The mobile app market is proliferating leading to fierce competition. So, we must provide the greatest experience for users to get them to keep using the app. One such way is to use testing tools to ensure that apps are always bugs-free. Sauce Labs is one of the most considered testing tools available today.
Sauce Labs is a leading cloud-based platform for automated testing of web and mobile applications.
It offers a comprehensive testing infrastructure, allowing users to run tests across many browsers, operating systems, and devices.
Advantages of Sauce Labs
- Comprehensive Testing Coverage with a wide range of web browsers and operating systems
- Real Device Testing provides access to an extensive inventory of real devices, including support for REAL device emulators and cloud devices
- Integration with CI/CD Tools enabling developers to incorporate automated testing into their development workflow.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Leverage advanced features such as automated testing with Selenium and Appium, manual testing, and real-time debugging tools.
- Detailed Reporting and Insights:
- Gain comprehensive insights into test results with detailed reports, screenshots, videos, and logs.
- Quickly identify and debug issues, enabling faster resolution and improved software quality.
Disadvantages of Sauce Labs
- It can be costly to use Sauce Labs, particularly for smaller teams or projects with tighter budgets.
- Because Sauce Labs runs in the cloud, efficient test execution requires a steady and dependable internet connection. The testing procedure and productivity may be greatly impacted by a sluggish or inconsistent internet connection.
- Sauce Labs has security protections in place, but using cloud services to test sensitive apps or data may be prohibited by stringent policies or regulations at some other enterprises.
- Some users encounter confusion and interruptions during testing.
- Lack of comprehensive reporting and customization hinders in-depth analytics.
Some checklists for Mobile Apps
A strong tool is not useful if we do not have an intelligent checklist for mobile testing.
Below is a list of common test scenarios for mobile applications. Make sure scenarios cover all the ones relevant to the app.
- Verify Installation testing: ensure that the app is easy to download, install, and configure on a variety of devices that users may use.
- Verify responsive design on different screens: The app must be easy to use and display well on different screen sizes and resolutions including flip phones, tablets, TVs, Android or iOS.
- Verify adaptability on different OS such as iOS and Android: the app must work correctly with the same functionality across platforms so that it can provide the same quality experience to all users.
- Verify adaptability on different browsers (e.g.: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, …)
- Verify app performance at different network strengths:
- Verify the app works in various network scenarios, such as low-bandwidth or high-latency settings.
- Performance testing evaluates an application’s speed, responsiveness, and flexibility across a range of scenarios: time to launch the app; review of the application with frequent keypad input; check collaborating with several apps without compromising performance; performance of the app when the battery is low or there is an error signal
- Verify application stability when: many users access at the same time; multiple users install at the same time; perform multi-tasks at the same time
- Functional testing:
- Verify sign up and sign in: users can successfully create an account and log in.
- Verify that the app sends any sign-up confirmation emails or texts, maybe accepts valid login credentials or rejects invalid ones
- Verify appropriate error messages in case of sign-up or sign-in failures.
- Analyze and verify all the functions based on the requirement
- Verify buttons, menus, and dropdowns to ensure that all interactive elements of the app work correctly and as expected
- Clicking all buttons, selecting all items from menus and dropdown lists
- Verify that the app responds appropriately to all these actions
- Push notification behavior: make sure all necessary information is displayed on the push notification
- Verify to send different types of notifications to the app
- Verify the app displays the notifications correctly
- Verify the app provides appropriate options for interacting with the notifications
- Security testing:
- Ensure the security of payment information and financial transactions
- Make sure systems are in place to prevent unauthorized access to mobile apps and user data
- Accessibility testing helps to ensure that mobile apps may be accessed and used by people with disabilities in the same manner as able-bodied individuals:
- Verify the app is easy to use for the visually impaired
- Verify the text-to-speech function works correctly
- Verify the app supports high contrast to ensure visibility
- Verify the application is built according to WCAG standards
- Interrupt Testing to ensure that the mobile app responds appropriately to interruptions:
- Verify the app when interrupting a session
- Verify the user switches applications while using the app
Conclusion
Cloud tools are handy for mobile testing. Testing apps extensively with local resources alone is quite difficult because every mobile device is different and has unique characteristics. Cloud platforms facilitate extensive mobile app testing across various manufacturers, models, operating systems, and versions by giving users access to a large number of real mobile devices and emulators/simulators.
Beyond functional testing, cloud tools also facilitate other critical testing activities like performance testing, security testing, and accessibility testing through advanced cloud-based solutions. The ability to simulate real-world user scenarios and load conditions is invaluable for ensuring application quality and reliability.
Nonetheless, excessive dependence on a particular testing technology in the absence of appropriate test cases will not yield significant benefits when it comes to mobile application testing. Thus, in addition to choosing suitable test cases and testing support tools, we also need to have a thorough understanding of the application we are testing and create a checklist appropriately.
References
- https://saucelabs.com/products/mobile-testing
- https://testsigma.com/blog/checklist-for-mobile-app-testing/
- https://www.browserstack.com/guide/mobile-app-testing-checklist
- https://saucelabs.com/resources/blog/reasons-to-consider-sauce-labs