Same app, different experience

It often feels like we never stop talking about device fragmentation, which isn’t exactly untrue. But, it’s a persistent and destructive problem and we’re going to keep shouting about it - because we’re seeing it harm businesses every day! It’s a tricky issue, and it can be hard to track. Your QA teams might think they’ve ticked every box, but users are dwindling, and then you’re left scratching your heads.

You’ve probably heard these before:

• “It works on my phone.”
• “It was fine in staging.”
• “We don’t have time to test every single device.”

We also hear a lot of “it was fine on the emulator” from development teams, but the tricky thing here is that certain app features don’t actually work the same way on real hardware as they do in emulator testing.

Regardless, these are all fair responses to a confusing problem… but they aren’t good enough reasons not to act. The frustrating reality of device fragmentation is that, with countless screen sizes, operating system versions and hardware variations in the wild, the odds of your app behaving differently on one device vs the next are high.

Then, when your app behaves inconsistently across devices, the fallout is bigger than a few bug tickets. Here’s what you’re really facing:

• Bad reviews and falling store ratings dent your credibility
• User churn increases as features fail and frustrations arise
• Bugs take longer to reproduce and fix, stretching dev and QA cycles
• Support teams drown in tickets while your business reputation continues to take a hit

All of this from one over-arching issue!

But, knowing something is a problem doesn’t make it easier to act. Many teams fall into the same trap of thinking - believing that looking at the most common problems is sufficient, and that users on less common devices will simply make do.

The reality is harsher. Users don’t hang around to wait for fixes or suffer through something that isn’t made for them. They uninstall, leave a bad review and move on to the next alternative. But, there is some good news! Device fragmentation is manageable, if you approach it strategically…

1. Prioritise with real data Use analytics to understand which devices your actual users rely on. To start with, focus on the top 80 percent.
2. Test smart, not just wide Use cloud-based device farms like BrowserStack or AWS Device Farm to cover a broad base, combined with a set of physical devices for complex, hands-on testing.
3. Involve design and QA earlier Designers need to think beyond the “ideal” screen. QA should target low-end devices, slow networks and older OS versions. Equally, accessibility needs to be a continuous consideration throughout this process, not just an afterthought. It’s not about perfection, it’s just about avoiding obvious failure by keeping the right people in the room.
4. Automate the repetitive, focus humans on the brittle Automated UI testing can check layouts and key flows across many devices. Human testers should focus on the areas that break easily, such as gestures, file uploads or third-party integrations.
5. Build for resilience Avoid device-specific hacks. Use adaptive layouts, flexible components and feature flags to handle differences in hardware and OS.
6. Keep learning from the field Crashlytics, Sentry and other monitoring tools show you where issues emerge in real use. Treat them as feedback loops, not just post-mortems.

Device fragmentation is unavoidable, but the risks it poses are optional. If you aren’t confident your app works across the devices your users actually own, you could already be losing them. The fix isn’t testing everything. It’s just building a strategy around the devices that matter most, and making sure you’re not blindsided by issues you never saw coming.

Not sure where to start?

We’ll run an audit to uncover where your app is falling short, and give you a clear plan to close those gaps. Let’s take a look.