Mobile App Testing: Ensuring Quality and User Satisfaction

Mobile apps are a powerful tool for businesses and organizations to engage customers, streamline operations, and unlock new revenue streams.

As a result, it's crucial to guarantee these applications' performance and quality.

Users are likely to reject low-quality apps, which can be detrimental to the company's reputation and financial health.

This article explores why mobile app testing is essential for business and Mobile application testing types. We discuss the best practices to adhere to and examine practical tools.

Why is mobile app testing essential for business

Mobile application testing is essential for businesses for several compelling reasons. First and foremost, it ensures the quality, functionality, and reliability of mobile apps, which are often the primary touchpoints between a business and its customers. 

A well-tested mobile app offers a seamless and satisfying user experience, which, in turn, enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, rigorous testing helps identify and rectify issues early in the development process, reducing the risk of costly post-release fixes and negative user reviews. It also enhances security by uncovering vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches or other security threats. 

Furthermore, mobile app testing is vital for compatibility across various devices and operating systems, ensuring that a business can reach a broader audience. Ultimately, by investing in mobile application testing, businesses can mitigate risks, maintain a positive brand image, and drive higher user engagement and revenue.

7 Mobile application testing types

Functional testing:

This is performed to verify the functionality of an application to ensure it works fine as per expectations. The various functional testing methods, including unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing, alpha testing, and beta testing, are all performed to ensure a fully functional mobile app.

Usability testing:

A group of users are selected and given a specific task to perform on the mobile app in this testing method even before the app is released into the market. The specialists, such as QA teams, test engineers, etc., observe and keep track of the actions that these users take. Their feedback is collected, and proper actions are taken to improve the usability of the app.

Compatibility testing:

A perfect app should function properly on all platforms, networks, operating systems, and browsers. Thus app compatibility testing is important to deliver consistent performance across all platforms.

Performance testing:

This test is performed to check the speed, responsiveness, reliability, and stability of an app under fluctuating networks, bandwidths, and user loads. The major purpose of this test is to eliminate performance bottlenecks in an app. There are numerous sorts of mobile app performance testing methodologies, such as load testing, spike testing, endurance testing, volume testing, etc.

Security testing:

The primary goal of this test is to confirm that the applications are free of all security flaws and vulnerabilities. The different types of mobile app security testing that are conducted are vulnerability tests, penetration tests, security scanning, security auditing, etc.

Localization and globalization testing:

This testing method verifies whether the mobile app has compliance with the language and cultural aspects at the local and international levels. The accuracy of the time zone, date and time formats, local currency, text, user interface, and compliance with L10N and L18N standards are all confirmed by this test.

Digital testing:

It is a sort of software testing that encompasses all aspects of mobile app testing, including functionality, security, performance, and more. It makes sure that mobile apps are tested from beginning to end, including functional, non-functional, compliance, etc.

Mobile app testing best practices

Implementing best practices in mobile app testing and QA can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these activities. Here are some recommended best practices:

Start Early And Test Often:

It is best if testing is incorporated into the development process as early as possible. It is easier and less expensive to fix problems if they are discovered early in the development process and addressed. Starting to test early in the process can help.

Regular testing throughout the development cycle may help detect new issues as they occur and verify that remedies have not generated new problems. In addition, testing should not be a one-off activity but rather a continuous process.

Test On Real Devices:

While simulators and emulators can be helpful for preliminary testing, they cannot fully replicate the performance and behavior of actual devices. Real devices have specific hardware, software, and network characteristics that can significantly affect an app’s performance and user experience.

As a result, it's crucial to test the app using a sample of devices that represent the target market. This will provide a more accurate assessment of the app’s performance, functionality, and user experience.

Automate Where Possible:

Manual testing can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially for large and complex apps. Mobile app test automation can significantly speed up the testing process, increase coverage, and reduce the risk of human error. Regression testing benefits greatly from automated tests because they can be executed repeatedly and consistently.

However, automation is not a silver bullet. Some aspects, such as usability testing for mobile apps, require human judgment and are challenging to automate effectively. Therefore, the best course of action is frequently a balanced strategy that incorporates both automated and manual testing.

Cover All Testing Types:

Testing a mobile app involves more than simply making sure it performs as intended. There are several distinct types of testing involved, each of which focuses on a different component of the app.

• Functional Testing verifies that the app’s features and functionalities work as expected.
• Usability Testing makes sure the app is user-friendly and offers a satisfying experience.
• Compatibility Testing Verifies the app's functionality across a range of platforms, operating systems, and network conditions.
• Performance Testing makes sure the application runs smoothly under various loads and circumstances.
• Security Testing determines potential vulnerabilities and confirms that the app can protect sensitive data.

Mobile app testing tools 

The efficiency and effectiveness of testing mobile apps can be greatly improved by using the appropriate tools. Here are some popular tools:

TestComplete:

It is one of the simple tools for automating tests for desktop, web, and mobile applications. This tool provides maximum test coverage with a hybrid object and visual recognition engine. It allows scripting in various languages, like Python, JavaScript, Delphi Script, C++Script & C# Script.

Appium:

It is a mobile application testing tool that is open-source and automated. For iOS and Android, this tool facilitates the automation of native, hybrid, and mobile web apps. This utility is built on server architecture and utilizes automation frameworks supplied by the provider. Appium released its latest version in January 2020 – Appium 1.16.0, which allows beta support for Flutter, iOS simulator geolocation setting for testing, and Safari weblogs capabilities.

Calabash

An open-source solution for automating app acceptability testing for iOS and Android is called Calabash. It enables authoring and running tests in a plain language style, making it simpler for stakeholders who aren't technically savvy to comprehend and participate.

Ranorex Studio:

It is a comprehensive automation testing tool that runs on a Selenium web driver and includes features like UI object identification, an easy-to-use interface, and a full IDE. Additionally, this program offers a record and playback capability that makes automation simple. Ranorex is used for end-to-end testing on the web, desktop, mobile, and APIs and supports cross-platform testing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mobile app testing is the cornerstone of ensuring quality and user satisfaction in the ever-evolving landscape of mobile technology. 

At Codezee Solutions in the UK, we understand the pivotal role that mobile applications play in modern businesses.  Our commitment to rigorous testing practices, including functional, performance, security, and compatibility testing, helps businesses uncover and resolve issues proactively, saving them time and resources in the long run. 

With Codezee Solutions, quality and user satisfaction are the cornerstones of your mobile app's success.