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Mobile Automation Testing: A Guide For Beginner Testing Professionals

What is Mobile Automation Testing?


Mobile automation testing is a software testing method that uses scripts to simulate user behaviors and execute test cases.


The automation of testing allows you to do more tests in a shorter time, with fewer resources. Automated mobile app testing is therefore an essential part of any quality assurance strategy for mobile apps.


The nature of mobile applications means they can be complex and difficult to test manually. Mobile automation is designed to overcome these challenges by automating repetitive manual tasks, improving the efficiency of your testing process and providing accurate results in a fraction of the time.


Most Common Types of Mobile Apps:


In the world of mobile apps, there is a lot of buzz about what types of mobile app are best for your business. With the wide range of options, it can be confusing to know which one is right for you.


In this article, we'll go over some of the most common types of mobile apps and explain which ones might be best for your business.


Types Of Mobile Apps:


1. Native Apps


Native apps are built specifically for one platform (iOS or Android). They have access to all platform features like GPS location, camera and microphone, etc. These apps can also be downloaded from an app store like Google Play or Apple App Store.


2. Web Apps


Web apps run in a browser like Safari or Chrome that make them portable across platforms and browsers (using HTML5). They use some native features but not all due to limitations set by their platform provider (e.g., iOS doesn't allow web apps to access device's camera). Web apps don't have access to important user data that native apps do because they run on a different operating system than the smartphone itself.


Why Mobile Testing Is Crucial For Your App?


Mobile testing is an essential phase in the development of any mobile app. Mobile apps are developed for different platforms and mobile devices, so it's important to make sure that your app works on all of them.


Mobile app testing is not just about testing whether or not your app works on one device or another. It's about making sure that it works on all devices and all types of networks. Mobile apps need to be tested for compatibility with different operating systems, browsers, and other software as well.


Here are some reasons why you need to test your mobile app before launching:


1- To make sure it works with various devices and operating systems


2- To ensure that the content displayed in the app is correct


3- To ensure proper user interface design and navigation flow


4- To ensure that users can find what they're looking for easily


Types and Techniques of Testing Mobile Apps to Ensure Quality Products:


It is important to test a mobile application before it is launched. Mobile application testing is a process of evaluating the software, hardware and the functionalities of a mobile app.


Mobile application testing can be divided into two categories: functional testing and non-functional testing.


Functional Testing:


Functional testing is one of the most important parts of mobile application testing. This type of testing ensures that all features in the mobile app are working properly as expected by users. A functional tester tests whether an app performs as intended or not. It checks if an app meets its requirements and specifications, and if they are delivered to users as intended by developers. The main goal of functional testing is to check if there are any bugs or defects in the application’s functionality before it gets released to users.


Non-functional Testing:


Non-functional testing focuses on aspects like performance, security, usability etc., which cannot be tested based on their functionality alone (i.e., what they can do). For example, if there is a feature that allows users to upload an image from their gallery to an album then this feature can be tested for its functionality but not for how fast or slow it works on different devices.


Manual Vs Automated Mobile Testing : Which Is Better To Test On Real Devices?


Manual testing is done by a tester, who manually looks for bugs in the application. It is called manual testing because the tester has to manually perform all the tasks in order to test the application. In this type of testing, there are no special tools or automated scripts to help in performing the testing. A human brain is needed to execute each and every action within an application in order to find out whether it is working correctly or not.


Automated mobile testing, on the other hand, makes use of automated tools and scripts which can be run repeatedly in order to test an application automatically. These tools/scripts are also referred as test automation frameworks. This type of testing is preferred by many companies because it saves time and cost involved in manual testing while giving better results than manual testing alone.


What Are The Challenges of Mobile Automation Testing?


Mobile automation testing is a challenging task for developers. It requires a lot of time and efforts. In this post, we will discuss the main challenges of mobile application testing.


Mobile apps testing is a challenging task for developers. It requires a lot of time and efforts. In this post, we will discuss the main challenges of mobile application testing.


Time-consuming: The process of mobile app testing takes a lot of time because it involves several different steps such as designing, coding and testing. Moreover, this long process needs to be repeated multiple times in order to ensure that all bugs are fixed before the release date arrives.


