Is there anything that has grown so significantly as the number of mobile apps on Google Playstore and Apple Store? The rise of enterprise mobile apps is simply staggering. This said organisations must ensure that any app delivers consistent performance every time so as to prevent revenue loss, productivity and that it lives up to the brand reputation.

Best Practices In Mobile App Testing

Mobile app testing is a complex process and varies from testing traditional desktops and web applications. It should be tested on several software and hardware platforms of different versions under various network conditions. Also the testing has to be performed with the latest devices and OS updates, even though it may demand additional test cycles.

There are several challenges confronting mobile app testing:

• Requires a lot of testing time
• Tools used in Web app and desktop app testing are different
• Use of too many testing tools and techniques
• No dominant platforms
• Network conditions such as dropped connections and bandwidth change
• App upgrade on a frequent basis

Enterprises should use the right testing tools and strategies so as to mitigate these challenges and develop an effective mobile testing process. You need to consider the following key elements:

• Types of testing
• Selection of target device
• Network environment
• Test automation

A test strategy, ideally, should cover the aforementioned key elements in addition to the traditional testing process to meet mobile app testing challenges.

Device selection: Choosing target device model for testing rests on a number of factors including:

OS versions – We find constant OS upgrades in the market. Therefore, it is important that an app requires to be tested on all major OS versions in the current installed base.

Form Factor – Present-ability and app behaviour may differ in smart phones and tablets. Any app should be tested on all possible form factors.

Display Density – The screen resolution and size of a device may impact the app’s UI/UX, rendering of content displayed, etc. This makes all the more important that the app be tested on a slew of assorted display densities. Internal system design in this type of testing can be a good starting point of information if you’re looking to find the right combination of target devices for the purpose of testing.

Connectivity: W-Fi network connectivity is an important testing parameter for specialized app that are carrier-feature dependant like free usage allowance or two-way SMS.

Manual Testing vs. Automated Testing:

If the app has new functionality, it would require manual testing performed once or twice. Automated testing is done to test if the new features are producing any unplanned changes to existing set of features. Any app testing approach should include proven test strategies such as test case designing, risk-based testing and test metrics to measure and monitor the quality of testing. It should essentially cover important characteristics such as reliability, performance, functional, usability and operational aspects of the mobile app.