Logo
mobile app development

Mobile App Testing & Game Concept Validation: Why and What to Test

Why is A/B testing mobile apps or game concepts so important and how can you project the success of your apps or games with these mobile A/B testing tools?

mobile app testing

It’s no secret that time is money, that’s why in some cases, saving time means saving millions of dollars in the long run. For this reason, mobile app and game developers, from startups to enterprises, need to go for mobile app testing to test their mobile app concepts and ideas even before starting the development. 

On the other hand, quite a big part of new products fail. According to some data for mobile app A/B testing, the failure rate is around 40%, while other researchers reveal it is closer to a shocking 90%. The most common reasons why mobile apps do not pass A/B testing mobile games and apps are mistakes related to the target audience research and choosing the wrong go-to-market strategy. 

So when it comes to the mobile app industry, in such a highly competitive environment, even the biggest market players need to make informed decisions before launching a new product or feature. Solutions for A/B testing mobile apps, such as SplitMetrics Optimize, enable mobile app & game developers to test the interest of users even before starting to develop another product with a smart mobile A/B testing approach. 

The mobile app idea validation & A/B testing mobile games enable you to lower the risks of developing an app or game that doesn’t meet the needs of your target audience, save time, money, and other valuable resources, and increase your odds of success.

Mobile App and Game A/B testing: What to Test?

Before you green light an app idea and plan to launch it across app stores, it is crucial to project the success rate of your app. After all, its possible conversion rate has to justify the investment that you plan on making. Thus, a list of factors to consider is required to figure out on what basis you are going to judge your app’s performance. Furthermore, some of the metrics that are commonly used to measure the success of A/B testing mobile apps are mentioned below.

mobile app ab testing

1. Use mobile A/B testing to validate mobile app ideas or gaming concepts before investing 

With the help of solutions for A/B testing mobile apps, you may test new app ideas, concepts, game settings, and characters before starting the development and investing resources into them. 

By showing the prototype of a game or app to your target audience via screenshots and icons on the emulated app store product pages, you will find out whether this idea might work out. Run Android or iOS app testing experiments via solutions like SplitMetrics Optimize and then check how many users showed interest in the app. If the conversion rate and other indicators that you project after A/B testing iOS and Android apps are uninspiring, you might want to try another idea and execute A/B testing applications again. And don’t get disappointed even if your Android or iOS A/B testing outcome was not as you had expected: you gained knowledge and didn’t spend resources on something that won’t work.

2. Select the best option with the best results after A/B testing Android or iOS apps

Similarly, you can better understand where to allocate resources if you’re selecting between two different ideas. Should you build a photo & video app or an educational one? Should it be a puzzle or a casual game?

Multivariate Android and iOS A/B testing experience will help you evaluate different concepts, even compare them against competitors in the niche, and select the best idea you should put into practice. 

3. Validate and prioritize features

Apart from A/B testing iOS or Android mobile app ideas, you can also test new features before starting work on them. With mobile A/B testing, you have an opportunity to validate new features and prioritize them depending on the demand and interest of your target audience.

For mobile game titles, check various genres and settings via multivariate A/B tests with the help of A/B testing applications and choose the ones that hit the bull’s eye.

4. Use Android and iOS app testing to test game concepts

Speaking about A/B testing mobile games, building a mobile game is a complicated process that implies numerous steps and aspects for mobile game developers to take into account to create a successful and demanded product. On the other hand, choosing the right concept often comes under much debate in the teams involved, while soft-launching games with unsubstantiated concepts might result in wasting time and money. 

What you can review with mobile app A/B testing before launching a mobile game:

  • Сore mechanics (match3, puzzle, or something else)
  • Based on the core mechanics, test meta mechanics (characters, plot, awards, villains, etc.)
  • Game settings & art components

5. Find new ideas and spot room for growth

The data gained from mobile app testing and mobile game testing experiments enables you to get valuable insights into what users like about your mobile game or app, and which features are most attractive and useful. 

For example, with the help of app store A/B testing via SplitMetrics, MSQRD (later acquired by Facebook) got a lot of data-driven insights before and after the launch of their world-famous app. For example, they discovered that a video on the app store product page was absolutely necessary since it had a positive impact on the CTI (click-to-install) rate. So, the mobile app A/B testing strategy was quite helpful for them.

6. Test your go-to-market strategy 

Android and iOS app testing comes to the rescue when you face a difficult choice on new positioning, targeting, or rebranding. 

By comparing the performance of variations with different messages with the help of performance testing best practices defined by A/B testing algorithms, you’ll learn whether your strategy resonates with your target audience. 

