Mobile app testing faces challenges around simulating location changes and carrier networks without physically moving devices. Common mobile issues to test include interrupt responses, app behavior when backgrounded, and ensuring usability and performance on devices with lower resources. Automation tools can be native, multi-platform using visual or object recognition, but creating a single set of tests for all devices is difficult given platform differences. The goals of mobile testing are to research tools thoroughly and have realistic expectations of what can be automated.

1. Addressing Mobile App Testing
Challenges (Part 2)
Notes from webinar by
Lee Barnes
hosted by QAI on
February 13th 2013
This presentation by Maira Bay de Souza is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

2. Before we begin ...
Items in this font are the notes I took from what the
presenter said
Items in this font are my own comments

3. Testing needs

Location-specific apps need to find a way to
simulate location change. Otherwise you would
have to actually move the device around the world!

The same applies for moving the device around
different mobile carrier networks.

4. Mobile websites

Existing applications that help in testing:
− There are some mobile browser simulators
− There are also markup checkers

5. Essential things to know

What are the most popular browsers?

What are the devices that exist now?

What are the languages used to program these
devices?

What is the OS model (closed or open source?)
Keep up with what's important for you!

6. Common mobile issues
Like in desktop testing, with experience testers will
know what issues are common in certain
environments

Interrupt response: how does the app behave when
there is an incoming call, alarm from calendar, etc

What happens when the app is “backgrounded” for
extended periods of time?

7. Common mobile issues (contd.)

Memory/performance. Developers are not used to
programming economically (for low
power/memory/etc usage)

Usability
− Sometimes users cannot tell if an image is a button
or just an image
− Sometimes users cannot tell if there is a list/combo
box or not

8. Test Automation
Success criteria for mobile test automation is the same
as the criteria for desktop test automation:
− Reliable (can we leave it unattended?)
− Maintainable
− Scalable (can we expand the test coverage
efficiently?)
It's interesting how mobile testing is similar to desktop
testing in so many ways.

9. Mobile testing goals

Ideal goal: use a single set of test cases for all
devices

Realistic goal: this is a rapidly evolving space with
many providers and many approaches.

Suggestions:
− Research carefully and look beyond the demo
− What can be automated vs. cost to automate
I like his approach of having realistic goals.
Good suggestions too!

10. Automation tools

Tool categories:
− Native (from devices, companies): exist but are
different for each device
− Multi-platform:

Visual-based:
− text and image recognition
− may require jailbreaking
− are more reliable

Object-based:
− interacts with UI objects itself
− requires instrumentation in the application
− interacts with the entire device

11. Automation questions

How to reduce automation?
− Build a layer that's independent of the device

Can I create an automation framework to test the
desktop and the mobile environment?
− It's possible theoretically. But realistically it's hard,
because objects, websites, etc are different .
Wow, I learned a lot from the webinar!
And I hope you learned a lot from my presentation!

12. Disclaimer
The notes presented here are what I understood from
what the presenter communicated. They might not be
100% accurate, as I was taking notes and listening to
the presentation at the same time.
All the information I am quoting from the presenter is
their intellectual property. I am reproducing it here
under the fair use policy, for quoting purposes only.