How to solve fragmentation issue in mobile application development ?

For example , Android is a very fragmented ecosystem with lots of various types of devices(samsung , motorola , sony ericsson,LG,HTC ) with different configurations , hardware(ram, cpu ,gpu , sensors) , OS versions(android 2.1 ,2.2 ,2.3 ,3.0 ,4.0) and different screen sizes.

 

This will be the biggest issue if you are targeting application users with broader span.

For instance , if you are developing application for android , you can use android emulator inbuilt in the SDK to roughly know what the application will look like.

 

But for the real life conditions you have to test application on real mobile device, now there are many types of devices with various configurations and manufactured by different companies.

 

So , we have to check our application on all the devices for the best performance, because application user could have any of these device.

 

Though application works perfectly on other devices, if our application is not tested for that particular user device and have some performance issue , then it results the negative review by user in the market and that negative review will impact application selling.

 

Well , we can not check our application on all the devices ,and can not afford to buy all the devices as there 100s of devices are there in the market.

 

Now, what to do ? what is the solution?

 

Well, the solution is to use the cloud SaaS (Software as a service) and use various testing tools.

 

1. DeviceAnyWhere

2. Perfecto mobile

3. Jamo Solutions

4. Fone monkey

5. Egg Plant

 

Saas is used by many companies to provide device services to their customers (mobile application developers).

Device anywhere , Perfecto mobile etc. are the companies with saas model.

 

The saas format is highly beneficial model for customers , as it enables service company (eg. DeviceAnyWhere) to cater to the immediate needs of a wide range of users while providing them with flexible payment schedules, as well as technical support for problems that may arise. 

 

Users pay only for the time they use on DeviceAnywhere  in a pay-as-you-go format. 

 

Using this saas deviceanywhere developers and testers can remotely access live mobile devices any where in the world and they can run automated test scripts to test device and resolve bugs in their applications.

 

 

Device anywhere is direct-to-device technology.

Fig. illustrates Direct-To-Device technology which facilitates interactive access between user and live device over a network.

In Direct-to-device technology users are able to control inputs of devices and view all outputs.

The technology takes the form of an electrical integration system involving wires connected to each mobile handset’s input/output interfaces , such as buttons , lcd , touch screen , ringer , speaker , backlight , battery , microphone etc.

 

We can see the output of the device using software UI on our desktop or laptop device as shown in fig.

 

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