Tag: iOS development

An introduction to unit testing, UI testing, and test-driven development (TDD) in iOS, along with recommended testing tools.

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Unit testing, UI testing, and Test-Driven Development (TDD) are crucial practices in iOS app development that help ensure the quality, reliability, and maintainability of your code. Here’s an introduction to each, along with recommended testing tools for iOS:

1. Unit Testing:

  • What is it: Unit testing is the practice of testing individual units or components of your code in isolation. In iOS development, a unit typically refers to a single function, method, or class.
  • Purpose: To verify that each unit of your code works correctly in isolation.
  • Benefits: Detecting and fixing bugs early, ensuring code reliability, simplifying code maintenance, and supporting code refactoring.
  • Recommended Testing Tool: XCTest is Apple’s built-in unit testing framework for Swift and Objective-C. It integrates seamlessly with Xcode, making it the standard choice for iOS unit testing.

2. UI Testing:

  • What is it: UI testing involves testing the user interface and interactions of your app to ensure that it behaves as expected.
  • Purpose: To validate that the app’s UI components and user interactions function correctly.
  • Benefits: Preventing user-facing bugs, ensuring a smooth user experience, and automating repetitive testing tasks.
  • Recommended Testing Tool: XCUITest is Apple’s UI testing framework for iOS. It allows you to write UI tests that simulate user interactions, such as tapping buttons and entering text, and verify the app’s responses.

3. Test-Driven Development (TDD):

  • What is it: TDD is a development approach where you write tests before writing the actual code (production code). The process typically follows these steps: write a failing test, write the code to make the test pass, and refactor if necessary.
  • Purpose: To drive the design and implementation of your code by focusing on its desired behavior and ensuring that it meets requirements.
  • Benefits: Improved code quality, better test coverage, reduced debugging time, and increased confidence in code changes.
  • Recommended Testing Tools: XCTest for unit tests and XCUITest for UI tests can be used effectively in a TDD workflow. Additionally, third-party testing libraries like Quick and Nimble can enhance the readability and expressiveness of your tests when combined with XCTest.

Recommended Testing Tools for iOS Development:

  1. XCTest: As mentioned earlier, XCTest is the standard unit testing and UI testing framework for iOS and macOS. It’s well-integrated with Xcode and provides a solid foundation for testing iOS apps.
  2. XCUITest: Apple’s UI testing framework for iOS apps, XCUITest allows you to write UI tests that interact with your app’s user interface elements.
  3. Quick and Nimble: These third-party libraries for Swift can be used in conjunction with XCTest to write more readable and expressive unit tests. Quick provides a behavior-driven development (BDD) style, while Nimble offers a set of expressive matchers for assertions.
  4. Mocking Frameworks: When writing unit tests, you may need to mock dependencies (e.g., network requests, databases) to isolate the code being tested. Some popular mocking frameworks for Swift include Mockingbird and Cuckoo.
  5. Continuous Integration (CI) Tools: Tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, and CircleCI can automate the execution of your tests whenever changes are pushed to your code repository, ensuring that tests are run consistently and providing rapid feedback.

Incorporating these testing practices and tools into your iOS development workflow can greatly improve the quality and reliability of your apps while streamlining the development process. Unit testing, UI testing, and TDD are essential components of modern iOS app development, helping you catch and address issues early in the development cycle.

Android VS. iOS: Mobile App Development choice for 2022

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Are you thinking about having an app for your business? That’s an excellent idea as there is no better medium to enhance your business outreach in 2022. Now the good news is you can find many mobile app development companies in the market to build your business app.

But the most crucial decision you need to make is which portal you would get your app developed upon. As of now, there are two major mobile App development platforms available in the market that are Android and iOS and there is tough competition between them.

Let’s have a look at these two platforms so that you can decide which would be most complimentary for your business model. 

Android app development platform

ADVANTAGES

Easy to use: when compared to other app development platforms like iOS, it is easier to learn to use android. The main reason is that Google the owner of the platform mainly focuses on providing resources through which those who are new to android devices can learn to operate quite easily.

Highly adaptable. One of the key advantages android offers is the flexibility it provides in development with minimal restrictions. Moreover, the android application can run on any given android device adding to the same. 

Learning Curve: when compared to other development platforms like iOS, it is easier to learn android. The reason is that Google the owner of the platform goes out of its way to provide resources through which beginners can learn to operate the OS.

App deployment: With the recent change of policy in the year 2020, Google offers one of the easiest methods of app deployment it has become very easy for android app development companies to publish an app on Android. 

DISADVANTAGES 

Security issues. Android mobile app development platform is an open-source platform which makes it more prone to cyberattacks as compared to iOS which isn’t open-source, android is considerably less secure.

