Mobile application testing is a process through which applications being developed for mobile devices are tested. The main focus is to test the apps for functionality, usability and stability.
Mobile application testing is vital for an app’s survival in today’s market. To assure the best possible quality for the end users – the application is also tested from various other aspects including its performance, security, and the UI.
Types Of Mobile Apps
Here are the three basic types of mobile applications:
Native Apps: Native apps are developed for a specific platform or operating system (OS). As they focus on a single OS, they have an added advantage of being faster and more reliable in terms of performance but are costly to maintain.
Web Apps: Web apps are similar to native apps with the basic difference that it can be used via a web browser on mobile devices. It has low development costs but is entirely dependent on the browser used on the device.
Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps are the combination of both native and web-based apps. They use a web view control in order to present the HTML and JavaScript files in a full screen format. These apps are cost-friendly and quick to develop but unlike native apps, they lack power and speed.
If you have a mobile application and you have been executing the same test cases for it release after release, then it is time that you start automating the test cases to save time and efforts and improve your ROI. For this you should invest in a tool that supports automation on your mobile application.
Why Mobile Testing Is Important For Your App
In the current app-development scenario, apps need to be tested across various mobile devices and operating systems to check their compatibility, usability and consistency. In order to build applications that are scalable and accessible across multiple platforms, automation testing can be used.
As manual testing is time consuming, costly, and prone to errors, it makes sense to leverage automation for a wide range of repetitive tasks, such as regression and performance testing.
Automated testing will allow the testers to quickly check the new or recent updates or changes in the application for errors, defects, and vulnerabilities. Additionally, it helps them to:
1.Run tests on multiple devices in parallel
2.Reuse tests
3.Get enhanced coverage
4.Achieve better ROI
Types And Techniques Of Testing Mobile Applications
While testing mobile apps, testers need a variety of testing skills and techniques to find as many defects as possible in different environments and scenarios.
Here are some key mobile testing types and techniques for QA members to get started:
Functional Testing: It checks whether the functions of an application are working correctly or not. This testing focuses on the functioning of the app according to requirements.
Compatibility Testing: It is a non-functional type of testing which is used to ensure that the app is working seamlessly in different operating systems, devices, network environments and specific internal hardware specifications.
Usability Testing: Usability testing checks the user-friendliness of an app in terms of use and intuitiveness. It helps identify bugs to improve customer experience.
Performance Testing: Performance testing checks how an app behaves or performs under a particular load.
Security Testing: Security testing prioritizes security of user’s personal data and tests app behavior under various device permission requests.
Installation Testing: Installation testing is to check whether an app is installing and uninstalling properly. It also ensures that app updates are working smoothly.
Exploratory Testing: Exploratory testing is used to explore various functionalities and usability of the app to find key errors and ensure that the app really works as intended.
Automated Testing: Automated testing is used for regression testing or where the situation demands repetitive tasks. It helps in assuring app quality and fast releases.
Storage Testing: Storage testing tests how an app performs its storage related functionalities. There are the functionalities where the application has to either store some data on the hard disk, retrieve it from there or delete it. It also tests how the app behaves when there is no or low storage in a device.
Interrupt Testing: On an average, a mobile user may receive 50-80 interruptions per day from push notifications which can become overwhelming. Interrupt testing helps analyse the disturbances caused by these interruptions and find solutions to offer a smooth mobile experience. The interruptions can be in various forms including low/full battery, alarm, push notifications, incoming call/SMS, etc. A tester must take into account the UI issues, app crashes, and performance issues while performing interrupt testing.
Input Testing: A mobile tester should perform various input actions on the device while testing a mobile app such as:
- Multi-finger inputs to test all the finger gestures supported by the app
- Voice inputs to test whether the app can process inputs correctly with external noise
- Sensor inputs which includes a variety of sensors such as ambient light sensor, acceleration sensor, proximity sensor, Gyroscope, pressure sensor, magnetic sensor, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, etc.