Eight Stages of Mobile Operating System Development - An Overview for Young Techies

Please note that this is just an overview of a far more complex process that would be too cumbersome to discuss in just one blog post. I guess this is just for the young techies and aspiring developers who are curious about how platforms like iOS and Android are crafted.

Building large OS platforms is no easy task. App developers and engineers need to create a detailed strategy with app design to support it. There are a lot of app development steps involved in the process as well as deployment stages.

One thing for sure is that you definitely can’t start developing your OS platform for mobile, like for Apple or Samsung, until you have a strong plan and app design in place. Keep in mind that platform development is complex and an iterative process.


So in order to bring your OS platform to market faster via mobile device, you need to approach the app development process in sprints.

This allows you to divide small subtasks and milestones across the team with the main stages of the OS platform development process being planning, development, testing, and review. And don’t forget about deployment. Let’s take a closer look at how huge OS platforms are built for mobile.

The Eight Stages of Development and Testing

1. Planning the Process

Before developing an OS platform for mobile, everything needs to be in place to move forward. You need to break down tasks into a number of subtasks that can be easily attacked and accomplished fast.

The aims and requirements are also determined and given to the team of developers. With that information, your team of developers can begin their own planning process to meet their deadlines and accomplish the tasks given.

2. The Actual Development

During development stage, your team begins employing and implementing the functionality of the OS platform for mobile. Once functionality is in place, the project manager and Q/A team can come in and begin testing the platform for performance issues and identify needed bug fixes.

During development it is good to have a scalable storage integrated into the entire build, like a Helm repository for better privacy, control, and availability. These types of development, DevOps tools can help streamline the OS platform project, thus meeting market launch deadlines.

3. Testing Stage - Very Important

After development functionality is applied, the OS platform needs to be tested via mobile, it’s chosen medium. The testing is very detailed and can take quite some time. You certainly don’t want to launch a poor OS platform with functionality issues.

The testing stage is important and it is often where technical flaws are found. And finding these tech flaws in the project as early as possible can save you serious money. In fact, by testing the platform as much and as early as possible can lower the overall cost of the project once completed.

Testing is so important, let’s take a look at various testing stages.

4. Testing Functionality

To ensure the OS platform for mobile devices and apps performs exactly as planned in the planning stage, you need to have great functionality testing in place. This means having a specific Q/A team ready to go with real-time examples, testing features, navigation, and more. This is very important as it is how the end user of your software will see and use.

5. Testing Edge-Case

Edge-case testing is another important testing stage to have in place. What are edge-case testing entail exactly? This is testing the platform under extreme operational scenarios and conditions. Typical edge-case testing involves performance testing, functional regression testing, and unit testing. Making sure that these tests don’t bring any errors to the surface is critical to the overall process of your build.

6. Testing Per Mobile Device

The innovative technology ushered in every year when it comes to mobile devices is unprecedented. Each launch of a new mobile product makes building OS platforms and apps for devices more challenging. However, not impossible. You simply need to test for these devices and innovative technologies.

Ensure functionality is optimized for every device and operating system. For instance Apple iOS iPhones and iPads, and Samsung Android devices to be specific. Your team should be performing detailed tests on different screen sizes, operating systems, and other different variations to ensure your build and release goes smoothly.

7. Review Everything When Testing is Complete

When the testing stages are complete, you need to do a big review of the OS platform, app, and everything in-between. You will definitely find some small problems during the review, but no major issues should arise during the review process.

The most important thing to remember during the review stage is to keep the build moving forward. You want to ensure no sprints for deployment are going to be held up by your review process. When review is complete, begin planning the deployment steps to bring your OS platform to market quickly.

8. App Developer Engagement

In this day and age, a rich and thriving app market is essential to the success of any mobile platform or operating system. Since your operating system will be new and different from giant OSes like Android and iOS, you might want to talk to young developers who are willing and eager to take their chance on a budding platform that has yet to fully mature and reach its peak. Attract them with the opportunity for growth and the chance to create a name for themselves in an already saturated industry. Then, nurture the relationship every step of the way. Create an active community where member developers can converse and exchange valuable ideas that can help your OS grow further in the long run.

Wrapping Up

The above-mentioned development and testing stages can make life a bit easier for you and your DevOps team. Testing is especially important, since finding and fixing bugs as early as possible can keep your OS platform build from going off the rails when it comes to the project budget. What development and testing tips do you have? We want to hear from you.

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