What is the best way to profile a mobile Web Application?

Question

I am looking to profile my web application on Android for starts...what is the best way to get the kind of information that a tool like Web Inspector would give me on the desktop? Since I cannot use Web Inspector or Speed Tracer on the mobile device...how can I get such data/info ?

Answer 1

You could use WebDevTools for Android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.voltcode.webdevtools

It's a web profiler that gives basic information on how a mobile web page loads on the device. Loading times can and often differ on a per device/menufacturer basis - this is due to internal HTTP settings and loading, processing and javascript execution differing speeds.

disclaimer I am connected to the author of this tool.

Answer 2

I would use a split lap timer in one hand, and load the application on an Android with the second. Refresh multiple times, and then calculate the average. That should give a good estimate of the startup times. No kidding .

Is your web application heavy on Javascript? Or is it intensive on the server-side, or maybe both? Network latencies may vary, so it's better to not factor that in your profiling. Instead profile the server side separately, which will give you a solid estimate of how fast is a response getting generated. Android uses Webkit so the Web Inspector should give you a fairly good idea of how the Javascript will perform on an Android device. Also, checkout v8 benchmark test suite on your device. Similar to these test suites, you could write your own benchmarking tests specific to your web application. There will be lot of things that can affect those benchmarks that are outside your control so keep that in mind when writing those tests.