Testing

A Complete Guide to Mobile App Testing.: Terms, Phases, Cost and More

• By Admin
• Posted on 07/10/2024

The mobile app testing ensures the quality of the application. It also improves the user experience. The motto of testing is to check whether the application is functioning properly across a range of hardware and operating systems. A testing professional tests the apps by assessing their compatibility, security, performance, and functionality.

Want to become a testing professional? Your choice is excellent. But for this, you have to learn all aspects of testing.  Join a reliable Software Testing Training center to become a knowledgeable and trained tester.

Benefits of Mobile App Testing

• Save you time and effort by reusing test scripts
• Device compatibility
• Enhance the user experience
• Improve the app security
• Optimize the performance of the app
• Ensuring the app functionality, etc. 

Phases of Mobile App Testing

Planning & Requirement Analysis: The first step is to identify app testing requirements, including 

• Objectives
• Key functionalities
• Target devices
• Operating systems, and
• User needs.

This helps to create a solid plan to ensure the proper functioning of the app.
Test case design: In this phase, test cases are designed for the tests to be performed on the app.

• Functional Test Cases: To verify if key features of the app function correctly.
• Non-Functional Test Cases: It covers testing aspects such as the app's performance, security, network, and battery consumption.
• Regression and Integration Test Cases: To test whether features are integrated properly or not.

Set up the testing environment: To test an app effectively, a suitable testing environment is necessary. This can be done by performing testing on genuine mobile devices using real devices, or by using tools like emulators and simulators. 
Testing execution: In this phase, testers execute pre-designed test cases. The types of testing mainly done at this stage are:

• Functional Testing: Ensures key app features work correctly.  
• Performance Testing:  Evaluates app speed and performance on various networks.  
• Usability Testing: Assesses ease of use for users.  
• Security testing: By using security testing, protection against hackers and data breaches is evaluated. 
• Network connectivity testing: Assesses an application's performance over many networks.

Bug Logging & Reporting: All flaws and issues discovered during testing are entered into bug-tracking systems (such as Jira and Bugzilla).

Regression testing: Regression testing checks for new issues after the removal of bugs. It is performed to ensure that the corrected components work properly.

Beta Testing: Before the final release, the app is launched as a beta version for selected users to gather feedback.
Final Release and Post-Release Testing: The app's performance is monitored in real-time to identify any new issues in this type of testing.

Cost of mobile app testing

The cost of mobile app testing depends on many factors like the complexity of the app, the platforms or tools used for testing, and more.

1. App complexity: Testing a complex app is a time-consuming task. In particular, the feature-rich apps should be done carefully by the experts. This will increase the cost of testing.
2. Types of Testing: Testing by hand is more expensive than testing by machine. While manual testing takes more time, automated testing ultimately saves more time and money, while requiring a larger initial investment.
3. Device and Platform Testing: It is important to test the app to make sure it functions correctly across a range of hardware and operating systems. Testing is required for each variation, thus increasing the cost.
4. Geographical Range: Onshore testing is more expensive than offshore testing.
5. Cloud Testing Platforms: Testing on real devices is easier with cloud-based testing platforms (for example, Browser Stack, Sauce Labs). However, the subscriptions for these increase the testing cost.

Depending on the size and complexity of the app, the total cost of app testing may reach millions or even crores. 

A Brief on Mobile App Testing Tools

Several advanced tools are utilized for mobile app testing. It falls into two categories:

• Manual testing tools 
• Automation testing tools. 

Manual Testing Tools

Appium

• Popular for testing iOS, and Android apps.
• Useful for multi-platform testing. To learn it, join a manual testing course arranged by a reliable institution.

Selenium

• Useful for testing web apps.
• Browser-based apps are widely used.

Espresso

• A tool specially developed for Android apps.
• Native apps can be tested faster and more efficiently.

XCUITest

• This is a powerful testing tool in the Apple environment.
• Useful for testing iOS apps.

Automation Testing Tools

TestComplete

• Helps to test apps on different platforms

Calabash

• Written in Ruby programming, this tool is useful for automated testing of iOS and Android apps.

Robotium

• Designed exclusively for Android apps.
• Using this tool, complex apps can be automated and tested easily.

Ranorex

• Widely useful for testing across multiple platforms.
• Specialized in Automated Functional Testing.

Performance Testing Tools

These tools can effectively test mobile apps and improve their performance 

• LoadRunner: Useful for testing the performance of apps under load.
• JMeter: Useful for performance testing of web and mobile apps.

Mobile App Testing Best Practices

1. Test early, test often: Starting testing early in development can help spot problems easily. 
2. Automate damping operations: Automating repetitive testing saves the time and effort of the testing professional. Also, it improves the quality of the app.
3. Prioritize actual device testing: Testing on real devices rather than an emulator gives a real user experience.
4. Collaborate with development teams: When development and testing teams collaborate, issues are resolved promptly.
5. Effectively conduct testing using CI/CD: CI/CD approaches enable fast and efficient testing.
6. Perform comprehensive regression testing: When adding new features, ensure old ones remain unaffected.
7. Post-admission monitoring and testing: Once the app is launched, it is important to monitor user feedback and resolve issues.

Challenges in Mobile App Testing

1. Device Segmentation
2. OS Segmentation
3. Network Variation:
4. Battery and performance issues
5. Security Issues

Conclusion

In the process of Mobile application testing, the tester validates an app for its functionality and usability. They do so before the app is released publicly. If you find it an interesting career option, join our software testing course. We, at Askme Training are a well-known institution in Delhi/ NCR. 
 

Related Blog:

Automated Testing Tools, Techniques, and Best Practices

Manual Testing: When and Why it’s Still Important?

Why Is Software Testing Essential for Quality Assurance?