Achieve Bug-Free Mobile Applications with Efficient Manual Testing Strategies
Tags: testing, devops
Published: 2023-04-12 20:39:46

Mobile app testing is becoming a vital part of all [software testing](https://www.headspin.io/) life cycles due to this need for excellence. Mobile app QA testing guarantees that each software performs as intended and without interruption, regardless of the device used to access it. When smartphones began to usher in the mobile revolution, applications were designed to accomplish a particular function or serve a specific goal. The user experience was not emphasized. But now testers must guarantee that the app fits all of the requirements of the intended user population. 

**What is Manual App Testing?**

A manual test is when a QA does the software application’s manual testing to find and correct any flaws. The QA must examine the performance of the online or mobile application from the end user’s standpoint. Testers follow a documented test plan that specifies a collection of unique test cases.

Test cases run only once or twice, such as exploratory or regression tests, benefit significantly from manual testing. During the initial phases of the development cycle, QAs may use this to find defects before they become a problem.

**Why do manual testing?**

As with any other human task, manual mobile app testing is time-consuming and prone to error for test automation specialists. That is accurate.

However, it is a misconception that all test cases/scenarios can be completely automated or that constructing the automation mobile app framework would be worthwhile. For example, automating mobile usability and interface testing is challenging.

In an era when mobile test automation yields a more significant ROI, manual mobile testing is still advantageous in several use cases. It works hand-in-hand with automated mobile app testing and, when executed correctly, helps fine-tune every component of your application.

Exploratory testing, usability testing, and ad-hoc testing are the areas where it is most applicable.

Using manual testing, developers can recreate and correct errors identified by QA testers. Similarly, product managers and designers utilize manual testing to evaluate modest changes made to websites and applications.

- Accuracy and precision have increased: While automated mobile testing is more accurate regarding technical specifications, evaluating an application’s functionality may give developers fresh insights and ideas. If a tester personally examines the application, he may better understand how the end-user would feel when navigating the product.
- More suitable for multilayered situations: Some test scenarios are too complicated to be automated. For instance, gaming applications often need users to touch, slide up and down, and tilt the smartphone. It would be too costly to automate this range of motions. Hence manual testing is the best option for developers in this situation.
- A more profound comprehension of errors and malfunctions: You will have a conceptual understanding of the issue when you manually examine it. In a sense, manual testing offers testers “out-of-the-box” thinking and is essential if the system must be redesigned to avoid catastrophic mistakes and crashes.

**Difference between app testing and strategy**

- A test plan is a software project document describing the software testing activity’s strategy, scope, and intensity. The test strategy is a collection of instructions or protocols that describe the test’s design and define its execution.
- A test plan is adaptable. However, the test approach cannot be altered.
- The test plan occurs separately. In contrast, a test strategy is often included in a test plan.
- The test plan covers the specifics. While test strategy defines the approaches in general,
- The test administrator or test manager creates a test plan. In comparison, The project manager performs it.
- A test plan’s primary purpose is to specify how to test, when, and who will check the results.
- While test strategy contains the fundamental aims of determining which method to pursue and which module to test, test objectives involve deciding which approach to follow and which to test.
- Depending on the testing methodologies. Based on predetermined criteria.
- There are three test plans: level-specific, type-specific, and master.
- The many kinds of test techniques include model-based, analytical, methodical, reactive, standard-compliant, consultative, and regression-averse.
- Only one project is impacted at any one moment. Multiple projects might be affected simultaneously.
- It defines the general and typical requirements for testing a specific item. It outlines testing methodologies.

