How will the Mobile Application Testing Service Market Fare in the Next 10 Years? [2016-2026]

Business analysts have no doubt that Mobile Application Testing Services is going to excel in future markets. It is anticipated that revenue via mobile app testing tools would show a remarkable increase within a stipulated period (2016-2026). The demand of global mobile application testing solutions market is increasing because of the popularity of app testing tools.

In fact, Corporates need to stay ahead in the market. So, they are trying to protect and maintain their mobile app portfolio. This has actually led to the market expansion of mobile app testing solutions.

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Many applications similar to desktop applications are now available as mobile apps. They are also more user friendly when compared to its counterpart. The introduction of a large variety of gadgets and networks is one of the reasons for the growing adoption of mobile applications. Wide demand for mobile apps gives room for marketers to successfully enter into a narrower section of the market.

Recommended Read : Types of Mobile App Testing & How It Differs from Desktop Testing

Huge competition in the market and the increase of app developers has forced marketers to ensure the quality of their apps by performing Mobile Application Testing. Software testing services have improved their testing methods owing to this huge competition.

One can never say that mobile application testing solutions market is a new form of the conventional software testing market. It’s completely different and came up as an independent entity. The entry of testing tycoons such as Soasta and Experitest into the mobile application testing solution market is a promising move. As they introduce advanced testing solutions and new models, it is anticipated that the testing solutions market attain incredible growth during the period, 2016-2026.

Today, IT is giving exceptional importance to mobile app testing and development. Numerous mobile gadgets and tablets are getting introduced into the market day by day. So, it is difficult for app developers to adapt to the quick changes in the market. IT companies offer them the right testing platform to cope with the latest changes in the market.

Drivers of App Testing Solutions Market

It is good to maintain a competitive edge in the market. High competition in the market has persuaded many Corporates to invest in mobile app testing related solutions. Growing customization in testing tools is also giving many benefits to mobile application testing solutions. In addition, the growing demand for automated testing has fuelled the app testing market.

Business experts are expecting that the market will see exceptional changes owing to partnership between leading industry members.

App Testing Market: Some Facts on Segmentation

App testing solution market is generally divided in two. Segmentation is based on product type and service type.

Product type segmentation is of two types:

  • Manual Testing Tools
  • Automated Testing Tools

Service type market segmentation is of the following types:

  • Development and implementation
  • Consulting
  • Support and Maintenance

Read Also : Mobile Software Testing Guide for First Time App Developers

Region – wise Outlook on Mobile App Testing Solution Market

Global app testing market is expecting a remarkable growth during the next ten years (2016-2026). It is predicted that North America remains unchanged as a successful market for mobile app testing solutions. It is believed that as North America has many skilled coders and app developing professionals, they can contribute to this productive industry during the period, 2016-2026.

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As per a recent report, there will be over 2 billion Smartphone users in Asia Pacific region by 2020. This will encourage the app testing tools manufacturers to invest more in Asia Pacific region. Though countries such as China, Korea and Taiwan have large user base, it is assumed that Asia Pacific region will become a leading hub for mobile app testing solutions in the next ten years.

3 Reasons Android App Testing is Important

App testing is an important step before releasing any product to the Play Store or the App Store. With so much competition between different apps, you need an efficient team for Android app testing services in order to ensure success. For every app, one can find a number of substitutes. So, it is necessary to develop and release good quality products that are unique in their own way.

Android is a very efficient mobile platform.

It is the most popular platform that has been accepted by several mobile device manufacturers as it is open source and easy to use. It has turned on to become the prime source to make sure all your personal and business needs and accomplished successfully. Once you get an Android device, you could make full use of it by installing from the large variety of apps in the Play Store. There are several high quality and user friendly apps to make sure your work is done in a jiffy.

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In order to make an app successful, it is essential to deliver what the user requires. Every user expects a good quality app with no errors or bugs whatsoever. Since they are spoilt for choice, they will surely dump an app and move over to install another if they are not happy. Small bugs, slight errors, and a user experience below expectations could spoil your reputation and user base. This is where Android app testing services come in to the picture. The bugs and errors need to be traced and fixed before apps make their way to the App Store.

