Mobile DevOps & challenges

The concept of Mobile DevOps entails integrating development and operations (DevOps) practices to improve the efficiency and speed of mobile application development. Like DevOps, Mobile DevOps has different stages for mobile apps from planning to monitoring, including all the practices that help the mobile team to deliver qualitative mobile apps smoothly, quickly, and frequently.

In order to accelerate the Mobile DevOps process and success, the team should consider the following considerations and best practices:

• Ensure that version control is robust so that merging conflicts and lost work are minimized.
• Build automation (CI/CD) so you can focus on creating rather than managing complex pipelines.
• Test frequently and automate to respond to feedback (shift-left testing).
• Manage your mobile apps’ artifacts to release them where they belong.
• Be sure to keep your security in mind.
• Make a small start and grow intelligently from there.
• Creating is about designing and developing.
• Perform app monitoring and status checking continuously.

Large-scale mobile app development challenges

Aside from the unique nature of mobile apps, there are many challenges to be faced when developing them. Among the most common challenges are the following:

• Integrating multiple platforms to create a seamless user experience: Mobile applications often need to be developed for multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android. This can create additional complexity in terms of testing, deployment, and maintenance.
• Monorepos and multiple repositories: When working on large-scale projects, coordination and version control become challenging.
• Adapting the app to different devices and operating systems: Emulators and simulators can be useful for testing, but they can’t replicate the full range of experiences and issues that users may encounter on real devices. This can make it difficult to ensure the quality and reliability of mobile applications.
• Assuring the app is secure and meets security and data privacy requirements: Mobile applications often handle sensitive data, such as personal information and financial transactions. This requires careful management of the security and privacy risks.
• Staying up to date with mobile app trends and technology: In order to develop mobile apps, you need a unique toolset that is constantly evolving. With ever-growing market demands, there are always new technologies for building, deploying, and monitoring performance.
• Ensuring continuous delivery and deployment: Mobile applications need to be updated frequently to fix bugs, add new features, and improve performance. This requires a robust DevOps process that can handle multiple releases per day.
• Integrating with APIs: Mobile applications often rely on external APIs for features such as location tracking, and data storage. These APIs can be prone to change or downtime, which can impact the stability of the mobile application.

Develop a strategy and plan that suits the needs of your stakeholders and team members. Establish a standard process for your Mobile DevOps best practices upfront.

Source: Mobile DevOps Playbook by Moataz Nabil