Slow or unstable internet

Why: in the office everything is fast, but users open the app on the train. Check that it shows loaders, retries and clear errors instead of a blank screen or a double payment.

What happens

1. Open the Network card. Its Network conditions row leads to the Network tab next to DevTools, with every network the session can emulate.
2. Pick a named network such as 3G. Each one shows its delay, bandwidth and loss and a short description.
3. Use the app and watch how it behaves: slow images, late prices, timeouts.
4. Scenarios like Subway, Driving or Elevator change the network over time, with short periods of no signal.
5. Airplane mode, Wi-Fi and Mobile data turn the network off completely.
6. Pick No emulation to get the normal connection back.

Good to know

• Only the apps’ traffic is slowed down. The screen, DevTools and ADB stay fast, so you can still work comfortably.
• During an outage in a scenario Android still thinks it is online: requests hang until they time out, like on a dead cell. Airplane mode is different: Android knows the network is gone and apps are told so.
• Regions add the typical round trip of users in a country to the CDN and to your servers. Combine them with a VPN location of the same country.
• The numbers are realistic averages from public reports, not measurements of a specific operator.

If it doesn’t work

• There is no Network conditions row: emulated networks need VPN locations; this Holtdroid has none configured.
• The app is faster than the chosen network promises: the device’s VPN route is already slower than that network. The Network tab warns about it; pick a closer VPN location.
• Everything is slow, including the screen: that is your own connection, not the emulation.

More details: Network, Network conditions.