Read Also: Things to Know about Android App Testing Services with Google Cloud

Why go for Android app testing services?

For the success of the App – A lot of effort needs to be put in to develop an app that is near to perfection. As such, it is not desirable that the end product is something buggy or full of errors and unwanted behaviour. As such, thorough testing is required to make sure that the app is working as desired with no issues. The code needs to be written carefully, and also testing needs to be done vigorously to achieve this.

Attract Users – It is a fact that error free apps with a good user experience can attract users easily. People prefer apps with good ratings and reviews on the Play Store. It is the initial nudge that is required. Once the ratings increase, it is automatically recognised in the store. Such apps receive a higher number of downloads and the chances of getting popular increase. This can be ensured with effective Android app testing. Such effective testing procedures help the teams come up with an error free app that could reach the top charts in the Play Store.

Advanced Testing – Manual testing comes with its own set of challenges. As such, testing teams now make use of advanced tools and methods that give you a bug free app. For this, developers need to first prepare a beta version of the app and release it to the testing team. The team performs all the testing procedures and runs the test cases to collect results and pass it on to the development team. Once the developers get the results they could make the necessary changes, if any.

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There are a number of advanced tools available these days that make the whole process much simpler and faster. There are tools for releasing beta versions which could help the developers pass on the testing build really fast. The testing team could immediately get to work and get the results. Various testing tools could be used as per the requirements and scope of the app. Such advanced methods make sure that nothing is missed out, and one does not waste any time in the process. The end result is a bug-free app that makes the users happy and generates good revenue for the company.

Recommended Read: 6 Top Android App Testing Challenges

Conclusion

Android, being a secure and popular platform, needs to be handled very carefully. You need to create apps that are bug free if you want users to use your app. Otherwise, it may just fail. As such, Android app testing services are not only recommended, but also inevitable for the success of your app. These days, there are several tools available to make it more effective. Use them to your advantage and make your app hit it in the Store.

6 Reasons iPad App Testing Services Should be Done on a Real Device

With the rise in use of iPads, iPad app testing services has also become crucial for companies and brands. When developing iPad applications, it’s important to perform extensive usability testing across as many different situations or conditions as possible.

Though mobile app development would include both emulators and real devices, there are certain reasons why testing on real devices usually result in better testing outcomes than using emulators.

Common Practices

Best practices would indicate that actual development should use emulators (and a few reference real handsets), while sanity and regression testing should be done on real handsets. While simulators are an inexpensive option for testing the app and it can be downloaded for free, they are suitable only at the starting stages of iPad application development. It is ideal to choose real devices for the later usability and performance testing phases.

It may be expensive to test apps on real devices as you have to buy them. However, using a mouse and keyboard on the simulator is totally different from using a finger on the mobile devices.

You May Also Like : Mobile Software Testing Guide for First Time App Developers

When Should You Introduce Real Devices

It has to be decided by individual organizations as to when real devices should be introduced, what the ideal number of devices are for covering market needs, and how those devices can be best managed.

  1. Reliable results – It is highly recommended to use real devices for testing apps because it gives the real environment in which the app is working and also makes sure that the app delivered would be of high quality. Real handsets can always give you error-free results (no false positives or false negatives).

  2. Better user experience – Investing in the latest versions of devices, though expensive, can deliver a better user experience. By taking into account the CPU, memory, screen size, etc, the tester can understand what actually the user will be going through.

  3. Performance testing – By using emulators, you will not be able to test situations such as receiving a text message or phone call while using the app. With real iOS devices, you can test sign-up, login, handle data, connection speed and error messages, thus realizing performance lags.

  4. Display/resolution variance – Display or appearance of the app may be different on an emulator as opposed to a real device. It is crucial to check app’s brightness, changes in resolution as well as dark and light situations. It’s also very hard to simulate light and dark situations on an emulator.

  5. Device configurations – By using emulators, the whole process is dependent on the hardware. With actual devices, things can be tested directly. For the same reason, at least one real device should be used during all phases of development to assess the processing speed of the app. The emulators are not updated to reflect new devices available in the market.

