Our company uses Xamarin Test Cloud Services

Diatom Enterprises is now Xamarin Test Cloud Services Partner and provides outsourcing services not only for Mobile Cross Platform development but also for testing applications using Xamarin Test Cloud Services Platform.

We have interviewed our lead developer Igor Plaksin, who organized test cloud services in Diatom Enterprises and who actually was the first developer to use them.

Igor, first, thank you for agreeing to give an interview. When did Diatom Enterprises decide to use Xamarin Test Cloud Services and what were the main reasons for that?

– We have Research and Development Department in a company, and, one of its direction was to find a way of more effective testing of Mobile applications. After some investigations, we proposed Xamarin test Cloud Services to one of our good customer. They are developing a Mobile project using Xamarin on USA National level. Project is big and very important to be sure all applications are working excellent. We proposed that solution for testing and QA procedures. Xamarin Test Cloud Services allow having the unique opportunity to launch tests on hundreds of different Android devices and iPhone, iPad and different iOS versions. So, I would say, good ideas and solutions come sometimes at the right time.

What were your first impressions of using Xamarin Test Cloud Services?

– Positive. No need to buy tons of different devices to check the operability of application on them. Now I am sure the application works securely everywhere

What was necessary to update in your applications so you could develop tests to be launched under this platform?

– With Android, it is possible to start without any changes made to the application. With iOS the project has to be supplemented with a test component Xamarin Test Cloud Agent. Having a unique Control ID, it is very easy to write tests.

How much time did it take to develop the first test? What steps did you take for that?

– It took about 1 hour. I created a project for tests, set up and wrote a short test for the login page. When I saw how it works on 200 devices I was impressed… Yeah, it was like a dream…. ) 1 hour and I tested how my app works everywhere. In real life, it took a couple of days to test it.

What impressions did the test results make on other team members, on the authorities of the company?

– The impressions were positive, everyone was satisfied.

If you knew you had to use Xamarin Test Cloud Services from the very beginning of the project, what changes would it be necessary to make to the development process before the start of the project?

– If possible, the unique IDs should be added everywhere – IDs(Android) / AccesebilityIdentifier(iOS) or ContentDescription(Android) / AccesebilityLabel(iOS) to make it easier to find the necessary fields and buttons when writing tests.

Do you know any alternatives to Xamarin Test Cloud Services as of today?

– Yes, there are alternatives, for example from CloudMonkey and PerfectoMobile, but the options offered by them were not enough for tests on the dynamic application that we have started from.

Usually, in companies that develop different mobile applications, a score of different real devices used for testing. Many problems can be connected with that, such as our iPad 3, how to upgrade Samsung of that kind of Android version? Does that mean you use Xamarin Test Cloud Services to make life simpler?

– Yes, because having a score of different devices it is impossible to test everything manually. Xamarin Test Cloud Services has all versions of both mobile phones and tablets. Accordingly, it is possible to check the work of application also on previous versions of OS.

What do you expect from Xamarin Test Cloud Services in the nearest future?

– New platforms to be added, for example, Windows Phone, and new options in Xamarin Test Cloud Services.

Thank you for your time and answers, Igor!