Category: Accessibility Testing

Guide to mastering Mobile Application testing: types, tools, strategies

Posted on by Yogesh Kumar Gupta

Mobile application testing involves evaluating an app developed for mobile devices to ensure its functionality, usability, and consistency.

In 2015, Myntra, one of India’s leading fashion e-commerce platforms, made a bold move by transitioning to a completely app-based shopping experience, discontinuing its website.

This decision aimed to provide a more streamlined, mobile-first experience for its tech-savvy customer base. However, just a few months later, Myntra reversed its course, reintroducing the website, acknowledging that not all users were ready to embrace app-only shopping.

This shift highlights the challenges faced by businesses in balancing innovation with user preferences. The advent of mobile testing automation has further added to the overall sophistication.

It involves two major areas: Device Testing and Application Testing. Both focus on ensuring that mobile devices and applications perform optimally but differ in their approach and objectives.

Device Testing

Device testing ensures the mobile device’s hardware and software quality. It includes various checks to confirm that the device itself functions properly. This covers:

  • Hardware Testing: Checking components like the screen, battery, and sensors.
  • Software Testing: Verifying the operating system and internal software functionality.
  • Network Testing: Ensuring proper signal reception and network connectivity.
  • Factory Testing: An automatic sanity check to ensure the device is defect-free after manufacturing.

Application Testing

Application testing focuses on ensuring that a mobile app works as intended across different devices and operating systems. It evaluates the app’s functionality, usability,and performance, including:

  • Functional Testing: Validates that all app features work as expected.
  • Performance Testing: Assesses how the app performs under different conditions.
  • Security Testing: Ensures that the app is secure from vulnerabilities.
  • Memory Leakage Testing: Identifies and resolves memory-related issues in the app.

Tools of the Trade – Mobile Emulators vs Simulators: Choosing the Right Fit

When testing mobile apps, we often use emulators or simulators instead of real devices to save costs and time. For instance, if you’re building a flight booking app, it might be impractical to test it on every device. This is where mobile emulators and simulators come in.

Emulators replicate both the software and hardware of mobile devices, but they tend to be slower and less reliable than actual devices. Simulators, on the other hand, focus on software and are faster. They but may not accurately mimic hardware functions like battery or camera.

While both are useful during development, a final sanity check on real devices ensures accurate results. This is especially crucial for apps like flight booking, where real-time data accuracy is crucial.

Exploring Options – Categories of Mobile App Testing: Covering All the Bases

Below are the key categories of mobile testing:

    1. Functional Testing

      Functional testing ensures that the mobile application works according to the specified requirements. It focuses on verifying whether the application performs its intended functions correctly.

      Example: In a flight booking app, functional testing would verify that:

      • Flight availability is correctly displayed for selected source-destination and date.
      • Past dates do not show up in the flight search results.
      • The app calculates and displays the correct fare.

    2. Compatibility Testing

      This type of testing ensures that the application works across different devices, operating systems, and browsers. Given the vast variety of mobile devices available, compatibility testing helps ensure consistent performance.Example: For a travel booking app like Kayak:

      • Test the app’s ability to search for flights on both Android and iOS devices.
      • Ensure that the app works seamlessly on various screen sizes, like an iPhone 14 vs. an iPad.

    3. Localization Testing

      Localization testing focuses on ensuring that the app functions correctly in different geographical regions. It includes language, cultural norms, and local regulations.

      Duolingo, a popular language-learning app, conducts localization testing to ensure its content is culturally and linguistically accurate across different regions.

      For example, when expanding into the Spanish-speaking market, the app adjusted lessons to account for regional variations in vocabulary and grammar. This ensured a more relevant and engaging experience for users in various Spanish-speaking countries.

    4. Laboratory Testing

      This involves testing the mobile app in a controlled lab environment, typically by network carriers or device manufacturers. It simulates various wireless network conditions to uncover issues that may arise due to network performance.

      Example: In an app like WhatsApp:

      • Simulate network fluctuations or low bandwidth to ensure that voice calls do not drop or degrade when the network is unstable.
      • Test for message delivery in different network conditions (e.g., 3G vs. 4G).

    5. Performance Testing

      Performance testing assesses the speed, responsiveness, and stability of the app, particularly under various levels of load.

      Example: For an app like Instagram:

      • Verify that loading images or videos happens within an acceptable time, even with high user traffic.
      • Test the app’s responsiveness when navigating through the feed or checking notifications.

