Mobile application testing is an important part of mobile app development. Without mobile app testing, you won’t know if your mobile apps are up to par with today’s standards and will be successful in the marketplace.
According to a report, global expenditure on mobile applications reached around $29.3 billion in 2020. With mobile applications expanding into every aspect of our lives, businesses have never been more important to ensure their mobile apps work properly before launching them to the public.
In this guide, we’ll go over mobile app testing, the different types of mobile app testing, and the tools that can help you do just that!
What is Mobile App Testing?
Mobile app testing is the process of checking mobile applications for bugs, crashes, and other issues.
Mobile apps are tested on different operating systems (OS) like iOS or Android, devices (phones & tablets), carriers, memory capacity/devices, etc., to make sure that mobile apps work as they should after being released into the market.
Testing can be performed by a mobile apps development company that builds mobile applications or by testers with mobile app testing experience.
Difference between Mobile App Testing and Desktop app Testing
Mobile app testing is not the same as desktop application (PC/Mac) testing. Mobile app testers need to test mobile apps across multiple devices and operating systems with different resolutions, hardware capabilities, etc., to make sure that mobile applications work seamlessly on every device possible.
Users expect mobile applications to be fast and stable because they don’t have much patience for buggy mobile apps that crash often. These factors make mobile app testing more challenging than desktop app testing.
Unlike mobile applications, desktop applications are installed on computers or laptops that function as they should.
Hence the tester only needs to check if everything works fine after testing. However, mobile apps need to work properly even without a network connection, limited memory space, other resources, etc.
Types of apps and their purpose
Mobile applications come in all shapes and sizes. It is especially true with the rise of mobile games, which are now played by millions worldwide. However, there are many other types of mobile applications that people use in their daily lives.
For example:
Mobile apps for personal use (e.g., fitness apps, travel apps)
Mobile applications for business purposes (e.g., sales & CRM apps, eCommerce apps, etc.)
Mobile applications for health care (e.g., medical devices & accessories, medicine management apps)
Mobile apps for education (e.g., lecture notes, flashcards)
Mobile applications for entertainment (e.g., music & video streaming apps, games)
Mobile applications for banking (e.g., money transfer apps, check deposit apps)
Types of Mobile App Testing
Mobile apps need to go through different mobile application testing techniques before being released into the market for users, including documentation testing, functional mobile app testing, usability mobile app testing, and load mobile app performance testing.
1. Documentation Testing
It is all about making sure that the documentation related to a product is up-to-date and available. It also involves checking any missing documents or files within a project/product development cycle.
Once again, this kind of test can be carried out by both manuals and automated mobile app testing tools.
2. Functional Testing
This type of mobile application testing ensures that an app is working as intended and does not have any bugs or software errors before being released into the market for users to download it on their devices.
It involves checking if all functionalities within a mobile application are working as intended and do not have any bugs or errors.
3. Usability testing
It is important to make sure that a mobile app is easy enough for users to understand before being released into the market, including checking if all functionalities within an app are easy enough for users to use without having issues with these functionalities/user interfaces.
4. UI (User Interface) testing
User Interface Testing is a type of mobile app testing that involves checking if the user interface (UI) is working as intended and does not have any bugs or errors.
5. Compatibility (Configuration Testing)
This type of mobile application testing ensures that an app is compatible with different operating systems, devices, and hardware on the market. It mainly involves checking if a particular app works well across all types of devices/operating systems or not.
6. Cross-Platform Testing
It is testing a mobile app across different platforms, such as Android and iOS. It also involves checking if an app is compatible with all versions of the operating system or not.
7. Cross-Browser Testing
It is testing a mobile app across different browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox. It also involves checking if an app is compatible with all versions of browsers or not.
8. Database Testing
It is testing a mobile application for compatibility with databases, including whether all data can be stored properly and accessed as intended.
9. Device Configuration Testing
Check if an app works well across different types of devices or not. It also involves checking whether a mobile application runs on all versions/types of device configurations, such as RAM and CPU speeds.
10. Network Configuration Testing
It is testing a mobile application for compatibility with network-related components, including WiFi and cellular signals. This type of testing ensures that the app works well on specific networks (such as LTE or GPRS).