**Typical and common bugs in mobile apps**

Daily occurrences of bugs may be split into different categories:

- App-specific bugs pertain to the app’s business logic. They may be difficult to notice. Therefore app expertise will be of great use. Additionally, it is crucial to document test cases for such issues.
- Platform-specific Bugs. Each mobile operating system (Android, iOS) has its operating-system-specific problems.
- Specific bugs may relate to the architecture’s fundamental components.
- Progress indication

In addition, it is essential to provide a progress indicator to alert the user that a process is in progress. There are several instances in which tasks take a considerable amount of time, and it is very desired to display a progress indicator to alert the user that something is currently occurring. This includes screen/content loading and lengthy network procedures triggered by button clicks, such as profile editing and picture uploading. Imagine a user clicking the “upload” button to change their profile picture. Without a progress signal (during a lengthy picture-uploading procedure), a user may repeatedly hit this button, assuming nothing has occurred.

**- Error after pressing the button**

This button causes the program to break when clicked. This one is similar to a concealed “time bomb” in your app. This often refers to buttons that are “buried” deep inside the program (e.g., within settings) and are easy to miss.

**- Portrait/landscape app orientation**

Have you ever attempted to change the screen’s orientation, and the application’s present state was not preserved? In the Android system, for instance, a specific screen element known as Activity may be destroyed when the screen is rotated, causing it to lose its present state. Consequently, following the rotation, all previously chosen checkboxes and dropdowns may become deselected. A growing number of apps prohibit the usage of a landscape view, yet this is still an issue for applications that permit the horizontal view.

**- Indicate the input type**

Verify that the correct keyboard type has been opened. It may be pretty helpful for a user to see a keyboard layout that corresponds to the kind of input field. Users will be grateful, believe it or not. In addition to a password entry type, we must also pay close attention to another crucial factor. It is unsafe to store credentials in text fields. Reading a password over a person’s shoulder is far simpler than reading their keystrokes.

**- Repetitions of results on the list**

This bug is Android-specific and relates to how “ListView” operates on Android. Essentially, each element at the bottom of a scrollable list reuses the view of the element scrolled off the screen. This may result in the new and deleted cells having identical information. It is advantageous to comprehend this technique since the problem is pretty prevalent.

**Strategies to ensure Bug-free deployment**

Choose Device Type

Before beginning the testing process, it is essential to determine the number of devices that will be tested.

In the case of iOS, the device selection is limited and costly. However, there are no restrictions on the platforms or devices on which Android may be installed.

Consequently, there are several Android smartphones, each with its user interface and screen resolution. It is preferable to:

- Utilizing analytic tools, determine which end-user devices are most prevalent for the sort of application that has been built.
- If the estimated budget for the project is adequate, get a few Android and iOS devices for testing.
- As genuine mobile devices are used for functional testing, the browser’s default emulator or mobile device emulation plug-ins will suffice for UI testing.

**What to Select? Device or Emulator**

After doing market research and determining the devices on which testing should be conducted, the following primary choice must be made. Whether to test on emulators or actual devices to ensure deployment without bugs? Here are the pros and cons.

Real devices are:

- Reliable
- Even the performance of an application during interruptions such as phone calls or text messages may be evaluated.
- Nonetheless, there are a few drawbacks:
- Purchase and maintenance costs.
- Availability of gadgets used only in certain nations.

Emulators, on the contrary, are

- Easily accessible, the majority are open source and free
- It is simple to find expected behavior.
- While troubleshooting a problem, they might connect to the IDE.
- Both software and hardware capabilities can be duplicated, but each has restrictions.

Again they also have some cons:

- Real-time circumstances, such as device overheating and battery depletion, cannot be tested.
- More sluggish than the actual device
- Not every OS version is supported.

**Cloud Testing’s Role in Bug-Free Deployment**

The phenomena of cloud computing enable access to massive device clouds, including hundreds or thousands of actual devices and emulators and simulators. For specialized testing needs, in-house solutions are superior. However, the Cloud offers various testing options in the modern digital transformation era.

- By testing applications on a cloud platform, the issue of acquiring many devices and the expense of upkeep are avoided.
- The device pool is accessible from many places.
- The most significant benefit is continuity. Every time a developer edits or adds code, it is possible to redeploy and perform test case scenarios.
- Increasing test coverage guarantees the quality of the application.
- Supports parallel test case execution by simultaneously executing the same scenarios on several devices.

