Mobile app testing has become one of the largest growing industries in this modern era. This is because the mobile market is massively increasing due to its portable nature and offerings of cutting-edge technology. To properly integrate modern mobile app test cases, the developers must include various advanced processes like automation testing, performance testing, stress testing, and cross-platform testing. It is also important for the developers to integrate quality assurance testing to ensure the proper placement and functioning of all the user interface elements present in mobile applications.
With this article, we are going to discuss how app developers can improve the productivity of mobile app test cases with the introduction of automation testing. We will also discuss some of the most effective tips to streamline the entire mobile app development and testing process.
Growth Of Mobile Applications
A few years ago, the desktop was the only platform to use the Internet and access multiple applications. However, with the advancement of technology and rising demands for portability, various new devices like smartphones, tablets, and even smart watches have arrived in the market. With the integration of these devices, the end users can achieve desktop-like performance on a form factor that can fit in their pockets. This is the primary reason for the rising demand for mobile devices. A modern market study shows that almost 56% of total Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
Currently, the most popular mobile platforms include Android, iOS, and Windows. Android being the largest player in this segment has over 72% of users all around the world. While researching mobile devices, the developers and testers should also consider the diversity in the segment. For reference, we can consider that only in the Android segment, thousands of new devices are released annually. All the devices are unique in terms of display resolution, processing power, and other software capabilities. Therefore while working with mobile app testing, the developers can’t generalise the test cases.
Importance of Implementing Mobile App Testing
As we already mentioned earlier, the mobile application market is one of the most diverse segments in the present industry. Therefore, the developers need to implement rigorous testing while working with mobile apps. While testing the performance of the mobile apps, the developer should also ensure that at least the basic structure of the app is functional in all instances to ensure a positive reputation for the brand. Let us go through some of the most important parameters that justify the importance of modern mobile app testing:
● Quality Assurance
Mobile app testing ensures that the application functions as intended and is also able to meet the user expectations and requirements for the business. This process also helps to fix bugs, glitches, and all the other usability issues that might be present in the core infrastructure of the application. The final goal of this process is to roll out high-quality apps to the end users that can create a positive reputation for the brand.
● Improved User Experience
While performing mobile application testing, the app developers have to evaluate the user interface performance, navigation, and the overall experience while using the application. So, by implementing a positive user experience, the developers can retain their existing users and also expand the company’s audience base. These are some of the key factors for ensuring the overall success of the application.
● Ease of Compatibility
By properly testing the functioning of the application, the app developing companies can ensure that it is functional on multiple devices irrespective of their software and hardware configurations. This process becomes even more crucial when app developers are targeting compatibility on older devices and browsers that are no longer available in the market. Market studies show that outdated devices and browsers constitute about 70% of the user base as most of the users do not update their devices before 3 years.
● Integration of Security
Security is one of the most important concerns in modern application development and testing. This is because modern applications store a lot of sensitive user data including transaction details. So, by implementing rigorous mobile app testing the developers can ensure that this data is secured in the application infrastructure and is also devoid of any privacy or security leaks. It is one of the standard practices in various countries to completely ban an application if it fails to comply with the established security certifications.
● Performance Optimization
By implementing proper testing, the application testers can also optimize the performance of the application by identifying multiple bottlenecks and resource-intensive areas. It also helps to optimize severe issues related to responsiveness, speed, and battery usage. By implementing all these parameters, the application developers and testers can ensure the stability of the app infrastructure irrespective of multiple use case scenarios. During this process, the developers can also evaluate the fluctuations in app performance when it is subjected to unusual traffic.
Analyzing the Role of Automation In Modern Mobile App Testing
Automation testing is one of the most important components of the modern application development and testing industry. Using this process, the app developers can automatically create and execute the test cases based on various pre-written scripts. These scripts are responsible for supplying all the user information and statistical data that will help the system emulate human interactions while communicating with the application. Since the mobile app development industry consists of a lot of repetitive and diverse test cases, it can benefit a lot from the integration of test automation.
