Introduction to Mobile Application Testing

Nowadays, mobile plays a vital role in an individual’s life. It is analyzed

that maximum people try to access websites and applications from
their phones rather than opening/switching a computer system or
laptops for every small task. Hence it becomes very important for
a Quality Assurance engineer to maintain the quality of the
applications on mobile phones by properly testing them on all possible
devices. Hence mobile testing comes into the picture.

What is Mobile Application Testing?

Mobile Application testing is defined as a process in which various
applications and websites are tested on various mobile devices to
enhance the quality of the developed application.
Many organizations who have moved into modern DevOps practices
are also investing in converting or building new projects into
Microservice-based architecture.

What are the types of Mobile Applications?

There are various types of mobile applications that various
organizations develop. These mobile applications play a very
important role in deciding your mobile testing approach. So here are
the following types of mobile applications:
 1. Native: This category involves applications that are
compatible with Android and iOS.The iOS applications can be
tested using the Appium framework built in an IPA binary file.
In contrast, the android applications can be tested
using Espresso frameworks as they are built in an APK
package.
2. Web Application: Web apps are those apps that are usually
accessible with the help of browsers such as chrome, firefox,
safari, etc. Such applications are tested using the Selenium
framework.
3. Progressive Web Applications: PWA is those applications
that can be installed using links without visiting a play store.
Example: Instagram, Twitter.
4. Hybrid Web Application: These applications are usually a
combination of the native and the web application. They are
written in HTML and CSS.

What are the types of Mobile Application Testing?

 Functional Testing: This type of testing verifies whether our
application’s functionality is working as per the requirements
in various mobile devices.
 Compatibility Testing: This type of testing ensures that our
application is working perfectly on different mobile devices,
Operating systems, browsers, networks, etc. The main aim of
this type of testing is to make sure that our application is
compatible with all the combinations of different operating
systems and browsers.
 Usability Testing: The main aim of this testing is to evaluate
the degree of user-friendliness the application provides to its
users. It helps in detecting and fixing user experience issues.
 Performance Testing: This type of testing is used to
evaluate the performance of mobile applications under
varying load and stress levels.
 Security Testing: This type of testing evaluates how safe
and secure our application is from various security flaws and
loopholes.
  Interrupt Testing: As it is clear from its name, this type of
testing is used to evaluate the application's behavior when
encountered by various interruptions like incoming and
outgoing phone calls, low and full battery, message
notifications, alarms, etc. On average, a user faces multiple
interruptions while operating a mobile application. Hence this
type of testing helps to enhance the quality of the mobile
applications.
 Installation Testing: This type of testing evaluates whether
our application is getting installed and uninstalled on our
mobile devices without any major flaw or issue.

A phase in which a set of activities are performed and ensures the

ultimate quality during the software engineering process that provides
self-assurance and sureness to the user as well.

What are the key factors influencing Mobile App

Testing?
The key factors influencing Mobile App Testing are highlighted below:

1. Mobile Devices: Mobile application testing follows a device

testing approach. It is necessary to test our application in
 various resolutions, browsers, mobile devices, and operating
systems.
2. Mobile Simulators: Mobile simulators play an essential role
in mobile testing. A simulator is a software that simulates the
behavior of an actual device, or we can say it mimics the
behavior of an actual device. These simulators provide a
cost-effective way to test on various mobile devices without
buying actual devices.
3. Network Conditions: It is essential to test our mobile
applications under various network conditions to make sure
that our application behaves perfectly under networks like
2G,3G, or 4G.

What are the processes of Mobile Application

Testing?
With a highly competitive app marketplace, organizations need to
match and exceed their users' expectations to taste success. It
becomes essential to leverage the power of mobile app testing to
enhance the overall quality of the application. An effective mobile app
testing involves:

1. Outlining the Process: The first and foremost step of mobile

testing is to outline the entire process. This includes planning
various activities, identifying multiple constraints, selecting
mobile devices to test on, preparing a compatibility matrix,
etc.
2. Identify the testing type: The next step is to identify the type
of testing that needs to be performed based on the type of
application under test.
3. Test cases design: The next step involves the preparation of
a proper test case sheet covering all the features and
functionalities that need to be tested. In this step, the tester
needs to separate the manual test cases and the automation
scripts.
4. Manual and Automation Testing: In this step, both the
manual and automated test cases and test scripts are
 executed to identify any major issue or loophole in our
application.
5. Usability and Beta Testing: Now, once the application's
basic functionality is tested successfully, the task is to ensure
that our application is user-friendly and provides the best user
experience. First, the application is tested by the in-house
employees, and then it is released in a beta version for the
beta testers to detect any issues or flaws.
6. Performance Testing: The next step is to determine the
application's performance to identify scalability issues.
7. Complete Testing and Closure: This is the last phase of
mobile testing that involves a set of final testing to make sure
that our application is up to the mark and stable with no major
bug or issue. In this, it is the responsibility of the QA team to
perform final regression testing and check the major
functionalities before giving the Signoff report and verify that
the acceptance criteria are met or not.

A process that allows the user to check that the provided data, they
deal with is valid or complete.
After the completion of testing, a final report is generated that contains
the following points,

1. A number of bugs were generated.

2. A number of bugs were resolved.
3. Number of bugs pending
4. Different types of testing were performed.
5. Compatibility matrix of all the devices, operating systems,
and browsers.

What are the best tools for Mobile Application

Testing?
The best tools for Mobile Application Testing are listed below:
Appium

1. Appium is an open-source mobile testing tool.

 2. It is used for automating both Android as well as iOS
applications.
3. It supports the following programming languages: Java,
Ruby, Python, C#.
4. It is examined as one of the best tools available in the market
for mobile testing automation.
5. It can integrate with Continuous Integration and Continuous
Development as well as with various other tools.

Robotium

1. It is an open-source mobile testing tool.

2. It is developed for automating android applications only
3. The programming language that it supports is Java.
4. Robotium supports integration with Maven and Ant.

Selendroid

1. Selendroid is an open-source tool used to test web

applications.
2. It is also known as Selenium for Android.
3. It works on a native, hybrid, and web-based application
4. It uses Selenium as its scripting language
5. It provides support to web driver compatible languages such
as Java, C#, Perl
6. It also provides us with the feature of object recognition.