Google Glass is shipping and first generation users can expect to have the newest mobilewear tech in their hands soon. But what good is a new device if it doesn’t have many apps? As it turns out, you won’t have to wait long  for Google Glass apps – er, “Glassware.”

While things will likely start slowly at first (TechCrunch is reporting that only developers with a physical Glass device will be able to access the Glass API for the time being), Google has added a Glass section to its developers site. The site gives potential developers, testers and other interested parties a look at how Glassware (aka, apps) will work and what Google expects from third party developers.

In addition to the API, quick start guides for Java and Python and walk-throughs of several key Glass features, the site also outlines best practices for Glass in general, its user interface and best performance tips. The best practices all boil down to four main points Google is doing its best to promote:

• Design for Glass – Design, build, and test your application specifically for Glass to ensure that the user experience is appropriate.
• Don’t get in the way – Glass users expect the technology to be there when they want it and out of the way when they don’t. Don’t be too frequent and loud with notifications when the user doesn’t expect it.
• Keep it timely – Glass is a platform that is most effective when in-the-moment and up-to-date.
• Avoid the unexpected – Surprising the user with unexpected functionality is bad on any platform, but especially on Glass given how close it is to their daily experience. Be honest about the intention of your application, what you will do on the user’s behalf, and get their explicit permission before you do it.

Google understands the importance of in-the-wild testing – and it practices what it preaches!

You’ve heard the web vs. native app debate time and time again. As a developer you’ve weighed the pros and cons to determine which development approach to take, and as a consumer you’ve mulled over the two options for your own mobile usage.

But Gartner indicates this debate could soon dissolve with increased adoption of the hybrid development approach. According to Nathan Eddy, of eWeek, Gartner predicts the hybrid approach will be used in more than 50% of mobile apps by 2016:

“According to the report, so far the promise of HTML5—a widely used language for structuring and presenting content on the Internet–and its offline capabilities and animation-rich tools have fallen short of expectations, which in turn has caused developers to consider hybrid architectures to better leverage mobile device capabilities.

‘The BYOD trend and the increased pressure on organizations to deploy mobile applications to accommodate mobile work styles of employees will lead businesses to manage a portfolio of mobile application architectures, and hybrid architectures will be especially well-suited to business-to-employee applications,’ Van Baker, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement. ‘The implications for IT is that the era of PC dominance with Windows as the single platform will be replaced with a post-PC era where Windows is one of a variety of environments that IT will need to support.’”

If Gartner’s predictions are correct the adoption of hybrid apps will grow fast, with 2016 merely three years away. Then the real question becomes, if hybrid apps offer so many benefits why haven’t they already been heavily adopted? Matt Baxter-Reynolds, of ZDNet, believes that while the concept of hybrid apps is great, we simply have not been able to get hybrid apps work:

“Building a hybrid app means you build your software using HTML5/JavaScript and package it up in an app that can be installed on a device. Because it’s running locally and in a native device package, hybrid apps can do things like access the GPS, camera, etc.

Managing to get an app working on multiple platforms is a huge pain. Somehow we’ve engineered (no pun intended) our way into a situation where we can’t easily take code from, say, iOS to Android and then to Windows Phone. Any hop between platforms needs reengineering. If you build a hybrid app, you should, in theory, just be able to get away with writing it once and repackaging the same code for other platforms. That’s a huge win.

I think the reason why initiatives to build hybrid apps that fail become newsworthy is that people really want this idea to work. It seems logical. It seems proper. Failure piques the interest of those developers following the story.

The only problem with hybrid apps is that it’s nigh-on impossible to make them work. And that’s quite a big problem.”

Testing across platforms will be a major challenge for hybrid app developers, and already is one for native and web app developers. This is why testing under real world conditions across carriers, devices, operating systems, platforms – you name it – is such an important part of a development team’s QA process. With the right testing, developers can get their apps to work, the first time and every time.

We want to hear from you… what do you think of hybrid apps and of Gartner’s prediction? Share your thought in the comments section.

When you think about bad mobile app security, Android tends to come to mind. The open nature of Android makes it (theoretically) easier for malicious apps to find their way into the app store and onto users’ devices. While intentionally malicious apps may be a problem for Android, when it comes to data leaks and the loss of personal information iOS is actually a bigger security offender, according to Veracode’s recent State of Software Security report. From Computer Weekly:

Surprisingly, 26% of Android apps exhibited information leakage bugs, compared with 42% on iOS. This covers the leakage of personal information such as email, text messages, GPS coordinates, and the content of users’ address books.

“When you install Android, it requests access to certain phone functionality. The app developer has to request explicit access, while on iOS a developer does not have to request access,” said [Chris Eng, vice-president of research at Veracode].

Even when developers take the extra steps to make their apps secure, their approaches may be miss guided. Trying to build in cryptographic keys to protect user data can actually make security worse if not done correctly. This issue is troubling for both major operating systems.

