 6a), and a low-end device representing your minimum target (iPhone SE, budget Android with 3 GB RAM). The mid-range device should be your primary benchmark because it represents the majority of your user base. If performance is acceptable on the low-end device, it will be good everywhere.

For development: Xcode Instruments (iOS) and Android Studio Profiler (Android) are the most detailed. For production monitoring: Firebase Performance Monitoring (free, cross-platform), Datadog Mobile (paid, more features), or New Relic Mobile. At minimum, track cold start time, crash-free rate, and network request latency in production. Set up the measurement plan using the [analytics template](/templates/mobile-analytics-plan-template).

Add performance tests to your CI/CD pipeline. Measure app size on every build and fail the pipeline if it exceeds the budget. Run automated launch time tests on a physical device farm (Firebase Test Lab, AWS Device Farm). For frame rate, add automated scroll tests that assert no dropped frames. The key is making performance regressions as visible as test failures.

Set the same user-facing targets (launch time, FPS) but allow different thresholds for device-dependent metrics (memory, battery) based on the typical hardware profile. iOS devices have a narrower hardware range, so you can set tighter targets. Android devices vary widely, so test on low-end devices and set your targets based on the worst device you need to support.

Review production performance dashboards weekly. Act on regressions within one sprint. Do a thorough performance audit quarterly, which includes profiling on new devices, auditing third-party SDK updates for performance impact, and reviewing the app size trend. Performance debt compounds silently, so regular attention prevents the gradual degradation that users eventually notice all at once. ---