Mastering Mobile App Testing: Strategies for Seamless Performance and User Satisfaction

Have you ever wondered about the problems that mobile application developers face? There are several cycles of mobile application development that must be followed seamlessly to launch an application that adheres to customer satisfaction. One of those stages is mobile app testing, which developers seem to work on for a long time. This is to ensure the application keeps on performing seamlessly in terms of usability and security. Meanwhile, 70% of users are known to stop using an application if it takes too long to launch. On the other hand, 48% abandon or uninstall an application if it’s too slow.

With the constant growth in mobile app usage, developing a high-quality mobile application is always a challenging task. If developers are meant to meet customers’ expectations while receiving positive reviews from the customer’s end. They need to navigate through the world of mobile app testing. To ensure a seamless experience for your customers while checking the compatibility of your developed mobile applications. Learning about some of the strategies of mobile app testing from this article could be a huge benefit.

For Android Users

Core Concept of Android App Testing

Android app testing includes device fragmentation (screens, hardware, OS), performance challenges (battery, memory, network), and UI/UX considerations. Ensuring app quality requires rigorous testing across various devices, OS versions, and conditions.

𝟏. 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Due to the rising popularity of Android devices, open-source application development has been integrated. Starting from the Android ice cream sandwich to the recent Android 12 versions, each comes with a set of different APIs to test. Testing the application across this fragmentation model is crucial to ensure its optimal performance.

𝟐. 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Android devices come with a wide range of screen sizes, resolutions, processors, and memory capacities. This hardware diversity poses significant challenges for app compatibility and performance testing. Ensuring that the app functions correctly across different devices is essential for a positive user experience.

𝟑. 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬

Android apps must support various form factors, including smartphones, tablets, foldable devices, and wearables. Each form factor has unique UI requirements and interactions, necessitating specific testing approaches to ensure optimal user experience.

𝟒. 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧-𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞

Android’s open-source nature leads to a vast ecosystem of custom ROMs and device modifications. This creates additional complexities in testing as apps may encounter compatibility issues with non-standard Android versions.

For iOS Users

Core Concept of iOS App Testing

iOS app testing benefits from a relatively uniform hardware and software ecosystem. However, different screen sizes (iPhone, iPad), iOS versions, and device models still require thorough testing. Focus on performance optimization, UI consistency across devices, and adherence to Apple’s strict design guidelines for a seamless user experience.

𝟏. 𝐢𝐎𝐒 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲

Unlike the Android version, iOS versions have a superior capability to streamline updates, and they have a higher percentage of running versions in use. Some people may stick to the original iOS versions, while others prefer the latest updates in the iOS.

Whatever the case may be, testing the application across several platforms is severely important to ensure that it performs well.

Variety of Strategies for testing mobile applications on Android

𝟐. 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬

Utilizing device emulators and simulators is an essential component in testing the applications. There are several platforms where you can find great options for mobile application testing.

You can use any online mobile app testing for such testing strategies. These tools are very important for developers to start their code and test the versions every time they add or remove any functionality.

𝟑. 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

If you are reluctant to use a simulator or real device, then try using the cloud-based testing platforms. These platforms are available for you to check the software online. There are several cloud-based testing platforms that you may use to test your application.

Android device testing helps a user to run their codes accurately. Real devices are also used when there is a problem in the cloud, but it is a time-consuming affair for a developer, nevertheless.

Top 5 mobile testing strategies that are commonly used in both Android and iOS

1.𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

One of the most highly driven strategies that mobile app testing should utilize is cross-platform checks. The customer base of your mobile application could either have an IOS version or Android based upon their choice. Therefore, the customers would expect their applications to work on both platforms interchangeably. Being the most dominant mobile OS version, programmers should thoroughly test their applications to deliver a cross-platform compatible mobile application.

𝟐. 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐎𝐒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝)

If you have crossed at least a few levels of testing, then you need to try version-specific testing. This is done to ensure that application performance does not vary during mobile app testing on a real device or during launch. It is also a great method to understand some version-specific problems that an application generally faces and solve them properly. Such testing ensures that the versions are compatible with the present application, and if there are some specific issues, then they can be solved. Specific mobile app testing platforms may not be able to handle such version-specific issues properly before the final launch.

𝟑. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐎𝐒 (𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬))

Regression testing is beneficial for a device to function accurately as it helps to elevate the stability of the device. It also helps to detect defects, if any are present. Try out the several options that are available online.

These applications can streamline the mobile app testing process and improve the efficiency of the application development process.

𝟒. 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

53% of mobile app users are known to uninstall their applications if they continue to freeze, lag, or crash frequently. Therefore, functionality testing is known to play a major role in launching a mobile application. Doing functional tests would ensure the mobile application continues to perform smoothly while pushing the retention rates higher. These functional tests are conducted for both Android and IOS users to test UI elements, screen adaptation and other core features.

𝟓. 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

For mobile users, battery life is known to play a massive part in their ability to enjoy a certain mobile application. Thus, participating in battery life testing would help the programmers check the performance of their application on different device’s OS versions. In this testing, the people behind it are known to keep a close eye on power consumption through a variety of mobile activities like browsing, gaming, etc.

When identifying those inefficiencies, the developers could optimize the applications while minimizing battery drainage. This would help create an application that is battery-friendly and allows users to operate accordingly.

Conclusion

Mobile app testing is a critical component of the development process, particularly in the dynamic landscape of Android and iOS versions.

By employing a combination of strategies such as device emulation, real device testing, cloud-based platforms, and version-specific testing, developers can ensure compatibility and functionality across a diverse range of devices and operating systems.