The Importance of Mobile App Testing

Recently, Android overtook Windows as the most popular operating system for accessing the internet. Also, total amount of time spent by consumers on mobile apps has been increasing consistently. With consumers spending more digital time on in mobile apps, each enterprise must launch mobile app to reach out to more customers, promote its products, and boost sales. But the entrepreneur must remember that a user has option to choose from an array of apps with similar features and functionality.

He must make the mobile app standout the crowd to accomplish more downloads.  Also, he must make the application deliver richer user experience across various devices and platforms to prevent user abandonment. An enterprise must focus on the app’s accessibility, functionality, usability, security, and performance to enhance its user experience. Likewise, it must detect and repair all defects and performance issues in the app to ensure consistent and heavy use. An enterprise must test the mobile app elaborately to enhance its user experience, popularity, and marketability.

Why Enterprises Must Test Their Mobile Apps Elaborately?

Prevent User Abandonment

Several studies show consumers spending more digital time in mobile apps. But users spend most time on just five mobile apps. Also, many users abandon mobile apps after one use. Hence, it becomes essential for enterprises to prevent user abandonment to keep the mobile apps profitable and generate more revenue. The testers perform a variety of tests to identify the defects or issues that affect the app’s user experience directly. They further get the critical bugs or defects fixed to enhance the app’s quality, user experience, and marketability.

Accelerate Hybrid Mobile App Development

The choice of mobile app differs from one user to another. Likewise, users also access a single app on various devices and platforms. Many enterprises opt for cross-platform or hybrid mobile apps to reach out to more users and accomplish more download. The user experience delivered by a non-native mobile app differs from one device or platform to another. The testers must test the hybrid mobile apps with varying devices and platforms to produce more reliable test results. Also, they need to repeat the tests under varying user conditions to ensure that the app delivers richer user experience across devices, platforms, and networks.

Users Now Have Option to Assess Quality of Apps

Major mobile platforms like iOS and Android enables users to assess the performance of individual apps. For instance, Android Nougat enables users to assess the performance of apps and services based on memory and RAM usage. Likewise, iOS 11 will help users to clean up both memory and storage space by rarely-used apps. It even allows users to offload the unused apps automatically by selecting a specific option. Hence, the users can easily identify and uninstall the worst performing mobile apps. The enterprises can easily prevent users from offloading their mobile apps by testing the performance of the mobile app based on key parameters.

Overcome Device and Platform Fragmentation

At present, Android has a much larger worldwide market share than other mobile platforms. But Android is an open source mobile operating system. Google allows device manufacturers to alter and customize its mobile operating system according to their precise needs. Hence, the hardware and software features of devices powered by the same version of Android differ. Also, the penetration rate of the latest version of Android is much lower than its earlier versions. The device and platform fragmentation makes it challenging for developers to create mobile apps for world’s most popular mobile platform. The enterprises must test the mobile app thoroughly to make it popular by overcoming the device and OS fragmentation.

Make the App Marketable

Nowadays, a user has option to choose from several mobile apps with similar features and functionality. The enterprises have to promote their mobile app aggressively to reach out to more users and accomplish more downloads. Many enterprise promote their mobile apps through various channels to increase number of downloads. The smart entrepreneurs emphasize of developing marketable apps to boost the digital marketing campaigns and accomplish more downloads. The quality of a mobile app directly impacts its marketable. When the app is tested thoroughly, it becomes easier for marketers to promote the high quality app aggressively and effectively.

Monetize the App Effectively

Most users nowadays prefer free apps to paid apps. Enterprises have to make their mobile applications available as free apps initially to attract and impress prospective users. Many enterprises nowadays launch both free and paid versions of the same apps to accomplish more download. The smarter entrepreneurs even implement various app monetization options – in-app advertisement, in-app purchase, subscriptions and native advertisement – to generate revenue despite launching free apps. The entrepreneurs must launch a high quality app to implement the app monetization techniques effectively. When the app is tested elaborately, it becomes easier for developers to monetize the app and generate revenue.

