How Can Edge Computing Enhance Your Mobile App Performance?

The gap between our online and offline identities shrinks day by day. The ubiquitous nature of our “always-on,” connected selves, enabled by cellphones, facilitates this. 5 G networks can vastly enhance connected-device experiences. Unfortunately, 5G network access is still in its infancy and not widely available.

Even while 5G can lessen the time it takes for data to travel between an endpoint and a nearby mobile tower, the distance to data centers is still a problem, especially for latency-sensitive programs. We need edge computing to decrease and improve response times to create ideal mobile app experiences.

What’s Mobile Edge Computing?

Similar to the cloud, but with some unique twists, MEC is a great solution. This contrasts with traditional networks, where data is sent back and forth to distant data centers for processing. Instead, much of the processing is done at the network’s periphery. You are, in effect, extending cloud computing capabilities to the periphery, where they may be put to use in places like smart factories, hospitals, and telecommunications base stations. Normal parts include servers, storage, IoT gadgets, edge gateways, and network nodes. However, the action actually takes place at the application layer.

The “edge” of a mobile network is the focal point of “mobile edge computing.” However, “edge locations” can also refer to numerous other places where data is created and used. The term “device edge” refers to the collection of devices at the very periphery of a network, which includes local data centers and networking equipment like routers, Wi-Fi access points, and switches. Hence, “multi-access edge computing” has become a common term among businesses.

What Advantages Does It Provide For Consumers And Commercial Enterprises?

There are a number of reasons why mobile applications can benefit from edge computing. The advantages include:

• Latency

Latency, often known as the time it takes for data to travel from point A to point B, can significantly affect the quality of services like online games and voice assistants for end users. Since less distance needs to be covered by information, latency is drastically reduced.

• Confidentiality And Safety

Several possible advantages can be found in this area. With a shorter distance to travel, there is less of a chance that data will be intercepted along the way. In addition, it is dispersed over numerous off-site locations, making a catastrophic breach less likely.

• Bandwidth

By offloading processing from cloud data centers to edge IoT devices, edge computing saves on network traffic. This can help save expenses, speed up operations, and support high-bandwidth applications like those powered by artificial intelligence.

• Portable, Lightweight Devices

Whether we’re talking about consumer-facing devices like smartphones and tablets or enterprise-level IoT endpoints, edge computing makes it possible to perform more processing closer to the network’s edges. A lighter smartphone would be easier on the battery and the wallet.

Edge Computing Is Essential For Mobile App Development

Because of the intense competition in the app store, designers must focus on providing a satisfying experience for users everywhere. Users are more inclined to uninstall an app when there is significant network latency.

Across the globe, millions of people rely on mobile devices that are both slow and limited in bandwidth. For these customers, mobile performance is severely hampered by the complicated requirements of today’s mobile apps and the lengthy round-trip periods involved in talking with far-flung servers. A lack of continuous bandwidth and latency might make executing an app on slow devices with bad connectivity difficult.

Possible Benefits Of Using Edge Computing

The round-trip time to the cloud can be reduced if data processing occurs closer to its point of origin (at the edge, probably closer to the user).

You should also keep in mind that edge architecture is always changing. New creativity platforms are opening up due to technology like progressive web apps. Application development can be sped up between the cloud and the edge by using Kubernetes, containers, and lightweight application services.

Containers have minimal overhead in terms of both setup and maintenance. Their modularity, isolation, and immutability are all well-suited to the needs of edge applications. Containers and microservices together make it simple to scale our infrastructure to meet our evolving needs.

Tools like virtual machines and containers allow us to deploy our application’s backend to the edge. The deployment of these critical services to strategically targeted geographies can reduce latency and round-trip time.

We may reduce the data payload sent to the user by using edge computing. When an app requests a backend service, that service may make many requests to other servers, combine the results, and then offer the app’s users far more information than they actually require. Over a fast network, this may not be a big deal, but every bit counts on a slow 3G connection. Using edge computing, we may make service calls and then optimize the response to contain just the relevant data to the end user.

