Troubleshoot Performance Issues in the Salesforce Mobile App

Guide to Troubleshooting the Salesforce Mobile App for Performance Issues

If the Salesforce mobile app is showing performance degradation, this guide provides the steps to diagnose and resolve the issue. Use these basic and advanced troubleshooting techniques to identify the root cause of slow load times, freezes, or errors and restore app performance.

Initial Troubleshooting:

Start with these simple checks. These steps resolve the most common performance problems and are the first thing any user should try when experiencing slowness.

1. Test Your Network Connectivity

Your mobile connection is the lifeline for the Salesforce app. Carrier and Wi-Fi signal quality can vary significantly by location.

Action: Switch between your Wi-Fi and your cellular data (5G, 4G/LTE) connection. If the app's performance improves dramatically on one network versus the other, the issue likely lies with the slower network, not the Salesforce app itself.

2. Keep Your Software Updated

Outdated software is a frequent cause of performance and compatibility issues. Updates often include critical bug fixes and performance enhancements.

App Software: Uninstall any old versions of the Salesforce app and install the latest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Operating System (OS): Ensure your device is running the latest version of iOS or Android. Check for updates in your device's settings menu.

3. Clear the App's Cache

The Salesforce app stores temporary data (a cache) to load information faster. Sometimes, this data can become outdated or corrupted, leading to endless loading spinners or errors.

Action: Follow the official instructions on How to clear cache in Salesforce for Android and iOS to refresh the app's temporary data.

4. Optimize Your Landing Tab

What's the first thing you see when you open the app? If it's a complex page, it could be the reason for slow startup times. Tabs that display dynamic information like Events, Today, or custom Lightning/Visualforce pages require more data to load.

Action: Consider updating the landing page to the new 'Seller Focused Experience,' which is optimized for faster load times. You can find more setup details here: Set up Seller-Focused Mobile Experience

Advanced Troubleshooting:

If the basic steps didn't solve the problem, it's time to dig deeper. These steps can help you pinpoint the exact cause of the performance bottleneck.

1. Use the In-App Network Test

The Salesforce app has a built-in tool to measure your connection quality directly from the app's perspective.

How to Access: In the Salesforce app, navigate to Settings > Advanced > Test My Network.
What to Analyze:
- Ping: Measures latency (delay). A high ping time means a less responsive connection.
- Download/Upload Speed: Measures bandwidth. Low speeds can cause slow loading of records, files, and pages.

2. Analyze Experienced Page Time (EPT)

EPT is a crucial metric that measures how long it takes for a page to become fully loaded and interactive for the user. Enabling this feature will display the EPT in seconds at the top of each page you visit.

How to Enable:
- iOS: Go to Settings > Advanced > Enable Performance Evaluation.
- Android: Go to Settings > Advanced > Lightning Settings > Enable Performance Evaluation.
Action: Restart the app after enabling this setting. Navigate through the app, paying special attention to pages that feel slow. A high EPT value on a specific page indicates a problem with that page's configuration or components.

3. Monitor Memory Usage (iOS Only)

For iOS users, you can monitor how much device memory the Salesforce app is consuming directly within the app.

How to Enable: Go to Settings > Advanced > Show Memory Usage. High memory usage could indicate a complex page or a feature that is straining device resources.

4. Capture Salesforce Device Logs

When you need to see exactly what the app is doing behind the scenes, event logs can be valuable.

How to Capture: In the app, go to Settings > Advanced > Send Event Logs.
Important Note: When you send the logs, the email's "To" field will be pre-populated. Do not change this address. You should, however, CC your own email address and the email of the Salesforce support engineer assigned to your case. For full instructions, see Send device logs from Salesforce for Android and iOS to Salesforce Support.

5. Capture Network Logs (HAR Files)

Network latency and inefficient API calls are common culprits for slowness. Using a proxy tool allows you to intercept and inspect all network traffic between the app and Salesforce servers. This is an excellent way to capture detailed HAR (HTTP Archive) files for analysis.

Tools: Charles Proxy or Fiddler.
Process:
1. Install the proxy tool on your computer.
2. Configure your mobile device's Wi-Fi settings to use your computer as a proxy.
3. Install the tool's SSL certificate on your mobile device to decrypt HTTPS traffic.
4. Reproduce the slow behavior in the Salesforce app.
5. Analyze the captured traffic to identify slow API calls, large payloads, or errors.
6. Export the session as a HAR file to share with Salesforce Support.
Alternative Method: You can also use the Xcode Simulator (iOS) or Android Studio Emulator (Android) on your computer. This allows you to run the Salesforce app in a simulated environment and use your browser's developer tools to capture HAR logs and monitor performance.

