Opinion Post 5 mins Dave Thorpe Your app works on one phone. What about the other thirty? The symptoms you’re seeing aren’t random You’ve got that nagging feeling again. The latest release went live, it seemed solid in testing, and yet… users are complaining. Again. Crashes, glitches, odd behaviour you just didn’t expect. And the problem? It’s not happening on every device – just some. Maybe your QA team is stretched, and your app partner says it passed, but your gut says this could be the start of something bigger. You’re not imagining it. Device fragmentation is a real and rising risk. Device fragmentation happens when your app performs inconsistently across different hardware configurations and operating systems. That might mean it works perfectly on the latest iPhone, but throws up bugs on older Android versions, lower memory devices, or specific screen resolutions. Without the right testing coverage, these issues are nearly impossible to predict. When inconsistency turns into a business risk When your app behaves differently on different phones, you lose control. You end up reacting to user complaints, justifying bugs to internal teams, and reworking features after they’ve already gone live. Over time, this dents your credibility, swallows your development time, and eats into revenue. And if the wrong issue slips through at the wrong time? You risk getting pulled from the store. Worse still, your users don’t see “fragmentation” – they see failure. For them, a crash or lag is a broken promise. That leads to negative reviews, user churn, and long-term brand erosion. The fix isn’t more testing. It’s the right kind of assurance. If you want your app to stop failing silently on specific devices, you need visibility. A mobile assurance program (MAP) gives you exactly that. It lets you catch the nasties that slip through standard QA. It reduces post-launch surprises. It keeps you ahead of OS changes, hardware updates and fragmented environments. Done properly, mobile assurance removes the guesswork. You know what works, where it works, and what’s coming next. The result? Calmer launches, better performance, and fewer things falling through the cracks. What mobile assurance really involves Mobile assurance isn’t traditional QA rebranded. It’s a structured process made up of: Comprehensive device testing Apps are tested across a broad range of screen sizes, chipsets, OS versions, and manufacturers to expose hidden failures. Responsive layout validation Every interface is checked for flexible, consistent rendering across screen dimensions. Performance and resource optimisation Battery, memory and CPU use is reviewed to ensure smooth behaviour on both high-spec and low-spec devices. Real-user and beta feedback User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and beta programmes capture genuine usage data before full release. Ongoing post-launch monitoring Tools track crash rates and performance metrics across devices in real time. Proactive OS and device compatibility checks Continuous testing against new OS versions and hardware updates means your app is ready before problems arise. This is how high-performing teams deliver consistent, stable experiences – every time. What’s stopping you? You might think you’re already doing enough. Or that better coverage means bigger budgets, bigger teams, and longer test cycles. But in reality, patching issues post-launch is costing you far more than implementing a preventative strategy ever would! You don’t need a room full of devices or an enterprise QA lab. You need a focused strategy built around the risks that matter most to your users – and your business. If you know there’s a problem, why wait? If any of this sounds familiar, your app might already be at risk. The sooner you get visibility, the sooner you stop relying on guesswork. Let’s talk about where the cracks are – and how to fix them before they grow. arran@indiespring.com
