Validation and Testing are an integral part of designing mobile website. This is what will ensure that the website is mobile compliant and will work on the smartphones and tablets available on the market. What’s more, it’s only testing the devices on the various usability parameters that can ensure that its bug free.

The Unforgiving Nature of Mobile Browsers

As compared to desktop browsers, mobile browsers can be quite unforgiving. You misplace a few HTML tags and you have a problem on your hands. More importantly, the fact that mobile browsers are not as powerful as desktop browsers means they can’t handle more code, and therefore the markup for mobile websites must be perfect. With their small footprint in memory and on disk, mobile browsers don’t have the robustness of their desktop counterparts.

So, testing and validation is important.

Initially, you can check the markup that you have been developing for your mobile website using normal desktop browser, by using the same set of tools that you validate traditional sites with, for e.g. W3C validation etc.  Once the validators confirm the accuracy of your markup, you need to take the website through a series of live testing.

Crucial Mistake

One of the cardinal sins of mobile website testing is thinking a web browser or a desktop computer will help perfectly simulate the mobile experience. No doubt you can always test the functionality of the site on a web browser or a desktop browser, but you won’t be able to test your mobile website in a comprehensive manner. You can’t expect to replicate the mobile environment completely on your desktop. There are plenty of other things that need to be considered when it comes to mobile platforms such as the packet sizes of the mobile operation, content mime types, functionalities of the specific devices amongst various others.

So let’s take a look at some of the ways that can help you exhaustively test your mobile website.

• Buy a variety of Phones

Agreed this will be expensive, but not if you just buy a handful of phones that are representative of the mobile brands that your target audience is using. . What this means is that you will need to identify the kind of smartphones that your target audience is using and buy some of them. This idea is usually good for you, if your mobile website is not a one off thing and you will be developing more mobile websites or applications in the future. There are 5 mobile OS that you will need to test your website for, namely iOS, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, Android and Symbian. So, purchasing smartphones that are specific to these mobile OS will be a good idea.

• Using Emulators

You don’t have to buy emulators as they are freely available online. What these emulators allow you to do is see images in context and also the general layout of your mobile website. The disadvantage of using emulators is that they are real devices, so you can expect a perfect environment for testing, but the advantage is that they are free, so you shouldn’t avoid testing on them. Think of testing on emulators as the first step towards getting a bug free, mobile website.

• Taking the Help of your Friends

It’s the easiest way of testing your mobile website. You can ask your friends to lend you their mobile devices for some time. Use them to test your website. You might have used your online emulators to test the website thoroughly, but there is no denying the benefits of testing the website on a mobile device. You might like this ‘way’ of testing rather than buying mobile phones, but asking your friends will limit your testing on those phones that your friends have. What if they are only using phones that use the Symbian and Android OS? You will still need to test your website for iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

It’s advisable that you use a testing strategy that is a combination of all the three ways listed above, but at the end of the day, it’s your choice. But, whatever the option you choose, it’s important that you keep testing, till you are absolutely satisfied.

Developments in the world of mobile app development are happening at the rate of knots. There is something happening daily whether it’s in the realm of programming, applicability or something else. Today, mobile applications have tremendous scope and are being used to satisfy many different requirements, including the needs of business organizations.

Less than a decade or so ago, the very thought of using such applications for satisfying certain specific business needs and requirements would have sounded like a flight of fancy. But not anymore! The situation is such that there are plenty of organizations that have moved on to being mobile app dependent as compared to being enterprise desktop dependent.

Replacing Enterprise Desktop

The enterprise desktop was the old warhorse that no matter what the challenge, could always meet the demands made from it. Nobody ever expected it to be relegated to the backseat and the fact that this has happened has come as a shock to many people. But, the transition from an enterprise desktop to a mobile app is very logical and driven by business necessities. The increasing affinity of business for mobile apps is a result of the increasing sophistication of mobile phones especially smartphones. They are highly miniaturized versions of a desktop, performing the same functions, but with the added advantage of mobility.

Mobile OS are becoming more enterprise friendly

The BlackBerry OS was always focused on the needs of the organization and the business user. But, now even companies like Apple have an iOS Enterprise Developer Program, which is focused on helping companies not only host but also distribute iOS application through the iTunes store to its employees. At the same time this program also offers engineering support. Developers now have the opportunity and resources to bring to life business centric applications that have all the functionalities and features that were associated with native business apps. In fact, many mobile apps tend to go one up over the existing native apps.

Diverse Applicability

Mobile applications are being used by businesses across diverse domains, irrespective of their size. Both big and small enterprises are using mobile apps for everything right from offering field support to supply chain management and procurement. In fact there are some companies that operate their very own in-house app store that helps their employees’ access the apps that enable them perform their business functions in the best possible manner. The fact that everyone is carrying a mobile device these days means they are emerging as decision making tools, decisions that are facilitated by the use of specific mobile apps. They have made data more accessible and its use more engaging, simple and highly interactive. This is helping increase productivity and in turn improving revenue generation.

