Choosing The Right Tools for Automated Mobile App Testing.pdf

Automating mobile app testing has empowered developers and testers to make testing faster and efficient. Automation helps extend test coverage both on platforms and test scenarios.

1. Choosing The Right Tools for Automated
Mobile App Testing

Today, mobile applications have become one of the essential business enablers and revenue
drivers. In the first quarter of 2022, 3.3 million apps were available in the Google Play Store for
the Android users while Apple App Store offered 2.11 million apps for the iOS, generating
billions of revenue for the businesses.
The widespread use of connected smart devices has led
to heavy usage of mobile apps in almost every industrial sector. This has elevated the focus on
effective mobile device testing and app testing to ensure superior performance and user
experience. However, the fuelled number of devices and apps has driven the deployment of
automation in the testing processes to reduce the complexities. Automated mobile device
testing and application testing have thus become an integral part of today's business workflows.
Why is mobile app automation testing mandatory for your
business?
Automating mobile app testing has empowered developers and testers to make testing faster
and efficient. Automation helps extend test coverage both on platforms and test scenarios. The
key factors that mobile testing automation today allows businesses to ensure are:
●​Proper app functionality as specified in design documents for different specifications

2. ●​App responsiveness, scalability, operating capacity, performance under varying loads
●​Overall app security by verifying data integrity, storage security issues, security of activity
logs
●​Satisfactory app usability
●​Standardized app accessibility to users
Factors to keep in mind for selecting the mobile app
testing tools
There are a number of decisions that the testing and developing team needs to consider while
choosing the tool for automating their app testing process. Following are some of the key
considerations:
Device fragmentation and platform support
After the app is launched in the market, it is expected to run on different devices with varied
screen sizes and resolutions, operating system versions, and carrier settings. Therefore, testers
and developers need to ensure that the tools can function on several platforms and help check
these variables efficiently during the app testing process. The more compatible the tool is across
a range of platforms, the better it is for cost optimization and convenience. Hence, it is crucial to
identify the available platforms on which the tool can run and also check if the mobile app
automation testing tool provides cross browser testing. Testing different network settings
With a wide array of devices in the market, each device stays connected to the internet at varied
frequencies, bandwidths, and different mediums. For example, phones and tablets leverage a
different wireless network, while desktops and laptops often use a wired network for a stable
internet connection. Wireless networks are generally slower and less reliable than wired
networks. So, it is essential to execute IoT tests to determine the app performance at constant
and stable connectivity. The usual processes of IoT testing assist in checking security, analytics,
device, processors, networks, OS, platforms, and standards. Scriptless options for test creation
Scripting automated tests reduces the human effort in creating tests, simplifying generating test
steps in a test case, storing reusable elements or objects, recording test cases, and executing
them on multiple browsers or versions. Therefore, opting for scriptless tools is a viable choice
that can seamlessly integrate with the existing test workflows and reduce the need for scripting
to execute the tests. Moreover, scriptless testing tools are of immense assistance in case of a
lack of programming skills of the professionals.
Ease of usage

