Mobile apps are now one of the essential components of our daily routine. This is because, with the help of the mobile platform, users can massively use the portable factor that comes with it. Before the introduction of this platform, app accessibility was restricted to only desktops. We can easily understand the popularity of mobile devices by considering the data, which shows that mobile users control more than 52% of online traffic.
Seeing this rising trend in mobile usage, app development companies have quickly shifted to mobile application development technologies. Various tools and technologies like Appium and DevOps help the developers in this process. With the help of continuous compliance mobile application testing, developers can massively improve the efficiency of the test cases.
This article will take a detailed look at various mobile testing technologies like Appium and DevOps. We will also understand how the developers can use the full potential of continuous mobile testing. Finally, we’ll wrap up our discussion with some of the best platforms and tools that can help developers in this process.
Understanding Appium
Appium is one of the most popular test automation tools for mobile applications. Appium allows app developers to create automation test cases in their preferred programming languages like JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and many others. After this process, the developers can easily import the test cases into the native environment of Appium. Appium also allows developers to test mobile applications for multiple platforms like Android and iOS. One of the massive advantages of this framework is that it uses the WebDriver protocol to automate mobile test cases. This means that the developers can use the same test script on multiple platforms. Moreover, it is possible to test not only native apps but also hybrid apps with Appium.
Since we are on the topic of automation testing, it is essential to develop a basic idea of this process. In simple terms, it is the process of eliminating human involvement in the application development process. To substitute it, the system will use a text file consisting of the required parameters that would help it to interact with the application like a normal user. Based on these interactions, the system can generate a test report that will show the usability and stability of the application. It is also possible for the app developers to customize the test file and include additional parameters to make the test reports customized according to their requirements. Moreover, the developers can also store and reuse the test files in future app projects.
However, app developers should also be aware of the massive disadvantage of automation testing. While implementing automation testing, the developers would have to invest a lot of resources initially. These resources will cover the expenses for various plugins, libraries, and tools critical for the smooth execution of automated test cases. We recommend the app developers have a proper idea about the returns on investment and possible business ventures to understand whether they are ready for the transition.
Creating An Idea for DevOps
DevOps is a component of agile methodologies and comes under the category of modern application development practices. With the inclusion of DevOps, developing companies can improve the collaboration and synchronization between the development and testing teams. This process will ensure a faster software delivery cycle. The primary motive of DevOps is to initiate and execute the development and testing processes side by side. This means that as soon as a code is introduced in the application test bench or modified, the testing teams can quickly initiate the test cases and forward the final application to the production phase. DevOps promote application testing technologies like continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous testing, and automation testing to ensure healthy app development practices.
With the help of this technology, the developers can also improve the coordination between various teams of a company to ensure that all the issues in the application are detected and removed at an early stage.
Best Practices for Continuous Mobile Testing
To utilize the full potential of continuous testing on mobile applications, the developers must be aware of all the best practices in this segment. To ensure clarity, we have conducted extensive research on this market. Based on our findings, the best practices for continuous mobile testing are as follows:
- The developers need to have access to a mobile testing lab. This lab will consist of physical copies of multiple devices where the developers can execute the test cases. This is because simulation software cannot portray the behavior of an application based on various physical parameters. For example, an emulator cannot show how a website will react when a device has a low battery, a broken display, or suffers from a user input error. However, developers must remember that maintaining a physical lab is expensive and hectic. The easiest substitute for this is the use of cloud testing platforms. We will learn more about this in the later part of this article.
- Automation testing has a massive role in improving the app’s quality and the developers’ mental satisfaction. The integration of test automation with mobile testing can introduce continuous testing practices. This is because, with the help of test automation, the developers can automatically conduct repetitive test cases. The developers can, in turn, use this extra time to focus on other creative features that they can introduce in a future update of the app.
- To utilize the full potential of continuous testing, the developers must also introduce continuous integration. The practice of continuous integration involves sharing the basic code of the application in a repository. With this practice, the system can automatically initiate the test cases whenever it detects a critical code change in the application. It is an effective process to understand whether any new feature harms the performance and the stability of the old application elements. This is a vital factor for certain elements that undergo a frequent updating process. With the help of continuous integration, the developers can also ensure that the application is always in a deployable state and prevents any unnecessary delay.
- To cope with the requirements of modern app development practices, the developers must introduce cloud-based testing. With the help of cloud-based testing, the developers can remove multiple limitations on the app development project. For instance, cloud testing removes location barriers and helps developers to run test cases from anywhere in the world. The cloud servers also have access to multiple device specifications, versions, and hardware that is no longer available in the market. It is a crucial feature as market surveys revealed that a huge segment of the user base does not frequently update their devices.
- App development companies need to have sufficient technologies for monitoring the application currently undergoing development. This is because the app monitoring process will not only help the app developers to create an activity log but also maintain the stability of the project. With the help of an activity log, the entire team of the company consisting of development, testing, and even production members, will have a basic idea about the current status of the application. This feature will also help the app companies to create a coordinated effort toward the app development process. Continuous monitoring will also help the developing and testing teams remove any critical bugs or errors early in the app testing lifecycle.
Role of Platforms and Tools in Continuous Mobile Testing
Various tools and platforms help developers simplify continuous mobile testing and the complexity of automation testing as a whole. These tools and platforms are readily available in the market. We can consider the example of cloud platforms that help developers to get over the headache and hassle of having an onsite device lab. This is because while using these platforms, app developers can achieve similar test results by conducting the test cases over the Internet. Moreover, these platforms also remove location barriers and help developers to initiate test cases from anywhere around the globe. We can improve our knowledge about the influence of cloud platforms by moving our focus towards LambdaTest as our benchmark:
For the initial introduction to new developers, LambdaTest is a unified intelligent digital experience testing platform that allows developers and testers to execute cross-browser test cases on complex web apps. The present app development industry considers automated cross-browser testing as the industry standard for ensuring the best app performance. This is because, with cross-browser test cases, the developers can provide stable performance of the application irrespective of the user’s change in the operating system, device specifications, or browser version.
LambdaTest also offers various advanced features like parallel test execution to improve the test efficiency by almost 15 times. With LambdaTest, we can initiate test cases from well-known automation frameworks like Playwright, Selenium, and Cypress. It is noteworthy that while working with selenium test cases, the developers can run them on more than 3000+ modern browsers and OS combinations.
This platform can also verify the application’s performance on certain browser versions that are no longer available in the market. LambdaTest can also ensure the stability of locally hosted web apps used for a company’s internal operations. Finally, the inclusion of multiple real devices consisting of thousands of emulations and simulation software helps to improve the dependability of the final Test results.
Conclusion
With this article, we wanted to spread proper awareness regarding the healthy execution of continuous mobile testing. Experts believe that the influence of mobile platforms and portability will continue to rise in the coming years. Appium and DevOps are essential entities in the modern mobile app development market. Moreover, it is also necessary to consider automation testing as one of the vital supporting pillars of the modern application development industry.
We advise the app developers and testers to keep their knowledge up to date regarding all the new additions and introductions in this segment. We should also consider the critical role of multiple platforms and tools in the proper execution of an application development lifecycle. Lastly, app companies have a critical role as they can conduct frequent awareness campaigns to spread the required knowledge about healthy automation testing practices. For more information visit this site https://techbattel.com/.