  6. Network – When it comes to network configuration, simulators usually run on the PC, connect to LAN and access the internet via corporate firewall. Here, simulators cannot be used to slow network where devices experience network issues.

    Read Also : Top Automation Tools for iOS App Testing Services

The major option for testing real occurring events like incoming calls, SMS and battery consumption and the charger’s overall performance can be only done on an actual device.

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Reliable companies that offer iPad app testing services maintain quality assurance by following a healthy mixture of real device and simulator testing. Before releasing your application in App/Play Store, or to devices, it’s worth testing on the device at least once.

https://www.planittesting.com/nz/insights/2015/why-use-real-devices-for-mobile-application-testin

https://testingmobileapps.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/emulator-simulator-real-device-testing

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/basics-mobile-web-testing-real-devices-using-selenium-goldshteyn

http://blog.congruentsoft.com/how-to-test-mobile-applications-emulators-or-real-devices

http://www.hiddenbrains.com/articles/advantages-of-using-actual-devices-for-mobile-app-testing.html

Top Automation Tools for iOS App Testing Services

Unlike Android app testing, iOS App Testing is different and more complex. Testing services use many tools to tackle the set of challenges.

Here are top mobile automation tools for iOS mobile app testing services.

  1. XCTest

XCTest is provided by Apple. You can use this framework for unit testing. You can write and run your tests easily with this tool owing to its good interaction with the IDE. Even doing TDD workflow is much easier with XCTest.

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You might have heard of OCUnit tool. It was used to perform unit testing prior to iOS 6. OCUnit has now become obsolete and XCTest is the recommended tool ever since the Xcode 5.

Read Also : 8 Must-Know iOS Testing Tips

  1. UI Automation

UI Automation is an Apple sanctioned way of performing iOS functional testing. You might be familiar with typical functional tests or black-box tests. In such tests you’ve to write code that simulates an end user navigating your app, in fact you’re doing a kind of UI Automation there.

You have to use instruments to utilize UI Automation. For example, tools that come with Xcode can be used for this purpose.

iOS code is written in Objective – C or Swift, whereas UI Automation tests are written in JavaScript. This is the only drawback of UI Automation.

Since UI Automation is lightly documented, there is chance for experiencing technical problems. As there is not much of a community around it, you are devoid of technical support as well.

If new versions of XCODE are launched, Apple may provide updates to UI Automation. In the event, apple doesn’t give you technical support; you can rely on third party ways to test your iOS code.

  1. OCmock

OCmock is a popular iOS app testing tool. As it as an efficient tool, you can use it for stubbing out and making mock objects of stuff. For instance, it works like a code that leverages in a remote API.

There are codes that relies on a User Interface (UI), you can utilize OCmock tool for such codes. It’s not easy for you to represent yourself like UI objects.

  1. KIF (Keep It Functional)

KIF is an amazing tool for iOS App Testing Services. It can be used as an alternative to UI Automation.

It’s an open source and third party tool as well.

As you write tests in UI Automation, this tool also enables you to write tests somewhat in the similar fashion.

KIF depends on accessibility labels much similar to UI Automation. Since you are allowed to define your application, you can design your app that is accessible for visually impaired persons as well. Instructions for using the app can be prompted through audio queues.

KIF has a couple of advantages over UI Automation. You have to swap languages between Objective – C and JavaScript in UI Automation. As KIF is written in Objective – C which supports Swift too, you don’t need to swap between languages.

  1. FBSnapshotTestCase

FBSnapshotTestCase helps you to verify your UI code by performing visual diffs between saved screenshots. Facebook has created this brilliant tool and maintained by them as well.

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Unlike taking the full screenshot of the device, Snapshot tool helps you to do in a more granular level. It enables you to choose UI view for widgets on the screen. Additionally, you are able to separate snapshot test case into UI view subclass. This is a useful feature when compared to the normal kind of simulated click and play used in UI Automation.

Read Also : Best practices to follow for iOS mobile app testing

  1. FRANK – BDD for iOS

Frank tool permits you to build acceptance tests utilizing Cucumber<. You can do end- to- end testing in iOS with this tool.

