Mobile Application Testing Process: Step-By-Step Explanation

As the internet penetration increases and smartphones become more affordable, the use of mobile applications globally also increases. Probably, there’s an application for everything nowadays – from government and banking services to fitness, learning, games, and much more. And if you are planning to add a new title to this collection, it’s still a good idea. With research and careful planning, it is possible to find the right audience for a product in no time.

There is one thing we keep emphasizing when it comes to planning. It is crucial to remember about the QA part and always count for the app testing services process in the estimates. Software testing is essential if you want to release a product that works as supposed. However, some teams rely on developers testing their code, which isn’t the best solution. Those who understand the significance of professional expertise sometimes start looking for QA resources after coding is finished, forgetting that testing can be a lengthy process.

We decided to break down the mobile app testing process to help you get a better understanding of how it goes and what happens at each stage. Hopefully, project planning will become more clear with this information.

Step 1. Discussing the details

Every partnership begins with discussing the common goals. This rule works for software testing as well. Companies contact us while they are doing research on mobile app testing providers. At this stage, you can have a call with our QA specialists. You can tell about your project and learn more about the services and solutions we offer.

Then, it will take a day or two to prepare an estimate of the project. If it meets your technical requirements, cost, and deadlines, we can move on to signing an agreement (MSA, NDA, or other documents you prefer). However, testing doesn’t always start immediately. It may take time to finish the current projects and have free testers to start working with your app. Therefore, it makes sense to start looking for a QA partner in advance.

How to Keep Up With Deadlines, or Why Planning In QA Matters

Step 2. Assigning specialists and onboarding

After the agreements are signed, we select a person (or a QA team) that will work with your mobile app. When choosing candidates for your project, we look for someone with relevant skills and domain knowledge in your niche. Clients can view portfolios and interview each person before deciding who will get to test your mobile application. Then, we will need to agree on bug tracking, communication, and project management tools. The specialists joining the project may need access to your Jira, Slack, etc.

Step 3. Defining the test scope

We can run a variety of testing activities. However, companies don’t always need the full package when it comes to testing a specific product. The essentials of mobile QA include functional, UI, compatibility, and regression testing.

• Functional testing verifies that actual software features meet the initial requirements – in other words, work as expected.
• UI testing focuses on layout and graphical elements that enable interaction with backend functionality (everything you can click).
• Compatibility testing allows learning how a mobile application works on various devices by installing it on smartphones with different software and hardware.
• Regression testing takes place after the defect fixing. It is essential to make sure that the recent changes haven’t affected the bug-free functionality.

Depending on the type of application, its complexity, target audience, and some other factors, you will need to add several other testing activities to this list. The software testing specialists will probably recommend running some of the following types of testing:

• Performance testing helps to discover the potential flaws in software performance, like slow loading, inability to withstand intense traffic, abnormal utilization of CPU, etc.
• Integration testing is a way to ensure that different parts of the application work normally together. We run this one after developers add new features.
• Accessibility testing allows us to learn if a mobile application is digitally inclusive. In other words, we check if the app is easy to use for people with different disabilities.
• Localization testing verifies that an application is adjusted for audiences in different countries by reviewing content and settings in different locales.
• Acceptance testing occurs at the final stages when we already have an app potentially ready for the release and need to learn how users feel about it.
• Security testing allows you to verify that all user data is safe and no unauthorized access is possible. It is of great importance since even entertainment apps often require and process payments, needless to mention financial and healthcare applications that deal with lots of sensitive data.
• Exploratory testing is a type of manual testing that aims to check an application without relying on pre-written cases or other documents. QA engineers rely on their experience and intuition to find defects while modeling various user paths.

Some clients come with a clear vision of the scope of services they need. The others don’t know much about software testing and QA activities. And it’s all okay. We always make sure to help you figure out the important details. Also, we recommend only those things your project needs at the moment and don’t offer something extra just for the sake of selling.

Automated Testing Process

The need for automation arises later during the project. To proceed to automated testing, an app needs to have at least some stable functionality. If you are not sure if test automation is going to benefit your project, our team can analyze the situation and say for sure.

