Your apps might just need a little bit of fat trimming.  AT&T; has an app for that! 

AT&T;’s Application Resource Optimizer (or ARO) is used by developers and runs in the background on test phones as a developer’s app runs.  The ARO captures all the developer’s app’s data and analyzes it to find out how efficient the app is.  It then makes recommendations on how to solve the detected problems.

• How often an app uses the phone’s radio to ping the network
• If an app fails to close a connection when it’s closed
• If an app requires redundant downloads

By curing these symptoms, a developer can make her app more network and battery friendly.  This is critical for gaining users; AT&T; reports that battery life is rated as one of the most important features in a smartphone.

Pandora, the leading personalized radio service, has already taken advantage of this digital trim-down.  AT&T;’s ARO detected that while the app had a streamlined music delivery process, it was firing the device’s radio to send audience measurement data every minute.  Addressing this problem allowed Pandora to cut its mobile app’s energy usage by 40%!

How about that for a summer makeover!

By Meredith Red

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