10 Best Practices for Mobile App Testing

According to recent research, the mobile app market size was estimated at 170.5 billion USD in 2020 and is predicted to increase to 366.3 billion USD by 2027. So the market is booming, and the demand for mobile app testing keeps growing. To stay competitive, overcome technical challenges, and increase potential ROI, we should follow the best industry practices. 

Mobile App Testing: Top 10 Practices to Apply

#1. Strategy & planning. Never underestimate a step-by-step strategy with clear guidelines: teams, coverage, schedules, responsibilities, deadlines. Always set the priorities regarding target devices, OS, browsers, etc.

#2. Early findings & frequency. Test as early and as much as it is possible (and reasonable). Such an approach allows fixing defects at early stages, not at the last minute before the release (or even later and with greater losses).

#3. Real devices & settings. Emulators and simulators are worth using during the early testing stages, but further testing should involve real devices. Only real devices help to mimic end-users’ behavior closely. 

#4. Top-priority testing types. Performance, load, and security testing are the core of the satisfying functioning of a mobile app. They help identify highlights and vulnerabilities, opportunities, and third-party threats.

#5. Test automation. Automation testing services are a perfect decision for large-scale projects with stable functionality. Besides providing highly accurate results, automation allows running tests 24/7 and unintended, significantly reducing a product’s time to market.

#6. Interaction with hardware. High battery consumption is one of the things that makes a user delete even a good app. Therefore, battery performance requires close inspection during testing. The same goes for other hardware resources. 

#7. Network. A software testing company should test app operability under varying network conditions, including low signal and switching between wi-fi and mobile data. Different network statuses shouldn’t cause glitches or data loss.

#8. Restrictions and permissions. An application should require access only to strictly necessary user data. People are careful about their sensitive data. They don’t want to share personal info or grant access to the camera and audio when it seems suspicious. 

#9.  Updates. Ongoing mobile app updates should be always tested before you launch a new version on production. It helps prevent negative ratings or even revenue loss, depending on how critical the detected bugs would be. 

#10. Localization. If a target audience of an application is located in more than one country, it should support different languages, currencies, and other local details. 

Trials in Groups: Alpha & Beta Testing

After mobile application testing is over, it may be useful to test a product in groups of real users. If the project budget allows it, businesses should gather groups for alpha and/or beta testing.

There is no fixed time duration for alpha and beta testing cycles. The timeframes depend specifically on the mobile app’s purpose. On average, it takes from 1 to 3 weeks for alpha testing and from 2 to 6 weeks for beta testing. 

Alpha testing

This type of testing indicates trials within a small group (usually from 2 to 10 persons) of trusted potential consumers. The participants use a mobile app like any other common app on their smartphones. The aim is to confirm the uninterrupted app functionality and good performance. 

Beta testing

If the Alpha testing phase is successful, it is reasonable to present your product to a wider audience. Now we need a group of 10 to 100 trusted consumers to test the app once again. The aim is the same – to check general performance and usability and receive constructive feedback. Also, you can consider several tools to provide constant user feedback, such as Jira Service Desk and Surveys by SurveyMonkey.

In Conclusion

Only the best industry practices and tips for mobile app testing provide a successful delivery to the market. Sometimes you do not need to reinvent the wheel. As users do not forget and forgive slow downloading, crashes, and errors, you should trust your mobile product to highly-specialized QA teams.