iOS Automation Testing: A Beginners Guide With A Practical Approach
Tags: testing, mobile, automation, ios
Published: 2023-02-08 14:25:09


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Automated testing of iOS applications is limited to those developed specifically for iOS devices. Testers must have a thorough understanding of an application’s purpose, technical specifications, [Ios Emulator](https://www.headspin.io/solutions/ios-app-testing), and performance metrics to compare the intended behavior with the actual behavior. 

Licensed to run solely on Apple products, the iOS family is a closed environment. For testing purposes, this makes it more convenient than Android apps, which can be installed on a far broader range of devices.

Both human and automated testing is required for the iOS application. It’s impossible to avoid bugs in every application, no matter how carefully it was designed. The importance of iOS automated testing cannot be overstated, regardless of whether the app is running on the iOS or Android operating systems. 

According to a 2019 survey of CIOs and senior technology experts, quality assurance and testing accounted for an average of 23% of their organization’s yearly IT expenditure. Therefore, the application lifecycle must begin with quality assurance efforts.

It is easier to test on iOS devices since the devices are well-known and the OS upgrades are well-planned. There are several advantages to using automated testing for iOS applications. It saves time and effort by allowing one test to run on several devices simultaneously.

**How Is iOS Automated Testing Performed?**

iOS apps must be tested for their functionality and UI/UX design. To guarantee that the UI/UX is implemented as intended across a wide range of devices with varying screen resolutions, the test cases must be deployed to various iOS devices. There are a variety of ways to do testing:

**Unit Testing**

The developer is often the one who does unit testing. The purpose of running unit tests is to verify that the source code for a single area performs as expected when run on its own. When a developer merges his code into the app’s source code, this evaluation is done on a single portion of the application’s code that he has written.

**Functional Testing**

Functionality testing refers to the process of extensively evaluating all of a program’s features without having access to the program’s source code. Haptic capabilities, such as soft-touch, 3D interaction, taps, vibrations, and rotations, among others, must be acknowledged while using an iPhone or iPad. Functional testing of the iOS app on various suitable devices will take these factors into account.

**UI/UX Testing**

Apple’s iOS testing relies heavily on the user interface and interaction. UI testing may be broken down into the following categories:

**- Screen:** Device compatibility must be evaluated to ensure the application’s screen orientation works appropriately. Additionally, screen UI testing needs to consider variations in screen resolution and responsiveness based on the device.
**- Soft Keyboard:** The ability to conceal or utilize the soft keyboard, which includes emoji and symbol tabs, is essential to incorporate and test.
**- Hard Keys:** The hardware buttons, such as the power, menu, and volume buttons, can also be used in some apps. UI/UX testing relies heavily on the usage of hard keys like these since they make it easier for the user to interact with the system.
**- Lists:** The way iOS handles pop-ups differs from how Android devices do so. Lists are used instead of pop-ups in iOS applications when alternatives need to be selected.

**Regression and End-to-End Testing**

By the end of the third quarter of 2020, global app users had spent a total of 29 billion dollars on mobile applications. To ensure that current functionality is performing as intended, testers must perform regression testing. Regression testing must be done at each version release of the program. 

On the other hand, end-to-end testing involves testing the entire application stack from start to end. The user experience is simulated here, from the front-end UI/UX to the back-end server functions and other network-related components.

**iOS Automation Testing: Best Practices**

**Using Real Devices instead of Emulators**

It’s necessary to do UI/UX testing on all supported devices; however, doing so might be prohibitively expensive for testing on all devices. Fortunately, there are tools like emulators and simulators for the job. While it may be more costly to use real devices for testing, finding and fixing bugs in a virtual environment is also more challenging.

In contrast, working with emulators/simulators might take longer than testing on a real device. Reliability is also critical in this case. Using an emulator/simulator to simulate all user interactions might be time-consuming, making real devices more dependable.

**Communication and Reporting:**

Taking snapshots or capturing the screen for each step or action might help troubleshoot and comprehend the application’s behavior. It is possible to automate iOS testing with reporting and communication.

**Console and Crash Logs:**

Crash logs are used to diagnose application failures. In such cases, you must capture crash records. To capture crash logs, execute the following steps:

- Connect an iOS device to a Mac.
- Hold the Option key to reveal the Menu bar.
- Your AUT’s records may be found here.

The bottom line is that the development and quality assurance teams must use these best practices to deal with any problems that may occur.