Reduced response payload sizes can be achieved without resorting to edge computing. However, as previously said, edge computing has the additional benefit of reducing latency, meaning less data needs to be transmitted over the wire.

As a bonus, bad device performance can be mitigated by offloading some processing duties from the user’s device to the edge, which is made possible by designing mobile apps at the edge. It’s best done right at the rim. The goal is to have as little delay as possible while sending data to the backend microservice, where it will be processed and returned to the app.

The mobile app functionality is maintained even when users are in areas with low network strength, such as an underground train station, a rural location, or a busy sports arena. This is because the app is being run locally or at the edge. As an example, edge computing processing capabilities are located closer to the data source, making them less susceptible to weak connectivity in a scenario where a user is using a video app while riding the subway.

Insights that can be put to use immediately are a direct result of this enhancement in real-time analytics. It lessens the need for sending data to the cloud and between sensors and reduces the costs of doing so in terms of time, energy, and bandwidth.

Examples of When an Edge-Based Mobile App Makes Sense

In many business domains, user experience is directly tied to how well data is processed at the edge. Now, let’s look at a few applications.

• Traveling

When you’re on the road, it’s especially helpful to have a translation or mapping app that loads quickly. There is no assurance that you will always have access to a reliable, high-speed mobile data connection, regardless of where in the world you may be. Therefore, edge computing is especially useful when an internet connection is required.

• The Business Applications

Data processing at the edge is especially important for places with spotty network coverage, such as deep within massive warehouses or out in the middle of nowhere. With edge computing, it’s possible to provide instantaneous insights into operations.

With this adaptability, employees are kept abreast of all company-wide happenings and alterations without having to alter their habits. As a result, mobile edge solutions can facilitate instantaneous knowledge sharing amongst employees.

• Entertainment

We may be on the cusp of entering a metaverse, yet augmented and mixed reality games for mobile devices are still incredibly popular. In the year 2020, Pokémon Go made over $1 billion in sales. Unfortunately, games are notoriously resource-heavy, and nobody likes to wait around during a crucial part of the action.

With edge computing, users can have an uninterrupted, seamless, and instantaneous experience that doesn’t suffer from any lag or buffering. User experience hinges on this feature.

• Safety and Health

By using edge computing, businesses can access data from smartphones in near real-time for monitoring and predictive analytics. Workers who are helping one other stay compliant in the workplace might send notifications to their colleagues’ phones.

Movement monitoring also allows us to observe whether there are locations where people aren’t wearing masks or if there are spots where individuals are getting too close to one other, indicating a need for rerouting of traffic.

• Edge-Based Face Recognition

App makers have widely adopted facial recognition for KYC purposes in industries like mobile banking and insurance. Facial recognition can now be integrated into apps thanks to edge computing, which eliminates the need for either cloud processing or the transmission of huge files, both of which can cause significant delays.

• Checking the Crowd Density

Subway stations and other transit hubs have been using location intelligence in many cities to monitor ridership and make timetable adjustments to alleviate crowding. In addition to monitoring the density of these areas, edge-developed apps can tell users in real time which cars have the fewest passengers and which are the safest to take.

Conclusion

Not everyone has constant access to a fast data connection when using a mobile device. However, by incorporating edge computing, we can maximize the benefits for those with limited bandwidth. We can build new features into apps by adopting edge computing to design novel business models and boost user pleasure.

Edge computing is crucial for multinational corporations that want to provide their end users with a consistent experience regardless of their location. Likewise, this is essential for companies hoping to get into regions where telecoms have historically avoided expanding Internet access.

Provide your data and apps with the speed they require, which is lacking in the centralized cloud. Use edge computing. With Saffron Tech’s customer support, blog posts, and other development resources, you can get started and stay supported along the way.

If you want to learn more, contact Saffron Tech right away.