Cloud Based Mobile Testing Solutions

Chances are, you’re reading this blog post on your mobile device. That’s because more and more users - over 50%, to be exact - choose their mobile device for web browsing, online shopping and application interaction.

So, it should be no surprise that more companies are choosing to invest in their mobile applications. After all, a customer’s experience is key to increasing revenue, reputation and consumer loyalty.

More mobile app developments lead to more QA testing. But how can testers keep up with the demands of the industry if they cannot keep up with covering all OS versions and mobile device types for testing?

Meet cloud based mobile testing, the offsite way to test your mobile app. Let’s explore these key topics so that your team selects the right cloud based mobile testing solutions for your software application:

• What is cloud based mobile app testing?
• Types of cloud based mobile application testing
• Benefits of cloud based mobile testing
• How to choose your cloud based mobile app testing solution

What Is Mobile App Testing?

By definition, mobile app testing is the practice of running tests against a mobile application to validate that its functionality and usability meet all defined requirements before market launch.

There’s no cutting corners during the complex mobile app testing process-dozens of screen resolutions are required, several versions of operating systems must be on standby and every kind of connection type has to be ready to go. Then, QA teams run a variety of mobile app tests including functional testing, performance testing, usability testing and security testing.

What Is Cloud Based Mobile App Testing?

Cloud based mobile application testing is the process of running tests for a mobile application in the cloud - rather than in an on premise environment - in order to confirm its functionality and usability meet all defined requirements before market launch.

Think of cloud mobile app testing as a virtual way of testing your mobile application. Mobile device testing cloud means using:

• Simulated or emulated mobile environments that mimic the conditions of a mobile device
• Actual mobile devices that are hosted in the cloud

To do this successfully, QA teams rely on tools that support cloud based mobile testing. There are a variety of cloud based mobile testing tools designed to streamline the testing process, track essential testing metrics and provide accurate results.

Types of Cloud Based Mobile Application Testing

Once the right cloud based mobile testing solutions are in place, your QA engineers can start testing your mobile app for its stability and compatibility across mobile devices. Choose to include these types of cloud based mobile app testing approaches when mobile device testing cloud:

• Performance Testing

  This type of cloud mobile app testing examines how well the mobile application performs under a variety of conditions. Tools that support cloud based mobile testing can place your mobile app under various forms of pressure to confirm that it still performs optimally even during non-optimal conditions.

  Performance testing can validate these key factors:

  • Recovery capabilities, such as back-ups and built-in recovery modes
  • Network performance, such as rendering features and pauses in receiving digital information
  • Device performance, such as installation, log-in time, memory consumption and battery consumption
  • API/server performance, such as formation of data transfer and speed

• Load Testing

  When mobile device testing cloud, QA engineers review the mobile app’s performance under a specific expected load, then examine how well the software system behaves when multiple users simultaneously access the system during normal traffic periods. Cloud based mobile testing tools can evaluate how much traffic your mobile application can handle before it becomes overloaded

  Load testing can confirm these key factors:

  • Performance speed, especially during a heavy traffic load
  • Response time, especially during a heavy traffic load
  • Mobile application threshold, such as signed-in user count, concurrent transactions and levels of data transfer

• Operating System Version Testing

  Because not all users instantly upgrade to the latest OS on their device, operating system version testing is a must. OS version testing verifies that your mobile app operates as expected across all mobile operating systems, both old and new, through the assistance of cloud based mobile testing solutions.

  Operating system version testing can validate compatibility, functionality and performance across all major operating system versions.

• UI Testing

  This type of cloud based mobile application testing confirms whether or not the visual elements of your mobile application display accurately and meet expected requirements. UI testing verifies the visual design, functionality, usability, performance and compliance of your mobile app’s user interface, often with the assistance of tools that support cloud based mobile testing.

  UI testing can verify that all visual indicators and graphical icons render correctly, including CTA buttons, menus, toolbars, checkboxes, text boxes, fonts and colors.

Benefits of Cloud Based Mobile Testing

Between new OS versions and mobile device releases, it’s difficult for any company to have all necessary hardware on standby for testing. With cloud based mobile app testing, your QA team can validate your mobile application for any type of mobile device, operating system, network service provider or geographical location. Here are some of the reasons why more companies are choosing to cloud based mobile testing solutions:

• Integrates With Agile Methodology

  It’s important that a mobile device testing cloud is compatible with your team’s development process. Fortunately, cloud testing provides QA teams with all the tools that support cloud based mobile testing, regardless of location or placement within the development cycle. And with the assistance of cloud based mobile testing tools designed for test management, your team can stay agile and flexible so that your QA engineers can change direction quickly when business objectives shift.

• Compatible With Continuous Integration

  Cloud based mobile app testing is ideal for continuous integration, especially when your team relies on testing and deploying with every code change. With cloud based mobile testing solutions, your QA team can immediately test under larger scenarios. In other words, your newer versions can be deployed faster for testing and faster to production.

• Increases Test Coverage

  Cloud mobile app testing allows for nonstop and parallel testing, thereby supporting an increase in testing scenarios to be covered within the same testing period. Because cloud based mobile app testing environments feature high synchronization and pre-configured architectures, QA testers can enjoy stability throughout the testing process so that testing procedures remain nimble and productive.

• Efficiency Gains

  Most cloud based mobile testing solutions support automation testing, which offers high productivity and shorter test cycles during the development process. These cloud based mobile testing tools are designed to be easy to install and set up so that testing can begin right away. Cloud based mobile app testing allows your team to execute all test cases on time-often before your deadline - so that your developers have a chance to resolve any issues before deployment.

• Test Different Network Conditions

  With cloud based mobile testing solutions, your team can execute tests across the world by replicating virtual users in various locations. Cloud based mobile application testing can test your mobile app over different local networks and connect any device to a host machine in a variety of locations. In short, your testers can confirm that your mobile application can work from anywhere with the right cloud based testing tools in place.

Choosing Cloud Based Mobile Testing Solutions

Your cloud based mobile testing solution should offer easy availability, high scalability and reasonable (or free) cost. The right tool should allow for both web and mobile testing across various environments and machines without building your own infrastructure. Before choosing the right cloud based mobile application testing tool, make sure you understand specific testing criteria essential for your mobile app, from relevant OS versions and devices to target geographic locations and network conditions.

Not sure how to start? You can first choose to partner with a QA services provider like QASource. Our team of experts are skilled in mobile QA testing as well as the best cloud mobile app testing tools on the market. Team up with our QA engineers so that you align yourself with the right testing tools and testing process for cloud mobile app testing. Get in touch with a QASource expert today.