    6. Stress Testing

      Stress testing evaluates how the app behaves when pushed beyond its normal operational limits, such as handling heavy loads or running for extended periods.

      A notable example of stress testing is during the launch of the Aadhaar digital identity system. As millions of citizens attempted to enroll for Aadhaar simultaneously, the system faced immense traffic.

      Stress testing was crucial in identifying the system’s limits. It could then handle high loads and scale efficiently to accommodate millions of concurrent users without crashing.

    7. Security Testing

      Security testing ensures that the app is resistant to threats and vulnerabilities. It helps in safeguarding sensitive user data and preventing unauthorized access.

      Example: In a banking app like PayPal:

      • Test for vulnerabilities in login systems to ensure data like usernames and passwords are encrypted.
      • Verify that users can’t access accounts from different devices without proper authentication.

    8. Memory Leakage Testing

      Memory leakage testing helps identify issues where an app consumes excessive memory, leading to performance problems or crashes.

      Example: For a game like PUBG Mobile:

      • Monitor memory usage over time to ensure that it does not increase unchecked while playing, leading to app crashes.
      • Test if memory is properly freed after closing the game.

    9. Power Consumption Testing

      Power consumption testing ensures the app does not excessively drain the device’s
      battery, providing a smooth experience even after extended usage.

      When Google Maps first launched with GPS and real-time navigation, it caused significant battery drain due to continuous GPS tracking and high screen brightness.

      After power consumption testing, Google optimized the app by reducing background tasks and introducing a battery saver mode. This improved battery efficiency and set new standards for mobile app power optimization.

    10. Usability Testing

      Usability testing evaluates how user-friendly the app is, ensuring that users can easily navigate and interact with the application.Example: In a food delivery app like Uber Eats:

      • Ensure that the process of browsing menus, adding items to the cart, and completing orders is intuitive and simple.
      • Verify that the design is user-friendly and that users can easily find help or support within the app.

    11. UI Testing

      UI testing checks if the app’s user interface works as intended, focusing on design elements like buttons, icons, fonts, and layout.Example: For an app like Twitter:

      • Test if buttons and menus are properly aligned on different screen sizes.
      • Ensure text displays correctly and is legible, even in different languages or fonts.

The Details – Mobile UI Testing: Creating a User-Friendly Interface

An intuitive and seamless user interface is essential for a positive user experience. Issues like misaligned buttons, truncated text, or cut-off calendar controls can frustrate users and impact app usability. To avoid such scenarios, Mobile UI Testing ensures your application meets design and functionality expectations.

Key Areas to Test

  1. Visual Consistency:
    • Verify the color scheme, themes, and icon styles align with device guidelines.
    • Ensure progress indicators display correctly during page loading.
  2. Screen Orientation and Resolution:
    • Test the app across various resolutions to confirm elements adapt smoothly.
    • Check layout responsiveness for both portrait and landscape modes.
  3. Touchscreen Interactions:
    • Validate multi-touch (e.g., pinch-to-zoom) and single-touch functionalities.
    • Test long touches for context menus versus short touches for default actions.
  4. Button Design:
    • Ensure buttons are adequately sized and positioned for easy access.
  5. Keyboard Functionality:
    • Confirm soft keyboards appear when needed and include relevant shortcuts (e.g., “@”, “.com”).
    • Test soft and hard keyboard interchangeability if applicable.
  6. Device Hard Keys:
    • Validate functionality of keys like Start, Home, Menu, and Back, ensuring consistent behavior with native apps.
  7. Alternative Navigation:
    • For devices without touchscreens, verify smooth navigation via trackballs, wheels, or touchpads.

Comprehensive UI testing ensures your application delivers an engaging, accessible, and frustration-free user experience.

Planning Ahead – Strategies and Tools for Effective Mobile Automation Testing

Testing mobile devices like phones, tablets, and eReaders demands specialized tools and methods, as traditional screen-capture software fails to record touch interactions effectively. Usability practitioners rely on innovative setups, including strategically placed cameras, to capture test interactions.

Key Considerations for Mobile Testing

  • Timeframe and Budget: Determine processes and tools based on your resources.
  • Setup and Equipment: Choose between simple setups or advanced tools like specialized cameras or eye-tracking software.
  • Audience and Devices: Analyze web data to identify your target audience’s devices and platforms for focused testing.