Since it acts like an adaptor connecting your app to Cucumber, Frank helps you to run BDD tests for your iOS app.

You will get step- by- step recipe from the Cucumber recipes book (Test iOS using Frank), that would be a great help for you.

We highly recommend these amazing tools for iOS App Testing Services, as it is successfully used by experienced engineers to automate their own projects.

Mobile Software Testing Guide for First Time App Developers

As everyone knows, mobile technology and smartphones are becoming a trend now and for sure is going to transform the future of the world. If you are a beginner in mobile app development you may get puzzled at thinking the challenges of mobile software testing.

app testing

As an aid for first time app developers, we are introducing a guide on mobile software testing. Unlike other software guides we tried to explain testing aspects in a lucid style. We hope this guide will boost your confidence in app developing.

Let’s have a look on different types of mobile Testing

Kinds of mobile software testing

Mobile testing is mainly of two types:

  1. Hardware Testing

Hardware testing is otherwise known as simple mobile testing. You have to test the internal processors, screen sizes, internal hardware, memory, resolution, camera, radio, WIFI, Bluetooth during this process.

  1. Software Testing

The functionality of applications on various mobile devices is tested during this process. Hence it is known as Mobile app or Mobile Application Testing. When it comes to mobile applications, it is important to know a few basic differences:

  • Native apps: Native apps are developed to use in devices like mobile and tablets.
  • Mobile web apps: Mobile web apps are very much like native apps, but are not implemented as such. You can use these server side apps to access sites on mobile via different browsers.
  • Hybrid apps: As the name suggests, hybrid apps are developed by combining native app and mobile app. Web technologies like HTML and CSS are used to write these apps.

    Read Also : 8 Key Challenges of Mobile App Testing Services

Importance of Mobile Application Testing

Here are some reasons why mobile software testing is more challenging than testing apps on desktop

  • Types of mobile gadgets with varying screen sizes and hardware configurations.
  • Different kinds of mobile brands like Samsung, Nokia, Apple, HTC, etc.
  • Varying platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, Symbian, etc. Various versions of these mobile operating systems also create challenges.
  • Different technologies used by network operators like CDMA and GSM
  • Repeated updates from Operating systems (For e.g.- iOS-5.x, 6.x)

Mobile and Desktop Application Testing – Common Differences

Here are a few aspects that make you understand what makes mobile app testing and desktop testing different

  • The mobile apps are tested in mobile handsets like HTC, Samsung etc. while in the case of desktop it is tested on a central processing unit.
  • Screen size of a mobile device is smaller when compared to desktop
  • Memory of mobile gadget is less than desktop
  • Usually desktop use broadband or dial up connections where mobile gadgets use services like 2G, 3G, 4G, WIFI etc.
  • You can never use the automation tool for mobile app testing but it works on desktop applications.

Kinds of Mobile App Testing

If you want to resolve all the above technical aspects you have to perform the following kinds of mobile app testing.

  • Usability Testing: With this test you are able to know if your app is user friendly
  • Compatibility testing: You have to do this test to make sure your app’s performance on various mobile gadgets, OS versions, browsers, screen sizes etc.
  • Services testing: This test will help you to address issues related online and offline performance of your app
  • Performance testing: This type of testing is a must to ensure the performance of your app when switching connections from 2G, 3G to WIFI. Also, other issues like battery consumption can be checked

  • Interface testing: You should perform this test to make sure the modules of your application like menu options, settings, bookmarks, etc. are working properly
  • Operational testing: You can prevent data loss while upgrading your app from the store by doing operational testing. This test will help you to set backups and recovery plan for your app.
  • Security testing: Vulnerabilities of your app can be detected because of this testing

    Recommended Read : 5 Types of Testing to Make Your Mobile Apps User Friendly

Testing strategy for mobile apps

A sensible test strategy will enhance the quality and performance of your app. Here are a few tips for you.