To simplify this knowledge for the new automation testers, we have mentioned some of the most important areas in which automation testing benefits mobile app testing:
1. Test Coverage and Consistency
- By implementing automation testing, app developers can allow the creation of a broad range of test cases. So, they can ensure that with these test cases, they can cover multiple devices, operating systems, and use case scenarios. On the contrary, this process would not be possible if the developers relied on complete manual testing.
- With the integration of automation testing, it is possible to ensure that there is at least one dedicated test case to verify the functioning of all the elements present in the application. Moreover, automated tests can perform the same steps repeatedly and are devoid of any human interaction. So, it helps to guarantee consistency, unlike manual test cases.
2. Cost and Time Efficiency
- While implementing automation testing, the developers can massively boost the test execution speed. This means that the app-developing companies can quickly forward the application to the production phase. Moreover, with the integration of parallel testing with automation testing, it is possible to initiate multiple test instances on different configurations and systems at the same time.
- Since most of the functions related to automation testing are conducted by the system, the developing companies do not have to maintain an onsite app testing team. So, it helps to reduce a lot of company expenses. Moreover, the accuracy of the automated test cases ensures that the app developing companies have to go through fewer instances of retesting the app elements.
3. Implementation of Reusability and Scalability
- While using automation testing to verify the performance of the mobile applications, app developers can reuse a huge section of the existing test data. The implementation of this data across multiple iterations helps to save time and effort for future testing cycles. Moreover, the maintenance of the automation test script is a highly cost-effective and simple process.
- With the evolution of the application, automated test cases can easily be scaled so that they can accommodate all the new features and functionalities that have been incorporated into the application infrastructure. So, automation testing is one of the most crucial segments of certain applications that undergo frequent updating processes.
4. Implementation of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery
- While using automation testing, the application developers can integrate various agile methodologies like continuous delivery and continuous integration. The core concept of this process is to ensure the collaboration between the development and testing teams of the company. The testers can execute the test cases simultaneously with the development phase using this process. It ensures that all the crucial bugs are detected at the earlier phases before they can seriously harm the app infrastructure.
- The faster feedback after code changes also ensures the stability of the application throughout the development process.
5. Device Compatibility and Fragmentation
- The modern mobile industry consists of thousands of devices that require dedicated test cases. Using automation testing, the app developers can choose a wide range of screen sizes and operating systems which are crucial for ensuring compatibility across all these platforms.
- Moreover, automation testing also ensures that the testing process is adaptable to the fragmenting nature of the mobile device market. So, it guarantees the stable performance of the application across different environments and use cases.
6. Scope For Regression Testing
- After every update to the app infrastructure, the developers have to re-run the test cases to ensure that the new elements do not have the functioning of the existing elements. By integrating automation testing, the system can automatically execute the test cases after detecting a code change.
- The developers can also integrate AI-powered test orchestration and execution platforms like LambdaTest to execute these test cases on real device cloud through remote servers. These servers are not only accessible all around the globe but also provide access to outdated browsers and devices. These cloud platforms also provide additional features like parallel testing, native bug-tracking abilities, and live test activity logs.
7. Improved Test Reporting and Analysis
- Various automated testing tools help the developers generate detailed reports that provide crucial insights into code coverage, test results, and potential areas for improvement within the mobile application.
- Moreover, cloud platforms like LambdaTest also further integrate visual data like screenshots and videos to boost the test reports’ accuracy and simplicity. The developers can analyze these reports and make data-driven decisions to prioritize the issues and optimize the overall performance of the application currently being developed.
The Bottom Line
Since both automation testing and mobile applications will continue to gain more popularity in the coming years, developers and testers should continue incorporating all the recent trends and innovations related to these. In this regard, the app-developing companies can also conduct frequent seminars and workshops to spread the required knowledge about healthy automation testing practices. While choosing the automation testing framework, the developer should not only consider their preferences but also the requirements of the app development project to maximize the productivity of the testing infrastructure.