Mobile DevOps is a set of practices that applies the principles of

DevOps DevOps is the integration and automation of the software development and information technology operations. DevOps encompasses necessary tasks of software development and can lead to shortening development time and improving the development life ...

specifically to the development of mobile applications. Traditional DevOps focuses on streamlining the

software development process In software engineering, a software development process or software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process of planning and managing software development. It typically involves dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or s ...

in general, but

mobile development Mobile app development is the act or process by which a mobile app is developed for one or more mobile devices, which can include personal digital assistants (PDA), enterprise digital assistants (EDA), or mobile phones. Such software application ...

has its own unique challenges that require a tailored approach. Mobile DevOps is not simply as a branch of DevOps specific to mobile app development, instead an extension and reinterpretation of the DevOps philosophy due to very specific requirements of the mobile world.

Rationale

Traditional DevOps approach has been formed around 2007-2008, close to the dates when

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on the ...

s were released to the public. The traditional DevOps approach primarily evolved to meet the changing needs of the software development world with the paradigm shift towards continuous and rapid development and deployment (such as in

web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications, ...

, where interpreted languages are more prevalent than

compiled language Compiled language categorizes a programming language as used with a compiler and generally implies not used with an interpreter. But, since any language can theoretically be compiled or interpreted the term lacks clarity. In practice, for some lan ...

s). While traditional DevOps embraced agility and flexibility, mobile operating system providers steered towards a walled-garden approach with compiled apps with tight controls over how they can be distributed and installed on a mobile device. This difference in the mobile development mindset compared to what the traditional DevOps approach is advocating, is augmented further with the mobile applications to be deployed on a high number of varying devices and operating systems. Eventually, the concept of Mobile DevOps took off as a trend around 2014-2015, in line with the fast growth of the number of applications in mobile app stores. As individuals and corporations alike are developing and publishing more and more mobile applications, the need for efficiency and shorter release cycles increased, which is addressed by the continuous feedback and continuous development approach within the concept of

, while requiring a significant level of adaptation and extension of the traditional DevOps practices.

Mindset shift from traditional DevOps to mobile DevOps

Mobile DevOps has a unique set of challenges and constraints, which solidifies the fact that it needs to be approached as a separate discipline. These challenges can be outlined as follows: * Platform-specific requirements and tight controls of mobile operating system providers, where for instance a

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

device is mandatory for

application development and release. * The walled-garden approach of distributing mobile apps, specifically applying to iOS applications, which comes with app review and app release delays that would not be needed in web development, for instance. * Code signing requirements that come with the walled-garden approach, which introduce additional processes in the mobile application build pipeline along with new security concerns. * An entire deployment cycle is re-run even in the slightest code change due to how applications are

compiled In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

and delivered to the users. * The final product is to be deployed to a wide variety of mobile devices worldwide, which requires extensive testing and user feedback. * Monitoring mobile applications require additional tools and approaches to be able to get data from an application running on a mobile device while respecting user privacy. * Frequent operating system updates by mobile platforms can require rapid adaptation of apps, introducing further complexity to the development and maintenance cycles.

Benefits of mobile DevOps

Mobile DevOps is not an abstract concept and offers a range of benefits that can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the

mobile app development Mobile app development is the act or process by which a mobile app is developed for one or more mobile devices, which can include personal digital assistants (PDA), enterprise digital assistants (EDA), or mobile phones. Such software applicatio ...

process. These benefits can even be quantified by collecting the data within the mobile application development lifecycle. The benefits can be categorized into the following areas: * Faster Release Cycles: By automating tasks and streamlining the development process, mobile DevOps enables teams to deliver new features and updates more frequently. * Improved Quality: Automated testing and continuous monitoring help to identify and fix bugs earlier in the development cycle, leading to higher quality apps. * Optimized Resource Utilization: Mobile DevOps promotes optimized resource utilization by automating tasks and streamlining workflows. Furthermore, mobile DevOps practices like containerization can help to create more efficient and scalable development environments. * Increased Agility: Mobile DevOps allows teams to be more responsive to changes in the market and user feedback.

List of Dedicated Mobile DevOps Platforms

Even though it is possible to run a mobile DevOps cycle with most of the

CI/CD In software engineering, CI/CD or CICD is the combined practices of continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) or, less often, continuous deployment. They are sometimes referred to collectively as continuous development or contin ...

platforms, they may require significant effort compared to non-mobile CI/CD (e.g. you need to bring your own infrastructure or it may require "reinventing the wheel" for commonly used platforms like

Jenkins Jenkins may refer to: People * Jenkins (name), history of the surname * List of people with surname Jenkins * The Jenkins, country music group Places United States * Jenkins, Illinois *Jenkins, Kentucky * Jenkins, Minnesota * Jenkins, Missour ...

). To overcome the mobile-specific challenges specified, there are certain platforms that are dedicated to the lifecycle of mobile applications. These platforms exclusively focus on DevOps processes for

and are also referred as mobile CI/CD platforms. * Appcircle (Multiplatform , Cloud-based & On-premise) * Visual Studio App Center (Multiplatform , Cloud-based) * Xcode Cloud (Apple platforms only , Cloud-based)

References

{{Mobile phones

External links