  1. Selection of gadgets is crucial – You need to study the current market trends and choose the popular used gadgets for testing. (Since clients consider the popularity factor of gadgets, you can develop your app according to the marketing needs.)
  2. Emulators – As emulators permits speedy and efficient checking of the app, it will help you in the first stages of development.

Let’s know about kinds of mobile emulators

  • Device emulator – Usually offered by device manufacturers
  • OS emulators – Top mobile brands like Apple, Microsoft and Google are providing emulators for iPhones, Windows phones, Android phones respectively.

Some user friendly emulators for mobile gadgets

  1. Mobile Phone Emulator – You can use this tool for testing devices like Samsung, iPhone, HTC etc.

  2. MobiReady – This tool will be helpful for you in checking web apps and codes as well.

  3. TestiPhone – You can see the real preview of your app with this amazing tool.

  4. Screenfly – You can test sites under different categories with this tool.

3.Make use of Google Cloud Testing for testing your app’s performance on multiple devices

Mobile App Testing and Test Cases

It is important to develop functionality based test cases and special test cases as well for mobile app testing. Test cases should include the following criteria

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  • Battery usage– It’s vital to monitor battery utilization while running application on the mobile phones.
  • Application speed – It is a known fact that the response time on various gadgets with diverse memory parameters will be different
  • Data requisites – You need to check if a user with limited data can download your app without technical issues
  • Memory/ Storage – Need to verify the memory requirement to install and run the app

Developing the right strategy for testing is vital for the success of a mobile app. So, we hope that our software testing guide will help the app developers, especially the beginners.

Why iPhone App Testing Services are Important

iPhone App developing is different from developing App for Android OS. As Google is considerably more open, you can submit Apps to the Google Play store freely, while Apple follows strict rules for approving an App. This could prevent you from iOS app developing.

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In fact, Apple sticks to such guidelines in order to provide quality apps to the users.

There is no use if you are planning to utilize third – party API that worked well with Android versions. Apple might not approve it. Most of the mobile app developers find it enough reason to stop the tiring process of developing for iOS.

Read Also: 8 Tips for Successful iPhone App Testing

Why should you create Apps for iOS?

We can’t ignore the fact that it is a cumbersome process to gain the approval of iTunes store. But at the same time there are some advantages for developing for iOS platform when compared to Android. The most striking advantage is the absence of fragmentation of devices and OS versions. The App Testing and developing is easier owing to these reasons.

Some Aspects on Fragmentation

Fragmentation is not a big problem because of the closed nature of iOS. Anyway, when it comes to testing some work must be done in this sector. At present Apple has many supported devices. Therefore you have to test more devices other than iPhone. Though there are variations in screen resolution and aspect ratio the iTouch and iPad have access to iTunes store as their iPhone counterpart.

The generations of processors, memory and storage space is different across gadgets. It is important to test these aspects. Unlike iOS, other mobile platforms use emulators for testing. Like that, you may use the same. For your information, emulators can only show you how an app will respond on a gadget. In a real iOS device battery life, processing power, memory allocated will be different from that of an emulator.

Facts on App Store Approval

The submission and approval process is strenuous for Apple App Store. Their process and guidelines change from time to time. If you don’t meet their requirements, your approval will get delayed.

It is important to check the requirements, before developing and particularly before you start your application. This is because to ensure that your app is practicable on the iTunes marketplace. Keep in mind, if your app just target a particular market overlooking other markets, Apple will probably reject your app proposal.

There are some advantages owing to these stringent quality regulations for approval. In any market, users give primary importance to privacy and security. Suppose an app collects users information without their permission, Apple will definitely reject their app. Therefore developers must go through App Review Guidelines before developing an app.

There are separate guidelines for iOS and Mac.

Some Aspects on Beta Testing

An App Distribution Guide will be provided to you by Apple. During Beta Testing you have to use this guide. You ought to create an Ad Hoc profile in order to distribute the Beta version of your app. Xcode is an exclusive development IDE for iOS apps, the latter process will permit beta users to use your app without accessing Xcode.

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Recommended Read : 6 Automation Tools for iOS App Testing

All these facts will make you aware of what reason iPhone App Testing Services are important. Though iPhone App Testing is a tiring process, keep in mind app success depends on user acceptance and app quality.

