Mobile Application Testing: Methods and Features

Today, users can download more than 4 million mobile applications in various categories, and they have the right to choose the most convenient for themselves. In such a competitive environment, before releasing your own software product, you need to make sure that it not only works correctly, but also exceeds the expectations of potential customers.

Therefore, QA is considered an integral part of the development process.

In this article, we will talk about mobile testing, how it differs from desktop testing, and what tools are used to perform it.

The main feature of mobile application testing is that a QA engineer needs to check the correctness of its operation on a large number of devices, since it can behave completely unpredictably on different models. Given the variety of mobile phones on the market, this task becomes much more complicated.

Also, when testing mobile, it is worth considering other significant differences between applications on a smartphone and desktop versions:

• the mobile application has limited resources and capacity;
• smartphones can run on different operating systems and have different configurations of components;
• the main task of the phone is to make calls, and the application should not interfere with this function;

• smartphones use different types of connections – 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi;
• the quality of the Internet connection on a smartphone is not always stable, which must be taken into account in the application;
• mobile applications must support multiple input channels – keyboard, voice, gestures, and more.
• the OS of smartphones is frequently updated, and the user should not experience any difficulties after each such upgrade and, if he refused to install it.

In addition, in the process of testing a mobile application, a QA specialist must take into account its type – native, hybrid or PWA.

There are two main methods for testing mobile applications: manual and automated. Most often, QA specialists combine these approaches to get the best result. Let’s consider each of them in more detail.

Automated testing

It is used for time-consuming and tedious tests, and allows you to get fast, efficient and accurate results. You can simultaneously run several automated tests on different devices, which significantly speeds up the process of checking the project’s performance.

Most often this method is used for:

• Regression testing – when you need to make sure that the fixed bugs did not affect the performance of the already tested functionality.
• Performance testing – automated tests quickly and accurately determine how fast and stable the application works on different gadgets or in different conditions.
• Retesting – In the long run, using existing test scripts becomes very cost effective.

Manual testing

Manual testing allows you to get the first user experience of a real person. In addition, for small projects, developing automated test scripts can be too costly.

This method is most often used for:

• Usability testing – the tester can determine how user-friendly the application is and what it can be improved to improve the user experience.
• Ad-hoc testing is a kind of “crash test” for an application, during which the tester performs chaotic actions in order to crack the software and find bottlenecks.

In addition, manual testing allows you to discover problems associated with complex application use cases.

QA allows you to detect errors in a timely manner and eliminate them at an early stage, and in order not to miss anything during testing, we have prepared a checklist for testing a mobile application.

Functional testing

The main type of testing, during which the performance of all application functions is checked, their interaction, and compliance with the stated requirements.

Functional testing can be divided into 4 stages:

• Component – checking the health of application components. Most often done by programmers, not testers.
• Integration – checks the interaction of all components of the product.
• Systemic — the tester goes through all possible scenarios of working with the application to make sure that the entire product works correctly.
• Acceptance is the final stage of functional testing, during which the QA engineer must make sure that the software meets the requirements specification and all customer requirements are satisfied.

Compatibility testing

Mobile applications can be used on a wide variety of devices, including legacy ones. Therefore, in order not to lose part of your audience, during QA you need to check the correct operation of the project on different smartphones with different parameters and configurations.

What is checked:

• operation of the application on different capacities of gadgets;
• how much free memory is needed for the application to work correctly;
• how the interface is displayed on different screens;
• does the app interfere with other device functions.

Security Testing

Most often, the application interacts with the personal data of users, so it is important to make sure that this data is safe.

Usability Testing

How convenient and comfortable it will be for the user to use the application largely determines the fate of the entire project, so usability is tested in any product, regardless of its scale.

At this stage, it is important to determine whether the application has a simple and intuitive interface, how many steps a person needs to overcome in order to complete the target action, whether there are distractions and how to get rid of them, whether the client will be able to use the application holding the gadget with one hand – for example, while in public transport, etc. These details form the user experience, on the basis of which the audience will decide whether to leave the application on their smartphone or delete it.

Performance Testing

It helps to determine how correctly the product works at different load levels, and how it will behave in a critical situation – for example, during large discounts.

Testing is a mandatory step in the development of any mobile application, and its task is not limited to finding bugs. This is a multifaceted process aimed at ensuring that the end user receives a quality product that meets their expectations.

AVADA MEDIA employs experienced QA engineers who are responsible for the quality of each released software product.