Best Practices in Mobile App Development

Presenters
Sachin Katariya Pravin Kulange

Agenda
• Who we are?
• Our experience in this space
• What you need to excel as app developer?
• Why we need best practices?
• Realties of native mobile app lifecycles
• Best practices for
– Conceptualization
– Development
– Testing
– Submission
• Connecting the dots
• Q&A
• Tools for Troubleshooting Mobile Applications
Copyright © Harbinger Systems www.harbinger-systems.com 3

Who we are?
 Group companies:
Harbinger Systems
• Your Partner in Technology Innovation
• Leading provider of software engineering services to world’s best product
companies
Harbinger Knowledge Products
• Innovations in Interactivity
• Global Leader in interactivity solutions for knowledge-sharing applications
Harbinger Group
 Over 22 years of global operations
 Team of 500+ professionals
 Services and customer base in 57+
countries
Offices in Pune (India), Redmond
(USA), Pleasanton (USA), London (UK)

Our experience in this space
An Established Mobility Practice
 Enterprise and consumer app development for variety of
industries
– Publishing, eLearning, Healthcare, Retail, Travel, Social, Gaming
 Mobile development skills across a range of platforms and
technologies
– iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, Symbian
 Offline Content Player for mobile platforms
 4+ years of experience in building mobile apps
 Demonstrated expertise of building 50+ mobility solutions
 Customers ranging from start-ups to market leaders

What you need to excel as app developer?
• Rapid development and faster time-to-market using Best Practices and
Accelerators
• End-to-end development expertise
– Conceptualization to app store publishing
– Client app development to service layer development and/or integration
• Proficient User Experience (UX) team
• Experience in developing and integrating enterprise products and
consumer internet applications
Product Experience Best Practices, Accelerators
UX TeamTech Incubator
Advanced Testing
Capabilities
Server Side
Expertise

Click to edit Master title style
BEST PRACTICES
Achieving an optimized app development timeline without compromising
on quality

What is the need?
Mobile apps have become one of the key enablers for any
product or service
Time to Market is Important
- First mover advantage
- Catch up with leaders
- Grab the seasonal demand
Device and platform diversity continues with greater intensity
Controlling Cost is Essential
- Make smart decisions and spend judiciously
- Avoid overruns and recurring costs
Increased user expectations have set a new bar
Delivering and Maintaining High Quality is Crucial!

Realities of native mobile app lifecycle
Ideation Conceptualization Development Testing Submission Distribution
Next version
45-60 days for core application and 15-20 days for updates
70-80 days for core application and 25-40 days for updates
However market research indicates…
Simple App - $4,000 – $10,000
Moderate App - $10,000 – $50,000
Complex App - $50,000 or more

Ideation Conceptualization Building Testing Submission Distribution
How can you achieve an optimized
product timeline without compromising
on quality?

Conceptualization
Converting your ideas into tangible forms
1. Know your users
• Don’t go overboard in supporting platforms/devices
• Decide right user experience (UX)
2. Rapidly build application mock-ups with workflows
• Finalize application workflows and interfaces early
• Honor platform specific UI guidelines
• Use rapid wireframing tools like Balsamiq, MockFlow
3. Plan data exchange
• Decide roles of server and mobile app
• Plan on protocols (REST or SOAP, JSON or XML)
4. Go for Layered approach instead of Monolithic
• User interaction: Native UI controls, 3rd party libs, HTML5
• Business logic: Core app logic using classes and controllers
• Data Access Layer: Network services and databases
Get clarity on how the app would work and understand
issues and bottlenecks in early stages to save rework
20%

Development
Convert the tangible artifacts into executables
5. Think smarter
• Consider the limitations of platforms/devices/networks and
follow related guidelines while you design
• Build and use common Libraries for app families
• Use frameworks like PhoneGap, RhoMobile, Corona 2D for
multi-platform apps
6. Don’t hesitate to use Design Patterns
• MVC and Template patterns will save effort duplication
• Factory method provides better decoupling
7. Don’t compromise on code quality
• Use static analysis tools like StaticAnalyzer (XCode), Jupiter
(for Eclipse)
• Version control add-ons like AgileReview, Crucible (by JIRA)
8. Be Test Ready
• Use Unit test frameworks like SenTesting Kit, JUnit
• Implement ‘One Click’ build automations (JMeter, Jenkins)
These tips will make the code maintainable, detect bugs in minimum
cycles and automate tasks - all of which will save considerable time
40%

Testing
Ensure that the app is usable and secured
9. Automate
• Wherever possible automate the testing, prefer cross-
platform solutions.
• UI testing using Instruments, FoneMonkey
• Data validation testing using TestLodge and TestRail
• Implement ‘On Field’ crash reporting service (Custom, JIRA)
10. Test Rapidly and Aggressively
• Automation helps in rapid functional testing
• Use combinatorial testing methods to increase efficiency of
testing on variety of network types, form factors, resources
11. Don’t forget Security
• For Android use Package Play, Manifest Explorer, Intent Sniffer
and Intent Fuzzer
These testing techniques ensure superior quality in a short span of time
and reduce the need for bug patches.
25%

Submission
Make your app available through publishers
12. Ensure your app does not have these
• Compilation warnings
• Duplication of native features and controls
• Incorrect user notifications
• Over usage of native memory
• Redirections to web pages
• Improper app description
in addition to many other common rejection reasons
13. Understand the review process
• Honor the Human Interface Guidelines – Display,
gesture, orientation, consistency, aesthetic integrity
and feedback
• Carefully complete the submission documentation
• Produce artifacts needed by reviewer
Being prepared will significantly improve the chances for one shot approval
15%

Following these best practices, you can achieve nearly
30% reduction in development time and cost without
compromising on the quality
Simple App : $4,000 – $10,000  $2800 – $7000
Connecting the dots
Ideation Conceptualization Development Testing Submission Distribution
Next version

Thank you for attending the Webinar!
Contact us at hsplinfo@harbingergroup.com for more information
www.harbinger-systems.com
Pune (India), Redmond (WA, USA), Pleasanton (CA,USA), London (UK)

Tools - Troubleshooting Mobile Applications
http://blog.harbinger-systems.com/2011/02/trouble-shooting-mobile-applications/
Comprehensive list of tools to help you troubleshoot your apps

Best Practices in Mobile App Development

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