subject: Mobile Devices, How To Test Them All? [print this page] Mobile apps, moving target Mobile apps, moving target
Companies may now recognize the compelling need to reach customers and employees through apps, but getting those apps built, tested, and to market is a new and complex challenge. Mobile is a many times more fragmented ecosystem than the desktop environment. Existing, "traditional" software development protocols need to be adapted; more importantly, mobile requires an entirely different set of quality assurance and performance protocols.
Rather than testing software in a single operating system environment, mobile requires development and testing for as many as five OS platforms iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, and Symbian. Complicate that further with a multitude of devices, each with its own form factor and display characteristics, add in the nuances of various cellular carriers both domestic and international, and you have a test scenario sure to send even the most sophisticated IT department reaching for the aspirin bottle.
It doesn't have to be such a headache, though. An effective, expeditious alternative is to go outside and utilize independent testing and monitoring partners that already have mobile infrastructures in place. The partner then becomes responsible for procuring the handsets and other devices, and establishing the carrier contracts in various geographies, typically on a scale far broader than would be realistic for an in-house department to manage. Such outsourcing is the direction the market is taking. International Data Corporation projects worldwide testing services to grow more than 15% a year through 2015, from a total spend of $9.4 billion in 2010 and mobile applications are a fast-growing part of that total.
Devices everywhere, how to test them all?
With customers and employees carrying so many different devices, the first decision is what platforms and devices to focus on for testing there are simply too many to test them all. But by clearly defining the purpose of the application and examining market share and other data, it's possible to arrive at a manageable pool of devices that serves to validate an app with confidence.
The device decision is simpler for an enterprise app to be used by employees, because the enterprise will determine what devices are supported. In that case, it's definitely possible to test on all the devices for which the app is intended.
Testing: There's an app for that
The device decision is simpler for an enterprise app to be used by employees, because the enterprise will determine what devices are supported. In that case, it's definitely possible to test on all the devices for which the app is intended.
Real tests use real devices
It's not that testing with real devices is the gold standard, though that's one way to look at it. The fact is, there is simply no way to emulate the behavior of a mobile app in the field unless the device is literally in the field. System overhead, memory usage, CPU speed a host of variables impact app functionality in ways that just can't be reproduced in a lab. To get real test results, you have to deploy real devices.
