Mobile application development
lastmod 2022-08-16created 2015-03-123 edits
Mobile application development by which application software is developed for handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These applications can be pre-installed on phones during manufacturing platforms, or delivered as web applications using server-side or client-side processing (e.g. JavaScript) to provide an "application-like" experience within a Web browser. Application software developers also have to consider a lengthy array of screen sizes, hardware specifications and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software and changes within each of the platforms. Mobile app development has been steadily growing, both in terms of revenues and jobs created. A 2013 analyst report estimates there are 529,000 direct App Economy jobs within the EU 28 members, 60% of which are mobile app developers.
Test tools
As mobile device use spreads, testing has become a headache for mobile app developers. Creating a smooth app experience is not easy when you don't know which combination of operating system, browser, and device users will have. This is especially true when the number of devices you can test on is limited.
On top of that, as demand for apps grows, testing is becoming even more important. "As more and more complex applications are released, testing has now become an indispensable step in the development cycle," said Subu Baskaran, product manager at mobile app testing tool vendor Sencha.
This need has given rise to a variety of tools and services that find bugs in apps and let you test how an app actually runs in advance. Cloud-based tools that give access to thousands of device and software combinations are especially impressive. Here are 8 major testing tools that make testing easier for mobile app developers.
- Appium
- Bitbar Testdroid
- Bugsee
- CrossBrowserTesting
- Sauce Labs
- Sencha
- TestFairy
- Ubertesters