Mobile Automation

How to do Mobile Automation? Tools it supports, things to be taken care while doing Mobile Automation.

 

Continuous testing is necessary to make sure your mobile app is of the finest quality and fulfils user expectations. Mobile testing across platforms, however, may be difficult and time-consuming. Discover how mobile testing automation may save you time and effort. This article explores the best practices for automating mobile tests, including which test cases are most appropriate for automation and how to choose the best framework for testing mobile automation.

How to do Mobile Automation?

 

Step 1: Establish goals for mobile automation testing.

 Reduced time and effort required testing: Automation replaces intensive manual testing wherever necessary. It speeds up test execution and facilitates the testing of complex apps with plenty of features. Automated testing is perfect for identifying and removing regression since it enables every test scenario to be run repeatedly.

Enhancing quality and productivity while reducing costs: Automation allows extensive testing on a range of hardware, operating systems, and settings, ensuring that the application functions properly in a variety of scenarios. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines and automation interfaces easily, detect errors early in the development cycle when they are less expensive to rectify. Automatically deploy using the CI/CD pipeline and integrate with version control to do away with manual intervention.

 

Step 2:  Plan Test Cases

 A planned approach is necessary when planning test cases for mobile automation testing in order to guarantee thorough coverage and effectiveness. Learn about the application's target audience, business needs, and functionality first. Decide which iOS and Android platforms and which device types and OS versions will be tested.

Establish precise test goals that centre on high-risk locations, essential functionality, and typical user journeys. Give priority to test scenarios that include boundary cases, performance-critical components, and often used features.

Identify test cases that can be automated, such as time-consuming procedures, data-driven scenarios, and repeated operations. Don't automate features that are prone to frequent changes. Using distinct IDs, preconditions, test procedures, anticipated outcomes, and priority levels, create a comprehensive test case template.

 

Step 3: Choose a Framework for Test Automation.

 Selecting the appropriate automation framework, an integrated system that establishes the automation rules for your test comes next after you have decided which test cases you want to automate. The easiest way to create and assess your tests is to use the test automation framework. BDD, TDD, Data driven, Hybrid these are the frameworks that are highly recommended. Here are some of the best way to follow the automation frameworks for Mobile Automation:

> Linear Automation Framework

> Modular-Based Testing Framework

> Library Architecture Testing Framework

> Data-Driven Framework

 

Step 4: Pick the Appropriate Tool/framework for Testing Mobile Automation.

 The tool supports both iOS and Android, as well as the platforms your app supports when choosing the best mobile automation testing solution. Highly recommended open-source frameworks for both iOS and Android apps are Appium, Calabash, Selenroid, Espresso. On the other hand, you can also utilise licenced frameworks like Eggplant, Perfecto, TestComplete and Katalon Studio. 

Seek a solution that can accommodate the testing kinds you need, such as UI, or functional testing. Because certain technologies (like Java and Python) demand specialised expertise, make sure about the programming languages you are familiar with. In conclusion, evaluate the tool's documentation, community support, and scalability for long-term testing requirements.

 

Step 5: Execute testing on both actual and virtual devices.

Since physical devices replicate real-world user situations, it is usually advised to conduct testing on them for reliable and accurate findings. However, the dependence on physical devices grows when connecting with CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that they be available and switched on during the testing process. 

Although emulators and other virtual devices offer a practical substitute, they have drawbacks in that they replicate device behaviour but don't replicate the authenticity of actual hardware. This may result in vulnerabilities being overlooked that would otherwise be discovered on real devices. The secret to thorough testing is balancing the use of virtual and actual devices.

Using cloud-based tools like BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, or Kobiton can make it easier to run testing on actual devices and even in virtual devices. By giving users access to a large variety of actual devices with different operating systems, screen sizes, and hardware specifications, these technologies remove the requirement for an internal device lab.

Extensive testing of mobile apps will encompass both the hardware (device) and the operating system (OS). However, testing mobile devices is a logistical headache due to the wide range of devices and setups. Even for Apple, this encompasses 14 generations of gadgets, with several models in each generation, even if it could be useful to test on actual devices.

The latest iOS device, the best Android phone, etc., should be tested on at least one of each target device, according to best practices. The remaining testing should be done on virtual machines, sometimes referred to as simulators or emulators. Although accuracy is slightly lost, virtual devices improve testing speed and cost by simulating many elements of genuine devices. 

 

Best Mobile Automation Framework / Tools You Should Consider

 

Appium: Using a variety of languages and frameworks, Appium is an open-source, versatile tool that is perfect for black box testing native apps for iOS, Android, or Windows, as well as hybrid and mobile web apps. Although testing may be slower or less accurate than using native testing tools, Appium makes it simple to reuse test cases across platforms. 

Google Espresso: For Android, Google developed the open-source Espresso Testing Framework, which enables QA to create user interface tests. The complicated task of managing several threads is removed by its simple API, which easily adjusts to the testing requirements.

Espresso automatically synchronises the application's user interface with test activities. Additionally, it guarantees that your activity begins prior to the testing and ends when the testing processes are finished.  

XCTest and XCUITest: An automated UI test framework called XCUITest is used for iOS automation testing. It makes use of Apple's XCTest integrated test framework for Xcode. With Swift or Objective-C programming languages, you can use the XCUITest framework to create automated user interface tests for native iOS and macOS apps. One of the greatest mobile app testing frameworks is XCUITest, which promotes continuous integration (CI) and is easy to maintain while preventing test flakiness.

Quantum: The open-source, cross-platform Quantum test automation framework supports behavior-driven development (BDD), enabling different groups (business testers and SDETs) to rapidly begin full-blown test automation.

 

Things to be taken care of while doing Mobile Automation.

 

1. Application Stability

Application stability is a vital aspect of testing mobile applications, ensuring that the program operates dependably across a range of settings, devices, and conditions. During the development lifecycle, mobile automation is crucial for continuously confirming stability. To provide a satisfying user experience, stability is essential, particularly in a variety of real-world situations. Meanwhile, Maintaining the integrity of layout properties is essential for developers to ensure consistent design and functioning.

 

2. Stable Across OSs: 

Many mobile operating systems are in use, including iOS, Android, Windows 10, and others, and each of them has several versions. The platforms that are supported are quite complicated and have reached a new level. It is generally recommended that companies ensure that their mobile applications function properly across all supported operating systems. Effective end-to-end testing of mobile apps across OS versions should be implemented in order to achieve compatibility.

 

3. Proper Mobile Test scripts should be Written 

Writing proper mobile test scripts carefully is necessary for successful mobile automation testing. Functionality verification should be the main goal of these scripts, ensuring that every element of the app operates as planned in various situations. To provide dependable test findings, it is crucial to include appropriate assertions to compare predicted outcomes with actual results. For cross-platform compatibility and extensive test coverage, the scripts must also be made to run properly across all systems. 

Because it ensures that the scripts contain correct and reusable datasets, effective test data management is also essential for improving the overall effectiveness and dependability of the testing procedure. Comprehensive, dependable, and repeatable testing procedures are built on top of well-written test scripts. Precision increases the possibility that defects will be found by ensuring the script consistently verifies the functionality under different conditions.

 

Conclusion

 

Enhancing the effectiveness and productivity of mobile application testing may be achieved via the use of mobile automation. With the right tools, like Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest, teams can automate testing across platforms and devices, resulting in higher-quality apps and quicker releases. Nonetheless, to ensure smooth operation, it is essential to handle possible issues such as device fragmentation, different screen sizes, and OS compatibility. Hope this post is helpful for future mobile automation testers!