Если приложение обновится, оно будет работать быстрее.

If the app updates, it will work faster.

Breakdown of Если приложение обновится, оно будет работать быстрее.

• если: if
• работать: to work
• приложение: the app
• обновиться: to update
• быстрее: faster
• оно: it

Questions & Answers about Если приложение обновится, оно будет работать быстрее.

Why is обновится in the future tense? In English we often say If the app updates (present), not If it will update.

Russian normally uses the same real tense you mean in both parts of a real condition. Since the updating is in the future, Russian uses the future: Если приложение обновится….
English often uses present in if-clauses for future meaning, but Russian doesn’t do that here.

Why is обновится perfective, not imperfective (обновляется)?

обновиться is perfective and focuses on the update as a completed event (the update finishes). That fits a condition: once it updates (and the update is done), then…
обновляется is imperfective and usually means it is updating / it updates (habitually), which changes the meaning.

What does the -ся in обновится mean? Is it reflexive?

In many verbs, -ся forms a reflexive or “middle” meaning. With обновиться, it commonly means to get updated / to update itself (the app undergoes the update).
So приложение обновится is natural when you’re not focusing on who performs the update.

Could I say Если приложение обновит(ся) or Если вы обновите приложение instead?

Yes, but the meaning/structure changes:

• Если вы обновите приложение, оно будет работать быстрее. = If you update the app… (you are the doer; обновите is perfective, 2nd person).
• Если приложение обновится… = If the app gets updated… (no explicit agent).

Why is the second part оно будет работать, not оно будет работать(ся)?

работать doesn’t take -ся here. работаться exists but means something different (more like to be able to work / for work to go well, often impersonal: мне хорошо работается).
For an app simply functioning, работать is the normal verb.

Why is the future formed as будет работать (two words) instead of a single future form?

That’s how Russian forms the future of imperfective verbs:

• Imperfective future = быть (future)
  • infinitive → будет работать
• Perfective future is a single word → заработает, обновится, etc.

Why use imperfective работать in the future, not perfective заработает?

будет работать быстрее emphasizes the ongoing state: after the update, the app will function (in general) faster.
заработает быстрее is possible, but it often sounds more like it will start working (and start doing so faster)—more focus on the moment it begins working.

What is the grammatical role of оно? Why is it there?

оно is the subject of the main clause and refers back to приложение. Russian often repeats the subject with a pronoun after a long clause for clarity:
Если приложение обновится, оно будет…
You can also omit it: Если приложение обновится, будет работать быстрее. (still understandable from context).

Why is оно neuter? How do I know which pronoun to use?

Because приложение is a neuter noun (it ends in -е and is grammatically neuter). So the matching pronoun is оно.
Masculine: он, feminine: она, neuter: оно, plural: они.

Why is there a comma after обновится?

Because Если приложение обновится is a subordinate clause introduced by если. In Russian, subordinate clauses are typically separated by a comma:
Если …, …

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, but punctuation stays:

• Оно будет работать быстрее, если приложение обновится. (main clause first)
• Если приложение обновится, быстрее будет работать. (emphasis on быстрее, but this is more stylistic)

What part of speech is быстрее here, and why not быстрей?

Here быстрее is a comparative adverb meaning faster (modifying работать).
быстрей also exists as a comparative form, but быстрее is more common/neutral in modern standard Russian.