Would like to share some perspectives of testing the mobile apps. If you are developer or product owner this might give you some basic insights. 
Let us first try to understand what is 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 either automated or manual type of testing.
Let’s see what automated and manual testing in mobile testing.
Automated testing
Mobile automation, as the name suggests, refers to ‘automation‘ that is done on mobile devices. Automation is the process whereby one automates testing of an application – in this case a mobile application – which can be a WAP site or an app. This can be done by using tools and helps in reducing the testing time cycle.
Some of the most popular ones are:
- Appium. Appium is a popular open-source tool used for automated mobile app testing.
- Selendroid. Selendroid is also known as selenium for mobile apps for Android.
- Espresso. Espresso is a useful testing framework for automating User Interface (UI) testing of a mobile app.
- Robotium.
Manual testing
Although it requires more effort than the automation, it successfully checks for bugs, if any, in the software system.
Here are some of the Testing Framework which can aid in testing the mobile apps:
- Selenium. Being one of the popular open source web-based testing tools, selenium provides a portable software testing framework for web applications.
- JMeter. JMeter is a popular and one of the most preferred open source software. …
- Loadrunner. Loadrunner is a software testing tool from Micro Focus.
- Test Link.
- QTP.
Now you may be confused whether to Automate the test or do manual testing!
Automation Testing uses automation tools to execute test cases. In manual testing, test cases are executed by a human tester and software. Automated testing is significantly faster than a manual approach. … Automated testing is a reliable method, as it is performed by tools and scripts.
There are scenarios that are best tested with automation testing, but there are few that give the finest results with manual testing too.
The stages of mobile application testing:
1.Documentation Testing.
Remember you need to handover the testers the screen layouts, navigational charts, and other requirements that are obscure on the design.
2. Functional testing.
Here you are testing whether it is working as per the requirement specifications, you keep the following factors in mind while you functionally test
- Business functionality of your app like banking, social networks, ordering and delivery of food, education, tickets, the game industry, etc.
- Target audience like companies, students, entrepreneurs, etc.
- Distribution channels like Google Play, direct delivery, App Store, etc.
3.Usability Testing.
Here you ensure that your application provides convenient browsing to your customers and creates an innate interface that abides by industry standards.
4.UI (User Interface) testing.
User Interface (UI) testing ensures that your application’s GUI meets all the required specifications.
5.Compatibility (Configuration) testing.
This validates the optimal performance of your application on different devices based on their size, screen resolution, version, hardware, etc. Compatibility testing also takes care of
- OS Configuration
- Browser Configuration
- Database Configuration
- Device Configuration
- Network Configuration
6.Performance Testing:
Performance test helps you test your application reaction and constancy under the specific workload. The Test attributes would be,
- Load Testing
- Stress Testing
- Stability Testing
- Volume Testing
- Concurrency Testing
7.Security Testing:
The security testing validates the security features of your application. It also analyzes the risks of application hackers, protection, viruses, and unauthorized access to extremely sensitive data.
8. Recovery Testing:
Recovery test tests the ability of your application to withstand and successfully recover from possible and potential failures caused by software issues, hardware failures, or communication problems.
9.Localization testing
Localization testing tests the adaptability of your application for a specific target audience based on cultural specifics.
10.Change related testing
When complete testing is done, you might find some bugs, resulting in a certain piece of code to change to eliminate those bugs. After these code changes you again need to carry out a round of testing. This basically includes:
- Re-testing or Confirmation testing
- Regression testing
11.Beta testing
Beta Testing done by real users on real devices to validate usability, functionality, compatibility, and reliability testing.
The following factors can be considered while pushing app for Beta
- A number of testing participants
- Testing duration
- Shipping
- Demographic coverage
- Testing costs
12. Certification testing
Certification testing tests whether your application meets the standards, licensing agreements, terms of use and requirements of stores like the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Phone.
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