3. Software testing tools are often difficult to work with as we move towards the advanced stages
of testing. Programming and maintaining the test scripts might be tedious and time-consuming,
making the entire workflow complex. To eliminate such a challenge, it is advisable to choose a
tool that is easy to handle and maintain by developers, test automation engineers, and
non-programmers.
The project team
While choosing the testing tools, it is also essential to consider the people involved in the
development and testing, the processes used for developing the app, and the technologies
leveraged. The capabilities and skill sets of the developers and testers to efficiently execute a
process or a set of technologies also affect the tools selected for testing. Is the mobile tester
familiar with the common testing and communication tools and their usage? Do the testers have
the right skillset to follow a particular process for identifying and resolving issues? Or if the tester
can effectively share and collaborate with your internal QA team as well as the development
team. These are critical questions to be evaluated before choosing the right testing tools.
Cost
Choosing the right automation tool for testing your mobile application should significantly
depend on the pricing and budget factors. It is essential to devise a complete budget for the
testing operation, research the different prices of the tools in the marketplace, and pick the
testing tool accordingly. The cost of the tools assists in justifying the investment and ROI
calculation, as a result of which businesses must identify tools that can help generate a higher
ROI. In addition to this, one can evaluate the extra add-ons, support, and updates to determine
how much these can cost. Proof of Concept (PoC)
Prior to finalizing the tool for mobile app test automation, it is a mandate to test the tool over
multiple scenarios. Several tools are launched with a demo version of those that can be utilized
for a limited period. Following are some of the steps to execute this:
●​Creating different scenarios while considering different objects and controls in the
application under validation
●​Choosing the tools as per the comparative study
●​Automating the scenarios with the tools
●​Creating and studying the results
●​Comparing the compatibility of the tool with other continuous integration tools
A broad classification of mobile test automation tool
While the market has in store an extensive number of tools for test automation, they can be
categorized into the following types:

4. ●​Open source tools: These refer to the free platforms that allow the teams to access or
utilize source codes and leverage these tools at any phase of the testing process like
bug tracking, test case management, debugging, and many more. Further, the testers
can modify the source codes without extra costs. For example, Appium. ●​Commercial tools: As the name suggests, such tools are exclusively designed for
commercial purposes and primarily utilized by large enterprises and organizations that
offer extended features, functionalities, and support. For instance, Tricentis Tosca.
●​Custom tools: Several scenarios demand custom-tailored automation solutions where
the open source or commercial tools fall short. This is where customized tools are
developed to fit the requirements of the project precisely. Such tools are usually of rarest
usage and most expensive.
The best mobile app testing tools
The marketplace offers a wide array of mobile QA tools for iOS and Android mobile apps to
streamline the management and implementation of the app testing strategies and the overall
process of mobile app automated testing. Following are some of the best-in-class tools:
HeadSpin
HeadSpin is one of the most efficient testing automation platforms that helps to remotely test
and debug mobile, web, video, and audio apps on thousands of real devices across the world.
The platform allows seamless integration with automated testing frameworks like Appium,
Selenium, and Appium Inspector and is compatible with a wide array of technologies like
Charles proxy, Xcode, Cucumber, Espresso, and many more.
Following are some of the critical features of HeadSpin's testing solution:
- End-to-end testing
●​Supports 30+ automation frameworks
●​Performs multiple tests in parallel in real user conditions
●​Real SIM-enabled devices
●​Cross-browsers and cross-device support including phones, OTT media devices, and
many more
- Performance optimization
●​360 degree performance visibility in connected user experiences
●​Proactive root cause analysis
●​AI-enabled actionable insights
- Experience monitoring
●​Thousands of customized metrics

5. ●​Computer vision based KPIs for measuring digital experience and audio video QoE
●​Insightful visualizations
Appium
An open-source automation testing framework, Appium can be utilized for both Android and iOS
apps. This tool is effective for web, mobile, and hybrid application testing.
Benefits:
●​Supports multiple languages by enabling end-to-end testing in programming languages
like Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Node, and C#.
●​Provides recording and playback features to enable testers to accelerate the testing
process and produce test scripts in multiple programming languages.
●​Integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools
●​Allows programmers to reuse the source code amongst Android and iOS through its
cross-platform capabilities
Tosca
Tosca is a software testing tool developed and supported by Tricentis leveraged to automate
end-to-end testing for software apps. This tool is used extensively in large-scale applications for
achieving effective results.
Benefits:
●​Supports manual and automated testing
●​No scripting required
●​Supports multiple platforms
●​User-friendly and easy-to-use interface
●​Supports multiple technologies like ORACLE, SAP, JAVA, HTML, and many more.
TestComplete
TestComplete allows professionals to run several repeated UI tests over the application
platform. It is a compatible tool assisting in testing hybrid apps, supporting both Android and iOS
app testing. Besides, this automated testing tool can be implemented seamlessly on real mobile
devices or emulators. The automated test scripts are available over the tools or can be chosen
from VBScript, Python, and other programming languages.
Benefits:
●​Supports multiple mobile platforms
●​Helps create and run GUI tests on real iOS and Android devices