7. Test mobile app concepts at the pre-launch stage 

On the App Store or Google Play, you cannot test your mobile app or game concepts before actually going live with it. But you can go for A/B testing iOS or Android apps with tools like SplitMetrics before launch and make sure your app skyrockets from day one.

8. Learn more about your target audience 

With mobile A/B testing experiments, you can also test various segments of your target audience. The A/B testing applications experiments show how each segment reacts to the same features, game characters, or elements of the app store listing (icons, screenshots, video, etc.). A/B testing Android or iOS apps will help you elaborate effective strategies for each market or demographic group.

For example, Zimad, a famous mobile gaming company, achieved an impressive 36% conversion rate uplift by adjusting app store screenshots to the cultural specificities of Japan after running A/B tests via app testing tools like SplitMetrics Optimize as well.

To conclude - Optimize conversion, lower CPI, and increase ROI

To finish up, we had like to highlight another important aspect we briefly mentioned above. ASO and user acquisition always go hand-in-hand. With A/B testing mobile apps or games, you can optimize your app store product page and consequently reduce ad budget waste during paid UA campaigns. Now users coming to the app listing from ads will see optimized creatives that reflect what they were looking for – and they will most likely install the app. 

By using testing phases to optimize your app’s page on the App Store or Google Play, you’ll reduce ad spending, and grow the number of downloads, while decreasing CPI, which will inevitably lead to boosting ROI.

Aparna <span>Growth Strategist</span>
Written By
Aparna Growth Strategist

Aparna is a growth specialist with handsful knowledge in business development. She values marketing as key a driver for sales, keeping up with the latest in the Mobile App industry. Her getting things done attitude makes her a magnet for the trickiest of tasks. In free times, which are few and far between, you can catch up with her at a game of Fussball.

Want To Hire The Best Service Provider?
MobileAppDaily will help you explore the best service providers depending on your vision, budget, project requirements and industry. Get in touch and create a list of best-suited companies for your needs.

Featured Blogs

mobile app development

Top 9 Answers to Question: How to Make Apps Load Faster?

3 min read  

App loading time is one of the crucial factors affecting the popularity of any app. Users do not like apps with longer loading times at all. The mobile app loading time can affect users psychologically. It can lead them to frustration, and hatred for your app. To prove that statement, let&r

mobile app development

Convert Objective-C App To Swift With Minimum Effort in 2023

4 min read  

The Objective-C and Swift languages are two of the widely known programming languages that are used for the purpose of iOS application development. In the last few years, we have seen a switch in the trend as the application developers are favoring the swift programming language over the objective-c

mobile app development

How To Install Android Studio: Let's Talk Development

4 min read  

Have you ever realised the little green robot-lookalike cladded all in green has reached to adolescence? For those who don’t have that development background, here is the piece of information in the layman language. I am talking about Android. If you have ever got a chance to look at the Andro

mobile app development

10 Solid Reasons to Choose React Native for Mobile App

4 min read  

With the 4G technology spreading globally and whispers of the brilliance of 5G everywhere, all the users are reeling in for new technological revolution where they can access information quickly. In this scenario, businesses will aim to provide a seamless mobile app experience to the users.Howev

Featured Interviews

Interview

Interview With Coyote Jackson, Director of Product Management, PubNub

MobileAppDaily had a word with Coyote Jackson, Director of Product Management, PubNub. We spoke to him about his journey in the global Data Stream Network and real-time infrastructure-as-a-service company. Learn more about him.

MAD Team 4 min read  
Interview

Interview With Laetitia Gazel Anthoine, Founder and CEO, Connecthings

MobileAppDaily had a word with Laetitia Gazel Anthoine, Founder and CEO, Connecthings. We spoke to her about her idea behind Connecthings and thoughts about the company’s services.

MAD Team 4 min read  
Interview

Interview With Gregg Temperley, Founder Of ParcelBroker App

MobileAppDaily had a word with Gregg Temperley, Founder. We spoke to him about his idea behind such an excellent app and his whole journey during the development process.

MAD Team 4 min read  
Interview

Interview With George Deglin, CEO Of OneSignal

MobileAppDaily had a word with George Deglin, the CEO and co-founder of OneSignal, a leading customer messaging and engagement solution, we learn multiple facets related to customer engagement, personalization, and the future of mobile marketing.

MAD Team 4 min read  
MAD Originals
MAD Originals

Cut to the chase content that’s credible, insightful & actionable.

Get the latest mashup of the App Industry Exclusively Inboxed

  • PRODUCTS
  • SERVICES
  • BOTH
Join our expansive network, build connections and expand your brand presence.