What is mobile testing? Mention the challenges in mobile testing.
- Mobile application testing is a process by which application software developed for handheld mobile devices is tested for its functionality, usability and consistency.
- Mobile application testing can be an automated or manual type of testing.
- Mobile applications either come pre-installed or can be installed from mobile software distribution platforms. Mobile devices have witnessed a phenomenal growth in the past few years.
Mobile app testing challenges
Multitude Mobile Devices
- Over 500m Android devices shipped since Android 1.0, about 220m iOS devices have been shipped since 2007.
- These huge number of mobile devices availability ranging from handsets to smartphones, to tabs, to pads and wearable tech provides a huge diversity of environments which your mobile app faces.
Device Fragmentation & Various OS Platforms
- Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the mobile testing matrix is device fragmentation. Though the iOS device matrix is growing more than ever, fragmentation is especially an issue for the Android operating system.
- Mobile application testing is also challenging, due to compatibility issues as a mobile application can be deployed across devices which have different-
- Operating systems like iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows etc.
- Versions of an operating system such as iOS 4.X, iOS 5.X, BB 4.X, 5.X and 6.X.
Different Mobile App Types
- A mobile app can be a native app, a web app or a hybrid app which has both contents. Testing of each such app type is different than another as their implementation is quite different from one another.
Numerous Test Interfaces
- Mobile emulators and simulators are the important testing tool and they enable us to verify general functionality and perform regular regression testing. The very character of emulators and simulators means testing is being conducted in an environment which is not real.
Variety of Testing Tools
- Summarizing the daunting complexity of mobile test automation, even more, daunting is the huge availability of mobile test automation tools in the market.
- Free/Paid. For native app or web app? For Android or for iOS, so which is the one automation tool for your mobile test automation needs, or the question is – Is there a single tool for our Mobile Test automation needs?
