Comprehensive Guide on How to Test an Application

Any program built to operate on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets is considered a mobile application. They can be either web-based or stand-alone. Apps for mobile devices don’t enable multitasking owing to software limitations, one-screen limits, and the understanding quality of the content. During mobile app testing, developers evaluate the application’s performance in one or more simulated environments in order to anticipate the user’s experience once the program has been released to the public for the first time.

For the most part, mobile software is built from the ground up, rather than just copying a PC app.

Mobile App Testing

Performance evaluation is usually done by testing the system responsiveness across a variety of devices, verifying the app’s performance during peak periods of usage, and making sure it’s reliable under bad internet connections and supports device-specific transactions.

The following steps make up the entire process of mobile app testing:

Testing for connectivity:

Because most mobile apps require internet access, a developer must guarantee that the tool is usable even if there isn’t any. Predicting a situation for users in flight mode or offline, testing connections with fluctuating bandwidth, and so on are examples of this.

Recognizing device-specific features:

Mobile devices have a wide range of screen sizes, ranging from 5-inch smartphones to 13-inch tablets, unlike PCs. Other technical specifications to consider are the camera, GPS, touchscreen capabilities, and the range of supported gestures, among others. Each of these qualities must be understood by the tester, along with their influence on the app’s usability and functionality.

Simulation of a certain location:

This step is required for apps that rely on GPS. When a user goes to a different place, a tester must guarantee that the product’s performance does not suffer significantly. Location simulators can help you do this.

Testing for fragmentation:

If the app is developed for several operating systems, the development team must guarantee that the program is compatible with all of them. Make a list of the sorts of devices you want to support and conduct tests on those systems alone.

Testing the user experience:

Navigation clarity, intuitiveness of the interface, look and feel of the app layout, error messages, and handling are all important User Experience criteria. In order for the app to be accepted by the app store, UX testing is required.

Integration testing:

During system integration testing, the solution is tested against the major features of Mobile Device Management (MDM) platforms to see how well it performs.

App performance testing on mobile devices:

The performance quality of high-end and low-end gadgets differs. A developer must verify that the app works consistently across devices with reduced capacities, as well as that it can handle heavy server traffic and is immune to bandwidth and latency fluctuations. Load testing is also performed at this stage, which involves raising the amount of incoming traffic to check that the application’s response is stable. A modular or integrative approach is usually used to such examinations as a general rule.

Testing for security:

The data from the device is processed and stored on servers by most mobile apps. A secure authorization system, an event recording system, and data confidentiality are all required in order to guarantee that a user’s privacy is not compromised in the event that a phone is lost or stolen.

Mobile App Testing for Performance

There’s a tendency to ignore mobile app performance testing when development teams are pressed for time. If you do so, a tester would likely miss obvious issues and the app will not be authorized by distributors, therefore it’s not a good idea (Google Play Market for Android and App Store for iOS).

Performance testing helps a tester accomplish a wide range of goals. It contains the following items:

Ensure that an application performs well under heavy load conditions:

As the number of concurrent users or operations rises, performance testing helps product owners to assess the system’s performance. In addition, a tester will be able to see when the app’s reaction time and system resource usage are at their highest. This is especially useful if your app has a spike in traffic (where, during a certain season or period of time, the number of visitors surges and decreases shortly after).

Check the hardware’s functionality:

Product owners will verify that low CPU use or limited server storage will not hinder the program from meeting the criteria through performance testing.

Determine the application’s capability:

In this way, you may check if the present program is capable of matching a set of pre-determined performance parameters or not (peak traffic load, server response time, and so on).

On a protocol level, measure and evaluate the app’s performance:

One may construct a load profile and assess response time by simulating real-world traffic.

Analyze how the app performs under stressful situations:

A developer will be able to determine the app’s performance limits thanks to performance testing. System failures can be predicted and prevented this way.

Mobile App Testing for Performance Strategy

For recently financed businesses, developing a strategy from the ground up may be difficult. Because of this, app performance testing can be used for apps from any industry and any size.

A project manager must devise a plan in order to properly conduct performance testing. The phases in a typical step-by-step performance testing strategy are as follows.

Step 1: Make Sure Your Test Objectives and Business Requirements Are in Sync

The quality of performance testing will be determined by its objectives. Make sure that the goals you specify for each scenario match the business scope of developing an app. This means that the main focus of a tester would be to evaluate those features of the app that are essential to lead generation, such as the shopping cart feature for e-commerce businesses and the signup form.