Note: This can also be highly beneficial for diagnosing Single Sign-On (SSO) issues and assessing SSO performance.

6. Capture System and Crash Logs

If the app is freezing, crashing, or exhibiting other erratic behavior, the device's own system logs can provide a stack trace and other critical diagnostic information.

For iOS (Analytics Data):
1. On your device, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data.
2. Find the log file related to the Salesforce app (Chatter-YYYY-MM-DD-XXXX.ips).
3. Share the file to your computer via AirDrop or email.
For Android (ADB Logcat):
1. Enable Developer Options and USB Debugging on your device.
2. Connect the device to your computer via USB.
3. Open a command prompt or terminal and run the command:
  
  adb logcat -d > logfile.txt
4. Reproduce the crash or freeze, then immediately stop the command to capture the relevant logs.

7. Perform Packet Capture(PCAP) - iOS Only

Performing a Packet Capture (PCAP) for the Salesforce mobile app is valuable for troubleshooting a variety of network-related issues, including authentication failures, security concerns, and deep network performance analysis. By capturing and analyzing network traffic, teams can gain deeper insights into how the app communicates with Salesforce servers, helping to identify problems such as failed API requests, SSL/TLS errors, or slow response times.

Connect Device to Mac: Plug your iOS device into a Mac using a USB cable.
Find Device UDID: Open Xcode on your Mac, go to Window > Devices and Simulators, and find your device's Unique Device Identifier (UDID).
Create RVI: Open Terminal and run the following command to create a virtual network interface that mirrors your device's traffic:
```
rvictl -s <Your_Device_UDID
```
Capture with Wireshark: Open Wireshark on your Mac. You will see a new interface (e.g., rvi0) in the interface list. Select this interface and start the capture.
Stop Capture: When finished, stop the capture in Wireshark and run the following command in Terminal to disable the RVI:
```
rvictl -x <Your_Device_UDID>
```

Expert Assistance: Connect with Salesforce Customer Support

If your analysis is complete but you haven’t found a solution, our support team is here to assist you. Create a case with Salesforce Customer Support, and include as many details as you can.

What to Include in Your Support Case:

1. Exact Steps to Reproduce the Issue Help us see what you see. The more detail, the better.

Good Example:
- Open the Salesforce for iOS app on an iPhone 14 Pro.
- Navigate to the 'Accounts' tab.
- Click the 'New' button.
- Notice the page takes over 10 seconds to load.
Better Example (for technical users):
- All steps from the example above, plus:
- The 'New' button is an override that launches a Visualforce page named VF_Account_Alert_New.
- Link to Visualforce page: https://[MyDomain].my.salesforce.com/apex/VF_Account_Alert_New
- This page is accessible to all profiles and calls the Apex classes AccountController and AlertUtility.
- If no custom page is involved, specify the Account Record Type assigned to the user's profile.

2. Your Environment Details Provide the specific hardware and software you are using.

Example 1: "The issue occurs on Salesforce for Android v256.0 on a Samsung Galaxy S23 running Android 13."
Example 2: "The issue occurs on Salesforce for iOS v256.0 on an iPad Pro 12.9" running iPadOS 16.5."
- Note: If the problem only happens in the mobile app but works correctly on the desktop site, please mention this.

3. The Problem's Timeline When did the issue start? Knowing this helps narrow down potential causes.

Example: "This slowness began after our org was updated to the Summer '25 release," or "The problem started immediately after updating to Salesforce app version 256.0."

4. Your Network and Connection Details

What type of network are you using? (e.g., Wi-Fi, 5G, 4G/LTE).
Are you connecting through a corporate VPN or a secure Wi-Fi network that might have a firewall?

5. All Captured Logs and Files Attach any relevant files you gathered during your troubleshooting, including:

Screenshots or screen recordings of the issue.
HAR files from Charles Proxy or Fiddler.
Device event logs, crash logs, or system logs.
A list of high EPT values for specific pages.

By following these structured troubleshooting steps, you can effectively diagnose performance issues and provide the necessary information to achieve a swift resolution.