**Connectivity Testing**

Before putting the application into production, evaluating how it functions in locations with inadequate network coverage is essential. However, testing the application on devices with diverse network connections is challenging and time-consuming because connectivity varies by location and network provider.

**User Experience and Compatibility with Browser**

It is solely responsible for personally testing the UX of the application on a physical device. This is the most critical testing aspect since user experience is the product’s essence. The following checklists should be kept in mind when testing an application:

- Touch-responsiveness of application components such as buttons and dropdown menus.
- User interaction-specific behaviors include animations, page changes, and reaction times.
- The responsiveness of the viewport across many devices with varying resolutions.
- If the application is web-based, its behavior and performance of essential features mobile browser testing with the highest user share on Android and iOS devices.

**Performance and Security Testing for Bug-free deployment**

Storage space is restricted on mobile devices. When the storage capacity on a mobile device is almost full, applications generally become sluggish or unresponsive. The program should be manually tested to see how it operates on a machine with limited storage capacity.

Also, it should be tested with a growing user base in mind if it creates files such as photos or reports.

Security testing must go above the norm if the app handles sensitive data, such as banking or online transaction information. It must be verified that the app does not save data on the device. It may be tested easily by:

- Opening the program and logging in.
- Close or click the browser’s back button.
- Check if the user is still logged in by reopening it.
- If the tester has access to the Application database, verify the transaction records inside the database. Cases of buffer overflow and memory corruption
- Data storage and data validation requirements.

**Steps to do manual mobile testing for better results**

Manual testing is frequently thought of as randomly clicking or tapping through a mobile application and noting issues. If you do not have a strategy or framework, your manual mobile testing will consist of random clicking. Therefore, to keep everything under control, you must establish your action plan and describe its execution path.

The manual testing of an application requires the following five processes.

**1. Have a Plan**

It may seem apparent, but prior knowledge of what to test and how to test it is essential. Otherwise, it will be similar to chasing a bug in circles—any bug. Therefore, begin by reviewing your test strategy and selecting the situations that are preferable to test first manually. Then, categorize them depending on the assessment criteria (navigation, UI elements, and interruptions.). This will help you keep your testing periods as short as possible.

**2. Develop a Click Path**

Document a precise click path for each use scenario. It enables you to optimize the duration of each test session while performing the same test on many devices. And if you identify a problem, you’ll be able to recreate it simply and rapidly.

**3. Verify on Diverse Devices**

On one device, an application may function wonderfully, but on another, it may crash. It is essential, therefore, to conduct the same test on many genuine devices with varying OS, hardware, and software configurations. In addition, certain Android OS makers make modifications to the user interface that may impact the app (for example, Xiaomi MIUI or Huawei EMUI). You do not need to keep hundreds of devices in your workplace. In the Cloud, you may utilize actual devices and choose the characteristics you want.

**4. Repeat**

Repeat all steps in the same order if new issues appear following a code change. It is vital to perform all tests to ensure that resolving one problem does not affect other aspects of the software.

**5. Compile Documentation**

Ensure that you record all the information you’ve gathered to retest the affected section after resolving the problem.

**Conclusion**

Most people don’t hold back when deleting apps that don’t work as anticipated on their mobile devices. As a result, a successful program or product relies on thorough manual testing to ensure that it is released with no bugs. There are occasions when the manual testing of mobile applications demands the tester develop a new concept that has never been tried before. 

The choice of a tool differentiates the mobile app testing quality. Apart from manual testing, to keep the bug away, regular automated testing helps. While doing the same, an efficient testing tool like HeadSpin reduces the difficulties. 

_**Originally Published:** https://www.chopnews.com/achieve-bug-free-mobile-applications-with-efficient-manual-testing-strategies/_