Top 5 tips on mobile testing apps
The number of mobile apps that are present on the play store today is easily in the millions. In fact, studies show that since the year 2016 there are roughly about 6000 new app additions on the google play store and about 1400 more on the apple store every single day. Keeping this in mind, it goes without saying that in order to differentiate your app from the many others out there it has to exhibit a decent amount of stability and must be tested out properly.
It is true that testing on mobile devices could be a bit of a task given that it requires constant updates, new features, and many more DevOp tools that exist for better performance.
There are a myriad of factors that must be considered during the testing stage in order to get it to work right. Here is a list of five tips to keep in mind before commencing the testing process (to extract the most benefit from the efforts put in by the QA):
Real environment testing:
- During the early stages of testing, emulators are the only way to go, but it is not enough. Tests run on emulators are definitely not reliable enough when it comes to releasing the app into the real world. Testing on real devices is certainly a must because it is so much more accurate considering it can test functionalities like camera operations, Bluetooth, battery life, and GPS. Having a variety of devices to test the app on different operating systems is quite tedious and daunting, a good way to navigate this problem is to test the apps on a cloud-based platform that houses a hub of real devices. This ensures that the entire process is a lot more precise.
Testing automation
- The key to effective testing is automation testing, this leads to the execution of the tests being simplified. They can also be run simultaneously across many real devices, which is a massive advantage. However automation is not always the clear choice, sometimes it is better to go the manual way, especially when there is a lot of setups. Mobile testing definitely requires that you use the right tools to do so, the most popular of them all being Appium. Appium is compatible with both ios as well as android (allows tests that can run on both platforms).
Functionality testing
- The main functionality is what is truly important in an app, they are used and sought out for their functionality. This is why it is important to have complete and adequate functionality, and this must be tested rigorously to ensure a quality user experience. Having bad functionality is why most people end up uninstalling an app, it goes without saying that the functionality of an app should be the priority and must be checked at every possible point.
Performance as well as load testing
- The SDLC process is when the maximum operating capacity as well as the behavior of an app in real-time load situations. JMeter and Android’s monkey tool is the most commonly used tools that gauge performance and also help figure out issues like memory leaks and network interruptions. The aim of this is to have an app that runs without bugs and smoothly. Moreover, internet speed also has a major effect on the experience of using an app. Users having slow internet will most likely have a hard time with the app so it is a good idea to test how the app behaves when it has different internet speeds.
Choice of mobile app testing tool
- It goes without saying that the tools you choose to test out you app are important and crucial to the process. Among the tools that are available in the market, the best one is Appium, there are also other tools like Robotium and Espresso that are mostly used to test android apps. Earl Grey by google performs similar functions as Robotium for an ios framework.
On a concluding note, it would make sense to mention that testing landscapes and strategies are constantly changing, there must be a healthy mix of automated testing as well as manual testing. The best way to have successful mobile app testing is to have a strategy in place before doing so.