Testing Automation for Mobile Apps

With the mobile app industry growing at an ever increasing rate, the testing process for mobile apps has also had to evolve. And over the last couple of years, we’ve seen at Galil Software that the testing for mobile apps really has to be comprehensive AND automated, so as to ensure the quality of the app – as well as reduce testing time.

Do I really need automated tests for mobile apps?

If you want your QA team running efficiently, then yes.

Let’s face it, with all those devices and platforms that mobile apps need to be tested on, manual testing just won’t cut it. And typically, mobile apps are released to market at breakneck speed these days, meaning manual regression testing is even more limited. By automating those regression tests, new features and additions shouldn’t impact the existing functionality, and your dev team can concentrate on polishing off sprints on schedule.

Another factor to consider is that automated testing for mobile apps reduces the risk of human error. No more worrying about testers forgetting manual steps or cutting corners due to time constraints. Automated testing means exactly that: automated. The tests performed during automated testing can also help pinpoint potential problems, because the tests can be recorded into a test database, providing testers with a repository of important detailed data which can, in turn, enhance testing proficiency still further.

What tests can I automate?

From past experience with our clients here at Galil Software, you really need to ask yourself a number of questions to determine if a manual test can be automated; answer YES to any of the below and you have yourself a good candidate for automation:

Are the actions in the test sequence well-defined?
Do you need this test sequence to be repeated any number of times?
Can you automate the sequence of actions?
Is there any impact on how the mobile app performs during manual OR automated testing?
Is the same testing sequence required across multiple systems or phone configurations?

Some automated testing steps to get you started

Switching over from a manual testing system to automatic testing will undoubtedly enhance your whole testing process.

We can gladly point you in the right direction when setting up your automatic testing system, but in the meantime here are some basic steps you can take to start automating your mobile app testing:

To reduce initial overheads and potentially steep learning curves, choose a mobile app testing tool that leverages your existing test automation solution. Your testers will need less time to get familiar with a completely new system, while they’ll also be able to apply their existing test skills and knowledge to mobile systems and apps – with minimal additional training.
Concentrate mostly on those tests that you have to run a number of times. Wasting time on one-off tests really isn’t worth your tester’s valuable time and effort.
The test cases that are chosen as candidates for automation really should be up-to-date and support the latest mobile operating systems.
Ensure that your testers can reuse data so that they can test multiple scenarios. This can be done by implementing a data-driven automation testing framework, perfect for systems that need large amounts of repetitive testing.