Things to Know about Android App Testing Services with Google Cloud

It is news to android app developers that google has launched Cloud Test Lab. It is a new technique for developers to test their Android apps.

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Android App Testing Services can make use of this cloud based technique to test Android apps against multiple Android devices in bulk.

The boundless number of various Android gadgets makes it all but Android developers cannot guarantee that their applications run well on every one of them. No need to worry about it, Google Cloud Test Lab Service could help with this.

Read Also: 6 Top Android App Testing Challenges

Google describes the service in this way:

For complete testing before launching your app, Cloud Test Lab gives you access to physical gadgets so you can see what’s happening for your clients in the real world. Additionally, you can run the majority of your tests over all gadgets, all in the meantime – giving you access to greatly parallel testing, bringing you profound and scaled insight.

This innovative service launched at Mountain View’s Google I/O Developer Conference, will allow developers to upload their apps through the Google play Developer Console. Developers will get the opportunity to test their apps on both real and virtualized versions of the major 20 Android gadgets across the world.

In the event that the application crashes anytime, Android App Services will get a report with a video showing the failure. Google affirms, the reports will likewise call attention to if the app’s format doesn’t work with a specific screen resolution and if it has any issues running on gadgets with minimal memory.

Usefulness of Cloud Test Lab

Appurify provides the technology for Google Cloud Test Lab. Appurify have some really wonderful technology; there is nothing wrong with saying that Google Cloud is a service packed with potential.

Each APK submitted to Play Store’s Alpha and Beta channels will be so filtered on more than 20 physical gadgets and get a free launch execution report. Android App Services which need to run customized testing can in the end buy it through Cloud Test Lab.

With Google cloud, Google aims to drive a quality improvement of apps. The service can possibly make it quicker and simpler for developers to manage the issues connected with the fragmentation of Android Gadgets. It is proven that this will work with a subset of functionality on a subset of devices being given for free. This will be awesome for game developers and small organizations that don’t profit from their apps to burn through $1000’s on testing.

Basic app crawlers can do wonders with Google Cloud. They likely to use this free functionality to provide unscripted pseudo – random testing.

Recommended Read : How to Master the Art of Cloud Testing

A larger set of practicality from a way larger pool of devices isn’t an expensive service to produce and will come at a cost for developers. This may target the top 1% of apps and supply a technique for supplementing the apps existing internal testing. The type of extra functionality likely to add would be features such as:

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  • Support of customized testing structures, such as, Espresso and UIAutomator.

  • Complete control of gadget environment, such as, network connection, language, memory, signal quality and location.

  • Ample network traffic, memory, CPU, battery and FPS profiling.

  • Comprehensive gadget library

Gadgets to include are as follows

  • Gadgets from every manufacturer.

  • Flagship gadgets for each of the past several years.

  • Each released CPU design.

  • Every Android API, including preview APIs

  • Blends of Feature Sets

  • Android One gadgets

  • Different physical screen size

  • Different screen densities

  • Varying screen resolutions

  • Variety of languages

  • Languages with RTL layouts

  • Android TV gadgets

  • Android Auto gadgets

  • Android Wear gadgets

 

8 Key Challenges of Mobile App Testing Services

Today, millions of people depend on mobile app to conduct internet browsing for social networking as well as for other purposes. The increased use of mobile apps and its rapid development, stress the need for proper testing before releasing it to the market. As end users are more concerned about user experience and performance, there is a need to discuss major challenges of mobile app testing.

Read Also: 6 Top Android App Testing Challenges

Some of the key challenges of mobile app testing services are:

  • User experience and issues related to app performance

Customers always prefer an app with greater user experience. Also the app should give a fresh, proper and pre-defined user interface. A delay of more than two seconds can affect the user performance and thus cause a significant impact on their preferences. Mobile applications which are free from errors and faults will give a better user experience and this will directly affect on the business sources of the application. Quality of the mobile application is graded by users according to the user experience. Most customers choose the application based on the previous reviews and grades. Sometimes poor user experience or old errors may lead to business failure of the application.