Here, the testing team learns to know the product’s architecture, including its presentation, business, and data layers. The testing team is now ready to test the product.

Step 2: Determine the Test KPIs

You’ll be able to identify if the execution was a success or a failure if you establish benchmarks for testing. The following KPIs should be considered while evaluating mobile apps:

• The rate of error.
• The fastest possible reaction time.
• Average time to respond.
• Most inquiries were received during this time.
• As well as the maximum number of concurrent users per device and operating system.

Step 3: Sort Situations by Priority

A typical mistake for a new tester is to test all of the app’s features at once without first deciding which scenarios to test. It is preferable to define numerous packet situations that are critical for the app’s reliable operation.

It’s okay to test less important scenarios once you’ve made sure that key features operate properly.

Step 4: Create A Simulated Testing Environment

In order to understand the user experience of the app as it will be experienced by users when it goes live, the testing environment is essential. System emulators are commonly used by QA professionals to speed up the testing process.

In addition to simulating the fundamental characteristics of an operating system, these tools also allow testers to gain a feeling of the interface’s overall appearance and functionality. For features that need camera permission, GPS, and other device-specific capabilities, it’s best to utilize genuine hardware to test performance and reliability.

Step 5: Align the Testing Strategy with The Entire Development Process

It’s important that testing is included in a company’s overall development strategy. The tester for Agile should be prepared to use continuous integration concepts. This means that testers should embrace bug reporting and regression tests on a frequent basis if a firm is adopting Waterfall.

Using the same testing and development methodologies helps both parties to be on the same page, enhance communication, and speed up the decision-making process.

Step 6: When Testing, Keep in Consideration the Latency and Bandwidth of a Carrier Network

The latency and bandwidth of mobile networks might vary due to the fact that they are connected to the internet via third-party carriers. An app’s speed and user experience can be improved if a QA professional is aware of the variations between carrier networks.

Test Environment for Mobile Applications

The accuracy of tests and the number of insights a QA professional may get from every performed test are both determined by the environment configuration. The following steps are required to set up a performance testing environment for an app or mobile website, respectively:

Isolate the surroundings. When testing the system, be sure it’s only being used by you. Without it, you’ll put the test’s accuracy at risk. The server load is also increased when a few users are using the platform at the same time, which slows down the procedure.

Make use of data generators for testing. Database records are used in the majority of testing. It’s critical to pay attention to data writing, reading, and deleting while performing performance testing because these operations are known to completely halt the app’s performance. Data creation tools are used by QA professionals to match database records with those utilized in the test environment system.

Isolate the network as much as possible. For the purpose of preventing timeout errors, this step is taken. There’s no requirement for isolation if the bandwidth is large enough to handle both the tester and other users. Supporting a few concurrent activities without compromising the app’s performance is impossible on most networks.

Disable the use of proxy servers in the network. The performance of an app might be hampered by a proxy between the client and the webserver. Conducting server transfers in a secure environment can address the problem.

Mobile App Testing Challenges

Testing mobile apps are frequently more difficult and time-consuming than testing PC applications. Testing can be hampered by a wide range of devices, greater mobility of users, and the usage of device-specific features, among other factors.

Consider these issues while testing mobile applications:

Uncountable options for customizing a gadget for Mobile App Testing:

Even while many applications make use of GPS and other capabilities like a camera and microphone, it’s difficult to replicate them using an internet tool since they’re so specific. Because of this, testers must purchase a variety of gear, increasing the test expenditure.

A variety of user interfaces are available for Mobile App Testing:

Variations in page layouts and font systems are caused by differences in the operating system. The app’s publication process may be blocked or delayed if you don’t follow the rules for Google Play Market or App Store.

Multiple devices or emulators are required for a tester:

Devices differ widely in terms of storage, screen size, and other built-in features on the mobile device market. It is essential for a developer to have a variety of hardware to test their software on.

Challenges that are depending on the context:

The quality of the network as well as the location of the user must be considered by a QA in order to test the app properly. App performance testing is more complicated and time-consuming than PC software since there are more use cases and patterns to take into account.

Touchscreen testing has caused complications:

An emulator of a touchscreen device, for example, would have a difficult time translating the full range of actions it allows users to do. This is especially true when it comes to testing actual hardware, which is more difficult to automate and requires greater sophistication.

Tools Used for Mobile App Testing at Server-Side

• JMeter
• Gatling

Tools Used for Mobile App Testing at Client-Side

• Sauce Labs
• Appium Studio
• UI Automator
• Robotium
• Selendroid
• Testdroid

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Comprehensive Guide on How to Test an Application

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