Nowadays, efficient testing methods are essential to meet the complexities of new technologies. Mobile app testing is growing rapidly to meet the requirements of trending technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, and UI/UX. Testing is required in all development lifecycle stages to ensure quality and functionality. Thus, many tools like Appium are widely used as they have many merits when dealing with mobile app testing.
This blog will let you know how the future of the mobile app testing industry will rapidly evolve. Further, it will show you how Appium stands as a worthy tool in shaping the future of mobile app testing.
The Future of the Mobile App Testing Industry
In the dynamic era of technology, the mobile app testing industry has emerged as a center of attention due to many innovative mobile applications. The industry holds great potential for the future that improves the overall mobile application development life cycle.
Here are some emerging trends and innovations in mobile app testing.
AI and Automation
Developers can use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for mobile app testing to improve test coverage, efficiency, and QoS. AI-powered testing tools and frameworks can learn from user behavior, identify patterns, and predict critical issues.
Continuous Testing
Integrating mobile testing into the continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline can make faster and more reliable releases. Continuous testing helps document every release of the development process.
It facilitates strong integration of the development teams with the testing teams in a company. All team members are notified when a contribution is made upstream, and the related processes are triggered. So, it introduces clarity and accountability in a slow-developing environment.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Testing
To cope with technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in mobile application development, the testing processes and test cases should be designed to meet the technological complexities involved in the applications. Many issues like non-standard interfaces, 3D space, motion testing, and legal requirements are involved in testing these complex applications. However, because of the rapid evolution of technology, testing AR/VR applications is expected to be easily possible.
Security Testing
Security testing is an important part of mobile app testing, which deals with analyzing and mitigating security issues in a mobile application. It aims to check whether the developed software is safe from malicious attacks, unauthorized access, and data breaches.
Nowadays, MAST solutions are rapidly evolving to test the security of mobile applications.
The ultimate aim of MAST is to identify critical security vulnerabilities in mobile apps. MAST tools typically use vulnerability scanning and penetration testing techniques to improve the mobile app testing process.
Performance Testing
Mobile app testing processes in controlled settings don’t give a reliable idea of how well they’ll work in the real world. According to recent statistics on mobile app testing, 61% of users who encounter problems with an app don’t return to it. To know about a mobile app’s true performance, evaluating it in real-world scenarios is crucial.
Tools are now equipping themselves by gaining the potential to perform with the following parameters:
- Network Conditions and Latency
- Evaluating the app’s response to disruptions
- Ensuring compatibility across devices
- Adapting to new OS updates and features
IoT Mobile Integration
An IoT mobile app is software that enables users to access IoT devices and serves as a hotspot. IoT mobile app testing checks an IoT system’s performance, efficiency, and safety. It covers performance and security testing and checks protocols, gateways, etc. This testing has become popular since the enormous rise of IoT mobile applications.
User Experience Testing
User Experience testing deals with testing the mobile application’s user interface and user experience architecture. Mobile app testing should involve user experience testing to assess parameters like ease of usability, visibility, and navigation. Even though this testing was found recently, it has become an essential step in the entire testing process.
Shift-left Testing
Shift-left testing is a trending testing method that is getting popular. The testing process is shifted from the right side of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) process to the left. Instead of performing mobile app testing at the last stage of deployment, this type of testing emphasizes starting testing at the early stage of construction.
Now, let us see how Appium is believed to be the best tool for futuristic purposes in mobile app testing. As discussed, Appium has many features that will enrich the software development lifecycle. In the next section, let us see how Appium is performant in handling complex scenarios by discussing its profound features.
Appium for Mobile Testing: The Potential Trends and Innovations
There are various benefits in testing the mobile application before the deployment. Appium stands as the best mobile app testing tool that can revolutionize the mobile application development industry.
Cloud-Based Testing services:
Appium can easily connect with cloud-testing platforms like LambdaTest that help in mobile app testing. LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration platform that facilitates manual and automated testing across 3000+ environments. Its comprehensive features include real-time testing and automation testing capabilities, providing a robust solution for cross-browser and cross-platform testing.
With support for over 3000 environments, LambdaTest facilitates cross-platform and cross-browser testing. This ensures that applications are thoroughly tested against browsers, browser versions, and operating systems. Whether Chrome, Firefox, Safari browser testing, Internet Explorer or a range of mobile devices, LambdaTest enables comprehensive testing to identify and address compatibility issues, ultimately delivering a seamless user experience across diverse user environments.
