Mobile & Web App Development Process – Stage 5b – Quality Assurance

The development of mobile & web app will not be complete without implementing the most rigorous test and quality control (QA) plan. To ensure that you get the most out of this, we’ve put together this blog series that provides you an extensive description of what your app’s testing process should be conducted and the advantages of having it running.

But, it is true that many businesses face a variety of issues when it comes to app testing and quality assurance. But don’t fret this blog will help you discover a list of solutions and best practices for overcoming these challenges efficiently. Additionally, you’ll find possible testing tools that can assist you in creating quality mobile apps.

So, with no additional effort, let’s begin by understanding what testing and quality assurance are in mobile app development.

Testing And Quality Assurance in Mobile & Web App Development

Testing is an essential part of the process of developing mobile apps which is where your app goes through numerous tests, which helps your developers avoid the dangers that come with mistakes. It is focused on making sure that the quality, functionality and accessibility of your application match the requirements of users and your application is ready to go live.

From creating applications, to which run on different operating systems to testing their ability to work with different screens on the marketplace, testing apps is an essential development phase which you must not be able to miss. It is crucial to keep current with technology and be aware of the constant changes occurring in the development of mobile apps.

Let’s examine the various types of mobile app test and quality assurance environments in order to assist you in understanding their significance in a clearer way.

• Functional Testing

It’s a method of testing which monitors the functions of your application and confirms that each function is in line to the specifications required. In this case, individual modules can be tested individually to verify that they function in the way it was intended to or coupled and tested to ensure that the components work seamlessly.

• Usability Testing

This test environment is practiced with real devices and actual people to verify that the final product is a positive user experience, a stable regular layout, and a user-friendly interface for users, while highlighting areas in need of improvements.

• Compatibility Testing

This test is performed to see how your mobile app performs when it comes to the various types of mobile devices you intend to be able to. The test will verify your app to ensure that it’s compatible with the various browsers and operating systems, as well as hardware, networks, and versions of software.

• Performance Testing

This type of test tests the parameters of speed of data transfer, memory consumption, transfer/volume as well as sustainability, performance etc. To ensure whether the application is functional and stable in the face of a fluctuating or increased load.

• Security Testing

Security testing aids developers in identifying any loopholes or vulnerabilities of their application. It guarantees that your application is secure from any vulnerabilities or security threats and encourages the use of encryption from end to end while handling the data.

• Installation Testing

This type of test is essential to determine if your mobile app is installed, removed, and is updated without interruptions. It is helpful to determine that all components offer the user with ease and cooperate when performing the tasks mentioned above.

• Localization Testing

This test will determine if the correct culture and language of a particular area are defined during the process of developing mobile apps. It will ensure you that your GUI for your application can be designed to be a perfect fit for the settings you choose to use.

• Interruption Testing

An environment for testing that assists your app to resume its status in the event of an interruption is called interruption testing. It assists your developers develop applications that don’t fail to load or crash, and also handle interruptions like internet connection interruptions and SMS disruptions.

• Storage Testing

This test reveals how your application uses its storage functions and the speed at which it’s completed. It assists developers to identify the causes of memory leaks and correct it. It makes sure that data is stored in a proper format and within the directory specified.

• Recovery Testing

The Recovery test is nonfunctional testing type of testing that evaluates how your application reacts to an error, adjusts and then gets back to work. It is a process of the manual simulation of failure in order to show that your app is able to recover quickly and effectively.

• Conformance/ Compliance Testing

This type of test can suggest the necessary changes to your application and helps make it in line with industry-accepted regulations and standards. It assists in clearly defining the requirements and eliminates any ambiguities that could arise.

• Regression Testing

It’s a form of test that allows the developers confirm that the functions in your app are not affected by a change in code. It can help determine whether the new code had any negative or positive effect on the prior working version of your app.

How Your Mobile & Web App Testing & QA Strategy Should be

The process of planning your app’s testing is often a challenge because many app developers don’t understand the significance of their process and aren’t aware of the first steps to take. Therefore, in order to get rid of this issue we’ve put together the step-by-step procedure that can aid you in the implementation of a top test strategy for mobile applications.

• Create a Brief Outline

It is recommended to prepare a test strategy for your Project which outlines the goals you’re trying to accomplish and the constraints you face. You should also decide on and delegate duties and roles of your team members, taking into account the most important use cases, such as specifically targeted devices as well as data storage, network connectivity and more.

Once you have defined the use scenarios, you are able to begin to identify additional requirements like screen resolutionand orientation as well as turning off/on GPS and OSs to mention just several. Then, you’ll need to evaluate the application type that you have chosen – Native, Web, or Hybrid and prepare your app for testing.

• Choose the Type of Tests

The next step is to determine the tests to be conducted for the software: usability, functional and compatibility, performance, security and so on. Testers determine the tests that are needed to produce better results. They can choose between automated or manual tests. They also determine the most important Cloud simulator test.

