INTRODUCTION:
The complexity of today’s apps is continually expanding, and consumers’ needs are becoming more demanding. Performing tests on many devices or emulators do not guarantee similar results on similar devices. This has resulted in the high growth of the testing and automation industry. Testing mobile apps for operation, usability, and consistency is known as mobile app testing. Application testing on mobile devices may be manual or automated.
Estimated revenue of mobile apps worldwide between 2017-2025, by segment.
IMPORTANT FACTORS OF APP TESTING
App development is not only about technology and innovation. A significant portion should be concerned about the working and updates, especially keeping today’s latest trends in mind. Automated mobile testing is introduced with the complexity of consumers’ demands in mind. However, this alone cannot guarantee success. It is important to verify a few factors with testing and bug fixing.
- Hardware: Today’s hardware produces ‘fragmentation’ and makes it tough to get the best performance out of your software. For example, significant variances in the performance capability of any chipset, including CPU and GPU, might cause your program to function differently on devices based on those chipsets.
- Resolution: The display resolution is not the only form factor that matters – the quality, density, or color brightness of the display component are all critical. These factors might influence how it seems to your users. The only way to capture the entire picture is by performing automated mobile testing on a wide range of real-world devices.
- Memory: The form factor of memory is crucial and influences apps. Cheap smartphones cannot run large, memory-intensive apps due to limited storage. App users do not get warned of anything other than memory shortage. They’re likely to blame your app for the problem.
- Software: OS versions correlate to distinct API levels, which exhibit crucial changes. The other ones are OEM tweaks on vanilla Android, which may not be as noticeable as a source of pain. Almost all Android OEMs have created their UI layers and skins to strengthen their brand and differentiate their smartphones. Users find there is nothing wrong with it. However, your applications may perform differently on each of these brands. The only way to execute mobile app testing on a large scale is to initiate a dependable cloud-based testing system.
- Sensors: Sensors vary greatly depending on the device. Most modern electronics have standard sensors that assess motion, orientation, and other environmental variables. These include accelerometers, gravity sensors, gyroscopes, rotational vector sensors, orientation sensors, and magnetometers. For example, games make extensive use of sensor data, and in many games, it is not sufficient that a sensor exists and is calibrated; it must also be responsive to in-game context and operate to provide the optimal user experience.
ASPECTS OF TESTING APPS WHILE DEVELOPING
You can understand the necessity of application testing for development and innovations, but testing without logic can lead to derogatory outcomes. Here are some steps for mobile app testing during its development phase.
1. Automate as many generic things as possible:
When developing mobile apps, a well-planned testing strategy proves beneficial. User experience and design are essential, as are sound programming and testing. Many automated mobile testing allows you to expand the depth and scope of testing and improve the quality of your app. If the product is operating as planned, test cases should have complete access within an application and test all parts – memory contents, data tables, file contents, and internal program states. So, mobile app test automation is critical.
2. App modifications during development and testing:
When you change a piece of code, many other things change as well, such as the user interface, visuals, and functionality, to mention a few. Even if just 10% changes in the app source code, you must still thoroughly test your app’s functionalities. Manual testing can never scale up in this instance. Therefore developing all test cases for new features is your best alternative. As a result, all test cases may be used to perform automated mobile testing on the latest features. It is critical to design your tests to make maintenance easy during the development phases of your program.
3. Choose a testing technology and provider you can grow with:
If you currently have an app on the market and want to produce another similar app, you should choose a technology and vendor provider that can meet your expectations with proper mobile app testing. Not repeating the test cases or reusing them and building your test cases. Choose a technology and a provider that can manage your demands when your product expands, testing needs to span a new geographical region, and even support new platforms (e.g., Android -> iOS).
4. Perform 24/7 testing with test automation:
Mobile app test automation can help you decrease the time it takes to test new features and the entire app by allowing test execution to occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With such mobile testing solutions, the process becomes more fluid and efficient and saves time.
5. Scale up with a cloud-based testing platform:
A cloud-based testing platform helps you execute automated mobile testing on thousands of genuine Android and iOS devices while remotely controlling our devices for manual testing.
With advancements like such efficient mobile testing tools, mobile app test automation
the process of testing becomes seamless, efficient, and saves time.
Challenges in testing mobile and multi-channel (mobile, social, and traditional) applications
TESTING TYPES IN THE DEVELOPMENT PHASE
Use cases are starting points for creating real-world test cases. There has been a significant gap in linking the high-level use cases and specific tests that hammer your product to automate the test creation process. When designing the testing methodologies (and tools) for your mobile application, game, or service, keep the following intriguing – and yet more crucial – testing aspects in mind:
1. Automated functional testing
Functional testing typically consists of several steps to describe what the system does, beginning with identifying functions that need to be performed by software, followed by the creation of input data and output based on the specification, the execution of the test case, and the comparison of actual and expected outputs. It is advised to use professional mobile testing tools to automate functional testing and execute test cases on real Android and iOS devices.
2. Stress and performance testing
Users should consider developing tests that last for hours to monitor how well the program and device/server combinations perform throughout the lengthy usage to assess how well your application responds to varying degrees of use. Stress testing is performed to determine the running capability of your application for an extended period under excessive pressure. The performance tests will determine how responsive your software is on an actual device.
3. Worldwide access to real devices
The benefit of automated mobile testing is that you don’t even need to possess the actual device to test your application. The real devices are available globally at such a large scale that you can acquire one and perform instrumentation tests and achieve the results in a fraction of time.
4. Regression analysis
Nowadays, most mobile services have a server-client interaction. It requires a login, data uploading, and data downloading. When building these services, users must verify that all modifications made in code, whether server-side or client-side, do not compromise the service’s functioning. Testing for these use cases may be arduous to perform manually, leaving automated mobile testing as the only viable choice.
5. Testing for localization
For applications meant for worldwide markets, testing becomes critical. The term “global” implies that your software or game must be “local” for everyone. When your application must be translated and tested with devices in several languages, these tests may be conducted automatically to change the language of instruments and even repeat the process with the same test runs.
CONCLUSION
The current topography of mobile apps, games, and technology is highly competitive. Testing plays a crucial part in enhancing the chances of success. However, poorly managed testing can account for 20-50 percent of the whole development effort, making it the most expensive single expenditure in your budget. This issue is alarming, so one needs to ensure efficient testing. It can be done faster, keeping all the aspects of mobile ecosystems and device types in mind by using a trustworthy and resilient cloud-based testing platform. According to a 2018 survey, only 55% of organizations believed that their automation program had been successful. More than half found it harder to implement. The current topography of mobile apps, games, and technology is highly competitive. Testing plays a crucial part in enhancing the chances of success. However, poorly managed testing can account for 20-50 percent of the whole development effort, making it the most expensive single expenditure in your budget. This issue is alarming, so one needs to ensure efficient testing. It can be done faster, keeping all the aspects of mobile ecosystems and device types in mind by using a trustworthy and resilient cloud-based testing platform. According to a 2018 survey, only 55% of organizations believed that their automation program had been successful. More than half found it harder to implement.