7 Testing Types and Methods for Mobile Devices

Thanks to the plethora of applications available on the market, mobile phones have evolved far beyond their once solely utilitarian value. Customers have a bevy of options to choose from with almost 4 million mobile apps available for download. Your mobile app must meet or exceed customer expectations in terms of quality, usability, and security due to this highly competitive supply and demand. 

In order to iterate through the software development life cycle more quickly and – ultimately – to get to market sooner, you need organization and planning. Testing mobile apps and understanding their functions can be helpful. 

1. Functional Testing

In functional software testing, the application is ensured to be working correctly. Testing this type of app ensures that all its features are responsive and meet specifications, ensuring its main purpose and flow.

Aside from testing the mobile app’s specific functionality, one should also check for other scenarios to limit errors, including but not limited to:

• The application installs and launches correctly
• The users can sign-up and login
• Text boxes and buttons function properly
• Push notifications to render correctly

2. Usability Testing

Known as user experience testing, usability testing reviews how user-friendly the app is in terms of ease of use and intuitiveness. Ideally, usability testing revolves around the whole app-driven customer experience with insights that contain the identification of bugs and recommendations for ways to enhance the customer experience, both in and out of the app. 

Engineers and product people all want to test whether or not the end-to-end “app-driven” experience is world-class. To that end, it’s essential for app usability testing to be done with real people, on real devices to quickly recognize and fix usability issues earlier to app release.

This kind of testing is more art than science and needs skilled usability QA testers to facilitate tests and capture insights that reflect actual users or customers of the app.

Keep in mind the following: 

• Good layout and design
• Intuitive
• Response time

Did you know most users prefer applications that launch within two to three seconds after they’ve unlocked the app? Because usability testing is subjective, you should comprehend your target end-users and their choices. Consider asking them to test the product themselves. 

Other best practices for usability testing contain: 

• Thoughtful layout of usability test scripts and feedback questionnaires.
• Integration of usability questionnaires within test cycles so testers comprehend the usability testing instructions, can access the online questionnaires, and deliver feedback as part of their testing jobs.
• Results analysis and feedback summary with actionable insights and suggestions for enhancing the overall customer experience.

3. Compatibility Testing

Compatibility testing is a type of non-functional testing that is necessary to assure your mobile app works on various operating systems, network environments, and with particular internal hardware specifications. 

Specifically, you should know if: 

• The app is compatible with various operating systems and their various versions (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.)
• The app functions well with different networks and their parameters (bandwidth, operating speed, etc.)
• The app is compatible with various browsers (Google, Firefox, Safari, etc.)
• The app is compatible with various devices (screen size, data storage, etc.)

There are also two kinds of compatibility testing to consider: 

• Backwards: testing the mobile app behavior with older software versions
• Forwards: testing the mobile app behavior with new — including beta software versions

4. Performance and Load testing

Performance testing reviews how well the mobile application functions under a certain workload. These tests are important to assure your app isn’t malfunctioning. 

Performance and load tests check for the following: 

• Device performance: Start-up time, battery, and memory consumption
• Network performance: Delays or errors in obtaining information
• API / Server performance: How quickly and in what format data is transferred
• Additionally, your app should have built-in backup and recovery functions that protect or recover user data that could be lost for any cause. This is where you would test that ability.

5. Security Testing

80 percent of users would “uninstall an app because of security”. As such, it’s crucial you understand and respects security testing. 

From Tinder to travel apps, some applications request users’ personal information. If yours does, too, you absolutely must ensure the confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity of the app. That’s why your QA testing must prioritize data security and test app behavior beneath different device permission schemes.

6. Installation Testing

Also known as implementation testing, installation testing is conducted to review if the software is installed and uninstalled properly. 

Additionally, installation testing assures updates are also uninterrupted and error-free. This contains an understanding of what happens if a user doesn’t update an app.

7. Localization Testing

From translating in multiple languages to transforming to local currencies and sticking to local regulations and legal essentials, it’s important to assure the app is available and usable in a broad variety of markets. That’s where localization testing comes in. 

Consumers routinely miss past apps whose graphical or UI elements are misaligned with their culture, language, or device accessibility – they wish for flawless experiences that are localized to their requirements and preferences. Want to beat your competitors on the global market? According to research performed by AppAnnie, completely localizing apps is how you do that. 

At the same time, localization testing continues to be a challenge as half of all QA teams lack the required test coverage and access to the resources needed to test localization.

Also Read: Mobile App Testing Trends To Keep An Eye For In 2023

Conclusion

Mobile testing is a crucial aspect of mobile application development, and there are several kinds and approaches to consider. Each testing type has a specific purpose and is developed to assure that the app functions as intended on all target devices, operating systems, and network conditions. By conducting a comprehensive mobile testing strategy, developers can assure that their app delivers a seamless user experience and satisfies the end user’s needs.

When it comes to QA, nothing is better than having the correct people in charge. That’s why we make sure that everyone on our team is qualified and accredited on some of the industry’s best practices. 

At TestUnity we have an expert team of QA Engineers. This enables us to give our clients the support they require to make sure that their software hits the market in the right circumstances. Contact us for a free consultation and see why TestUnity’s QA approach is the best choice for your software.

TestUnity

Testunity is a SaaS-based technology platform driven by a vast community of testers & QAs spread around the world, powered by technology & testing experts to create the dedicated testing hub. Which is capable of providing almost all kind of testing services for almost all the platforms exists in software word.