Why we use review apps

DevOpsSoftware Development

In these 5 situations review apps are a good idea

Glossary · In briefreview appA review app is a temporary, working version of an application where one branch or merge request can be examined and tested separately.Read more are among the strongest tools we use to lift a development team's capacity, make work run more smoothly and safeguard quality. Can you also deploy a review app for your next software project? Below we explain what they are, when they become relevant, what you may expect from them and when you can skip them.

What are review apps?

They are fast, simple ways for developers to share their work with stakeholders in real time. On such an environment a developer shows live what they are working on. Stakeholders view the result, ask questions and give targeted feedback immediately, long before an end product is on the table. Someone without deep technical knowledge can look along just as well. It is about the design, the interaction, the functionality of a part, plus performance indicators that suddenly become visible. This process makes feedback not a paper round but a conversation.

Waiting for that one big update is passé.

The appearance varies quite a bit, it depends on what a project needs and in which context you use them. Sometimes it is only a live view of design and workings. In other cases you get solid functionality with it, from testing on different devices to tracking errors and issues that have come up.

5 situations in which review apps are handy

1. With software with a lot of features

In classic GitFlow you put the code for each feature on a single staging server. After a series of functionalities has been delivered, you run everything through the test mill and go live with the whole software package at once. Review apps break that stacking: you no longer have one environment. Every feature gets its own isolated place where it runs immediately. Time to market shrinks considerably with that. No waiting time, pure Glossary · In briefcontinuous developmentContinuous development means improving software continuously in small steps. Automated testing and integration help teams deliver changes regularly and in a controlled way.Read more and functions you can therefore roll out faster.

Difference between traditional GitFlow and review apps

2. Increasing capacity

Some projects simply gather a large club of people around them, which easily creates vagueness. Because what exactly is the intention? And what does it look like concretely in a month? With review apps stakeholders can view, discuss and steer functional specifications live. That helps check whether requirements are correct, you do not miss functions, and you keep the documentation working and improved. You simply correct at that early stage, having built what the real intention is. That saves a lot of noise and rebuild work.

3. Applying usability testing

Ease of use nowadays dominates how software is built. With review apps you let a test group use your software already, long before it goes live. And that delivers something. You spot usability problems immediately, as well as visual irregularities, so usability can go up considerably already before anyone else sees the end result.

4. Promoting collaboration

If you build software to order, which is often the case with us, the client must ultimately be happy with what you deliver. We try beforehand to get the wishes razor sharp, but I have never come across a project where nothing changes along the way or where the end result contains no 'extras'. That flexibility sits for a large part in review apps. We park a feature, already start on the next, and the client can review, test and steer everything at their own pace. That way you get a product that answers the expectations and needs of the client. Communication improves from it. Via an online platform where progress is shared, a client can ask something or supply feedback at any moment. We respond quickly, pick up any problems. It steers easily, such a platform.

5. For quality purposes

Because you can look at separate features and parts apart from each other, review apps offer the possibility to test and optimise very targeted. Security measures, for example: spotting vulnerabilities, checking whether the software meets applicable standards, and that way tightening overall security. Something like that does not work in a wild bulk of code. Also to find bottlenecks, expose optimisation opportunities, improve response speed and crank up Glossary · In briefscalabilityScalability is the extent to which software, infrastructure or a process can handle more or less work without major rebuilding or unacceptable performance loss.Read more you use such apps very precisely. You then test a feature in isolation until that picture is right.

When are review apps not relevant?

With simpler software that rarely gets new functionality, or with very small projects, review apps do not add all that much. You do not need them. If a project runs with a handful of developers and stakeholders, talking directly with each other and gathering feedback can work simpler and more efficiently than putting a separate tool in between. Also do not forget that such apps are usually not free, they generally work on a subscription basis, and with a tight budget you can get by fine with manual Glossary · In briefcode reviewA code review is an assessment of a code change by another developer. They check its behaviour, readability, and maintainability, among other things, before the change is merged.Read more or internal feedback sessions to keep costs low. Why pay for something that in person or in a tight chat can simply be solved faster and more honestly?

So, do it or not?

So yes, review apps cost time and money. That is often where the doubt sits. And yet they can cause a solid positive ROI, especially if you have your software built by an external party. What happens is that your development process runs tighter and often turns out cheaper, simply because you see faster where things jam or what is missing.

On top of that you generally get better software. Quality shoots up, users are more satisfied and that often translates directly into more customers and higher revenue. Quite a pleasant side effect. Relevant or not, that depends strongly on your project. But seriously considering it? Absolutely.

Key takeaways

As a company you keep your finger on the pulse. Simply and effectively you follow with these apps exactly how software development is going without endlessly taking over from the developer.
Review apps come in all shapes and sizes. What you exactly need depends entirely on what you bump into in your project, and which phase you are in.
That way they help for example with checking whether requirements are correct, spotting functionality that is not yet baked in, and they keep documentation in order at once while your team works on it. You catch bugs and gaps faster.
You also often pick up usability errors and visual irregularities immediately, before an end user sees anything at all. That saves considerable repair work afterwards.