Quality standard: one of the main challenges with android app development is fragmentation. Although there have been arguments that it allows developers to create multiple apps at the same time, admitted it might complicate the process to another level.

User Engagement. It has been observed that android users are more attracted to free applications and spend less to no making in-app purchases.

 

iOs app development platform

ADVANTAGES

Performance. iOS never compromises when it comes to performance making it fast, reliable, and easy to use. And this can also be seen in all the mobile applications that are developed from this platform. 

Apple ecosystem. This point can be viewed both as an advantage or a disadvantage. However, from a technical point, it’s the best thing a company can do for their customers. Apple ecosystem allows seamless connection between a variety of Apple devices.

Aesthetics. iOS developers get a lot of guidance from apple when it comes to creating the user interface. The reason is that iOS is a platform that captures its users with visually pleasing UI/UX, and its apps are no different.

DISADVANTAGES

Customisation. Since Apple is adamant about its style the customisation of apps becomes a lot harder this is one of the reasons why it can be somewhat difficult to hire iPhone app developers.

App publishing. The App store of iOS can be more demanding than its android counterpart. Even if you make sure your app doesn’t break any major protocols, it might still not be enough for it to be selected.

Restrictive environment. When compared to android, the iOS development environment is a lot more regulated and rigid.

Summing it up

We hope you found our comparison between iOS and android application development useful. But only you can decide which one is best for your business. In case you have any questions or need help in mobile app development, you can book a 30 minutes free session with us and we’d be delighted to help you out in any way we can.

Cheers!!

Latest Trends that are shaping iOS development in 2022

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Out of the majority of branches in mobile app development, iOS is one of the most lucrative and popular. This is why, it is anticipated by experts that by 2023, the worldwide revenue of iOS apps will reach over $935 billion.

With these opportunities comes the massive competition that every business dealing with iOS app development needs to deal with. One of the most promising strategies for gaining an edge in the competitive market is following the latest trends in iOS technology.

If you wish to know the latest trends in iOS development then you’re at the right place, in this article we’ll be discussing just that. Following these trends will skyrocket your iOS app’s user experience to another level.

Let’s get started, shall we!

1) Augmented reality

It is one of the most successfully implemented iOS development trends. It is hugely popular in entertainment; for instance Pokemon Go or animated masks and stickers on Instagram or Snapchat.

The ARKit 5 framework provides iOS developers and users with more opportunities and combined with machine learning, lets you place AR objects at a specific location with the help of a Location Anchor. 

Not only this, users can now make use of the front and back cameras of their devices instantaneously if they wish, and even place AR content behind or in front of people, experiencing green screen effects in a real-world environment.

2) Swift 6

It all starts with selecting the right programming language. For most iOS app developers, Swift is used as a minimalistic tool that is thus easy to learn and execute. 

So what makes iOS app development with Swift so comfortable and efficient? It’s all about compatibility, API and module stability and clear syntax.

As for Swift 6, developers can expect a considerable rise in the capabilities of the language in 2022 and the coming years. It is said that Swift 6 will focus more on supporting a variety of platforms, other than iOS. Moreover, developers are also expecting improvements in diagnostics, code completion and debugging, 

3) Machine learning & AI

ML and AI have always been an integral part of iOS mobile development.  Users won’t even be able to recognise an iOS app without face and speech recognition, search recommendations, Siri, and text & image classification features.

All loyal Apple users are well known for Siri, an intelligent voice assistant that responds to voice commands. Since 2016, iOS developers have been integrating their apps with Siri to implement its voice control features. Now you can also create custom intents to provide your app with exclusive features.

Needless to say, Machine learning & AI will always remain a core aspect of iOs development and it’s not going anywhere, instead it will grow even more in the coming years.

4) App Clips

Would you be able to develop an iOS app that consumers could use without downloading it? App Clips is the solution and one of the latest iOS app trends. This technology allows users to utilise one part of an application to try out before downloading its full version.

AppClips are automatically removed from the iPhone if not used for around  30 days. They are as safe to use as regular apps, as they get reviewed by App Store moderators, so users need not worry about any privacy issues. 

Creating app clips is an iOS app development stage that is worth it, as Its success might become the turning point for the triumph of your whole application. So make sure it is eye-catching and extensively informative for your users.

Lastly…

It is all about creating an app that attracts users and makes your products or services easier to sell. By using the features, your business app will make that happen.

In case you need help in iOS or hybrid app development or have any questions regarding iOS apps, please feel free to book a free 30 minutes session with us and we’ll try our best to help you out

Cheers!!