Introduction
The growth of the Android market has increased the demand for testing applications on this platform. Android App Testing is a type of manual testing done by testers and quality analysts to test the application on real smartphones and tablets. Some general tests like usability and compatibility with different screen sizes, screen resolutions, and browsers are executed during this testing.
It is challenging for testers with no experience in mobile devices to perform these tests effectively. You’ll need to test your app on as many devices as possible because every device is different and can present different challenges. For Android App Developers who don’t have much knowledge about Android App Testing, this article will prove to be helpful as it covers all the topics discussed above in a simplistic way.
What is Android app testing?
Android app testing is testing an Android application before it is released to the public. Android app testing is different from traditional web application testing because of the following reasons:
- Android applications are dynamic, which means they behave differently on different devices with different versions of Android OS.
- They also have access to different sensors like GPS, camera, etc.
- Android apps are more complex than web applications as they can use various services running in the background.
- They also connect to various external sources like databases and APIs.
- Android apps have user interfaces that must be tested for usability and functionality.
It is a vital step in the development cycle and helps ensure that an app is ready for release.
Benefits of Android app testing
There are many benefits of Android app testing, but here are just a few:
- Android apps are complex programs with many features and functionalities. As a result, there are bound to be some bugs in them. These bugs can make an app crash or malfunction. It’s essential to identify these bugs so that they can be fixed before releasing the app to the public.
- Android app testing helps in ensuring the quality of an application by checking for bugs, errors, usability issues, and other problems. This can be done by testing the application from different perspectives like functionality, performance, security, etc.
- Android provides a secure environment for its users by providing several layers of security such as encryption, authentication, etc. However, these features need to be tested to ensure they work properly.
- Automated Android App Testing also helps improve user experience by identifying the defects in the application, which may cause problems during execution or after release. This helps to eliminate any bugs and errors from your application so that it can provide a smooth user experience to its users.
- Performance optimization is another critical benefit of Android app testing because if there are any performance issues, then they can be identified in advance through this process to avoid any negative impact on users’ experience with your app.
Levels of Android app testing
Mobile app testing can be performed at different levels:
Functional Testing
Various types of testing are performed on a mobile app before it’s released for public use. However, functional testing is one of the most important types of testing that should be performed on an Android app.
It helps you to ensure that your application works as expected. With functional testing, you can check if your application is performing as planned and that it meets the requirements of the users. Functional testing should be performed on both the new and existing features in your app.
Some of the things that you need to test during functional testing include:
- Working on each feature (e.g., login, sign up)
- Working on all buttons and menus
- The responsiveness of different pages or screens of your application
Compatibility Testing
Compatibility testing is the process of testing an application across all the devices, operating systems, and platforms that it supports. A mobile app needs to be compatible with all the devices that run on different operating systems. This can only be achieved by compatibility testing.
This is especially important when launching an app in multiple countries or regions because there are often differences in device capabilities and operating systems.
We need to test our mobile app on different devices because each device has its specifications and screen size, which might not be suitable for our application. Some features might work adequately on one device while they may not work on another device or operating system.
To ensure that your app is compatible with different devices, you should test it on as many devices as possible before releasing it.
Integration Testing
Integration testing is a type of software testing which ensures that all the components of an application work together and integrate well. It is done in the later stages of Android App Automation Testing.
Integration Testing helps in ensuring that:
- All modules are working as expected
- Components are integrated correctly, and their interfaces are compatible with each other
- There are no conflicts between different modules or components
Performance Testing
Performance testing is a process of checking the performance of your product or application. It can be done manually or automated. Performance testing ensures that your product performs well under different conditions and stress tests. Performance testing involves checking the behavior of applications under different levels of load, stress, and resource usage. This helps you to determine what happens when multiple users access the application at the same time. Performance Testing also includes load testing, which is used to determine the maximum number of users that an application can handle without any degradation in its performance.
Network Testing
Network testing is the process of testing your app against the real-world internet. This includes ensuring that your app loads quickly, works offline, and can handle errors.
Network testing is crucial because it helps you catch issues that would otherwise appear in production after release. Network testing is essential when testing email clients, online games, and other apps that require fast connections. Without network testing, there’s no way of knowing whether your app will work on slow networks or even if it’ll be able to connect at all!
