A solution to mobile diversity and fragmentation
Rating: 8 out of 10
IncentivizedUse Cases and Deployment Scope
Launching a mobile app in today's landscape presents a challenging problem: There are so many platforms, devices, and OS permutations that running these comprehensively in-house is an exhaustive and expensive approach. Applause solves this testing problem with their In-The-Wild service; by having a large managed resource of global testers that can effectively simulate real-world testing. It's as close to the real-world happy path as you can get.
Applause helps us launch our mobile apps quickly and frequently by augmenting classic testing approaches with real-world testing. Risk of a failed launch is greatly reduced because we have the happy path coverage locked down on each and every release.
Applause helps us launch our mobile apps quickly and frequently by augmenting classic testing approaches with real-world testing. Risk of a failed launch is greatly reduced because we have the happy path coverage locked down on each and every release.
Pros
- Provides excellent platform, device, and OS coverage across the board. We don't have to worry about purchasing a barrage of devices for in-house testing. It's expensive and doesn't provide a good return for the money.
- Your Project Manager actively manages your project. They are available almost 100% of the time during business hours to ensure your test needs and concerns are being handled.
- Applause's test management software is rapidly advancing. It's fairly feature packed and provides good visibility into what's going on with your testing.
Cons
- Though Applause effectively manages their testers, there can be a gap at times between lining up the testers and getting the results you want. It's a fine balance between fresh eyes gleaning new or glossed over bugs but running the risk of being product ignorant vs. returning testers generating more in-depth issues and risking test exhaustion and jaded perspectives.
- Applause's Test Management software really needs backward integration with Jira. Currently they support forward integration, but if you're managing your issues internally, all that information (state, comments, etc.) cannot be conveyed back to Applause.
Likelihood to Recommend
Tester skill and experience is varied so it's important for the project manager to properly understand your requirements. The better they can build a team to suit your needs, the better your results will be. This will require a number of test cycles and fine tuning to get it right. It also fares better with consumer applications which are designed for the "common" user. For example, if you have a niche product designed for businesses, this type of testing may not be a good fit.