Checklist For Testing Of Mobile Apps

Despite the prevalence of mobile apps, users continue to report frustration with sub-standard app performance. That is rather unfortunate, especially considering the strategic advantage they lend to businesses across all industries. Well, thankfully this can be effectively addressed via mobile app testing.

Based on my experience, mobile app testing is notoriously complex. And, with so many devices and OS variations, there exist different functionalities across them all. For development teams, they have a lot to cover while testing mobile applications.

That being said; usually, with a limited amount of time at hand, the mobile application testing companies ensure that the functioning of the application is perfect. And, in such a scenario, a mobile application testing checklist is essential and can indeed be of great help for the testers. Before developing the deep analysis strategy about mobile application testing let’s look at some top areas on which every mobile testing company must focus;

Let us begin with the different types of apps that exist in the market.

1. Native apps: They are meant for a single OS
2. Web apps: These apps that run on a browser
3. Hybrid apps: They are a combination of native and web apps

Time to move on to the list of what one must test in a mobile app:

1. Device performance: This one may seem obvious, but it finds mention on this list because it can make or break an app. So, when you set out to test a mobile app in the context of device performance, focus on factors such as storage, consumption of memory, parallel use with other apps, variations in hardware and software, battery consumption, etc.
2. Network performance: Experts highly recommend operating the app on various networks to gauge its performance and the impact of data transition, weak signals, etc. on it. For network performance testing, your focus should be on at least the type and speed of the network, packet loss, and jitters.
3. Back-end related functionalities: As the name suggests, this type of testing involves the app’s server-end. This is vital because modern mobile apps are based on APIs, i.e. things like data population is executed via REST APIs, etc. which is then channeled to the UI. To test for this aspect, one must leverage a proxy to monitor the app’s requests and responses. Oh, and don’t forget to undertake security testing, etc. to avoid data loss, deadlocks and other such common issues.
4. Cross-platform compatibility: First things first, test the app to make sure it runs as intended on every single platform it has been designed for. But even if you are working with a single platform, i.e. a native app, it is very important to test the app’s functioning on different iterations of the platform for not all users have devices running the same version of the OS. So, test for different screen sizes, resolutions, OS combinations, etc.

Now, here are some other checklists to keep in mind:

1. Functional testing: Since mobile apps come packing a whole lot of features, this type of testing seeks to ensure the app can function as required on intended devices.
2. Interface testing: To make sure the app can be practically used by the intended audience, interface testing allows companies to carefully evaluate factors such as navigation, menus, settings, etc. and see they work as planned.
3. Performance testing: This is central to the entire process and involves testing the app’s performance for switching from 3G, 4G to Wi-Fi, document sharing, etc.

It is no secret that mobile apps, in fact, all types of apps, play a vital role in running a successful modern business. Hence, be it an app for the enterprise or a customer-facing app, for companies to ensure the apps they build can successfully serve their purposes, testing of mobile application is rendered critical. Now, all you need is a reputed vendor who provides robust testing services and you will be quickly on your way to implementing proper testing plans.