Are you sure your apps would pass load testing?

You’ve done the builds, pushed the updates and your feature set is looking strong. But when the user count spikes, something gives. Screens freeze, requests time out, or the app crashes completely.

It might pass QA. It might work fine on your device. But when it matters most (during peak hours, press launches, investor demos, etc) it just doesn’t hold up. You’re left firefighting issues you thought were fixed, and questioning why things broke when you needed them most.

Apps usually fail under load because they weren’t built or tested with real pressure in mind. Legacy infrastructure, quick fixes and guesswork testing compound over time. You might have heard the following from your teams:

“It only fails when thousands are online.” “It worked in staging.” “The last load test passed.”

We’ve heard it all before, but passing once doesn’t mean passing again - especially if you’ve made updates since. Without consistent performance testing, every release risks introducing regressions that only show up under strain.

At Indiespring, we’ve seen some familiar culprits fail under load testing:

• Unoptimised backend architecture
  • APIs that respond too slowly, synchronous processes that block the UI or services that crash when concurrency spikes.
• Unindexed queries or overworked databases
  • Slow responses or timeouts that bottleneck user requests.
• Unnecessary network calls
  • Especially during onboarding or screen loads, putting unnecessary strain on servers.
• Limited or unrealistic testing environments
  • Staging data that doesn’t match real user behaviour, or test scripts that skip edge cases.

What’s worse, this failing under pressure doesn’t just cause inconvenience, it damages trust. Your users will uninstall fast when apps stall or crash and your reviews will drop, hurting your discoverability. Some users will stick around… but they’ll be asking for better. Your support teams will be flooded, slowing resolution and frustrating more users. When they inevitably can’t make the fixes, that’s when your brand takes a big hit too.

It’s worth nothing here to that, if you’re in a regulated or enterprise space, the risks go beyond PR. Poor performance could violate service level agreements or contractual obligations.

Book a discovery session here.

Without knowing what will break and why, you’re just going to end up throwing money at the problem. And testing from the UI alone won’t reveal slow database queries or fragile integrations.

Here’s what you need to do:

This isn’t about panic. It’s about preparation. And the good news? You don’t need a total rebuild.

Here’s how we help our clients stabilise under pressure:

1. Start with a stress audit We simulate real user behaviour at above real load volumes to surface performance bottlenecks. Better to overstress and be confident that it can handle regular stress!

2. Focus on bottlenecks, not busywork

We identify the specific services, endpoints or queries dragging your app down, and prioritise fixes based on actual user impact.

3. Create a repeatable load testing setup

We will build up a custom solution using existing or bespoke tools for your specific pen testing needs.

4. Plan for resilience

We refactor where necessary, but we don’t believe in rebuilding for the sake of it. We show you how to make the current setup stronger, not just newer.

When’s the last time your app was properly load tested? If you don’t know the answer, or haven’t seen results since your last major release, we can help.

Let’s run a stress audit and show you where performance breaks down, before your users do it for you.

Book a discovery session here.