You can read more about an effective approach to selecting test cases for automation in one of our previous posts. As for the process, test automation specialists discuss coverage with a client and prepare test scripts for the agreed functionality. With time, the AT test suite can grow or change if the product keeps developing.

User Testing

By user testing, people mean UAT, which is short for user acceptance testing. We’ve mentioned a slightly different term above – acceptance testing. There’s a slight difference between these two processes. The service we provide implies that the QA Madness team acts as a group of alpha or beta testers. Meanwhile, UAT means assembling a focus group of random target users that will interact with the application and provide feedback.

As a rule, acceptance testing by a QA company is enough to learn whether a product is ready for launch. Acting as a third party, we provide an unbiased opinion on the product quality and through careful analysis and detailed reporting share conclusions on how to improve the product.

Step 4. Defining device coverage

After discussing what to test, it is essential to finalize the list of devices that will be used during the process – on what to test. Again, a client can request specific devices the team should use or leave this decision for the QA team.

When making up this list, it is significant to choose smartphone combinations that will vary based on the following criteria:

• Device manufacturers.
• Screen sizes.
• OS and their versions.
• Browser versions.

It makes sense to test on devices and software that are popular in the target market since the dominant smartphones vary based on user geography.

How to Choose the Right Devices for Compatibility Testing

Step 5. Preparation of test artifacts

The next step is to create testing documentation, or test artifacts. The documentation helps to structure the testing process. While QA engineers have a plan and a strategy to follow, stakeholders understand the scope of work and the sequence of events better. There are several documents that can regulate the testing process.

• QA Strategy describes all the quality-related procedures that will take place during the project. It goes beyond software testing, usually including business analysis and audit as well.
• Test Plan includes all information related to the testing of a specific product – from goals and objectives to the detailed description of the testing activities that will take place.
• Test Strategy serves as a guideline for a QA team. It states the purpose of testing, lists types of testing that will be applied, environments and tools to use, and explains such important moments as the general approach, issue severity and priority, defect life cycle management, etc. It features only a part of the information provided in a Test Plan and can be included in the plan.
• Test Case describes a set of actions a QA engineer should execute to verify a particular feature. The document also features a summary of the case, preconditions, and expected and actual results.
• Checklist is a document with a brief description of the functionality that should be checked. It doesn’t describe a step-by-step procedure but rather provides summaries of all actions.

These documents help to keep the testing process well-organized. Not all of them are essential per se. We decide which to use depending on the need for testing and project particularities.

How to Write a Good Mobile App Testing Strategy

Step 6. Running tests

So the documents are ready, and the QA specialists can start scrutinizing the mobile app functionality. We have a scope of prepared test cases and set deadlines, so all that’s left to do is start checking the agreed aspects one by one. The QA specialists find, record, and track defects to provide the reports that will be helpful for the development team.

Step 7. Reporting and deliverables

The list of deliverables is discussed by the parties and stated in the test documentation. Usually, a specialist logs bugs in a project management system (Trello, Jira, etc.) or records in a document (Spreadsheets, etc.). We always discuss what would be more convenient for a client.

In addition, we can provide test reports, test cases, and checklists. You already know what checklists and test cases are (we’ve explained it when talking about the test artifacts). The final version of a checklist and test cases that will be sent to clients always includes the status of each position: passed, failed, or other options specified in the documentation.

How to Write Test Cases: a Comprehensive Guideline

As for the test reports, they summarize the results of the testing activities. Such document will feature an objective and summary, activities, and defect information. The latter specifies different aspects of a defect. For example, you can indicate how many bugs of each severity level have been detected, specify the number of defects found at each phase, and so on.

Bottom Line

After we finish mobile application testing and provide the deliverables, your development team can start working on fixing the defects. The duration of the entire testing process always varies depending on the complexity of an application and the scope of work. The only thing that remains the same is the positive outcome. Software testing isn’t the only thing that determines a product’s success after the release. However, it gives you confidence in the final product and becomes a competitive advantage for the product.