There are several important factors to consider while engaging in mobile app testing. There are no hard and fast rules about best practices for mobile app testing. Nevertheless, there are a few factors that are very important to consider. We have made a list of best practices that we think are absolutely necessary no matter who the developer is:
• Security
There is nothing more important than security these days. Apps usually require a lot of user information and most people do not like to share their private information anymore. Try to minimize the information that you ask from your users. Also ensure that you do not collect a lot of user behavior data with the help of cookies.
• Test efficiently
It is very important to test often and regularly maintain a database about how your app is functioning. In that effect, it is also important to test early in order to find out bugs before your consumers do. When you do find out the bugs, release updates as soon as possible so that your users are not affected in any manner.
• Use test automation
If you do not have access to a device lab or if you do not live close to an open device lab, ensure that you at least purchase a good test automation software. These software programs emulate most devices in the market and will help you to test your app, playback and even debug.
•Use manual testing
Automation can never replace manual testing. Manual testing allows you to see for real how it feels to use your application on a device. This drastically changes your perception about your won application. Be critical and try to find as many faults as you can with your application and do not leave room for others to find faults.
• Comparison testing
Try and make a list of all the applications that are similar to yours. Now, compare your application and the competitors’ applications by testing side by side. This allows you to list all the advantages and disadvantages that the competitor has. Finally, make changes so that your application looks and feels better than your competitors’.
• Test user experience flows
There is nothing more important than checking how it feels for end users to use your application. With that in mind, you must ensure that you know what it feels like for an end user to use your application. Chances are, there will be many things that you will not like.
• Ensure design is simple
When you test your application, you will realize that the design is almost always faulty and that there is room for improvement. Get your designers to work on the layout, font, logo, design and format before making the app go live. Test and re-test again so that the design does not look outdated. It must, in fact, look fresh and original even after a couple of years.
• Test speed
Make sure that your application is not slow and that it does not take a lot of time to load. Many well-designed applications take a lot of time to load and that stops people from using them.
•Ensure that apps do not crash
Apps that crash often are almost definitely deleted by users. This is the main reason why you must check your application several times before making them go live. Make sure that your applications do not crash often and that they use minimum resources.
• Battery consumption
Nothing is more important than how power-hungry your application is. If users notice that after installing your application the phone is running out of battery, they will promptly delete it. Thus, it is crucial to ensure that your well-designed application is not a power-consuming black hole.
While this list is not exhaustive, it is important to note that these simple and rather common errors in applications are the main reasons why people delete applications. People are extremely concerned about security, battery usage and how the app ‘behaves’. It is for this reason that you will need to test and retest your application time and again. Even when the application goes live, you will need to continue testing and restesting in order to maintain quality.
