The quality of a mobile app will impact its popularity and profitability in the longer run. So mobile app testing has become essential for businesses to make a mobile application successful. While assessing the quality of a mobile app, each business has to focus on both hardware and software. Likewise, the business also needs to keep in mind the major differences between native, hybrid, and mobile web applications. The mobile application testing strategy of the business must clearly identify and define the types of testing required to assess all aspects of the app thoroughly and effectively. Also, the business needs to understand the commonly used testing mobile app testing methods.

Overview of Different Methods of Mobile App Testing

Functional Testing:

As the name indicates, the testing is performed to assess the functional behaviour of the mobile app. The primary objective of functional testing is to ensure that the application meets all business requirements. The method requires testers to focus extensively on the application’s user interface (UI) and call flows. However, the testers cannot test the functional behaviour of the mobile apps without using specialized tools and emulators. The automation of functional tests still needs human consideration as the tools do not provide specific information about the app’s functionality.

Performance Testing:

The performance and actions of the mobile app will affect its user experience directly. Thus, testers are required to test the application’s performance and action thoroughly to ensure that it meets a variety of mobile devices challenges. They are required to assess the application’s performance under various internet connections and networks, changing data networks, less memory, and varying battery usage. At the same time, they also need to emulate the behaviour of a large number of users to check the app’s concurrent approach to the server.

Memory Leakage Testing:

Often memory leakage affects the mobile app’s performance and user experience adversely. Due to memory leakage, users fail to transfer files quickly or access the app without any interruption. As mobile devices have limited memory, the testers need to ensure that the app is not consuming a large amount of memory. Memory leakage testing becomes more significant with users now have option to assess the performance of iOS and Android mobile apps. The testing will further help the testers to ensure that the mobile app does not affect the mobile device and other resources.

Interrupt Testing:

A mobile app can be interrupted by a number of factors including calls, test messages, notifications, network outage, low memory, low battery and media player switch on/off. So the testers need to perform interrupt testing to check if the applications functional smoothly despite these interruptions. The application must be effective in sustaining these interruptions, and resume functioning after being in the suspension state for various amount of time.

Usability Testing:

This testing method aims to assess the mobile application’s user experience. As the user experience of the app will affect its popularity in the longer run, the testers have to perform a variety of tests to ensure that the app is simple, flexible and easy-to-use. The testers can further test the user friendliness of the mobile app manually to recommend ways to boost its usability.

Installation Testing:

Normally, users have option to use two distinct kinds of mobile apps. Some mobile apps are installed automatically on the device along with the mobile operating system, whereas users have to download other apps from specific app stores. But businesses need to ensure that each user can install, update and uninstall their mobile apps without any hassle. So the testers must perform elaborate installation testing to properly assess the application installation, uninstallation and updates process.

Operational Testing:

There are always chances that the user information and files stored on the mobile device may be lost or damaged. So the mobile app must have built-in recovery and backup features to restore the lost user data. The testers have to perform elaborate operational testing to ensure that the application is effective in restoring the lost information and working seamlessly. Also, the operation testing aims to check if the application is meeting predefined business requirements after performing the recovery or backup process.

Security Testing:

Nowadays users store a variety of personal and business data on their mobile devices. The sensitive user information stored on the mobile devices is always vulnerable to various security threats and cyber crimes. Many users even use mobile apps to access and update a variety of sensitive information. So the Software QA testers have to perform several tests to assess the security of the application’s data and network. They also need to ensure that the security testing is performed according to a number of predefined requirements and guidelines. You can learn more on why Security testing is important for apps.

On the whole, each business has to perform a variety of tests to assess the quality of its mobile app accurately. However, it is always important for the business to decide the types of tests to be performed based on the features, functionality and usage of the application.