September 20th is a big date for Apple fans – it’s the release date of the new operating system – iOS 15. And guess what? A new Android version, namely Android 12 is on the way too 🤩 The tentative release date is October 4th. What does this mean for us testers? It means, of course, we need to stay ahead of the game and make sure that the apps we’re testing work well on the new operating systems.
What to expect in iOS 15
- Notifications changes
By introducing Focus, the way people receive notifications will change. If your application sends notifications (and most apps do), it’s important that you test them in this new release.
- AppStore changes
There is an update to the AppStore too, allowing developers to optimize the product pages, and also to add in-app events directly in the App Store. Which of course means that you’ll need to test all this as well 🤓
- Safari updatesÂ
Safari will also be updated to offer browser customization and some new functionalities across the web.
What Android 12 will bring
- Cookie handling
Google already changed the way Chrome handles third-party cookies, and now these changes will be coming in WebView too.
If your app uses WebView, or if you are testing a website that uses cookies, you should perform tests Android 12 WebView. There is a chance that the development team might need to update the cookies to support the new SameSite behaviors.
- One-hand use
The one-hand mode means that the top half of the display moves downwards. Check that there are no significant changes to the look and feel of the application and that the user can still use most of the most important features without having to scroll too much, so the user experience is not impacted.
- Updates to notifications
Android will be changing the notifications too, so it’s also important to make sure that your app’s notifications are displayed well in this new version.
How to start testing on these new operating systems
The above-mentioned changes aren’t of course all the changes we’re expecting in the new OSs, just some of the most important ones that might impact the way we perform our tests.
Also, keep in mind that not all devices will be compatible with the new operating systems, so if the team does any changes specifically for iOS 15 or Android 12, double-check that they do not impact the older versions and that the app still behaves well in iOS 14 or Android 11.
But the really good news? If you need to perform mobile automated testing, the TestProject team has already worked ahead to help with your testing and prepared support for Recording and Mirroring Android 12 and iOS 15 devices. Don’t take my word for it, check out the release notes for v3.3.0.
Conclusions
Being up to date with the latest updates is crucial in delivering high quality applications. When it comes to mobile devices, new operating systems are launched quite often, so we need to keep our testing up-to-date with them ✅