Testing Sucks, But It Doesn't Have To

TESTING
SUCKSFITZROY-DALE
NICHOLAS

NOVEMBER 2011

54% WON’T INSTALL

61%
©
2011
-‐
©
2011
-‐
©
2011
-‐

CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIA

CRASHES
3 ©2011 Apkudo Inc. www.apkudo.com

©
2011
-‐
©
2011
-‐
©
2011
-‐

“I TEST MY APP!”

99%

“I TEST MY APP!”

99%
O RLY?

85%
MANUAL


OH NOES

6 ©2011 apkudo, inc. Confidential www.apkudo.com

AD HOC TESTING
Sucks
Keeping up with device versions
Testing across various devices

AUTOMATED TESTING
Tedious
JUnit, Robotium
Test plan

MONKEY!
A good start.
Simulates inputs.
Completely automated.


MONKEY OVERVIEW

Package
Manager

Install
and
uninstall
packages

Get
list
of
package
ac:vi:es

Ac$vity
Manager

Start
/
stop
ac:vi:es

Get
list
of
running
ac:vi:es

Window
Manager

Send
touch
and
key
events

to
foreground
app


MONKEY OVERVIEW

Package
Manager

queryIntentActivities()

Ac$vity
Manager

setActivityController()

Window
Manager

inject*Event()


MONKEY SEE
MONKEY DO
•  Monkey injects “events” - what is an event?
–  KeyEvent: Hardware buttons and keyboard
–  MotionEvent: X, Y, and touches
–  FlipEvent, NetworkEvent, PowerEvent (mostly
legacy)


Security

SECURITY
•  Monkey uses standard Android
permissions... that no user apps
can use!
public static final String SET_ACTIVITY_WATCHER
Since: API Level 1
Allows an application to watch and control how activities are started globally in the system. Only for is in
debugging (usually the monkey command).

public static final String INJECT_EVENTS
Since: API Level 1
Allows an application to inject user events (keys, touch, trackball) into the event stream and deliver them
to ANY window. Without this permission, you can only deliver events to windows in your own process. Very
few applications should need to use this permission.


MONKEYvVS onkey
Runner

Monkey
s
M
MONKEY RUNNER
•  Monkey is for randomized testing, and runs on
the device
•  Monkey Runner is for scripting your own tests,
and runs on a laptop / desktop
•  In fact, Monkey Runner uses Monkey internally

Monkey
on
Angry
Birds

THE BIRDS, THEY ARE ANGRY!

adb shell monkey –v -p com.rovio.angrybirds -s 39 --throttle 10 --pct-touch 100 5000
adb shell monkey -p com.rovio.angrybirds 5000

What
can
Monkey
ﬁnd?

MONKEY RESULTS
•  Key and motion events
•  Crash information if applicable, as traceback
:AllowPackage:
com.rovio.angrybirds

:IncludeCategory:
android.intent.category.LAUNCHER

:IncludeCategory:
android.intent.category.MONKEY

:Switch:

#Intent;ac:on=android.intent.ac:on.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;compo
nent=com.rovio.angrybirds/com.rovio.ka3d.App;end

//
Allowing
start
of
Intent
{
act=android.intent.ac:on.MAIN
cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER]

cmp=com.rovio.angrybirds/com.rovio.ka3d.App
}
in
package
com.rovio.angrybirds

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_DOWN
x=554.0
y=357.0

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_UP
x=558.0
y=350.0

//
Rejec:ng
start
of
Intent
{
act=android.intent.ac:on.CALL_BUTTON
cmp=com.android.contacts/.DialtactsAc:vity
}
in

package
com.android.contacts

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_DOWN
x=696.0
y=280.0

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_UP
x=709.0
y=271.0

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_MOVE
x=-‐1.0
y=1.0

:Sending
Pointer
ACTION_DOWN
x=348.0
y=10.0


WHAT CAN Monkey
ﬁnd?

What
can

MONKEY FIND?
•  Weird UI sequences
–  Press button 2 before button 1
•  Unexpected inputs
–  E.G. keyboard input during a Toast
•  User-interface race conditions
•  Activity life-cycle errors


Weird
UI
sequences

WEIRD
UI SEQUENCES
•  Monkey presses UI controls in an unexpected
way
•  Example: Comic Rack: selecting “Options”
immediately after application start
•  Resolution: Always check preconditions in UI
callback functions


UNEXPECTED inputs

Unexpected

INPUTS
•  Monkey simulates keypresses that the
application doesn’t expect
•  Example: multiple keypresses on the same
button
•  Resolution: Again, be paranoid when entering
UI callback functions


RACE Race
condi:ons

CONDITIONS
•  Monkey can press UI elements very quickly,
triggering race conditions
•  Example: I Heart Radio: PlayerController
not initialized
•  Resolution: limit use of threads. When they
are necessary, perform appropriate locking.
•  Same applies to networking.

Ac:vity
life-‐cycle
errors

ACTIVITY LIFE CYCLE
ERRORS
•  Monkey performs unexpected activity life-
cycle actions
•  Example: Shazam: Unable to pause activity
•  Resolution: Become tiresomely familiar
with the Android activity life cycle.

MULTI-DEVICE Monkey

Mul:-‐device

MONKEY
•  Monkey is really good at testing across
multiple devices:
•  Correct Market permissions
–  appropriate-architecture native code, eg armv7
•  Unexpected hardware properties
•  “Weird” hardware failures

Mul:-‐device
Monkey

CORRECT MARKET
FILTERS
•  OpenGL ES version and features
•  Dependencies on system libraries
•  Incorrect or missing minSdkVersion

Unexpected
hardware
proper:es

UNEXPECTED HARDWARE
PROPERTIES
•  The device has an unexpected hardware
feature (e.g. a strange screen resolution)
•  Examples: RDefense Free, Zombie Killer
•  Best resolution: Test on multiple devices

Weird
hardware
failures

WEIRD HARDWRE
FAILURES
•  Not all devices “just work”
•  Example: PaperCamera doesn’t handle
RuntimeError from takePicture()
•  Resolution: Test on multiple devices. Be
wary of Java unchecked errors.


MONKEYLimita:ons

LIMITATIONS
•  False positives
–  “Impossible” sequences of actions / speeds
•  Very limited testing strategy
–  What if most of your app is hidden behind a login
screen?
•  Some Android pain points not covered
–  E.G. screen rotation, layout issues


AND Apkudo

APKUDO
•  “See your app run on every Android
device”
–  Monkey test on 289 phones and tablets
–  Free
–  Private beta right now: email
sayhi@apkudo.com if interested


Testing Sucks, But It Doesn't Have To

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