Overall, cryptographic issues affected a sizeable portion of Android (64%) and iOS (58%) applications.

The report warned that using cryptographic mechanisms incorrectly can make it easier for attackers to compromise the application. Cryptographic keys are used to protect transmitted or stored data.

It found that in some applications, developers had hard-coded a cryptographic key directly into a mobile application. Should these hard-coded keys be compromised, any security mechanisms that depend on the privacy of the keys are rendered ineffective.

Mobile app security is complicated. Developers and testers need to keep working to understand the issues and learn how to best address them.

In the business world, a year-over-year growth rate of 163% percent is cause for celebration. In the world of mobile malware, a 163% growth rate is cause for consternation. If we are to believe a recent study from Mobile service provider NQ Mobile, that’s the present situation for the Android operating system – and it’s probably going to get worse.

Here’s TechCrunch with the story:

Trends indicate we’ll only see more attacks, and more creative ones, according to NQ. In February, security researchers identified a new type of malware that uses an Android device as a launch platform for infecting a target computer via USB connection, the company said. That remains limited to only a few identified infected handsets, but it’s a troubling attack vector that could pose plenty of problems down the road if it becomes more sophisticated. In a release, NQ Mobile co-CEO Omar Khans said that what’s needed is a system that can detect threats in advance of infection and prevent them, something which so far hasn’t really been widely available.

NQ Mobile’s report found that more than 32.8 million Android devices were infected over the course of 2012, up more than 200 percent from 2011. Of course, the general Android device population grew massively over the course of the year – a recent ABI Research study indicates that there will be over 798 million active Android devices by the end of the year, compared to around 300 million as of early in 2012. And the U.S., despite having a large chunk of the overall user population, is actually further down the list in terms of target countries, with just 9.8 percent of infected devices, compared to 25.5 percent in China, 19.4 percent in India and 17.9 percent in Russia.

Read the Rest >>>

An article today on Wired that piqued my interest was the difference in how men and women use apps. While, “the most well-known and popular apps in the App Store tend towards a 50-50 gender ratio split.”, it appears that the way in which men and women use the apps show some interesting differences. Stereotypical findings still exist, most sports and automotive apps are downloaded by men and woman are downloading far more catalog apps, still, some anomalies presented themselves. I’d like to share with you some of the interesting stats I found.

• Catalog Spree reported that men are ever so slightly (about 2-percent) more likely to actually purchase items through mobile apps than women are
• Venmo, an app that lets you easily send and receive payments from friends, reports that 60-percent of its users are male.
• Mobile marketing firm Velti found that men purchase 11-percent more virtual goods than ladies.
• According to Storm8, the sixth largest grossing mobile app publisher of 2012, their gaming titles in this category feature a 75-percent male userbase. However, Storm8 sees 80 percent of downloads coming from women for “social arcade” category of gaming, things like Bubble Mania or jewel-matching titles.
• A larger percent of ladies download books on their mobile devices than fellas, according to Flurry Analytics.
• Photography apps skew more male on iOS (strong on the iPhone, moderate on the iPad), while they lean moderately more female on Android.

I would have to agree with Christina Bonnington, the author of the Wired piece, that although some of these stats are interesting, they still seem to point out that men and women use their mobile devices pretty much in the same way, “both men and women are using their devices for reading content, for playing games, for making purchases, and dozens of other purposes.”

Cupcakes, froyo, ice cream sandwiches and jelly beans are all delicious! They’re also all Android operating system versions. Over the years Android has released 39 public updates to their OS. What did each update add to the platform? When did your favorite feature hit the market? Learn all about the history of the Android versions in this infographic put together by Kinvey.

What’s the app economy look at the start of 2013? According to a Q1 report from analyst firm Canalys, downloads are up, markets are growing in new locations and Google and Apple are still on top. The report looked at the app stores for Google, Apple, Windows Phone and Blackberry in more than 50 countries. Overall, 13.4 billion apps were downloaded in the past three months, an 11% increase over the end of 2012.

If you’re an app developer or tester, where should you be focusing your mobile efforts? Here’s a breakdown:

• Some of the strongest growth was seen in emerging markets, such as South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia
• App downloads in North America and Western Europe increased -  6% and 10% respectively
• Google Play saw the most downloads – accounting for 51% of downloads from the four major stores

Though Google and Apple still dominate the app market, Tim Shepherd, Canalys Senior Analyst, believes Windows Phone and Blackberry are still in the game. They need a fair bit fo work to steal away market share, though, Tim cautioned in the report.

