In this blog we will overview the 9 major Mobile application tools that every organization must leverage. Before discussing these mobile application tools, let’s understand the need of these tools and why they are important for businesses. Let me ask this question, how many mobile applications your phone consists of and your answer certainly would be more than 20+. If we categorize these apps in your phone, some would be for communication, some for entertainment, banking transactions, transportation, education, storage etc. Imagine your life without any of the apps. Do you feel out of place, uncomfortable and irritated? But, what if some of these apps suffer from high load conditions and you are not able to open them? What if they encounter unstable network conditions? These questions answer the importance of Mobile Application Testing. Now let’s discuss some of the major mobile application testing procedures and compare the mobile application tools.
Major mobile application testing procedures:
1.UI/UX Testing: A good UI means ease of use, simple navigation, clarity of information, clear and attractive visuals, uniform alignment and font size, enriching user experience etc. The UI/UX leaves a first impression on customers, hence it needs to be better than best. Hence good UI/UX is an essential mobile application testing procedure and it must be executed regularly for stable mobile application performance. Please ensure the following checkpoints while performing the UX testing :
- Simple and seamless navigation throughout the application
- Smooth and fast transaction
- Easily accessible product information for users
- Implementing user feedback and providing 24/7 customer support
2. Cross platform Testing:
As multiple versions of device, browser and OS are available for customers they are open for multiple choices of platforms, thus making it challenging to develop applications compatible with a wider range of devices, OSs and browsers. Hence cross platform testing is the most important strategy for mobile app testing.
3. Network Connectivity Testing:
Even though there are a number of customers using high-speed internet connection, a significant number of users still experience spotty connections and low internet speed. This inconsistency in network connections leads to high latency or poor performance. Hence applications must be developed to ensure good performance while switching between various network speeds.
4.Security Testing:
Security is one of the key concerns for app users as they provide sensitive data like personal contact info, passwords, bank details like account no. IFSC code, etc. making them vulnerable to threats. Hence it is mandatory to execute security testing in order to validate application’s resistance towards malicious users.
5. Battery Testing:
Today’s smartphones support multimedia applications consisting of media like images, videos, texts etc that consume a large amount of battery. Hence managing battery usage is a special concern for every user. QA testers should run multiple battery test features to identify the parts of the apps that drain the most amount of battery and accordingly eliminate or modify those parts.
6. Performance Testing:
As the user-base for mobile applications is surging leading to high competition among the vendors. The performance of each app determines its acceptance and popularity among the users. Hence performance testing is crucial. On the other hand as the Continuous Testing amount of user base increases invariably, the application must be tested for variable load conditions to gauge its stability. Application’s response time and latency should be tracked and predict performance under various situations.
As we have discussed the major strategies to follow while mobile application testing, let’s discuss the major tools to assist you in mobile application testing:
pCloudy
pCloudy is a cloud-based mobile and desktop application testing platform. It consists of 5000+ browser combinations to support your mobile and desktop applications across a wide variety of browsers. It consists of real mobile and desktop computers which helps in getting accurate testing results. The instances of real mobile and desktop computers are available on a cloud, hence you can access the platform 24/7.
Some of the major features of pCloudy are as follows:
- Cloud based test automation platform, hence 24/7 accessible
- The number of devices required can be customized as per the project requirements, hence its highly scalable and cost efficient solution.
- All real mobile and desktop computers are mounted on cloud to get accurate test results
- Consists of the most diverse cloud with 5000+ desktop browsers and device combinations to support compatibility giving you a wide test coverage.
- It supports both iOS and Android testing
Appium
Appium is the most popular open source mobile app testing tool. It consists of a selenium library and hence supports all programming languages such as Java, Ruby, C# and others which are in the WebDriver library for preparing test scripts. This feature is obviously beneficial to testers as they can work on the language of their choice. Appium is a cross platform Mobile Testing Tool for the hybrid and native iOS, it supports Android versions from 2.3 onwards.
Here are some Appium benefits:
- As Appium consists of standard mobile automation APIs on all platforms, you don’t have to modify your app in any way
- You can use any web-driver compatible language like Java, JavaScript, Objective-C, etc. to write test cases
- You can use any testing framework
- Easy to set up on a different platforms
- Appium mobile automation testing tool supports various languages like Ruby, Java, PHP, Node, Python
- It does not require any external framework to be installed on the device
- You can use Selenium Webdriver JSON wire protocol
- With the help of Java, it can be integrated with other tools
- It supports both iOS and Android testing
Calabash
Calabash is another universal automated testing tool, which helps you manage all the possible problems with your hybrid and native apps on both iOS and Android. Calabash consists of libraries that allow test-code to programmatically interact with native and hybrid apps. Calabash is mostly created for running tests on actual devices. Actually, the device data of its developer, Xamarin, consists of more than 1,000 gadgets, so you have plenty to choose from.
Some of the key advantages of Calabash are as follows:
- This mobile app testing software consists of APIs that are specialized to native apps and hybrid apps running on touch screen devices
- It consists of libraries that allow test-code to programmatically interact with native and hybrid apps
- It supports framework cucumber, which makes it easier to understand by business experts and non-technical QA staff
Selenium:
Selenium is an open source tool, consisting of libraries having programming languages like C, Java, Python, Ruby on Rails, Javascript etc. Hence, programmers are free to work on any programming languages of their choice. It’s an open source tool and hence available free of cost. Selenium franchise comes up with new and advanced features with enhanced capabilities. Here are some of the advantages of Selenium.
- Its an open source tool and available free of cost
- Supports both android and iOS testing
- Selenium mobile automation testing tool supports various languages like Ruby, Java, PHP, Node, Python
- You can use any testing framework
- Easy to set up on a different platforms
Conclusion:
Mobile application testing can be simplified by leveraging the right tools that match your organization goals. Hence do analyze which mobile testing tool suits your project requirements and implement it accordingly. As quality, convenience and quick results is what every enterprise is focusing on, cloud testing platforms are leveraged by many organizations. Cloud based mobile app testing platforms require the least amount of architectural hassle, are cost efficient, 24/7 accessible, highly scalable, customizable etc. Leaning on a robust test automation tool is worth it, hence cloud based mobile application testing is highly recommended.
