May 2021 Summaries

This post discusses the benefits of running end-to-end UI tests for each pull request (PR) in mobile app development. It explains how testing at every PR can help identify major issues earlier, validate external dependencies, and increase developers' confidence in release quality. The article also provides guidance on choosing the right tests for an efficient pipeline and setting up a Jenkins job to run for each Github PR. By implementing this approach, teams can improve overall release quality by catching and fixing issues before they reach production.

BrowserStack, a testing platform based on open-source technologies, has established an Open Source engineering team to contribute actively to projects that advance the testing industry. The company's guiding principles include working in the open, supporting each project to deliver on its promises and culture, and focusing on projects that move the testing industry forward. Currently, BrowserStack is concentrating on contributing to the Selenium open-source project, marking the beginning of their journey in the open source world.

With the growing demand for native mobile apps, ensuring secure communication between apps and their backend servers is crucial, often achieved using HTTPS certificates from trusted Certificate Authorities. However, many developers rely on custom self-signed SSL certificates for staging or even production environments, necessitating a method to validate these certificates at runtime. The blog post introduces the concept of "Certificate Bundling and Pinning," where developers bundle the backend server's SSL certificate within the app's codebase and implement logic to validate the certificate during runtime. This approach is applied across two use cases: syncing app data with HTTPS servers and using UI widgets like WebView to load server pages. Detailed steps for implementing this method on both Android and iOS platforms are provided, highlighting benefits such as reducing repetitive setup tasks and ensuring compatibility across different device versions. While offering advantages like streamlined testing on public cloud platforms and adherence to Google and Apple guidelines, the method requires updating the bundled certificate with each server certificate renewal, presenting a trade-off between security and maintenance.