An organization’s mobile strategy often includes mobile app testing before and also after the launch. However, the degree to which mobile testing is carried out often reflects whether the app is successful or not in the apps market. Take it for sure that those organizations which do not go in for mobile app testing will court disaster sooner or later. A major mantra that is oft repeated in the world of mobile app testing is test, test, and test, and sooner or later you will find out where the defect in your app lies.
Hence, the questions that every app tester faces are the same:-
- Which devices should the app be tested on?
- Which is the right set of devices that I should be using for my testing strategy,
- And which devices need to be actually used for mobile app testing?
With the increase in cloud-based mobile testing projects, it has become essential for these mobile app testing tips, so that customers can follow the right advice and test their apps to success.
Thus it comes as no surprise, that very few developers test their mobile app before release. In fact, popular research states that only 8% of the developers employ the crucial QA process. There are many reasons why this happens. Perhaps it could be due to the mindset of the testers or the developers. It could also be due to resource issues that each organization faces in the marketplace. An additional factor could be that it could be a lack of experience with mobile, or the mobile developers are slowly waking up to the fact that mobile is making a hammerhead of a difference across the world.
Previously, the developers would develop the app and fix it later. This approach, however, does not sync with mobile platforms. No wonder a buggy app will cost your company its credibility as well as hard earned reputation. Remember, mobile users won’t forgive a buggy app – they will straight away hit uninstall and your app will be gone forever from their mobile phone.
#1. The Device Matters
The device, which your target audience uses, matters a lot. Hence, it’s best to survey your target audience and establish which device is more preferable. For instance, though Android leads with more than 80% market share on a global scale as well as 60% in the USA, many enterprises in the USA as well as Europe spend nearly 50% of their time testing actually on an iOS device.
#2. How Fragmented your Audience Is?
Consider how fragmented your target audience is. Conduct a survey on which mobile OS they mostly use. Also, check the various features that will be necessary to sync with your audience. For instance:-
- Does the app require GPS?
- If yes, does the GPS work as required?
- What if the signal was lost?
- What are the alternatives?
#3. Does your app consume too much data?
Check if your mobile app consumes too much data. Some mobile apps actually do this. So, as a pragmatic developer, you will not let your app go beyond their data limits. It is actually practical and realistic to check how much data is being used by the app in question.
#4. What does your customer want the app for?
Your app should in fact reflect what your customers want to do with your app. In case your app is designed for sports enthusiasts who want to calculate how many calories they have been burning, the right alternative is to build one that reflects this purpose. Hence, various elements such as GUI, accelerometer, U/I dock and other Smartphone features necessary for this arrangement should be effectively utilized. Hence, you need to check if you can switch between horizontal and vertical formats with ease, or if the app uses the accelerometer effectively, and other related factors.
#5. How much processing power does your app need?
You will also need to check how much processing power your app needs. This also applies for the graphics requirements of your app. This is essential in case what you are developing is a games app. In case you don’t check how much processing power your apps needs, it could demand too much juice from the user’s mobile and crash it. Therefore, your app will be speedily uninstalled from your system and deleted in no time.
#6. Disk Space
Does your app require too much disc space? Beware! This could lead to your app being uninstalled without a thought! Today, most devices have limited disc space because of portability issues; hence, you need to keep your app size in check. Typically, most apps today are between 1 MB and 10 MB, although games apps could be larger, depending upon their complexity.
#7. Battery
This is a very crucial and sensitive issue amongst most users. The fact is plain and clear – the more resources your app utilizes on a device – the more battery power will be drained. This is no wonder why battery power is so crucial especially while designing games apps. Apps can turn out to be resource hogs if they perform poorly, so you should ensure that the performance tests are run to ensure that this does not happen.
#8. Device and Screen Fragmentation
Today, more than 230 screen resolutions are available and the number is constantly growing. The market has to face device fragmentation like never before. Along with the fragmentation of devices, manufacturers and developers now have to face fragmentation in screen devices. The fact is that you cannot possibly test your mobile apps on every screen and every device. However, you will need to plan on which devices you will make all the difference.
#9. Cross Platform Testing
Finally, when you get down to that testing bench, you will realize that cross platform app development tools do not produce consistent code across a range of mobile OS systems. Hence, if you have covered one platform, then it does not mean that you have covered another platform using the existing cross-platform tools.
#10. Too much strain
While performing app testing, keep a look out for apps that cause strain due to small screens, or that cause repetitive stress on your fingers due to inputs into the device, or cause strain on your arms from holding the device, or cause soreness in your back and neck caused due to bending over the device.
Images: “Health app mobile phone concept of a cell phone man with a stethoscope/Shutterstock.com“
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