Check If the App is Working Correctly

Each enterprise has to invest time, effort, and money to launch a mobile app. But there are always chances that the app may not meet all its requirements. Likewise, the app may not work in the proper and expected way. The testers perform a variety of tests to check if the mobile app meets predefined business requirements. Also, they use various tools and frameworks to assess the mobile app’s user experience based on its accessibility, functionality, usability, performance, and security. The test results help the enterprise to ensure that the mobile app is working properly and meets its precise needs. Also, the test reports help enterprises to make crucial decisions about promoting and launching the mobile app.

On the whole, each enterprise must implement a formal testing strategy to make its mobile app marketable, popular, and profitable. The mobile app testing strategy must clearly define the tests to be performed, balance real devices and emulators, and combine automated testing. An enterprise also has option to get its mobile app tested by both external and internal testers. It can even accelerate mobile app testing by involving selected users in the testing process.

What do developers need to know about REST API?

Each programmer nowadays uses various application programming interfaces (APIs) to exchange information between two applications. As a set of functions and procedures, APIs enables a software application to communicate with specific operating systems, applications, and services. Most websites and web applications use REST API to send requests and receive respond using HTTP protocols like GET, POST, PUT and DELETE.

At its name indicates, the REST API is developed based on representational state transfer (REST) technology – an architecture style for developing networked software applications. As REST API uses HTTP, it becomes easier for programmers to use any programming language and platform. Also, it keeps web applications portable by keeping the client and server separated. However, the web application developers must understand the salient features of REST API.

Understanding Key Features of REST APIs

Smarter Alternative to SOAP

Many web developers still use SOAP to write APIs. But REST is both simpler and smarter than SOAP. The programmers can create and implement REST APIs without putting extra time and effort. But they need additional time to write and implement APIs with SOAP. Many enterprises also provide REST APIs that access and communicate with their core services seamlessly. They even include both architecture and tools in the REST APIs.

Keeps the Client and Server Separated

While developing a web application, programmers use client to handle its front-end and server to handle its back-end. REST APIs allows programmers to keep the client and server separated. The developers are required to store the session states in the client instead of the server. Also, they can improve the application’s performance by making the client cache responses. REST API

Delivers Stateless Service

REST APIs are designed to deliver stateless service. They lack the capability to remember or store important information like user credentials. While referring to the REST API, the developers have to remind it about the required data or information. The stateless service requires programmers to provide data repeatedly. But it makes REST APIs more scalable than other APIs. The enterprises can use REST APIs seamlessly without deploying additional servers to store the current states of various clients.

Supports both XML and JSON

A REST API accesses sends and receives data through various HTTP protocols. The HTTP protocols enable programmers to work with their preferred programming language and platforms. At the same time, the REST APIs support both XML and JSON. Hence, the developers can easily make the web applications exchange data in both XML and JSON formats.  

Uses Distributed Hypermedia System

REST APIs use hypermedia which is an extension of hypertext. It uses hypermedia to make the web application development interface provide adequate links to the user and the client. The adequate links enable clients to execute specific actions of data. Each REST API further requires developers to implement Hypermedia As The Engine Of Application State (HATEOAS) principle. The principle ensures that the server respond to each request sent by the client. At the same time, the response sent by the server to the client must include adequate browsing links as part of client resources.

Option to Check Error Messages

While making a web application interact with other applications and services through APIs, the developers need to ensure that the APIs are working flawlessly. The REST architecture allows programmers to embed error messages in REST APIs. The developers can easily identify the defects and performance issues by referring to the error messages. The REST APIs provided by large enterprises even allows programmers to access and check many error messages.

Requires Programmers to Document Architectural Changes

The web application developers can make changes to the architecture of REST APIs according to their precise needs. But they must document the architectural changes adequately to make it easier for programmers to use the APIs effortlessly. However, the programmers are not required to include elaborate information about architectural changes in the documents. They can even use robust tools like Swagger to synchronize the changes and updates automatically as they keep changing the architecture of the REST API.

The web application developers often use REST APIs provided by major search engines, social networking platforms, content management systems, and ecommerce websites. For instance, web programmers nowadays use REST APIs provided by Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Magento, and Ebay. The web developers also have option to use REST APIs with varying platforms and programming languages.