Modern and digital users want to get everything done through apps, say shopping, fitness classes, and doctor’s appointments. etc. However, they will not stand for poorly developed apps with inadequate features and bad user interfaces. They will not take any time to uninstall the app and find a new one as they have many other choices.
Every new release of Smartphones, tablet PCs, or iPhones with the smallest changes makes mobile testing, and automated testing, necessary to detect regression bugs and enables teams to release quality applications. Choosing the right automated testing tool will help the organization’s development and QA teams to efficiently write and execute automated tests.
Thorough mobile app testing ensures that the app is up to the user’s standards. Running the tests in different environments similar to those the apps will run in when in the hands of end-users requires the right mobile app testing tool.
A number of paid and open-source tools available in the market, make it confusing to pick the right mobile app testing tool.
In this article, we will discuss a few salient points on how to find the best mobile app testing tool that every test manager, tester, or developer should consider when evaluating and deciding on the right mobile app testing tool. Before we start let’s first discuss what mobile app testing is, what are its benefits and why is it important to perform.
Table of Contents
Mobile app testing
Mobile testing is the process of testing applications for modern mobile devices (Android or iOS) for functionality, usability, or performance using automation tools or frameworks. Testing and verifying mobile apps help in validating whether the app ready to be delivered meets the user’s expectations and expected technical requirements. In short, mobile app testing is conducted to identify design issues, performance obstacles, and bugs in a given app.
Mobile application testing can be performed manually or by automation. For successful mobile app testing, it is important for the teams to test apps across numerous screen resolutions, operating system versions, and different network bandwidths. This helps in ensuring that the app performs flawlessly across a range of device configurations when released publicly.
At a high level, mobile app testing includes testing the app’s appearance in both Portrait and Landscape mode, confirming app compatibility and performance when operated on specific settings. And also with mobile sensors like Accelerometers, GPS, etc. Testing the app’s GUI (Menus, dropdown, navigation buttons, etc) for functionality.
Types of Mobile Apps
There are three general categories of mobile applications. They are-
Native Apps
Native Apps are designed specifically for a particular mobile platform (Android or iOS). They are generally downloaded and installed through Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. This includes pure native apps built using programming languages such as Java and Kotlin for Android or Objective-C and Swift for iOS. It also includes cross-platform native applications built with popular frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and NativeScript.
Responsive Web Apps
These apps are designed for easy access on a mobile browser. Responsive web apps can either be a responsive and optimized version of a website or simply a progressive web app (PWA). They flawlessly run on any kind of platform, desktop, and mobile device. The PWAs are built using frameworks such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Hybrid Apps
They are designed using the elements of both native and web apps. as a compromise between native and web apps. Hybrid apps are installed through the app stores just like native apps that may have some native functionality, but they operate as web apps coded with web frameworks and technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript web technologies wrapped in a native shell.
Need for Mobile App Testing
The ultimate goal for developing mobile apps is to increase the user base by reaching more users across the globe. As more and more users are spending most of their time on mobile devices. Therefore it’s critical to provide them with a good experience on the mobile apps.
If the users find the app faulty like challenging to navigate, too slow, or occupying too much space in the device then the chances are that they will delete or uninstall the app and switch to a competitor. No organization would like to lose its users which is why mobile apps must be thoroughly tested, so that users do not encounter critical bugs on their devices that may lead to a bad user experience, particularly for new users.
Any unexpected crash or functionality bug in the app leads to poor user experience which can result in immediate uninstallation or negative feedback of that app. This also results in the loss of potential users and revenue.
Mobile app testing ensures a strong mobile experience, no matter which app is used or for which platform it is developed.
Benefits of Mobile App Testing
- Automated testing is one of the most popular and fastest ways to test apps which saves a lot of time.
- There is no need to buy different testing devices. This as a result saves resources and costs.
- Ensures that the application performs properly under specific performance requirements, different load conditions, changing networks, etc.
- Ensures that there remains no room for error such as poor navigation, slow loading speed, or security issues which can otherwise prove to be critical.
- Help build a user-friendly and scalable application.
- Allows QA testers to explore the logic behind the application and double-check if it’s insightful and convenient to follow. They put themselves in real users’ situations and assess the overall app experience.
- A high-functioning app can build users’ loyalty and market reputation to reach a wider audience.