Variability: Mobile apps created for multiple platforms might contain different bugs as well as performance issues on each platform because they use different technologies which may not be compatible with each other. Hence, it becomes difficult to fix these issues in one particular platform only but rather an effort has to be made so that they can be resolved on all platforms at once which increases the cost and time required for mobile application development.


Difficulty in finding defects: In order to test mobile applications effectively and efficiently, it is important that developers know how to detect bugs from the code itself or from user feedbacks such as error messages on screen etcetera.


Approaches For Mobile Application Testing That Will Save You Time And Money:


Mobile application testing is the process of identifying, isolating and fixing defects in mobile application software. Mobile applications are complex and can be prone to a number of problems such as compatibility issues, performance issues and usability issues.


Testing mobile apps involves various techniques, tools and strategies. A comprehensive mobile app testing strategy comprises of multiple approaches that can be used to test different aspects of an application. These approaches include:


Unit Testing: Unit testing is done at the unit level, using low-level programming language constructs. It tests individual components of an application to ensure that they function as expected when combined together.


Component Testing: Component testing is conducted at a higher level than unit testing, using business logic code that interacts with other components through their interfaces. This approach helps identify bugs in the overall functionality rather than just individual features or functions within the application.


Integration Testing: Integration testing ensures that all modules/components work together correctly as per the requirements specified by business stakeholders. It verifies how different modules interact with each other based on user inputs and system responses at runtime.


Tips For More Effective Mobile App Testing:


Mobile testing is an important part of software development that needs to be done right. It's not just about ensuring your app will run on different devices, but also making sure it works well and adheres to all your company's requirements.


The following tips will help you make the most out of mobile testing and avoid common pitfalls that can lead to costly mistakes.


1. Focus On The Right Things


Testing an app on a lot of different devices and operating systems is definitely important, but it's not the only thing you should focus on. You should have clear requirements for what you want your app to achieve and make sure it matches those expectations. This means that before you start testing, you need to know what problems need fixing and if there are any bugs that need fixing before release. Once you know what needs fixing, prioritize your work based on how critical it is for users.


2. Test On Real Devices


There's no substitute for testing on real devices because they're the closest we've got to replicating how people use apps in the real world — with everything from different screen sizes to OS versions and more (see tip number five). The more real devices you test against, the better equipped you'll be when it comes time.


Most Common Mobile Test Frameworks:


These are the 5 most popular mobile test frameworks.


Appium: Appium is the most popular mobile automation framework for Android, iOS native, hybrid and web apps. You can write Appium scripts using almost any programming language


Testsigma: Testsigma enables you to automate your tests for mobile, desktop and API from one place.


Espresso: It's the Android test automation tool that Google has made open-source. It allows you to quickly write Android UI tests using it


Detox: Detox is an HTML script-based mobile testing framework that makes test execution extremely fast and robust.


Calabash: It is a cross-platform framework for testing native and hybrid apps on both Android and iOS. Because of its simple syntax, it can be used by anyone who is not a technical person.


UI Automation: UI automator allows you to perform more UI testing on Android apps and games. It does not support Webview for directly accessing Android objects.


How To Test The API Backend Of Your Mobile App?


It is a good idea to test the API backend of your mobile solution. This can be done using a proxy server or by using an app like Charles Proxy.


A proxy server is a piece of software that acts as an intermediary between your computer and the Internet. It can be configured to record all traffic passing through it. This allows you to see what information is being sent between your computer and other devices on the network (such as other computers, smartphones or tablets).


Charles Proxy is one such proxy server that can be used for this purpose. It can be downloaded from http://www.charlesproxy.com/download/.


Once installed, you need to configure it so that it acts as a proxy server for all traffic going through your computer. You can do this by following these steps:


1) Open up Charles Proxy and click on ‘Options’ (or press Ctrl+O)


2) Click on ‘Proxy Settings’ in the left hand menu and then click on ‘New..’ at the bottom of the page


3) Select ‘HTTP Proxy’ from the top drop down menu, enter a name for this proxy server (e.g. Mobile Testing Proxy), set port 8080 and press OK











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