For example automated tests are performed to prevent frequently used scenarios and device fragmentation or when tests yield the potential for a predictable result. Sometimes, a mixture of both manual and automated tests are conducted to test the system repeatedly or catering to less frequent usage scenarios.

• Prepare and Execute the Test Case/ Scripts

When they’ve decided on the tests to be carried out and the QA team then prepares the test case documentation which should clearly define the app’s functions and features. In addition testing, testers conduct UI testing by running tests to test the developed designs against the approved design using the help of programs such as Zeplin or InVision.

Furthermore, using the built-in UI, API testing is conducted prior to testing functionality. This is performed using Postman as well as Swagger I to ensure that APIs do not cause any problems as frontend developers start to integrate APIs. This requires an independent suite to run manual tests and automated test scripts as needed.

• Usability and Beta Testing

After testing the basic functions, the testers proceed to the usability testing process through tests that test the compatibility of devices, interruptions, accessibility and more. They will ensure that the app is simple to use and offers users with a pleasant experience.

However the need for beta testing is to collect feedback for the entire system prior to launch. This is done to help testers and QA professionals know what features the users would require and if they’ll use them often or not.

• Analyze the App Performance

After evaluating the application feature-by feature then the next step in how to test the mobile application strategy is to focus on tests related to performance. This is where the most important aspect is to determine the capabilities the app should provide and the optimal conditions under the conditions under which it will progress prior to commencing the test.

When performing tests it is important to assess the scalability performance, and stability of the software under massive traffic. This can help find any potential system-related errors or inconsistencies by conducting tests on the installation process or memory usage, device specific functions, etc.

• Check for Security

Following the performance test after testing, the team has to make sure that the app is secure and safe of the app through testing the possibility of session hijacking SSL and data dumps packet sniffing, SQL injection. They perform certain checks for security as well as compliance in order to ensure a safe data storage environment , and also check how the app performs with different permissions schemes for different devices.

When performing security tests it is important to be in line with guidelines and standards of the industry and then convert them into realistic methods. The most popular security standards to take into consideration are HIPAA, PCI DSS, and FFIEC.

• Final Setup

Following the above steps in the order they were intended After completing all the above steps, after which the test and QA team is now ready to examine the entire software testing cycle with the aid of Zoho. From iterative phase to regression tests All tests are checked thoroughly. This will help confirm that the application is functioning as expected both at the server and back-end level. It is now ready to go live.

If serious bugs or minor issues are found the necessary tests are run to correct them, which is followed by a second testing cycle to further analyze. If there are no problems discovered, the app is made available to app stores and is made available to the intended users.

Mobile & Web App Testing Challenges and Solutions to Overcome Them

If you’ve come across the various types of app testing and the method to test your application, we can now move on to learning about the challenges common to companies face when tackling these issues and offer solutions to address the issue.

• App Performance and User Experience

The performance of mobile apps is heavily dependent on how it operates and meets the expectations of users. Any interruptions in the app affect the user’s preferences and preferences. Therefore, companies need be focused on keeping their testing and development flexible in line with the evolving demands with the aid of Agile method.

• Screen Size

Screen size is the main marketing pitch for many app developers, however it’s impossible to design an individual mobile application for each size of screen. Therefore, in order to ensure that your app functions as expected for all sizes of screens and, in particular, smaller screens it’s important to develop a flexible layout.

• Context Awareness

Mobile apps can be able to counter different situations with various data sources, which creates an unique challenge for the entire test process. Being aware of the ever-changing environments and patterns of use can assist you to manage the limits or the scope of your application.

• Time-to-market

Companies often announce strict testing timeframes, but they end up disrupting the time-to-market process. This can be avoided by establishing a sufficient timeframe to allow for efficient testing results and reducing the time-to-market for delivery.

• Variety of Mobile Apps

When we conduct the testing of apps there are particular issues for every one of them – native, web-based, and hybrid applications. This is why it’s important to develop distinct scenarios and use cases to suit the kind of app you’re looking to launch.

• Multiple Operating Systems (OSs)

Testing your mobile applications for various operating systems like iOS, Android, Windows and Windows. which have a distinct UI driven by specific guidelines and rules is an issue for testers of QA. With cross-device testing, you can get over this hurdle and speed up your mobile app development process.

• Network Connectivity

Another challenge is the creation of applications that function normally and be able to load in slow networks. This issue is easily solved by testing them on various bandwidths on the network and then observing the speed at which they respond.

Conclusion

Tests and quality assurance are essential aspects of your mobile & web application development process. If you wish for your app to thrive in this digital world it is essential to make the necessary steps to ensure it is implemented in the correct way. Be aware that developers are not testers. To ensure flawless app releases and a pleasant user experience, you must have the top testing and QA teams in place. It is possible to use the mobile app testing services or engage quality assurance specialists from Origami Studios to perform the identical.