3 reasons why testing is increasingly integral to mobile app development success
Mobile devices are dominating consumer attention and apps are becoming the preferred method for interacting with smartphones and tablets. At the same time, the internet of things is driving businesses to roll out apps and services for an ever-broadening range of devices, use cases and operating systems. The result is an operational climate where development teams face so much pressure to produce new solutions that best practices, such as testing, can fall to the wayside.
Mobile technologies taking over
Competition is fierce in the mobile app space. Research from Statista found that, as of March 2017, there were approximately 2.8 million apps available on the Google Play store and 2.2 million on the iOS store.
While the competition is high, the good news is usage is keeping pace, with consumers spending more time on their devices. The amount of time the average U.S. consumer spends on a mobile device is five hours daily, Flurry Analytics found. Furthermore, users are embracing apps over mobile web browsers. In Q4 2013, approximately 20 percent of time spent on a mobile device was on a browser. That figure dropped to 10 percent by Q2 2015 and fell all the way to just 8 percent in Q4 2016.
While mobile devices generate consumer attention, the IoT is taking over development efforts. Research from Mind Commerce Publishing indicates that application development and device integration are emerging as major priorities in the IoT space. At this stage in the market, many companies are scrambling to catch up to expectations for API availability within IoT ecosystems.
In short, the mobile app development climate is becoming more competitive and more complex than ever, making effective testing processes of the utmost importance.
Why testing matters so much
The importance of testing in mobile app development can’t go understated, and we could go on at length about detailed reasons to care about testing. However, we’ll keep this simple and focus on three overarching, essential motivators behind modern mobile application testing efforts:
- Time to market: A difference of a few days can separate an app that goes viral and a solution that gets lost in the overflowing app stores.
- User acceptance: Among consumers and business users alike, an app that isn’t effective right away will quickly get replaced by an alternative.
- Device diversity: Hardware configurations are so varied and so difficult to control that businesses must test with incredible precision to ensure proper functionality on day one. Solutions such as Kobiton are particularly beneficial here, as they provide a mobile-optimized test environment to help companies simplify complex tests covering multiple devices and operating system configurations.
Research from Gartner found that testing is more complex than ever and that no single tool can handle the end-to-end evaluation process. It may be time for businesses to get some help.
Updating testing practices for today’s development needs
DevOps and similar trends are emerging to help organizations keep up with the new demands created by mobile apps. As companies work to accelerate dev processes, they must also work to refine testing and ensure they can get solutions into production quickly and in line with project goals. For example, Katalon Studio is changing expectations around app testing through modernized automation tools that empower organizations to accelerate assessment processes without sacrificing quality. KMS Technology is among the leaders in helping businesses revamp their development capabilities, including testing. We can help you too. Contact us to learn more about how we can work with you to resolve longstanding mobile app testing challenges.