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  • Touch screen

Touch screen enables display and retrieval of data faster and easier. Today it is one of the major sources of user interaction. Testing of touch screen tends to be more complicated and stable. Apart from this, signals or signs which show data also cause a challenge in the process of testing.

  • Context awareness

One of the greatest challenges in mobile app testing is context awareness that demands new and innovative approaches. Mobile applications in different contexts along with different data can often create a new challenge in the entire process of testing. Constantly changing usage patterns and environment of smart phones can create a great impact on context.

  • Lesser time to market the app

Declaring of strict timelines can affect testing of mobile app. Strict timelines can prevent fulfilling of proper design, development, need and overall testing of mobile apps according to the needs of the user. Certain stages of mobile app development are closely related and it needs to be properly tested. For effective testing and later release, there is a need for framing ample timelines otherwise it becomes a complete failure.

  • Security issues

There is more security for apps running via private cloud when compared to apps running in a public cloud. There would be no data violation for a secure private cloud and it provides access to testing teams.

  • Variations of mobile user interface

There are different user interfaces for different operating system such as Windows, Android, etc., which guides by a different set of rules and regulations. While publishing mobile applications in the market, it is necessary to carry out a careful checking on the layout of the elements and usage of apps as a part of the verification process. Publishing process gets delayed if the apps fail to follow the rules and regulations which later increase the cost of testing and development.

  • Lack of access to multiple devices

There are chances where two testers need the same devices at the same time. It would be impossible to use the same devices by two testers. Hence, one tester would be left out until the other one leaves it. Procurement of multiple devices is time consuming and expensive. Also, it is not advisable to place testers across continents.

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  • Device based testing approach

Under this approach, there is a necessity to buy real new mobile devices as well as setting up a testing laboratory. It is costly and this approach needs to cope with changing mobile devices and platforms as well.

Recommended Read: Best practices to follow for iOS mobile app testing

A proper, specific and structured testing strategy can make mobile app testing services successful and worthy. It would be helpful to consider the above challenges at the time of testing mobile apps.

6 Top Android App Testing Challenges

Unlike traditional desktop and web applications, android app testing is different and more complex. It has its own set of challenges.
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The movement towards mobile devices has brought a whole different set of challenges to the testing world. Not only consumer targeted apps, but enterprise apps as well are on the rise.
Read Also: Top 5 Automation Testing Tools for Android
Here are 6 key challenges that android app developers and testers are facing.

  1. Screen Sizes: The android world is not simple. There are devices with display sizes ranging from sub-3 inches to over 10 inches. The variety of different aspect ratios and pixel densities can be overwhelming as well.

With the launch of iPhone 6, Apple brings new screen sizes to iOS as well. Though iOS developers are used to pixel perfect screen design, they now need to change their mindset to adaptive screen design. But for android it’s at an amplified rate. For testing, it means that we need to check on various devices that all the necessary screen elements are accessible with different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

  1. Connection Types: There are several standards for mobile data connections (edge, umts, 3G, 4G) as well as for wifi (b, g, n). Sometimes there might be no connection available at all or the device is in flight mode. When users move around the connection type might change.

Unfortunately some carriers filter the web on their own will, which results in the devices being connected without actually having connection with a specific service (messaging or calling through apps). Even though connection APIs on mobile platforms have been developed keeping those challenges in mind, the real world environment is still very much varying and interesting set of issues may occur. It’s important to test the bandwidth usage as not all carriers are supporting unlimited data volumes.

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  1. Different OS versions: iOS users are known to upgrade quickly to newer versions. On the contrary, Android uptake has historically been very slow and the fragmentation is wide. This means that app developers need to support older OS versions and older APIs and testers need to test those.
  1. Power consumption and battery life: Innovation in the battery storage capacity field hasn’t been keeping up with the app consumption rate. We are running lots of apps during the day and several processes are running in the background without us even noticing. This all requires CPU cycles. Thus, batteries tend to dry. When testing mobile apps, we need to make sure that the power consumption is kept minimal and the app is developed keeping the best practices in mind.
  1. Usability: Mobile devices screen are comparatively small and there are always more data we would like to present than possible to fit to the screen. It’s challenging to keep the interaction clean and simple for the user, and at the same time display all the necessary information. Font size and readability are other challenging factors of usability. When testing mobile apps, it’s important to pay attention to the size of click areas and making sure that all texts are readable without lenses.

