We’re excited to announce a major milestone: Sauce Labs now supports virtual devices running iOS 17.5, iOS 18 and beyond! As the most scalable provider of virtual device testing (officially hitting 8 billion tests earlier this year), this launch represents a massive leap forward for mobile teams in providing a quality experience across Apple devices.
Sauce Labs customer SNCF Connect tech, a French transportation company is already seeing the benefits of testing on iOS 18 in Sauce Labs Virtual Device Cloud:
“The team was running tests on iOS 17 but our train conductors use devices running iOS 18. Moving to iOS 18 on Sauce Labs simulators let us exactly mimic these devices for quality testing, plus our test durations have reduced by 4X.”
-Bruno Quercia, Product Manager, SNCF Connect & Tech and Sylvie Poirier, Quality Analyst, SNCF Connect & Tech.
What’s going on with Apple Silicon
Apple has transitioned from Intel to their proprietary Apple Silicon architecture, massively shifting the development and testing landscape.
As a result, Apple is slowly ending the support for Intel based machines in their software including MacOS, iOS Simulators, Safari and Xcode. Even if everything is still functional, the performance of new versions of those Apps is significantly degraded.
And Sauce Labs can help you test where your customers are - on the latest devices, with iOS 18 and beyond - to deliver quality app experiences from day one.
Why Test the Latest iOS Used By Mac Devices ?
Apple users don’t wait to upgrade - and neither should you. Just four months after its release, iOS 18 is already on 68% of devices connecting to the App Store. That means your customers are experiencing your app on a brand-new OS.
With Sauce Labs iOS 18 support, you can:
Mitigate risks early: Have complete testing coverage for Apple operating systems 17.5 and higher. You can easily find and address potential bugs earlier in development, to ensure a high quality mobile experience for users.
Build trust: Early testing reduces compatibility issues and app crashes, ensuring smooth performance with each iOS update and fostering user trust.
Stay ahead: Integrate the latest features and advancements early, ensuring your apps can leverage new APIs and frameworks introduced, giving your apps a competitive edge.
The Sauce Advantage: iOS 18 Simulators at Scale
No other provider offers iOS 18 testing at scale - but Sauce Labs does. We now provide support for automated mobile app and web tests for both iPhone and iPad models running iOS 18. You can expect:
Industry leading testing performance: iOS 18 simulators on the latest Mac hardware having up to 2.5x better rendering speeds means testing graphic rich apps with lots of animations is more efficient, saving developer time. In fact our benchmark tests show up to 65% faster start times , as well as a 40% increase in test execution time compared to earlier versions.
Broader testing coverage: Have access to testing new versions of iOS for complete coverage that reduces the risk of quality issues escaping into production.
Better developer experience: Test apps with the latest iOS 18 features right from your development environment, saving time and accelerating release cycles.
Apple Devices Running iOS 17.5+ Offers New Features
It's crucial for testers and developers to understand the new features available on devices running iOS 17.5 and above that will impact user experience and app development.
The improved multitasking capabilities directly enhances user experience and productivity, and the AI and Machine Learning improvements impact app behavior and user interaction. Here are some other key features to know:
Apple Intelligence: On-device AI to personalize user experience (Available on iPhone 15 Pro models, and iPads and Macs with an M-series chip)
Enhanced Siri: Edit photos, manage files, create folders, and more.
Swift 6: Latest version of swift programming language allows to test concurrency mode, generic enhancements, and more.
And more…..
Start Testing Your App Running on iOS 18 with Sauce Labs
In an ever-evolving iOS ecosystem, being proactive in testing the transformative changes is paramount. Get instant access to iOS 18 through our Virtual Device Cloud. Start testing today to ensure continuous mobile quality!
Contact your Account Executive to learn more about iOS 18 for Sauce automated testing or read through the detailed documentation.
