Mobile testing
What Is Mobile Testing?
Hardly anyone can imagine a life without mobile devices. During the last decade, they evolve from just mere communication gadgets to something more or everything. We use mobile devices when ordering food, “calling” for a taxi, or searching for the room to stay when traveling.
Eventually, thanks to the wonderful world of applications, mobile devices have become a wizarding wand created to ease our lives. Consequently, mobile testing becomes a fundamental requirement for delivering a proper product for the app market nowadays. When testing a mobile application, we must take into account the fact that they are quite different from the desktop application. Hence our approaches have to be modified while planning testing processes for mobile apps.
The differences between mobile and web applications
1. Mobile device screen size varies. It is much smaller than desktop ones. The same thing with extensions and colors.
2. As the mobile device’s major function is to make and receive calls, it is very essential to make such an app that will not interfere with this principal function.
3. Mobile devices use network connections, such as 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, desktop use broadband connection, or Wi-Fi.
4. The tools for desktop testing are quite different than in the case of mobile applications.
5. The constant search of the network is what mobile devices do. So why it’s critical to test the application at various data rates.
6. There is a wide variety of specific operating systems and component configurations in the case of mobile devices.
7. Mobile apps mainly support multiple input channels such as a keyboard, voice, or other features to increase usability rate.
When testing a mobile application, it is also crucial to know the type of this application. There are three types of mobile applications to know: Web Apps, Native Apps, and Hybrid Apps. When we open a website with the help of a mobile browser in devices like smartphones or tablets, we’re dealing with Mobile Web Apps.
Here are some pros of Mobile Web Apps to take into account. Mobile Web Apps are:
1. Easily developed
2. Easily updated
3. Require no installation
4. Easily accessed.
1. Limited functionality with no access to the local resources or file system
2. No offline capabilities support
3. Google Play and App Store don’t support redistribution of the Mobile Web Apps.
Native or pure native apps are those developed specifically for one platform (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.)
Here are some pros of Native apps.
1. Work offline
2. Available all app features
3. Advanced user experience
1. Expensive development process
2. Maintenance high costs
The mix of Native and Mobile Web Apps is called Hybrid App. It is a website content exposition in application format.
1. Device features
2. Flexible distribution
3. In comparison with Native apps, more cost-effectiveness.
1. Slow working process in comparison with Native Apps
2. Less customary to the OS in comparison with Native app
Approaches to Mobile Application Testing
There are two different approaches to mobile testing – manual and automated.
Manual approach
Manual mobile testing is performed by hand with human effort, evaluating and analyzing of app’s functionality, security, usability. This approach assures the app’s accordance with standards from the user’s perspective. As this type of testing is time-consuming, 20% of testing should be manual, and the rest should be automated.
Another mobile testing approach is automated testing. It covers 80% of the testing process Although this division is not fixed, it is followed in the software industry. Let us look at those test cases that are covered by this approach:
1. Test cases on most frequently used functionality
2. Test cases that can’t be covered manually
3. Test cases that are exhausting to perform manually
Automation is great thanks to advantages, such as:
1. Tests can be run on various devices at the same time
2. Time-saving
3. Increase testing efficiency
4. Enhances regression test case execution
1. Multi-platform agreeableness: besides Android and iOS systems, there is another OS executed across a multitude of platforms. Hence, the time for application test increases.
2. Applications must be tested for all network types (3G, 4G, etc.).
3. Today there are a bunch of tools for mobile app testing,. Consequently, the right choice of tools can be crucial for successful testing.
4. Application integration must be consistent and interference between backend and frontend delivered without issues. For various mobile devices, this is a real challenge.
Mobile testing can be complicated and tough, and the theme developed to mobile testing strategies, tools, and other aspects. However, let us close here, with the perspective of the development of this theme in mind.
Benefits:
● Selection and test execution for system on most popular devices using the app
● Taking into action mobile specific situations during testing
● Usability testing on different device models with operating systems and screen resolutions
● Implementation of different types of testing on mobile application
● Mobile application test automation with specific tools
