Foldable Smartphones are here to stay! But what about App Quality?
In late 2018 and throughout 2019 we started seeing the first foldable smartphones released by Android device OEMs. Since then, we have seen a gradual advancement in the foldable smartphone technology as well as adoption by Google Android operating systems (Android 11 specifically was the first to embed virtual emulator for Samsung Galaxy Fold) for this modern form factor. What also changed over the past 3–4 years was the grow in end user trust with these new and quite expensive devices as over 16M units were sold only in 2022 with a rise of 73% YoY.
Who are the Main Players in the Foldable Marketplace?
Until Apple will reveal its own Foldable iPhone potentially in 2023, this is a pure Android ecosystem. From Samsung who is releasing this month 8/25 their 4th generation of their Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip devices through Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, Motorola, LG and OnePlus, there is no major OEM that is not launching such smartphones to the marketplace (see some examples below).
- Vivo X Fold — https://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_x_fold-pictures-11460.php
- Motorola Moto Razr — https://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_razr_2022-11752.php
- Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 — https://www.phonearena.com/news/The-Xiaomi-Mix-Fold-2-officially-launches---is-this-the-Galaxy-Z-Fold-4-killer_id141881
With the above in mind and if anyone has any doubts about this technology sticking, below is a nice GIF showcasing Intel foldable laptop/notebook that predicts that this technology will not limit itself to mobile devices but also expand into desktops.
Intro to Key Foldable Features and Terms
To be able to develop and test to ensure app quality across these very sophisticated mobile devices, teams need to realize some of the unique features and terms that these platforms support.
Display Mode: Cover vs. Main Display (Folded/Unfolded)
That is the obvious capability that allows users to open and close their device and basically transition from a small smartphone into an ~8'’ tablet.
App Continuity
This is a transformational capability that allows users to launch any Android app on their foldable in a folded mode, than unfold the device and continue using the app on the bigger screen.
Multi Resume & Multi-Windows
Like the app continuity feature, multi-resume is a game changer in mobile apps end user experience. It allows any app user to run in the foreground up to 3! apps at the same time. This in opposed to normal smartphone is a huge deal since on any other smartphone when you bring the foreground an app, all the others are being placed in the background and put to “sleep”. With this mode users can engage with multiple apps at the same time.
Within the above example you can also learn about the multi-window functionality that supports split views as well as freeform views. These are the options users have to layout their multiple apps on the foldable screen and resize them.
Testing Apps on Foldable Smartphones
With the above terms and the growing demand for such unique devices, making sure that your app works properly on these devices is critical. As mentioned above, Android studio already allows testing on virtual platforms apps on such form factor, and you can also leverage Perfecto cloud to test against both emulators and REAL foldable devices (see below screenshot).
Below are the key pillars to consider when testing your apps on such devices. Keep in mind that these tests are of course a seper-set of your entire testing on regular Android smartphones. Specifically app accessibility would be a major challenge to test since these devices are unique in the sense that they fold and unfold, allow multiple apps to run in parallel in the foreground and more. Security is another item to cover within the plan (SAST/DAST/SCA). Also keep in mind mobile UX and Performance testing which are critical to any mobile or web apps.
Android platform tools like ADB plus the overall Android tutorials are full of examples and practices that needs to be known to both developers and testers. For example, the below command-line allows developers and testers to test multi-display functionality.
adb shell start <activity_name> — display <display_id>
Another example is around the developers enabling multi-window onResume capability for their app within the Manifest.mf file of their application:
<meta-data android:name=”android.allow_multiple_resumed_activities” android:value=”true” />
For a more detailed test cases to consider, please refer to this initial table that I’ve created.
Many of the above scenarios can be tested manually or through automated scripts using Appium framework and/or Espresso.
Bottom Line
To ensure adoption of your apps not only on smartphones but also on foldables, app developers need to enable the relevant app features like continuity, multi-resume, and test the above use cases from app installation, app running in parallel with other apps that compete on devices resources (battery, memory, GPS and other sensors), different device views, biometrics and authentication in different modes and much more.
It is quite clear that foldable smartphones are not a trend but a reality that is growing, hence, being prepared to test apps on these platforms continuously and effectively should be top of mind for any digital business.
With Android 13 just around the corner together with a whole line of new foldables, it is the right time to ensure that the entire Android product team is ready for such platforms.