Device Management Tools

Managing mobile testing in large organizations requires robust Mobile Device Management (MDM) software. MDM ensures data security, monitors devices, and integrates with Mobile Application Management for a complete Enterprise Mobility Management solution. A variety of tools are available to meet these needs.

Frameworks Unpacked – Testing Frameworks for Automation: What Works Best

Testing frameworks are essential for ensuring the quality and functionality of mobile applications. Here’s a comparison of popular frameworks for Android and iOS testing, highlighting their features and usage.

Platform Framework Description
Android Robotium Open-source framework for functional, system, and acceptance testing.
UIAutomator Google’s framework for advanced UI testing of native Android apps and games.
Appium Open-source automation for native, hybrid, and mobile web apps using a server.
Calabash User-friendly framework for cross-platform functional testing.
Selendroid Ideal for functional testing, leveraging Selenium-like knowledge.
iOS Appium Cross-platform automation for native, hybrid, and mobile web apps.
Calabash Simple framework for functional testing on iOS and Android.
Zucchini Visual functional testing based on Apple UIAutomation.
UI Automation Apple’s official tool for functional and black-box testing.
FRANK BDD framework using Cucumber for end-to-end and acceptance testing.

Wrapping Up

Mobile testing is challenging due to device fragmentation, making the right tools and  frameworks essential. Ask the right questions—such as how to test a mobile app on a desktop or perform unit testing—before creating a plan.

Emulators and simulators are useful for early testing, but real device testing is necessary to ensure an app performs well under real-world conditions. Beta testing is also crucial to understand user reception and fix potential issues.

Involve QA teams early in the process, alongside business and product teams, to ensure comprehensive testing and a smooth user experience

Who should test your application? A developer or a tester?

Posted on by Yogesh Kumar Gupta

Who should test the application? The deciding battle whether to hire a tester or a developer is never-ending. The objective is to verify and validate the application while finding the defects before its release and ensuring its quality.  

While developers aim at creating and developing the application to its best, testers aim at ensuring the application design is of good quality.  

One of the most important factors differentiating a developer and a tester is that the developer stops testing when the application works once while the tester starts testing when the application works. Also, it depends on the mindset that reflects their attitude toward the development of the application.  

Hence, if you are struggling with who can test your application better, then you need to understand how they work. We’re sure at the end of this write-up, you will know the answer.  

How does a tester test? 

A tester… 

1) Tries out both the beaten path and the “odd ways” of testing an application 

  • Testing may sound like a common process. A tester is a person who is responsible for trying out all the necessary usage scenarios for the best working of an application.  
  • Testers follow both the regular testing process and their unconventional ways to ensure that the application works as expected.  
  • A tester is more focused on addressing defects and resolving them before the application can be deployed to users.  
  • Hence, a tester follows both the beaten path and odd ways to try out several different approaches to do the same thing. The agenda is to determine whether a specific combination of steps may lead to application failure or unexpected results.  

2) Tests the same thing over and over again until gets 100% of the expected results 

  • Tester idealizes the process of continuous testing. A tester starts the testing the moment it becomes available.  
  • This type of application testing can also rely on test automation that is integrated with the deployment process.  
  • Though automated testing enables the application to be validated in realistic test environments. However, an ideal tester urges to test the application over and over again.  
  • A result-oriented tester is focused on improving the application design and reducing risks.    

3) Doesn’t limit to the usual process of what needs to be tested and how it needs to be tested 

  • A tester is involved in assessing many stages. Ideally, organizations maintain test assets to track what an application builds to test.  
  • However, a tester is not limited to what needs to be tested. A tester gains access to assets such as requirements, codes, models, test scripts, design documents, and test results.  
  • A tester is completely aware of the parameters of what needs to be tested and how it needs to be tested.  
  • An ideal tester focuses on user authentication and audit trails to help companies meet compliance requirements with minimal administrative effort.  

4) Don’t assume that it will work every time and everywhere 

  • A tester is determined to offer perfection when it comes to testing results. Hence, a tester analyzes the success of testing based on reports and analytics. It eventually helps other team members to share status, goals, and results.  
  • A tester never assumes that the same process will work every time and everywhere. Thus, a tester incorporates advanced tools to integrate project metrics and present results in a dashboard.  
  • This particular practice makes the tester super confident and lets the teams quickly see the overall health of the project. 
  • A tester tests to establish the parameter that defines the development of the application while monitoring relationships between development, test, and other significant elements.  

