Get Your Consumer-facing App to the Finish Line with Mobile App Testing
If you’re tempted by process shortcuts to get your consumer-facing app across the finish line with minimal testing, be aware that while a quick release meets the market window, a well tested product gets the five star reviews. Taking a little extra time to get your new apps to market is a worthwhile trade off in order to conduct mobile testing.
Here’s why:
Mobile App Testing Maximizes Release Velocity
The Agile method has become the touchstone for mobile app development because it moves fast. But moving too fast can mean skipping essential tasks, like mobile app testing and usability testing.
Rather than giving in to pressure from market-driven stakeholders who equate speed with success, try integrating mobile testing early in your Agile process. Doing so minimizes the twists and turns of fixing bugs later, and a straighter path boosts your ability to release better code faster.
Mobile App Testing Helps You Maintain Your Pace
If you develop siloed apps, you’re in for a surprise with consumer-facing apps. The range of skill sets among users places unique demands on consumer-facing apps. If your app uses Apple iOS, you have less to worry about than Android app developers since Apple limits the number of devices that use iOS. However, Android devices make up the majority of the market, which means testing your app on a variety of devices and with a variety of users in mind.
Cloud-based testing is better than using simulators, but it still doesn’t cover the range of devices that will eventually use your app. And if your app fails during testing, how long will it take you to fix it?
A mobile app testing company will test your app on devices that are representative of the consumer market and of your app’s prospective user base. If the app fails, there’s a team of experts supporting you, so you can maintain your development pace.
Mobile Application Testing Removes Obstacles in Your Path
Even though it’s an app development process, sometimes app development alone becomes the singular focus—to the exclusion of middle-ware, third-party payment processing, server functions, and user interface. Testing your consumer-facing app across all nodes and interfaces ensures that code and connections function as expected.
If you release new features or bug fixes without testing, how will you know whether middle-ware code or server connections will be adversely affected by the “improvements”? Mobile testing can remove unexpected obstacles from your path.
Mobile App Testing Ensures Robust Support for Increased Traffic
Let’s say your app crosses the finish line and becomes the next “big thing.” Can its back-end support this increased load? If your app fails—gracefully or otherwise—it will fall out of favor quickly. Your company may then find itself facing negative reviews. That network of consumers that spread the good news about your app can spread bad news even faster.
Conducting proper testing ahead of your app’s rise to greatness gives you the confidence that your app has robust support for increased traffic. Adding usability testing can help your app maintain its competitive edge by ensuring that all business processes execute as expected.
So on your next app development project, resist the temptation of speeding for the finish line. Test your app through its paces, and you’ll discover that the positive reviews from your customer base are more than worth some additional time and effort.
Read “Software QA: Hire In-house or Outsource?” to help you determine whether you should hire QA in house or outsource to an experienced software testing company.