Today, we can see that the mobile apps landscape is expanding across all the business verticals. It is all because of the excellent usability of applications offered to billions of mobile end-users. To convert these users into long-time customers, companies/organizations are ready to do everything possible to create apps that are loved by their users.
One common element in any successful mobile app development is the mobile app testing strategy. This includes a series of tests and compliance benchmarks that are eminent for mobile app validation before they are deployed. All in all, testing ensures that the mobile App covers customers’ expectations and business objectives. es.
According to statistics,” The global mobile app market has been growing at over 11.5% annually, valued at over $154.06 billion, which fuelled even further by the Covid 19 shift to remote work.” So, we can say that the expectations of the consumers are high and there is zero-tolerance for bugs or performance issues in mobile apps. It is the reason that many mobile apps are used only once before being abundant.
However, big brands and any company that dreams to land its application in the App Store or Play Store aims at creating a strong mobile app that is seamless to both iOS and Android users. Since mobile app testing can be a little complex, this is where automation steps in. In this article, we will cite the efficient steps for mobile automation testing while digging into the detail of each step involved.
Let’s begin!
Set Up Mobile Automation Testing Goals
- Software testing is an important step in app development to check that the app works as expected and that it can handle unexpected conditions.
- Automated mobile app testing leverages specialized tools to conduct and control test cases, thereby, reducing the time spent on testing.
- Automated mobile testing is well suited for agile development, which approaches testing with a focus on early finding and repairing bugs and errors found during the early development phase.
- When you decide which type of test cases are suitable for automation, you must refer to these two goals:
i. Will automating this test save my time?
ii. Will automating this test case increase the performance of my app?
Planning The Test Cases
- It is important to note that testing is not sequential or reserved for the end of your product development, rather it should be an integrated part.
- For automation to be appropriate, the test case should be something that is of low risk, that subjects to human error, involves the time-consuming data entry, one which is repetitive and easily measured.
- The three most common mobile app test cases to automate are:
i. Unit Tests: It is an agile testing process that ensures the efficiency of an individual user’s story, built by the developers. As mobile App is made up of many user stories, unit testing helps ensure a solid foundation of code that brings out a better and high-end user experience.
ii. Integration Testing: The integration test looks at the systems-wide performance, ensuring the functionality and usability between the units. It also ensures that new code or features do not create any sort of bugs or performance-related issues.
iii. Functional Testing: It works to check whether the app sticks to the specified functional requirements while meeting the needs of the client. This type of test will look at both the output of the test as well as its performance, functionality, usability and accessibility.
Thinking About How To Select A Test Automation Framework
Once you have identified test cases you would like to automate the next efficiently and crucial step would be to select the right automation framework/ an integrated system that sets the rules for your test automation. One can think of the test automation framework as the best practice to create and review the test. Some of the top frameworks for automated mobile app testing services are Linear Automation; Modular based Testing; Data-driven; Keyword driven and hybrid testing framework.
Right Mobile App Testing Tool
Mobile automation testing tools help to create test scripts following one or other test frameworks. One can consider the following factors while selecting a mobile app testing tool:
- Operating system (iOS/ android/windows)
- Types of tests that can be supported; for instance, talking about unit tests, regression tests, functional tests etc.
- Easy to use, simple tutorials, and clear reporting
- Integration with existing tools
- Cost & scalability
Mobile App Testing In The Cloud
One can go for choosing the cloud for mobile app testing as it doesn’t need any hardware to establish a device lab. Other than this one is free to test multiple devices concurrently and can add or remove the devices as per need. Also, if being virtual a cloud platform assists in performing testing anywhere at any time.
Implementing AI And ML In Testing
We cannot overlook the technological advancements, with this one can find various AI and ML based App Testing tools. AI improves DevOps in-app testing which is quite beneficial for AI. DevOps helps in pacing up automation testing by offering continuous feedback. It further facilitates the rectification of bugs.
Conclusion
5 billion smartphone users all over the world spend more than 80% of their mobile use time interacting with apps. This may sound exciting but at the same time, we cannot ignore that the competition is intense. At the same time, user demands are super high and exclusive when it comes to the on-screen experience and usability of an application.
Therefore, it becomes crucial for organizations and developers to indulge in rapid automated mobile app testing, to deliver a reliable and user-friendly apps. After all, sticking to effective measures and steps for mobile app testing automation is the only thing that could help established and struggling mobile app companies to deliver mobile apps that meet both the business and customer requirements of the future.