5) Never satisfied even if it works in the most ways, needs the application to work in every way 

  • A tester knows that testing can be time-consuming. Still, the tester is never satisfied with regular procedures even if it works in most ways.  
  • Several automated software testing tools are used to complete the testing process. However, a tester feels incomplete with automation and runs manual testing or ad-hoc testing to be 100% sure.  
  • The tester is more focused on making sure that the application works in every way irrespective of any circumstances.  
  • A tester is not ready to accept that automated testing helps implement different scenarios and test differentiators. The tester never feels satisfied until the application works in every bit possible way.  

How does a developer test? 

A developer… 

1) Follows the obvious way like how an application is meant to be used 

  • A developer is quite practical in the process and works on the application the way it is meant to be used. Once the features of the application have been nailed down, the developer is supposed to convert them into an actual application. 
  • The developer uses a variety of tools that include programming language, integrated development environments, data structures, staging serves, and more to get the application started.   
  • Once the primary development of the application is completed, a developer tests the application in a regular, necessary way to make sure the application runs the way it should.  

2) Tests once and gets satisfied if the feature works fine  

  • Mostly, a developer follows a definite testing process where the developer writes down and executes basic test cases.  
  • Ideally, this process helps to determine whether the application is structurally sound and performing properly or not. Once the results are in favor, the developer makes the end call and finalizes it.  
  • The developer would only test once if the results are accurate in one try. The developer feels satisfied if the features of the application work fine and even work in usually used ways.  

3) Doesn’t explore and is limited to what needs to be tested  

  • Ideally, a developer is focused on unit testing that is not similar to the way a tester does. The process is followed by developers to determine any necessary bugs while ensuring the application works as expected.  
  • If everything seems good, a developer won’t make extra effort to explore more possibilities of any glitches while using the application.  
  • Developers are aware of bugs that can’t be identified by them. Their mind-sets are focused to follow the usual testing process and report the functioning of the application.  

Conclusion:  

During the testing process, both the tester and developer work in their best possible ways to give 100% favorable results. However, certain parameters can’t be examined by the developer. And this is where the tester’s role comes in.  

Uncover the hidden bugs with Non Functional Testing.

Posted on by Yogesh Kumar Gupta

Even when you think you have got it right, Non Functional Testing can expose the hidden flaws

This is your big idea. Maybe, not necessarily yours, it’s your client’s. But you have spent months mulling over the concept, assembling the best team of developers and you are ready to go. Your end goal is to solve problems and make life easier for the end user, right? Well, achieving client satisfaction and maintaining a positive end-user experience is hinged on one important factor; Testing.

Quality Assurance (QA) is a pivotal part of your mobile/web application development lifecycle. Whether it be a pre-installed, installed, or browser-based app, rigorous testing of functionality, compatibility, and usability, among others must be done every step of the way.

Functional Testing

Functional testing is an important and popular step in the app development process. Primarily because, focusing on an AUT’s ability and efficiency to perform as required is second nature to QA practice. However, it is important to note that non-functional testing is as equally important as functional testing because it greatly affects client satisfaction and the whole user experience. In this article, I will attempt to explain what QA non-functional testing is, differentiate between functional and non-functional testing, and highlight the importance of non-functional testing.

Non-functional Testing

It is a type of software test for assessing the non-functional aspects (e.g. performance, usability, reliability, etc.) of a software application. It is essentially aimed at testing the abilities of a system on such non-functional parameters which are usually not done by functional testing. In other words, this testing handles the aspects of a software application which is not connected with the defined user action or a function.

TYPES OF NON-FUNCTIONAL TESTING

Security Testing:

This checks how a system is safeguarded against intentional or spontaneous attacks from known or unknown sources, also known as VAPT (Vulnerability and Penetration Testing). It also detects loopholes within the system and measures the vulnerability of an AUT to being hacked.

Both Manual and Automated assessment of vulnerabilities through active and passive scans are part of this testing.

Performance Testing:

Performance testing encompasses a number of parameters. 

