New OS version – How to Make Your App Ready?
The competition between two major mobile platforms, iOS and Android, requires both sides to be proactive, research the market trying to understand the crucial needs of the clients. They implement new brand features and fix the existing bugs in the operation system to attract new clients and to gain the priority. When the editions and improvements are ready, it’s time to release the new version of the platform so the users can check all the benefits.
How often should you worry about testing your app for a new OS?
In other words, how often is a new OS released?
Apple delivers the iOS versions to their clients once a year. The release dates of the latest iOS versions are the following:
- iOS 8 September 17, 2014
- iOS 7 September 18, 2013
- iOS 6 September 19, 2012
Google is even faster – sometimes the new Android versions were released within 6 month:
- Android 5 – November 3, 2014
- KitKat 4.4 – October 31, 2013
- Android 4.3 – July 24, 2013
- Android 4.2 – October 29, 2012
- Android 4.1 – June 27, 2012
If you would like to keep your app up-to-date and available for the latest OS versions, be ready to add the adjustments to your app at least once a year. With the help of the Ubertesters you will be able to test it afterwards and make ready for the release.
How much time do you have to make your app ready for a new OS?
This depends on time that is required for the users to switch to a newly released version.
Two month after the release of highly anticipated iOS 8, 56% of iOS users have switched to the new version. 40% of the users are on iOS 7 version, the previous versions are used by less than 5% from the general amount of users.
Google consequently delivers the new Android 5 to the owners of Nexus phones and tablets. The statistics about Lollipop usage has not been yet updated, we will add this info to our blog when it is available.
| Version | Codename | API | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2 | Froyo | 8 | 0.6% |
| 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 | Gingerbread | 10 | 9.8% |
| 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 15 | 8.5% |
| 4.1.x | Jelly Bean | 16 | 22.8% |
| 4.2.x | 17 | 20.8% | |
| 4.3 | 18 | 7.3% | |
| 4.4 | KitKat | 19 | 30.2% |
The data provided above shows that you do not have much time to make the app compatible with the new iOS or Android version. Our platform having monitoring and bug submitting tools on board will be of a great help. If it is difficult to hire the testers within the short period of time, you can always use our Hire Testers program to hire our specialists for the required time.
What platform should I use to develop my app?
According to Netmarketshare, the picture of the platform usage among mobile users is the following:
iOS and Android are sharing the market, practically not giving a chance to other mobile platforms.
The competition between the platforms is high and the popularity of each platforms differs depending on the country.
iOS played the leading role in US and Western Europe previously. However the things changes, according to the Vision Mobile report, Android overcame the iOS – 67 % vs 60 %. In Asia, Android is even more popular – speaking about app revenue, Android is prioritized 46% of the time and only 28% is left for iOS.
Lollipop has cute interface and a bench of great new features – Do Not Disturb (called “Interruptions”) arrives and notification control, Tap & Go, and specific device restores, etc. That is why analytics expect only 5 % of Android users to switch to iOS in the recent period.
What kind of app should I develop to make more money?
In general, the mobile app usage has increased during 2014 in comparison with the previous year. So you’ve made the right choice when decide to develop the apps for mobile platforms.
How the users spent time on their devices? What apps do they use?
Flurry looked through the app categories to check which of them are the most popular and which apps are gaining the popularity. The results show that the gaming apps are still dominating (32% of time of iOS and Android), Facebook is taking the second place.
The Ubertesters offers the support of cross platform apps – you can test your gaming app from Unity with the Ubertesters.
It is obvious for all the managers and developers that to make the app attractive, it is necessary to add the support of all the recent iOS and Android versions. Test your app with Ubertesters and bring the perfect solution to your users.