Choice of Platforms

Whatever the mobile OS, a successful enterprise application can be built on the same. So, if you want to build an application for Android phones, android application development will help you configure an app that is not only secure but also structurally sound enough to handle the needs of the particular business process that you need it for. Just about every phone manufacturer is turning its smartphone into a universal enterprise tool and more and more businesses are making use of such tools in order to become more nimble footed as far as decision making is concerned, and also more competitive. And it is mobile applications that are the driving force of this usability.

When developers write a mobile application, security is paramount in their minds. A misstep in enforcing aspects such as SSL, not giving due importance to threats from virus, worms, Trojans, malware and unauthorized software, application isolation etc. has the potential to compromise the data on the app and the device as a whole.

So, any mobile application development company worth its salt will give prime importance to the security of their apps.  Here are some ways mobile app developers underwrite app security. Before going ahead, it’s important to clarify that each mobile OS whether it’s the iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Phone 7 or BlackBerry, have their platform specific security specifications, but there are certain security considerations applicable to all of them.

Secure Programming

The foundation of most mobile applications rests on programming languages such as C, C++, C# or Java. The benefit offered by these languages that have been in use for such a very long time is that developers have gained a lot of experience on them; they can thus implement secure programming practices for developing a secure code. Professional mobile app developers, who know the value of code security, never do rush jobs when it comes to writing their code. They perform the necessary security checks and balances by adhering to the most stringent security frameworks and coding guidelines.

Proper Storage of Sensitive Information

Some developers make the mistake of storing sensitive information in text format on the mobile devices. Whether its iPhone or android application development or developing application for any other OS, developers can ensure all sensitive information in an unclear text format, taking the help of the various platform specific encryption resources available for this purpose. Developers use, native encryption resources which means they don’t have to take the help of third party software that might compromise security at a later date.

Evaluating and Analyzing the Security Strengths of Mobile Browsers

Applications that use a mobile browser are the most susceptible to security threats. To ensure app security on mobile browsers, developers focus on understanding the various security aspects of different mobile browsers, their strengths and limitations. It’s important to understand that the security implications and considerations of the desktop browsers are not applicable to mobile browsers.

Differentiating the threats from the non-threats

There are certain threats that matter to a mobile application, while there are others that don’t. What this means is that there are certain threats that are acceptable and there are other that aren’t. Professionally sound and astute developers initiate a threat identification process to identify which is which. The idea behind identifying the potential risks to the applications help developers write a more secure code; this also helps at the time of conducting a comprehensive series of tests for ensuring the functional efficiency of the mobile app.

These are just some of the many ways in which developers ensure secure mobile application development.

An online venture has its work cut out in terms of establishing its own distinctive online presence. The competition is tough and its only chance of success is reaching a wider target audience. If you are launching an online venture, it’s your branding efforts that will determine the success or failure of your business.

The most decisive component of your branding strategy is your online presence in the form of a website. But, gone are the days when this presence could only be limited to the web; your online presence now needs to go mobile. Also, this presence should be such that it can be accessed through a variety of devices such as desktop, laptops, mobile phones and tablets. Limiting its accessibility will have a negative impact on your branding efforts.

Mobile Users are a Rapidly Emerging Target Audience

If there is one development that is getting noticed by online marketers, it is that people are getting increasingly tech-savvy. This is reflected in the ever growing number of mobile users and the fact that a large percentage of these mobile users are smartphone users, who are accessing the web from their handheld devices. In doing so, they are no longer dependent on a desktop/laptop for accessing a particular website. Now, a large part of these users will comprise your target audience and you can’t afford to ignore this audience as it is a potentially lucrative source of revenue.

The mobile website as an important branding tool

In order to target your audience of mobile phone users, you need a mobile compatible website. This is the kind of website that can be accessed from the mobile phone of your target users. The importance of mobile website as a branding tool can be estimated from the fact that more and more mobile users are becoming ‘mobile only internet users’. This means they are accessing the internet only from their mobile phones. A large percentage of these users are likelier to buy from retailers that have a mobile website. So, having a mobile website makes tremendous business sense!

Although not as popular as smartphones, tablets such as the iPad are slowly but surely making their presence felt.  The ensuing years will see increased website viewership on the mobile operating systems that a tablet runs on. So, your online presence also needs to be tablet compatible. It helps you establish a presence in the minds of an emerging audience.

Something else that is capturing the imagination of mobile users is the mobile app. The various mobile OS specific apps stores are full of innovative and highly engaging apps that are eagerly being downloaded by users. A well-designed and engaging mobile app is an efficient way of capturing the attention of a mobile user; and integrating the mobile app with a ‘splash page’ is an innovative way of marketing your online venture.