6. ●​Integrates easily with trending CI/CD tools like Git and project management tools like
JIRA
Apptim
This QA tool enables mobile developers and testers to simplify app testing and analyze the
performance in every build to forecast and prevent the critical issues from going live. They can
further measure app render times, power consumption, capture crashes, resource usage,
errors, and other factors on Android and iOS devices.
Benefits:
●​Compatibility with Android and iOS devices
●​Assists in identifying mobile app performance of two different build sessions and
comparing those to identify the changes and new performance issues
●​Helps generate reports and publish reports to any JIRA project
●​Offers capabilities for recording, sharing, and testing bugs
Robotium
Robotium is an automated and open-source Android app testing tool that assists in using
easy-to-code automation test scripts. This tool is popularly known for its capability to write
automated test cases. Robotium helps developers define the function, system, and acceptance
test scenarios across multiple Android activities.
Benefits:
●​Allows testing apps that include source code as well as apps that merely possess an
APK file
●​Provides simple and robust test scripts
●​Helps create automatic GUI test cases for Android apps
●​Allows leveraging automated test cases for hybrid and native app testing
Selendroid
Selendroid is popularly known as the Selenium for Android-based mobile applications that can
execute parallel test cases on multiple devices simultaneously. This tool also supports test
automation for hybrid and native applications.
Benefits:
●​Supports all android versions
●​Supports programming languages like Java and C# that are compatible with web drivers
●​Can be deployed both on real devices as well as emulators
●​Provides the feature of object recognition

7. Workflow for deploying effective test automation of
mobile application
The success of any mobile app is heavily reliant on an effective mobile test automation
procedure. The following steps can help deploy effective test automation.
#Step1: Proper planning and identification of testing types
It is critical to identify the type of the mobile app, whether it is a native, hybrid, or mobile web,
and accordingly, choose the target devices to test those apps. Besides, checking if the app
requires front-end testing along with back-end testing is a quintessence, followed by classifying
the testing types and identifying the functional requirements to be tested.
#Step 2: Ensuring effective test case and test script development
Test cases must be developed for every function of the application, along with a special focus
on battery usage, memory, app space, and related elements. The team must develop
automated test scripts, and the reusable automation test scripts should be modified as per the
project requirements.
#Step 3: Planning for the Test Environment Setup
This stage requires downloading, installing, and configuring the application on the testing device
to set up the test environment while establishing the test version of the app prior to the actual
testing process.
#Step 4: Execute automated testing
Carefully choose the automation tools like Appium, Robotium, or any other as per the
requirement of the app under test.
#Step 5: Performing different tests, including usability, performance,
security, and compliance testing
The mentioned tests are critical to ensure a good user experience, flawless performance
despite multiple user logins and heavy loads, adequate security by authenticating SQL injection,
session hijacking, and overall prevention of data leaks.
Conclusion: Which mobile testing tool is the best match
for your app?

8. Identifying the right solution for automated mobile app testing is crucial and complex, as it
requires several key factors to be considered. The right tool can help the developing team
automate tests efficiently and thereby deliver the expected goals. In a nutshell, the team needs
to observe the features that the testing solution has in store that can support various
programming languages, cross-platform integration, and mobile platforms. Open-source tools
can be a good fit when the team has experienced developers who have programmed the
application and framework from scratch. On the other hand, a team with a significant gap in skill
sets can utilize easy-to-go tools that can assist with pre-made project templates, easy demos
and trials, and much more. If you are looking out for mobile app test automation solutions,
HeadSpin can offer just what you need.
Article Source:

This article was originally published on:
https://www.headspin.io/blog/choosing-the-right-tools-for-automated-mobile-app-testing