Mobile Test Automation Challenges And How To Avoid Them

Published: 2019-12-23 11:17:21

Organizations are facing barriers while performing mobile app testing. According to a report published by Capgemini,<a href="https://www.capgemini.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/wqr_2013-14_mobile_testing_pullout.pdf"> 33% of the companies</a> don’t have time to test mobile apps, and 37% of the organizations don’t have the right tools. Besides, 52% of participants stated the lack of devices as a reason for not doing mobile app testing.

Let’s have a look at common mobile test automation challenges and how you can overcome them. 

#Why is mobile app testing important for your business?<br>
As per the<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/751532/worldwide-application-user-retention-rate/"> mobile app usage report</a> published by Statista, average smartphone users spend 96% of their time on top 10 personal apps only. If your mobile app is not in their own “top apps” list, the user will spend only 4% of them at the max using your app. Besides, the average<a href="https://www.geckoboard.com/learn/kpi-examples/mobile-app-kpis/retention-rate/"> 30-day retention rate</a> of mobile app users is 42%.


Almost half of your users will be gone after 30-days. To retain as many users as possible, you need to provide an exceptional user experience. Your app should be bug-free, well-functional, and work flawlessly on most of the devices. To deliver great user experience, you will need to perform in-depth testing and overcome mobile test automation challenges.<br>

<b>1. Fragmentation of devices, OS and screen size</b><br>
One of the simplest ways to reach the highest number of users is by optimizing your mobile app for most of the devices. The problem is, smartphone fragmentation is growing at an annual rate of 20%. Scientiamobile stated that you need to test your app on at least 158 devices to cover most of the users.


Manually checking your mobile app on even 50 devices is a highly time and resource consuming activity. Also, mobile test automation becomes a huge bottleneck when you have to test your app on so many devices. To overcome such mobile test automation challenges, use a test automation platform that helps you run parallel automated mobile app tests without any programming.

<b>2. Device-based testing approach</b><br>
Many mobile app testing companies use the traditional device-based testing approach. It requires an organization to purchase real devices and set up a mobile app lab. While it gives higher control over device-based functionality, verification, and QoS parameters.


Besides, an organization needs to cope up with rapidly changing mobile devices, operating systems, and browser versions. All these activities cost significant money and time to set up and maintain such testing labs. 
It is recommended using a cloud-based testing platform that provides cross-browser testing on a variety of devices and browsers. This approach will make your organization more focused on actual testing rather than maintaining devices.

<b>3. Faster product release and update cycles</b><br> 
While working with faster release and update cycles, companies don’t have much time and bandwidth to integrate new tests in their current test cycle or develop new test code. Besides, the testing team has less time to write a stable testing code that continuously runs in parallel across multiple devices.


This approach makes the overall execution cycle lengthy for organizations that have implemented the automation process. To successfully overcome such mobile test automation challenges, use an automation testing tool built for Agile,<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/what-is-devtestops-role-of-devtestops-in-continuous-testing/"> Continuous Testing and DevTestOps</a>.<br>
<b>4. Using mobile test automation tools not aligned with requirements</b><br>
There are tons of testing tools available on the internet claiming to have test automation features. It is highly likely that only a few tools will meet your specific needs and help you overcome mobile test automation challenges. Even before you start looking for suitable software,<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/what-are-the-kpis-of-software-testing-and-qa-testsigma/"> define your KPIs of testing and QA.</a>


Once you have the measurable KPIs set, shortlist a mobile test automation tool that satisfies your needs and allows you to measure those KPIs. Apart from the KPI, the tool must be easy to use. Besides, it should run on native and object web properties, and allow you to record automated tests. Also, it should give you a comprehensive check of the app before you make the app available to your users.



<b>5. Lack of integration with bug tracking and collaboration tools</b><br>
Let’s imagine a scenario where you create a test but can’t use it because the mobile automation testing tool creates test scripts in an unfamiliar environment. In such cases, you will need to replace the tool or hire a new tester who understands the environment. 


You can overcome such challenges and scale mobile test automation by expanding it to the entire DevOps process. Your goal should be to automate development to deployment process as much as possible. To ensure a fast and seamless continuous integration process, you will need an automated mobile testing tool that integrates with DevOps platforms used by your team.<br>
#Seven top tips for mobile application testing<br>
1. Test your application on most common OS platforms and versions
2. Check the UI on different screen sizes
3. Perform app testing with different Internet speeds
4. Check what happens when your app goes through unexpected user behaviour
5. Monitor CPU, RAM and battery use
6. Ensure the app follows guidelines of OS platform
7. Test UI for different regional styles such as language and date format<br>

#Overcome mobile test automation challenges with the right approach<br>
To reach and retain most of the users, you need to deliver exceptional user experience by ensuring your app is running smoothly on multiple devices and operating systems. 
Mobile app testing can contribute significantly to the growth and success of your product. Implementing an expert-level automation strategy combined with a suitable <a href="https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/top-20-automation-testing-tools/">mobile test automation tool</a> will convert your efforts into a success.<br>