11. Performance Testing
Mobile performance testing is about checking if a mobile app can handle a certain amount of load or stress.
Mobile performance testing is an important type of mobile test that ensures the stability and speed of mobile applications before it reaches users on different platforms.
Testers usually use automated tools to run tests in parallel across multiple devices/OS, etc, to carry out this kind of test.
12. Security Testing
This mobile app testing ensures that a particular application is fully secure from data theft or information loss. This test involves checking if all security-related components within a specific mobile app are working as intended and do not have any vulnerabilities/bugs.
13. Recovery Testing
This mobile app testing ensures that an application works as intended even when it fails to work/connect. Recovery testing includes checking if a specific application can recover from failures or crashes, either by restarting itself or recovering important data after the crash, etc.
14. Localization Testing
This mobile app testing ensures that an application works as intended even fails to work/connect.
This mobile app testing ensures that an application is working as intended when it runs in different languages.
It includes checking if all text, images, and other content within an application are localized properly.
15. Change Related Testing
This mobile app testing ensures that all changes made to a specific application are working as intended and do not have bugs or errors.
16. Beta Testing
Beta testing is all about checking if a mobile app can handle real-time or production data. It helps find bugs, errors, and crashes that might not be visible on regular/demo apps before they reach users.
Mobile app testing helps find any issues within a mobile application, such as bugs and errors. It also ensures that all changes made to an app are working as intended and do not negatively impact the performance of an app.
17. Certification Testing
This mobile app testing ensures that a particular application is fully secure from data theft or information loss. This test involves checking if all security-related components within a specific mobile app are working as intended and do not have any vulnerabilities/bugs.
Need for Mobile App Testing
To ensure that a mobile app is working as intended, it must go through several rounds of testing.
Mobile testing has become an important part of the development process because every day, millions of new apps are being developed and made available to users across different platforms, such as Android and iOS.
It means developers have so many devices/OS versions to test their applications and ensure they work as intended.
It requires a huge amount of time and effort, which is why it’s important to find the right testing tools for the mobile app development process.
Advantages of mobile app testing over manual testing
It helps enhance the user experience by removing all technical glitches/errors from a mobile app.
A high number of automated tests can be performed as part of this test, which saves time and effort that would have been otherwise spent on manual testing.
This type of testing is carried out through various emulators, devices, etc., ensuring that a mobile app works as intended on different platforms.
If an application is tested thoroughly, it can be made available for download in less time and at a lower cost than usual.
Mobile App Testing Tools
There are many tools available for different types of mobile application tests. Some of the most popular tools include:
It is a test management tool that comes with complete automation and collaboration features. It is built for QA teams to provide a single platform to manage all the testing efforts from start to end.
It is a mobile test automation framework for native, hybrid, and web apps. It works on iOS and Android platforms with a single-code base which is written in Java/C++ language.
It is a test automation framework for Android apps that write effective unit tests for native, hybrid, and web applications on the Android platform using Java programming language.
Step-by-step Guide(Mobile App Testing)
Here are the top steps to be followed during mobile app testing.
1. Identify Testing Devices
The first step during mobile app testing is identifying the devices you will use to carry out tests. These can either be simulators or actual physical devices, depending on how thorough the test needs to be.
2. Test app on Emulator
After identifying the testing devices, it’s time to test a mobile app on emulators. There are different emulators available for Android and iOS platforms, allowing developers/testers to run an application as if it is running on an actual physical device. Some of the most common ones include:
iOS Simulator for Mac OS X
Android Studio/AVD (Android Virtual Device)
3. Deploy test on a device
Once the mobile app has been tested thoroughly on emulators, it’s time to test its functionality on actual physical devices. It allows developers/testers to understand better the issues faced by users on different devices/platforms.
4. Compile results and resolve issues
Once the testing process is complete, it’s important to compile all results and analyze them. Developers need to resolve user issues on different devices/platforms and continue developing the app after making necessary changes.
Final Words
Mobile application testing is a crucial part of the entire development process, so choosing the right tools for testing is important.
With the right tools, testing your mobile app can be quick and easy. It will help you resolve technical glitches/errors and make your app more user-friendly.
With our guide to mobile app testing, you’ll have the information needed to release your new app successfully!
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