Xamarin
Sophisticated and Agile Mobile App Testing Platform

As businesses mobilize their IT assets, they are breaking monolithic systems into purpose-built, single-function apps that take advantage of context to make tasks easier. By providing these apps, CIOs can replace the dozens (or even hundreds) of unsupported apps used by lines of business taking matters into their own hands and bypassing IT. But this “appification of the enterprise” can only be successful if the apps work—securely, reliably, and across all the devices that the customers use.

Unfortunately, testing those new apps can create unforeseen consequences on release cycles. Manual test execution can be extremely time-consuming and difficult to document, and haggling over manual test results can create unpredictable production delays. Allowing for these delays has reduced a number of sophisticated agile development organizations to waterfall for their mobile projects.

To address this problem, Xamarin Test Cloud provides a simple way for developers and QA engineers to script and execute tests for any native or hybrid mobile app on over 1,900 devices, without compromising on schedule. According to Keith Ballinger, VP of Product, Xamarin, “Developers select devices based on form factor, manufacturer, operating system, or market popularity, click a button, and get results back in minutes. Xamarin Test Cloud provides screenshots and video recordings for each step of a test on every device, as well as performance data and comparisons against previous runs.” Xamarin Test Cloud also integrates with TFS, Jenkins, TeamCity, or other Continuous Integration (CI) systems to allow push-button testing and automatic collection of test results.

To get visibility into the quality of their apps, many developers have expanded their focus beyond app store reviews and bug reports to mobile crash reporting and monitoring solutions, such as Xamarin Insights. Once they turn on monitoring, they are shocked to see a much larger number of issues with live users that go completely unreported, on devices they’ve never tested.

According to Ballinger, “Seeing all of that ‘red’ in the analytics drives businesses to test on all devices that matter to their audience. It’s hard to ignore large parts of your target market when you can see first-hand the struggles they have with an app.”

Thousands of the world’s most prominent businesses use Xamarin to build, test, and monitor their apps. eBay moved from a heavily manual testing process that was actually making their code less stable to an automated system using Xamarin Test Cloud. They integrated automated testing with their Jenkins-based CI system and were able to expand from one to two platforms and release on a faster, more regular schedule. According to Niels Frydenholm of eBay Denmark, “Xamarin Test Cloud plays a fundamental role in our continued effort to maintain the highest possible quality of our products and in securing a short time-to-market”.

For many businesses, getting started with testing and monitoring can be a challenge. Xamarin’s Client Services team accelerates the time taken to execute the mobile testing process, in order to develop productive end user mobile applications. The team offers mobile development enablement and advisory services, providing guidance on mobile strategy, technical training, architectural best practices, and ongoing assistance throughout the development lifecycle. “With over 1 million developer downloads and customers building apps for all use cases and verticals, our unique perspective and technical expertise helps enterprises avoid pitfalls and succeed faster,” says Ballinger. “Our network of 350 consulting partners across the globe makes it fast and easy to find Xamarin-skilled talent to further accelerate app projects.”

Xamarin accelerates time-to-market and mobile success with a complete workflow for enterprises to build, test and monitor high-quality, high-performance mobile apps