Automating the testing of mobile applications significantly improves the speed and efficiency of the process, which is essential for ensuring high product quality in conditions of rapid market development and growing requirements. Executing the proper automation process and choosing the right tools is critical for smooth testing and problem detection. Let’s look at it in more detail.
What is Mobile App Automation Testing?
Mobile application testing automation involves using specialized tools to conduct tests on mobile devices. With these tools, teams of testers can automatically evaluate apps’ functionality, usability, and performance to ensure they work flawlessly before releasing them to app stores.
A 6-step approach to automating mobile testing
Ensuring a proper test automation process and choosing the right mobile app testing tools are critical to success. Only then will automated testing and the entire process become seamless, and coverage and efficiency will be at their highest. Now, let’s move on to a complete guide to developing a test strategy for mobile app automation.
1. Preparation of the test environment
Preparing a test environment for mobile test automation is important because a stable environment reduces the risk of false positives. Simulating actual conditions allows you to check the application’s functionality in real scenarios. In addition, a well-configured climate increases testing efficiency by reducing the time it takes to diagnose and resolve problems.
Preparing a test environment for mobile test automation typically includes the following steps:
- Select the device, operating system, and network configuration to test;
- Configure the test environment, considering the hardware and software requirements;
- Install applications and tools like test infrastructure, software files, and mobile device emulators.
2. Preparation of a test example
After creating a stable environment for automating mobile testing, prepare test cases. They serve as a roadmap for testing, helping to define scope and priorities. This allows critical issues to be addressed first and potential issues to be identified early, saving time and resources as developers can fix them before they become a problem.
Here’s how we prepare for testing:
- Define the critical functions and scenarios of using the program;
- Develop test cases for positive, negative, and extreme scenarios;
- Analyze the requirements for test data and prepare appropriate test data sets.
3. Development test scenario
The development of test scenarios is a critical stage in mobile testing automation. Therefore, you only need to work with professionals who have been involved in mobile testing for many years and have successful cases to prove it. It increases the testing process’s efficiency, reliability, and accuracy and ensures the mobile application meets the established quality standards before successful implementation.
The main stages of creating a test scenario:
- Develop tests using a scripting language that integrates with the test infrastructure;
- Ensure that the scenarios can be effectively used and maintained in repeated tests;
- Use reusable functions and modules to ensure test efficiency and ease of maintenance.
4. Execution of the test
During testing, we run tests and analyze the results to ensure that the mobile application meets the established requirements and quality standards. This stage is crucial in mobile testing, ensuring the application’s functionality and performance are verified.
Steps to follow when running tests:
- Test scenarios on the selected device for a specific operating system and the corresponding network configuration;
- Record test results and report all detected errors;
- Conduct performance testing to verify application performance and behavior on various devices and operating systems.
5. Analysis of test results
When analyzing mobile test automation, we set priorities, track problem resolution, and determine the need for additional testing to ensure the program meets the required quality standards.
Here are the steps to follow during the analysis phase of the test results:
- Carefully analyze the test results to identify the cause of any problems;
- Record and track defects and problems found during inspection;
- Evaluate the overall quality of the program and suggest possible improvements.
6. Test service
Test maintenance improves the test automation infrastructure’s stability and efficiency, providing essential feedback to the development team.
Steps to follow during the test service phase:
- Regularly review and update test cases, scenarios, and data;
- Keep the automated testing environment and tools up to date;
- Rerun the test suite after each release or change to ensure high software quality.
Conclusion
During the automated testing of mobile applications, it is essential to update test cases and scenarios systematically, keep the environment and tools up to date, and regularly restart the test suite after each release or change to ensure reliable product quality.