You May also Like: 5 Types of Testing to Make Your Mobile Apps User Friendly

  1. Internationalisation: Most of the apps are designed to be used on international markets. Testing for translation is only one piece of the whole internationalisation testing. Testers should also take into account regional traits like locale settings and time zones and target audience.

Changing time while app is running might cause some interesting artefacts. Also some designs that are working in the western world might not work in the east and vice-versa. Right-to-left languages have always kept developers puzzled.

8 Tips for Successful iPhone App Testing

There is a popular belief that iPhone app testing is a lot simpler than testing for android because you’ve got to test it only for Apple devices. Well, don’t be so sure. First of all, it should be noted that several parameters are a must test for every app, be it iOS or android. Consider the following scenarios:
End user experience- This ensures your app is user-friendly. Key areas tested includes usability, GUI, localization, reliability, scalability etc.
Hardware- The different phases under this testing focus on discovering hardware issues such as compatibility, interoperability, battery consumption, memory consumption etc.
Application adaptability- Locates application issues related to multitasking, portability, architecture, memory allocation, environmental interaction etc.
Network and communication- Tracks down issues from security vulnerabilities, synchronization etc.
mobile app
The above-mentioned factors are methodically tested for each and every application developed to ensure its success. Here are some useful tips for iPhone app testing that helps you to confidently release your apps.

Read Also: 6 Automation Tools for iOS App Testing

1. Checking Memory Availability
App crashing due to low memory availability is a commonly witnessed problem. When there is an app crash that is not reproducible on re-launching, you have every reason to believe that it may be due to unavailability of ample memory. So, in order to save yourself from getting stuck into avoidable bottlenecks, you should keep it a best practice to always check and report your memory status while testing.
There are several tools available for calculating free memory. If the crash is caused due to a memory related issue, the problem will vanish when there is plenty of available memory.
2. Testing under Low Memory Conditions has Additional Benefits
It is a clever idea that you test your app under low memory conditions. By this way you can reveal the potential threats that may come up to cause you problems in real world scenarios. Apple’s recommended way of testing your app’s behavior under low memory conditions is by running apps like Safari, iPod and Mail that is already programmed to run in the background.
3. Check the Crash Report Log
Every time an app freezes, a crash file is created in your iPhone. This data is valuable for iPhone app testing. It helps testers to diagnose the real issue as it contains information on app performance prior to crash. The crash log can be obtained by syncing your iPhone with iTunes.
4. Run Simultaneously with Background Apps
With exceptions for Apple’s featured apps such as Safari, Music and Mail, third party apps can’t function simultaneously in the iPhone environment. So outside apps should be tested for multi-functioning. It should be tested to handle interrupters such as reminders and push notifications. Also, activities like receiving calls and playing music in iTunes should not affect the behavior of the running application.
5. Make use of Screenshots
In the case of a GUI bug, there is no better way of documenting it than capturing the real issue with the help of iPhone’s built-in screen capture option. Following this way can help a developer in getting a clear picture of the actual problem, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

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6. Boundary Value Analysis with Data Input
It could be actually surprising for you to hear that text inputs can discover bugs. Yes, it actually works! In boundary value analysis, a maximum number of text characters or error values are supplied into each text field. This would make application errors if there are any unseen bugs present.
7. Testing Connectivity Problems
The behavior of apps that need internet usage should be tested for issues due to connectivity problems such as slow connectivity, and internet unavailability. This connectivity issues can be artificially created by turning airplane mode on, using a low-speed internet connection etc.
app testing
8. Monitor App info from the Console Activity Log
To debug problems in real time, you can analyze the console output since the latest crash logs and warnings from your apps are saved in all your Apple devices. The console log can be retrieved by using the iPhone configuration utility.