How AI and low-code no-code are helping developer teams

In today’s increasingly crowded consumer landscape, business leaders are under immense pressure to maintain their competitive edge and receive consumer attention. With more than 5.5 million new business applications filed in 2023, leaders must find new and innovative ways to make their company stand out among competitors, all while providing satisfactory service, keeping up-to-date on the most recent industry trends, and building revenue. The secret lies in an unexpected place: mobile applications. 

AI and low-code no-code are helping developers

Mobile applications have the ability to deliver rapid, quality, and undisrupted service, boosting the company profile and driving customer retention. However, with over four million apps available across iOS and Android platforms, companies must ensure their applications are high-quality and high-performing in order to break through the noise. As a result, many developers are now turning to innovative technologies, such as AI and automation, to develop high-quality and high-performing apps that can catapult a business to success.

The power of a high-quality mobile app

While oftentimes overlooked, a well-delivered mobile application can dramatically improve a company’s standing. Tricentis’ recent State of Mobile Application Quality Report found that high-quality mobile apps can enhance end-user experience (37%), build brand value (37%), increase sales (36%), improve company competitiveness (35%), and bolster customer retention and acquisition (35%). Further, by 2027, mobile apps are expected to generate around $674 billion in revenue.

Unfortunately, despite the benefits of strong mobile apps, many businesses are still struggling to deliver quality experiences. End-users are experiencing a wide variety of challenges when using the apps themselves, including unsupported devices or platforms (41%), buggy or slow mobile experiences (41%), difficult-to-use interfaces (41%), and a lack of native application availability (40%). These poor mobile applications also have a detrimental impact on a company’s financial success – a staggering 90% of IT professionals and developers estimate that poor mobile application quality could cost their business up to $2.49M in revenue. 

In order to develop apps that meet consumer demands and set companies apart, developers are tapping into AI and automation, specifically to enhance their mobile testing processes. 

Building better apps with AI and automation

Mobile testing is a critical part of app development. The process of evaluating the functionality, usability, and performance of a mobile application across various devices, platforms, and networks, mobile testing ensures an app meets quality standards. Mobile testing helps identify bugs, compatibility issues, and usability concerns, ultimately enhancing customer experiences and app reliability. In fact, over four-fifths (86%) of senior IT professionals and application developers surveyed deem testing important to the quality and success of their organization’s mobile app development. 

AI and automation are emerging as key solutions to help improve these mobile testing processes and, in turn, develop higher-quality applications. In particular, AI and automation can help bolster mobile testing by building test cases, running tests, and pinpointing failures. Before writing or running tests, developers must create test cases to better understand the target users and define the coverage of the application and potential workflows. AI is a useful tool to create large sets of test cases and vastly accelerate the coverage and number of tests.

After building the test cases, developers must run multiple different versions of the test to ensure that the app they’re putting on the market is the best it can be. AI and automation can help run the tests, ensuring better test coverage and reliability. Lastly, as these tests are run, AI and automation can detect and analyze errors and issues within the app. This allows developers to better detect failures and optimize native features, performance, and platform-specific UX to create the best app possible.

When integrated into testing processes, IT professionals and developers expect AI to improve application quality (37%), increase productivity (36%), enhance end-user experience (34%), and reduce the number of vulnerabilities and bugs (32%). As an added perk, 38% of senior IT professionals and application developers think they would save between half and three-quarters (51-75%) of their organization’s budget per year by moving toward fully automated mobile application testing, and a further fifth (20%) expect they would save anywhere between 76-100% of their budget per year.

AI and automation are also expected to improve accessibility, a key component of a quality mobile application. While mobile application accessibility has not always been prioritized by organizations –  fewer than a fifth (18%) of senior IT leaders and developers noted that all of their services are mobile-accessible – the increasing importance of quality and the number of global regulations is causing this to shift. Now, more than one-third (38%) of respondents say that improving cross-platform accessibility is one of their biggest priorities, second only to security (41%), and nearly one-third (31%) are expecting AI to create greater accessibility for end-users.

Leading the pack with high-quality mobile apps

In today’s fiercely competitive market, where innovation and consumer attention are paramount, businesses must harness the power of mobile applications to stand out. When well-designed and executed, mobile apps can enhance user experience, increase brand value, and significantly impact revenue and customer retention. However, despite the benefits of mobile apps, many businesses struggle with delivering quality experiences, leading to potential revenue loss and user dissatisfaction. 

As a result, more and more IT professionals and developers are leveraging AI and automation, particularly in mobile testing processes, to build better and more accessible applications. By embracing these technologies, businesses can not only improve application quality and meet evolving consumer experiences but also set themselves apart in an increasingly crowded, mobile-centric landscape.