In summary, LambdaTest’s AI-powered test orchestration platform is a robust solution that combines real-time testing, automation capabilities, and extensive cross-environment support to meet the complex testing needs of modern applications. It empowers organizations to elevate the quality of their software by identifying and addressing issues efficiently, ultimately contributing to the delivery of high-performance applications to end-users.
Device matrix
A device matrix is a collection of multiple devices and their specialization, which helps the application test them. Developers use a device matrix to list the OS versions suitable for the mobile application.
The device matrix is used to plan and organize the mobile app testing. It contains the following records of the device Manufacturer, Model name, Screen size, Resolution, and other basic details about the device. Devices with similar specifications are grouped to reduce testing time.
Parallel Execution
Appium supports automation mobile app testing frameworks like TestNG for parallel execution. TestNG allows parallel execution on different levels. During the parallel execution, the mobile application is tested on multiple devices simultaneously. This execution will identify the full potential of the application.
TestNG performs automated testing only on Java. TestNG summarizes all the basic testing processes along the lines of Unit, Functional, and Integration testing. Appium also generates reports for these tests.
Desired Capabilities
Desired Capabilities is a set of key-pair values encoded with JSON objects. Desired Capabilities is used to request the Appium server and automate the session. Desired capabilities in Appium
Able to identify the desired test environment for mobile app testing.
Desired capabilities contain details such as Platform name, version, Device name, and Automation names.
- Platform name: Used to specify the platform name(Android or iPhone) for which the automation session is initialized
- Platform Version: Specifies the version of the platform.
- Device name: Mention the name of the application’s mobile device or emulator version.
- Automation Names: specify the automation technology for mobile app testing (e.g., Appium).
Device Screen Orientation Testing
Device screen orientation testing will help to improve the user experience. Screen orientation checks the viewpoint of the application from both landscape and portrait because the different devices have different types of display. Screen orientation makes the application suitable for all the targeted devices.
Appium provides two methods to check the screen orientation
- By adding the capability for screen orientation before the test execution
- By using the “ScreenOrientation” method during the test execution.
Page Object Model
The Page Object Model (POM) is a design pattern for automation UI mobile app testing. The Page Object Model (POM) helps organize the code by eliminating duplicate code. It organizes the elements in the mobile application and their interactions into reusable objects. Page Object Model enhances the readability of the code and makes it easy to maintain.
POM creates reusable code that helps to test the mobile application across multiple devices with different OS. It enables a repository of objects so new elements can be added, stored, maintained, and accessed easily for reuse.
Appium Grid
The Appium Grid follows the hub-node architecture. In this type of architecture, the nodes, such as Node1, Node2, Node3, and so on, are connected to the same hub. Appium Grid’s hub is the central unit where you can add the test cases for the mobile app testing.
The Node is the Appium instance that executes the test case provided or loaded in the hub. By using this, applications started to execute simultaneously on different mobiles. Appium grid also reduces the batch processing time and makes the process less time-consuming.
Network Conditions
Appium allows connecting mobile applications with networks such as 3G and 4G and other offline and aeroplane modes. It makes sure the application performs well in any kind of network condition.
Appium Logs
The Appium server generates Appium Logs. Appium logs record all the details of the automated test session and the desired capability mentioned in the program. Those records from Appium logs help the developers to troubleshoot the error. Upon testing on multiple devices, separate logs for every mobile device. To ensure the possible errors on every targeted mobile device.
Summing up
In summary, mobile app testing is marked by advancements and innovations. Incorporating artificial intelligence and automation enhances efficiency and integration into development pipelines. The entire mechanism is shaped by continuous testing, security considerations, and addressing challenges emerging technologies like augmented and virtual reality pose.
In this context, Appium emerges as a one-stop solution for developers and testers. Its compatibility with cloud-based testing services, support for parallel execution, and flexibility through desired capabilities make it a standout choice. Appium’s proficiency in managing screen orientation testing, implementing the Page Object Model, and utilizing the Appium Grid highlights its adaptability to diverse testing demands.
The synergy between advanced testing methodologies and tools like Appium promises a future where mobile applications excel in quality, security, and user experience.
