When you establish mobile connections in your application, there are some important design considerations to take into account:
Multiple connections
While applications can typically assume open network connections in the desktop environment, mobile devices can form more than one connection and those connections are often short-term. Information for initializing a network or WLAN connection is stored in access point entries on the mobile device.
Mobility affecting connection status and characteristics
When managing network connections, it is important to remember that mobile devices are constantly moving, which causes changes in the network and available connection routes. Data connections may suddenly be lost for a shorter or longer period; for example, due to bad radio coverage. Moreover, an obstacle may appear between the two devices in an infrared connection, and the target device may move out of the range of a connection supported by the Bluetooth technology. Your application must be prepared for unexpected connection breaks and adapt to changes in the connection characteristics. Applications should always remain responsive to user actions, even if the required connection cannot be established or if there is a connection break. Asynchronous methods are one typical method of addressing these issues.
Restrictions set by the service provider or the network structure
Connectivity problems may also be caused by restrictions set by the service provider or by the network structure. For example, a service provider may restrict access to some domains or an operator may allow access to some services only through their own access point.
Power consumption and connection costs
Connections from a mobile device consume power even when there is no actual data traffic, as the device monitors the connection status or changes in the network or searches for devices within a local connection technology range. This means that idle connections and frequent checks for connection status can reduce battery life unnecessarily. For this reason, it is recommended that you carefully consider the need for mobile connections and their duration and that you close the connection used by your application when it is no longer needed.
For more information on power consumption management in mobile devices, see Power Management documentation provided by Forum Nokia.
Note: Since mobile network connections cost the mobile device user money, it is recommended that whenever your application needs to establish a network connection, it pops up a confirmation query to the mobile device user for accepting the connection.