Smartphones, Tablets & Wearables: the Challenges of Cross-device Development

With the Apple Watch launching last week, once again attention turns to wearables. This new technology sector has yet to be fully defined but already it is clear it will be big, at least as big as the initial tablet market. For device manufactures, the wearable market is a new gold rush, offering the chance to launch new products into an area with virtually zero penetration. But for enterprises looking to develop existing or new apps, it makes some of the existing development challenges even tougher.

Fragmentation

As we know, it is not only the plethora of devices that causes problems for enterprises looking to develop apps — it is the multiple operating systems you have to deal with. This does not just stop at the big three of iOS, Android and Windows Phone, but gets even more complex with the different versions of each. You may think you’re some way off needing wearable app development for your enterprise, but just consider how quickly tablet apps shifted from nice-to-have to embarrassing-if-you-don’t-have-it. When you add the new operating systems that are emerging for the wearables market, an already fractured app development market has a whole new dimension of complexity.

The Need for Speed

Other than making development complex, what does this extra fragmentation mean? It means that if you’re now developing for three different device categories, unless something changes, development cycles will become even longer.   Agile app development, with its focus on speed and constant improvement, is therefore more important than ever. But it’s already the standard for a growing proportion of development teams.   Effectively, if you’re developing for a third device category, something has to give.   You need better tools and more resources.   Otherwise there will be further delays that no-one in your business wants to happen.

Under-resourced QA

The challenges do not stop at app development. QA teams in agile development are often stretched to breaking point with a constant barrage of test cases to handle.   Already, we see QA teams everywhere struggling to keep pace with the burdens placed upon them.   Add wearables testing into the mix and QA is going to be in real trouble.   Again, something has to give.   And again, that means QA teams need better test management tools and more resources.

Smartphones, tablets and wearables are combining to create exciting times for both enterprises and consumers. However, for app development and QA, the growth of these different platforms is going to cause problems. Working with experts who not only know, understand and work with the different platforms, but also can develop and test apps and wearables quickly is more important than ever.

Contact us to find out how Apexon has helped its customers reduce launch times by 75%, reduced testing time from 7 days to 6 hours and successfully automated 1000 test cases in 12 weeks.