The author of the guest post, Matthew Edwards, is a mobile automation team lead at Aquent and was inspired by Google's approach to catching bugs using rooted x86 emulator images with hardware acceleration. He wanted a solution that didn't require working for Google, so he turned to Appium and Sauce Labs as alternatives. Edwards found that Appium allows him to run tests on both Android and iOS platforms using the standardised WebDriver protocol, and he has been running his Woven app's tests on Sauce Labs since its announcement. He notes that Sauce Labs offers a more effective service than other providers, which focus on physical devices and charge high prices. Edwards also advocates for standardising testing technology with the WebDriver protocol, allowing for easy swapping out of underlying testing technologies without rewriting tests. He uses Appium to run his tests on Ruby on OS X, and has found that it enables him to use best-of-breed testing technology from Apple and Google while retaining flexibility for future additions.