  • Load Testing: Load testing checks  the ability of a system/ AUT to deal with different numbers of users given a performance range. 
  • Stress Testing: Stress Testing assesses the tenacity of an AUT, measuring what happens to the system when put under valid load in excess of its originally designed capacity. For instance, how many users working on a particular app at a time can cause it to crash?
  • Endurance Testing: This test is essential to know the stability of the system over a period of time and to see if small errors that are accumulated over the said period can affect the efficacy and integrity of the system.
  • Recovery Testing: This checks that the software system continues to perform to the required standards and recovers completely in the unfortunate case of a system failure.
  • Reliability Testing: This is done to check the extent to which any software system repeatedly performs a given function without failure. 
  • Scalability Testing: The scalability test is essential for commercialization of a product. It measures the extent to which a software application can expand its processing capacity to meet an increase in demand. 

Portability Testing:

The ease with which a software can be changed or transferred from its current environment (hardware/software) to  another is checked by portability testing.

Usability Testing: 

The ease with which any user can learn, operate, and interact with a system is measured by the usability test.

Other tests performed during the non-functional testing phase include Failover Testing, Compatibility Testing, Accessibility Testing, Maintainability Testing, Volume Testing, Disaster Recovery Testing, Compliance Testing, Documentation Testing, Internationalization and Localization Testing etc.

Ultimately, the motive of this is to test all characteristics of an application that would help to produce a product that meets the expectations of the user. It helps to improve the developer’s knowledge of the product behaviour, latest trends in technology and supports research development.

Functional Testing and Non Functional Testing: Two Different Concepts

The major difference between the two types of testing is this: Functional testing ensures that your product meets customer and business requirements and doesn’t have any major bugs. Non-functional testing verifies that the product meets the end user’s expectations. 

Functional Testing:

Functional testing is a type of software testing that evaluates the system against the functional requirements. It focuses on verifying that the software/application performs its intended functions correctly. The objective is to ensure that the system meets the specified functional requirements and operates as expected.

Non-Functional Testing:

Non-functional testing, also known as quality attributes testing, focuses on evaluating the performance, reliability, usability, and other non-functional aspects of a software/application. It aims to assess the system’s behavior under different conditions, rather than its specific functionalities.

The major difference between the two types of testing is this: Functional testing ensures that your product meets customer and business requirements and doesn’t have any major bugs. Non-functional testing verifies that the product meets the end user’s expectations.

Functional and Non-Functional tests are technically differentiated from each other based on their objective, focus area, functionality, ease of use, and execution.

Functional and Non-Functional tests are technically differentiated from each other based on their objective, focus area, functionality, ease of use and execution.

Objective: 

Functional testing assesses the behavior of the software system of the AUT such as login function, valid/ invalid inputs, etc. whereas Non-functional testing deals with the performance or usability of the software.

Focus area:

Functional testing focuses on customer requirements, while Non-functional testing focuses on user expectations.

Functionality: 

Functional tests check that the system works as expected. It testing checks how well the system works.

Ease of use: 

Functional testing is easy to execute manually, like black box testing but it is hard to execute non-functional testing manually. It is more feasible to use automated tools.

Execution:

Functional testing generally gets performed before non-functional testing, i.e. before the compilation of code while Non-Functional testing is mostly performed after the compilation of code.

Now, imagine finalizing the masterpiece you have created, and testing its functional requirements fully, leaving out its non-functional requirements.

Would you like to predict what would happen when the application is subjected to a massive load when it goes live? Would you be confident of its stress capabilities?

Would you want to imagine how slow it may become? What if it crashes on product launch day? Or an unauthorised party completely takes over the functionality of the system? These scenarios depicted make no pleasurable viewing. I wouldn’t want to touch such a product with a ten-foot pole or be associated in any way with it.

Though testing over the years have been traditionally limited to the functional requirements, the concept of non-functional testing has gradually become an integral part of software processing, without which consumer expectations may not be fully met. When a product fails to meet these expectations, it affects the reputation of the developers, company, and even the overall product sale. This is why non-functional testing cannot be ignored.

Both functional and non-functional testing are crucial for ensuring the overall quality, reliability, and user satisfaction of a software/application. They complement each other by validating different aspects of the system’s performance and behavior.

Non-functional testing is primarily focused on evaluating the performance, reliability, security, and usability aspects of a software system. While it may not directly target detecting hidden bugs, it can indirectly help uncover certain types of bugs or issues that may not be apparent during functional testing.

While non-functional testing techniques can help uncover hidden bugs indirectly, it’s important to note that functional testing, which tests against the expected behavior and requirements, remains essential for detecting most bugs and ensuring the software meets its intended purpose.

When you think you have got it right, it will expose all the hidden flaws!