- It helps them find out if their app is working correctly or not.
- It lets them know if their app is performing well or not in different types of networks.
- It tests the performance of an application by simulating real-life scenarios like browsing websites, sending emails, etc.
Here are some of the most common issues you need to be aware of:
- Slow load times: If your app takes more than 5 seconds to load, users will abandon it. Check to see if your app launches quickly.
- Error handling: Make sure that errors are handled and don’t prevent users from using the app. If a user tries to sign in to your app and an error occurs, they will often close their browser or phone and not try again later when they have time.
- Offline functionality: Make sure your app works offline and online so users can use it even when there’s no internet connection available (e.g., on a plane).
Security Testing
Security testing is a process of identifying vulnerabilities in the application. It is also known as penetration testing, conducted to identify security threats, design flaws, and loopholes that hackers can exploit. Security testing is necessary for all organizations, primarily financial, healthcare, government, and defense industries.
The importance of security testing is that it helps detect and prevent any security flaws such as SQL injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), etc., which can lead to data theft or loss of sensitive information.
Hackers can exploit vulnerable code to gain unauthorized access to the application, steal confidential data and manipulate system functionalities.
Security testing ensures that an application:
- It is developed according to security standards and guidelines;
- It does not have any loopholes that attackers can use; and
- Has the necessary mechanisms for detecting and preventing attacks on the application’s resources
Interrupt Testing
Interrupt testing is the process of identifying and fixing bugs that occur when a user is interacting with your app. An interruption may be caused by a call coming through during a game or while you are writing an email, or any other time when the user is performing a task on their phone. How your app responds to these interruptions can be crucial for its success or failure.
The primary purpose of interrupt testing is to check the responsiveness of your app. If a user is tapping on a button or link, the app should respond to that action as soon as possible. Interrupt testing also ensures that there are no crashes or bugs that impede the responsiveness of your app.
The ideal time for interrupt testing is when users use your app in a real-world setting. For example, if you have an eCommerce app, then it is essential to perform interrupt testing when users are browsing through items on the website or adding them to their carts.
Android Testing Framework
An Android testing framework is a tool that can be used to test Android apps. Automated Android App Testing is a set of classes that helps automate the testing of Android applications.
The Android testing framework provides an API for performing functional, system, and acceptance testing.
1. Appium Test Framework
Appium is a prevalent open-source test framework for Android apps. The Appium testing framework can be used to automate any mobile app on any device or emulator. It’s completely free, trustworthy, and simple to use.
The most significant advantage of using Appium is that it supports all the programming languages supported by Android devices. This includes Java, Objective-C, C#, and JavaScript, among others. In addition to this, Appium also works well with tools like Selenium WebDriver and Calabash.
2. Robotium Test Framework
Robotium is a testing framework for Android applications. Robotium has become one of the most popular Android testing frameworks, used by many developers to perform automated functional and regression tests on their applications.
Robotium allows you to write automated UI tests for Android applications in Java through a simple yet powerful API that can test native (C++) and hybrid (Java) apps on real devices or emulators. Key features of the Robotium framework include:
- Native, hybrid, and mobile web apps are all supported;
- Simple API based on annotations;
- This framework can be used to create functions, system test cases, and user acceptance test cases.
- Robotium supports all major versions of Android, as well as Dialogs, Menus, and Activities.
- This framework automatically manages several Android activities.
Best Practices in Android App Testing
The following are some basic best practices for Android App Testing are :
- Test on multiple devices
- Test on multiple OS versions
- Test with an actual device, not an emulator
- Use different screen sizes, densities, and configurations
- Test across different network connections and locations
- Test in low-bandwidth conditions (WiFi and mobile)
- Test for memory leaks and battery drain
Conclusion
Android App Testing is an essential phase of any application development. It should be carried out efficiently and diligently to ensure that the software has no flaws, loopholes, or defects. To complete a testing project, the testers must be skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable in this field.
It is a beneficial process that can enhance the development process, increase customer loyalty, and improve your app’s overall user experience. In conclusion, apps are getting more and more complicated these days. Therefore it’s a must to be able to test them efficiently.