Reliability Models Applied to Mobile Applications

Abstract

Smart phones have become the most used electronic devices. They carried out most of the functionalities of desktops, allowing various useful applications that suit the users' needs. Therefore, instead of the operator, the user has become the number one controller of the device and its applications and thus its reliability becomes an emergent need. We aim to investigate and evaluate the efficacy of Software Reliability Growth Models (SRGMs) when applied to Smart phone application failure data and check whether they achieve the same success as in the desktop/laptop area. We selected three of the most used SRGMs and applied them to three different Smart phone applications. None of the selected models were able to account for the data satisfactorily. Their failure is traced back to the specific features of mobile applications compared to desktop applications. Thus, a suitable model for Smart phone applications is still needed to improve their reliability.