Mobile app testing continues to increase in importance. And it’s important to have the right strategy and tools for each type of mobile testing. Here, you’ll learn what mobile testing is — and get the basics you need to conquer it.
Table of Contents:
- What is Mobile Testing?
- Why Testing Mobile Apps Is Important
- Mobile Testing Today
- What Are the Types of Mobile Testing?
- Device Testing: Which Ones? How Many?
- How Is Mobile Testing Different From Web Testing?
- 4 Types of Mobile Apps
- Mobile Test Automation Frameworks For Different Apps
What Is Mobile Device Testing?
Mobile testing for applications is the process by which mobile apps are tested on devices for functionality, usability, and consistency to ensure flawless user experiences. Mobile app testing can be done either manually or with automation.
Get Your Complete Guide to Mobile Automation Testing >>
Why Testing Mobile Apps Is Important
Mobile app testing is important for many reasons. Mobile apps are important for conducting business. And to make sure that mobile apps work properly, it’s critical to test them.
In this blog, you’ll get an overview of testing mobile applications, including:
- Types of mobile apps.
- How mobile testing differs from web testing.
- Types of mobile testing.
- Mobile test automation frameworks.
- How to create a mobile testing plan.
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Mobile Device Testing Today
With more people using smartphones than ever, smartphones are both a booming industry and an essential part of our daily lives. This means mobile testing should be an integral part of a development strategy to stay in the competitive environment. Mobile testing ensures your apps and smartphones are secure, reliable, and user-friendly.
Set up your mobile apps for success and update your test coverage with this blueprint for strategic testing.
Related Reading: Test Coverage Guide
As mobile apps increase their capabilities, it is also important to ensure that your mobile testing keeps up with the latest trends. Many mobile app features that are quite common have grown to become some of the toughest mobile testing challenges when incorporating them into your test automation suite, such as:
- Biometric authentication.
- Image injection.
- Geolocation testing.
- Mobile UX testing.
- Mock services for mobile.
- Voice recognition.
- Testing Apple Pay and other payment systems.
With Perfecto, you get the only testing platform that covers all these advanced automation capabilities. End-to-end testing with Perfecto creates a seamless testing experience that will help drive higher quality applications more quickly.
When you only need one source to conduct every test you need, your testing is simpler, more effective, and the results will speak for themselves.
What Are the Types of Mobile Testing?
There are three main types of mobile device testing.
Functional
Functional tests that apply to mobile testing include:
- Business flows.
- UI testing (e.g., landscape/portrait, languages).
- Cross-platform coverage.
Real Environment
Real environment condition testing includes:
- Network conditions.
- Interruptions (e.g., calls, text messages).
- Background/foreground.
- Gestures (e.g., force touch).
For real environment condition testing, it’s especially important to test on real devices instead of simulators.
Related Content: Mobile Testing Basics
Non-Functional
Non-functional testing includes:
- Security.
- Accessibility.
- Performance and availability.
- API testing.
There are different approaches you can take to these mobile testing types. This includes manual testing, automated testing, and continuous testing.
Related Reading: 10 Types of Mobile Testing Your Apps Need
Device Testing: Which Ones? How Many?
What combination of devices should you be testing against right now?
It's a common question! The answer varies depending on your users, your location, and how risk averse you are.
Testing one one or two devices is not enough. Testing on all devices is too much. Here are three considerations for determining the right devices.
Balance Data & Analysis
Combine data in this free test coverage guide sharing the devices you should be testing (by country) with your own analysis and risk assessment to decide how many devices (how much test coverage) you need to address a majority of your target users.
Map Coverage Against Your Pipeline
Map coverage needs to your test pipeline or apply to your test pyramid. Consider virtual devices for earlier phases of testing. Use real devices in later phases.
Optimize Your Lab Configuration
Consider your test data parameters (like number of tests, test duration, and required execution time). You may need to add devices or test in parallel in order complete all your tests within your cycle.
How Is Mobile Device Testing Different From Web Testing?
Mobile testing is different from web testing in complexity.
Mobile apps usually have more users and need to work on a broader range of devices — with more communication. This increases testing complexity. While web apps are increasingly used on mobile devices, testing them is not quite as complex.
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Mobile Test Automation Frameworks For Different Apps
There are several mobile test automation frameworks that you can use. Choosing the right mobile testing framework can be daunting, especially when you consider the strategy tweaks needed to conduct comprehensive iOS and Android testing.
Here are three of the most popular open-source test automation frameworks for mobile testing that you should look at to get started.
Appium
Appium is a cross-platform mobile test automation framework. You can use it for Android and iOS apps. Get an Appium tutorial >>
Espresso
Espresso is a mobile test automation framework for Android. Find out the benefits of using Espresso Android >>
XCUITest
XCUITest is a mobile test automation framework for iOS. Learn why XCUITest is so popular >>
Related Blog: XCUITest vs. Appium vs. Espresso
Optimize Device Testing With Perfecto
With Perfecto, you’ll get access to everything you need to build a successful mobile test plan:
- Test any type of app — native, hybrid, web, PWA.
- Accelerate every type of testing — functionality, real environment condition, non-functional.
- Do testing on real devices and emulators/simulators in the Perfecto Cloud.
- Leverage seamless integrations with open-source test automation frameworks, including Appium, XCUITest, and Espresso.
See for yourself how Perfecto will deliver zero maintenance testing, a secure and scalable test cloud, and comprehensive test coverage.
Get started today with a free 14-day trial.
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