When Apple announced iOS 7, it revealed an operating system with a much different look than the mobile OS we’re used to. According to Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper and iOS developer, this was an intelligent, strategic and aggressive move on Apple’s part. In a recent article, he describes iOS7 as a defense against copycats. Since this platform was released in 2007, iOS has seen countless immitations of its structure and appearance, especially by Android and Samsung. The iOS "theme" quickly became the "go-to" look for smartphones. Now, six years later, Apple is stepping out once again to set a new trend.

Partners HP and ZAP Technologies, the leading provider of full lifecycle test automation solutions for mobile, Windows, iOS, and Unix applications, announces the publishing of a whitepaper released to discuss and illustrate how ZAP’s most popular, market-leading product ZAP-fiX extends the HP ALM suite to testing environments on Mac-based platforms.

ZAP Technologies Introduces Real Device Test Automation

ZAP Technologies is an HP Elite Partner, HP software reseller, and solution provider. The company has been developing and delivering leading solutions through HP Software for more than 15 years. ZAP Technologies specializes in developing software that extends HP Software technologies, implementing its industry experience and expertise in test automation best practices, QA management, performance validation, and application management for Mac and cross-platform environments.

May 1 and 2, Orlando, Florida – As has been tradition for the past several years, ZAP Technologies has attended the famous STAREAST Conference in Orlando to showcase its products and solutions to the Application and QA Testing community. STAREAST is a part of the STAR family of conferences, recognized as the leader in the software testing industry for over 20 years. In this conference, we unveiled zapGEN (ZAP Generator), our newest, innovative, and market-changing performance testing product in the ZAPTEST Suite (ZAP-fiX, zapFARM, and zapGEN). Our booth sported a high level of interest, and many professionals expressed their excitement in seeing zapGEN hit the shelves.

Recently, ZAP has released its new technology (ZUMA) to its customers. This technology is unique because it gives mobile testers a new way of working with applications in the Cloud. One of the challenges of today’s mobile testing industry is the installation of AUT’s on devices. Platforms such iOS make this even more difficult, as it has closed off systems that rarely allow open access to its code. The methods to face these challenges have been to either jailbreak/root the device or to instrument it.

In a few short years, mobile application downloads have skyrocketed from a relative 30 billion to an estimated 200 billion in 2016. As we’ve noted in previous blogs, the mobile industry has transformed not just our lives but the living market and business ecosystem we work in every day. Multitasking is no longer a bonus; it’s a must. Just like consumers need to browse the internet, make a phone call, and possibly pay their credit card bill at the same time, we – as testers – have to be able to cater to multiple venues of our profession. But, the “mobile explosion” hasn’t just affected developers and testers. The strain of a fast-paced environment has greatly altered the way other departments within development companies think and act. Marketing and sales teams, in an attempt to hurriedly release the “new product”, want everything done yesterday and this often leads them to bypass critical steps from testing phases in order to meet their deadlines. They cut corners with budgets for testing tools and sometimes leave developers at a large disadvantage.