BlackBerry 10 now has more than 100,000 apps available through its storefront, showing good growth from the 70,000 it boasted at launch, and the new devices on the platform have given BlackBerry a much greater chance to compete for consumer attention. Its app story is going from strength to strength, but there is no room for complacency. Microsoft, with the help of partners such as Nokia, is also making good progress attracting some important titles to the Windows Phone platform, but it too needs to do more to make building apps for its platform a priority for developers and also do a better job of marketing and communicating the already established strength of its app story.

So if you want to be in the midst of the mobile testing needs, focus your time in Android and iOS testing. Don’t forsake Windows Phone or Blackberry though, if those OSes continue to grow testers are going to be in high demand, especially since they’ll be less common.

If you’re a tester in emerging markets like South Africa, Brazil or Indonesia, invest in your mobile collection and brush up on your testing skills, the mobile app ecosystems in those areas are taking off, which means testers will be busy.

All this talk about Facebook Home for Android has peaked my curiosity. As a new Android convert and a Facebook junkie, it seems logical that I would gravitate towards this. However, I find all the information out there is negative criticism. Everything from security issues to how Zuckerbergs announcement was remiscnent of Microsoft in 2011 (see video).

But, for those of us with an Android phone, and who love the capabilities of the Android, this could be a great thing! A recent post on AndroidAuthority highlights some of the benefits of this marriage.

1. Android dodged a bullet by creating a software that runs on top of android and not forking android, like the Amazon Kindle Fire, “(Android) has further cemented its position at the top of the mobile ecosystem”
2. “Facebook has just become one (if not the most) powerful Android ally.”
3. “Custom launchers will become much more popular, and thus a real advantage in the market for Google, and not just another paragraph in “top 10 reasons Android is better than iOS” articles.”
4. “Love it or hate it, the concept will surely make a lot of impact on the market.”

Personally, I am excited for it, but what I really want to know if what you think about. Tell us in the comments!

Jennifer Lent is the site editor for TechTarget’s SearchSoftwareQuality.com. She is a treasure trove of mobile application dev and testing news. If you have some time to kill and want to learn more about the rise of mobile and how it’s changing companies and their development approaches (particularly in enterprise) go through her archives.

In the meantime, here’s a look at four major changes mobile has forced upon the traditions of software development, as highlighted in Jennifer’s article “‘New Normal’ Emerging as Software Teams Go Mobile.” (I think you, dear readers, will particularly enjoy the third point.)

Mobile demands shorter delivery cycles

Delivery cycles for Web projects range from nine months to 12 months, according to Michael Gilfix, director of enterprise mobile at IBM. “Mobile projects run three to six months,” he said. Independent software consultant Howard Deiner said two months is more like it.

More software updates for mobile projects

“In mobile, you release continually,” [IBM's Gilfix] said. A key reason for continual releases is the constant changes in mobile handsets — not just new devices, but also new versions of the iOS and Android mobile operating systems. “Release managers have to wrap their heads around that,” he said.

1:1 dev-to-tester ratio rules

One tester for every developer on the project is largely the result of the complexities of mobile testing. Quality assurance (QA) pros must take into account the multiple devices, mobile operating systems and versions of those operating systems — as well as connectivity conditions that vary widely, depending on the mobile user’s location, [Ojas Rege, vice president of strategy at MobileIron] noted.

Mobile apps help software teams get serious about security

“Software teams working on Web apps never embraced security wholeheartedly,” [Theresa Lanowitz, Voke Inc. analyst] said. “For 10 years we’ve been having this discussion about who is responsible for application security, and we have not made a lot of headway.” But now, mobile apps are driving the need for security testing. Maybe, finally, we’ll embrace security in the enterprise, and that would be good for the security of all apps, she said.

Read the full article at TechTarget >>>

It’s clear that Jennifer, and everyone she interviewed for this article, understands and appreciates how different, complicated and ever changing mobile app testing is. Sure, the basics are the same as all software testing, but there’s a lot more to consider when it comes to mobile. Companies need to change their approach to development and QA if they want to keep up.

The hammer did not make the top seven list.

VentureBeat recently posted a guest blog by Xanadu founder and product strategist Mariya Yao titled, “7 tools to make your mobile app suck less.”

We found it to be a great article – not only because it mentions using uTest, but because we agree these are some of the critical components to making apps that delight your customers.

Here the tips from Yao :

1. Get a professional evaluation – Yao specifically listed “services like uTest.”
2. Check if people get your value proposition – Why should people care about your app? Clue can help.
3. Track the right metrics – This is exactly why uTest acquired Apphance and built Applause.
4. Record real users as they try your app – We love this bullet and like to think we know a thing or two about in-the-wild testing.
5. Use heat-maps to track user actions and paths – Yao listed Heatma.ps as a tool for this.
6. Split-test different design assumptions – Yao highlighted Swrve, LeanPlum and Arise.io as valuable tools.
7. Discuss your design feedback with your team – Yao recommended Notable.

Question for our readers – what other tips or tools should be included in this list?