Finding the best Mobile Testing Tools
Before evaluating mobile testing frameworks it is vital for the testers to determine what is suitable for the organization. Here we will discuss some key points that need to be considered while selecting the best mobile app testing tool. This will help you to uncover testing needs and understand the impact of a new tool on organizational processes
While looking for the finest tool or framework for writing test scripts, paying close attention to the features it offers is a must. A robust solution will provide support for various programming languages, mobile platforms, and cross-platform integrations.
Below are some key criteria to find which mobile testing tool best fits your needs.
A tool that is easy to learn and use
Performing testing with open-source frameworks usually needs the installation of separate components like JAR files, language-specific client drivers, and other external libraries. If the tool in your list includes everything in the tool itself, it would be the best choice to instantly get started.
The feature sets cover essential mobile-specific testing tasks
Visit the tool technical documentation guide and search for some key features like screening, debugging, cross-device test execution, artifacts sharing, reporting, etc. If the tool provides all these feature sets then it can be a good choice.
The tool should provide scripting and scriptless methods
Creating tests without coding is essential. Finding a good tool is also looking at whether it provides scriptless options for test creation. A scriptless feature like record and playback not is valuable only for those who lack programming skills but also helps in creating tests very quickly and expanding test coverage.
Provide Access to Real Mobile Devices
No matter what kind of app you are testing, testing it on real mobile devices and monitors is a must to know how the app functions in real user conditions. Therefore a good tool must provide the facility to test mobile apps on real devices.
Integration with App Testing Frameworks and CI/CD tools
Mobile application testing tools are worth investing in if it offers integrations with other commonly used tools and frameworks. This makes devs’ and testers’ lives easier. While choosing cloud-based mobile testing tools, look for one that offers integrations with app testing frameworks and CI/CD tools. So that you don’t need to spend more time downloading and installing resources that should be common sense for your tool to provide. LambdaTest is one such platform that offers integration with app testing frameworks like TeamCity, Appium, Jenkins, Espresso, CircleCI, etc.
Build Security
The best mobile testing tools pay attention to their user’s data and build security. The collaborative nature of modern app development and testing, and build distribution increases the chances of some illegal unlicensed individuals getting access to an app in its most vulnerable stages. Therefore the tool must provide the organizations the ability to regularly upgrade their systems for protection against newer viruses, malware, and illegal access to personal data.
Multiple scripting languages Support.
It’s important for a tool to have many different options for test creation. This means that the QA team can be able to choose from a variety of scripting languages, and can choose to work with the ones they are familiar with. So, look for a tool that supports multiple programming languages.
Tests creation for different mobile operating systems.
A good tool is one that has the ability to run test cases across several mobile platforms. Ideally, it should also have a code reuse option, which means that testers will not have to create separate test scripts for each platform.
Test Reporting, Error Capturing & Debugging
When it comes to app testing, the development team needs a tool that can capture test failures and create detailed test reports, highlighting the moment of failures and providing all possible data that can help devs to resolve the issue. They should also be able to take screenshots and snapshots of specific steps in a test, and the reports should be exportable in different formats so that they can be viewed on different devices, tools, and operating systems.
Automated mobile testing with LambdaTest
Effective mobile app testing is hard to imagine without automation. For frequent deployments and faster time to market automated tests are an absolute must-have. To ensure fast and efficient test script generation, selecting the right mobile testing tools or frameworks is the first step toward automated testing.
To amplify the benefits of fast and efficient test generation, consider a cloud-based solution to your mobile testing tools as an added advantage. Using the cloud as a testing environment allows the automation of mobile tests on hundreds of devices simultaneously.
Additionally, they can be run on different platforms and ensure high test coverage. Luckily, there are many great cloud-based solutions for mobile testing and among them, one such is the LamabdaTest platform that helps the development and QA teams to efficiently write and execute automated tests.
LambdaTest is a cross-browser compatibility testing platform that provides testers with a cloud of more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating systems with their respective version. Using this platform you can easily run manual app testing and automated app testing on the latest mobile devices, installed with multiple versions of popular operating systems. You can also run responsive testing on real mobile devices to check how the app renders on different screen sizes and resolutions.
LambdaTest real device cloud supports popular mobile testing frameworks like Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest and other frameworks such as Selenium and Cypress on a single platform to offer a seamless user experience. This real device cloud allows mobile app developers and QA engineers to run automated tests using the framework of their choice and work in the language and environment they are most comfortable in. Thereby maximizing productivity and improving testing efficiency.
This platform also provides an integrated view of rich test results that help to accelerate feedback and correct defects early in the app development lifecycle.
No matter which tests automation framework you choose, LambdaTest provides the broadest diagnostic information to debug mobile apps faster (with network capture, error reporting, and many more).
