DEVOPSdigest

Sauce Labs announced the general availability of iOS 18 testing on its Virtual Device Cloud (VDC).

Leveraging its new, high-performance Apple Silicon cloud infrastructure, Sauce Labs offers a scalable enterprise-ready solution for automated mobile app and web testing on iOS 17.5, iOS 18, and beyond, enabling teams to execute tests up to 40% faster compared to previous versions.

This launch addresses the critical need for timely testing support driven by Apple's transition to its proprietary Apple Silicon architecture and the rapid adoption rate of new iOS versions. Within just four months of its release, iOS 18 was reportedly installed on nearly 70% of devices connecting to the App Store, making immediate testing capabilities essential for businesses to maintain quality user experiences.

Sauce Labs' enhanced VDC, now with iOS 18 support, delivers significant performance improvements. Benchmark tests show up to 65% faster session start times and up to 40% faster test execution speeds for iOS 18 simulations compared to earlier versions.

"Staying ahead in the mobile landscape means testing where your users are – and Apple users adopt new operating systems faster than anyone," said Shubha Govil, Chief Product Officer of Sauce Labs. "We are committed to providing the latest to empower developers and QA teams, and our investment to support scalable iOS 18 testing underscores that. Developers can now confidently build and release high-quality apps that leverage the latest iOS features, ensuring seamless user experiences from day one, with significant gains in testing speed and efficiency, all backed by the robust platform trusted by hundreds of thousands of developers globally."

With Sauce Labs' support for iOS 17.5 and iOS 18 simulators, development and QA teams can:

- Mitigate Risks Early: Achieve comprehensive test coverage for the latest Apple operating systems, identifying and fixing bugs earlier in the development cycle.

- Improve Performance: Experience significantly faster test execution (up to 40%) and session start times (up to 65%) on the optimized iOS 18 simulators in VDC.

- Ensure Compatibility: Test against new iOS 18 features like enhanced Siri capabilities, Apple Intelligence frameworks, and Swift 6 advancements.

- Build User Trust: Deliver smooth, reliable app performance with each iOS update, preventing compatibility issues and crashes.

- Test with Proven Scale: Leverage the industry's most scalable cloud solution – offering access to over 9,000 real devices and 2,500+ emulators/simulators & browser/OS combinations, and proven with over 8 billion tests executed – for iOS 18 automated testing for both iPhone and iPad models.

Sauce Labs continues to invest in its unified platform, ensuring development teams have the coverage, speed, and insights needed to release quality software with confidence.

Sauce Labs' iOS 18 support is available now for automated mobile app and web testing via the Sauce Labs Virtual Device Cloud.