In order to optimize the marketability of your mobile website, it’s important to identify the smartphones and tablets used by your target audience and design a website and/or mobile app that work perfectly on your user’s mobile devices.

A concerted marketing strategy

Be it a desktop website, a mobile and tablet compatible website or a mobile app, they must offer the same message. Yes, the limitations or freedoms offered by certain devices/operating systems will determine the way this message is expressed, but the gist should remain the same. 

Here are a few pointers that need to be taken into consideration to ensure successful use of your presence on the web and mobile.

• There should be no distractions on your Desktop/laptop website, mobile and tablet compatible website, and mobile app. Distractions dilute the message of your website and lead to unnecessary confusion. So, they need to be avoided at all costs.
   
• You need to ensure that you use the same logo & design theme across all websites and even your splash page. It ensures a commonality between all your online presences and helps you make a much stronger and concerted marketing effort.
   
• Your information should remain the same across all platforms, but its presentation can change keeping in mind the space constraints of certain devices. When it comes to a mobile website and mobile app, the information should be to-the-point and mention only the important points.
   
• It’s also important to provide links to your mobile website and app on your main website.
   
• If someone tries to access Desktop/Laptop compatible website from the mobile browser then this user should automatically be redirected to your mobile compatible website. This fact is relevant to the tablet as well.

The process of establishing a successful presence doesn’t end with just building a series of compatible websites or mobile apps. It also includes marketing the website and/or app in the best possible manner. So, even mobile marketing plays an important role in ensuring your online venture reaching a wider audience. Taken together the combination of an online presence on desktop/laptop, mobile/tablet, mobile app and penetrating mobile website marketing solutions, ensures a formidable internet presence that reaches and makes an impression on a wide target audience.

Be it mobile or web application development, the chances of an app concept creating its very own category are slim and very difficult. Most app concepts fit into one out of the numerous existing categories. Yes, the very first mobile gaming app created its own category, but all later gaming apps were categorized in that category, likewise for utility apps, puzzle apps, educations apps and entertainment apps amongst the many others.

This brings us to an interesting little problem. How do you ensure that your app is unique, if it isn’t revolutionary? When it comes to mobile application development, it is not necessary that you have a revolutionary new idea. All you need to do is give your app a unique spin. What it requires is a little bit of focused re-imagination. Even a little bit of change, here and there, will guarantee an app that looks and feels different!

So come, let’s take a look at some ways how you can fructify this process of re-imagination.

Take a look at your competitors

Taking a look at what your competitors are up to, especially with respect to their mobile apps will give you a clear idea as to which direction your mobile application development should take. Look at their apps from the perspective of a consumer and think about the changes you would have loved to make. So, make the necessary change and you have a perfectly unique app on your hands.

Think of a category defining features

There might be a cool feature that you think works best for a particular category. Even if you don’t have a particular feature in mind, talk about the same with your mobile apps development team. Maybe they can help you out. This is why you need to choose somebody who has experience of working on apps for diverse categories. This helps them bring all their experience to your concept, which in turn helps them zero in on that one feature that was missing from most apps in a particular category and which your mobile app will have. This can help your app stand out from the other mobile apps in that particular category.

Focus on creating something unique

If you don’t think unique right from the conceptualization stage itself, you won’t be able to give shape to a unique app within an existing app category. Even when you are thinking about building app, you need to think different. At the planning stage, you need to focus on how your app is going to differentiate from the rest of the apps in the category. What this will do is it will help your mobile application development efforts go off the beaten track and help re-imagine the wheel. So, right from the time you work on the conceptual drafts to the time you deploy the app, your focus must be on giving a twist to your app concept.

Mix categories

If you have tried everything under the sun, to make your app raise eyebrows and capture the attention of your target users, and have still not found that X factor, why not mix different categories. It’s a shortcut that will help you ensure that your app is different. For e.g. by developing an app that is an interesting mixture of utility and gaming, you build an app that is neither a gaming app nor a utility app, but can belong to either of the two categories. By doing so, you have spun a unique app without putting in a whole lot of effort in the proceedings.

Do not follow the leader

This step is as drastic as they come, but can be a game changer if a market is extremely saturated with apps belonging to particular category. In such cases, what you need to do is identify the market leader, then go through the mobile apps developed by this leader; identify the finer points of the apps. Once you have an in-depth idea about what the apps are all about, go ahead and do something completely opposite. If the app is going right, go left. This way you will be positioning your app in direct competition to the leader. The decision might boomerang, but you are at least giving your app a chance to break into the market and make its presence felt. It tells everybody,” I am unique and proud of it”. It’s a fact, that target audiences love such apps.

It is only when you start thinking about re-imagining a particular app category that you can give shape to an app that can stand on their own two feet within a category, already overpopulated with unique apps.