The Guide That’ll Make You Excited About Running Android UI Testing

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A flimsy UI doesn’t lead to customer frustration, negative reviews, and high churn. When people encounter a sub-par interface, they just move on. They won’t waste time and energy on interacting with a project in any way. So, while in life we try to control our first impressions, in software, they’re everything.

In fact, UI/UX issues are top-of-the-list reasons for deleting an application. That’s why every company making an Android app deserves utmost respect (and gentle condolences). They have to meet strict user expectations. And they must navigate the insanely diverse technical landscape of the little green man’s OS.

Today, we talk about doing all this with grace and in a way that makes users go heart-eyed.

Android UI Testing Fundamentals

User interface testing isn’t about looks. It focuses on bringing value through visual appeal. Consider a common registration form where a person needs to input their email and password. Two fields signed “Enter email” and “Enter password” would suffice from a technical POV. But what could they offer a user?

Clarity could be achieved by explaining how an email address should look (e.g., an example) and what password should include (e.g., special characters, length, etc.).
Ease-of-use can be secured by providing concise explanations for when something goes wrong (e.g., inappropriate password).
Trust can be fostered by offering multiple security options.
Support should be given by establishing simple navigation and assistive tech compatibility.

These are just a few aspects that should always stand behind a “pretty face.” So, the goal of UI testing services is to ensure functionality and usability within visual components. And given that most users give apps two tries maximum to impress them, your QA team should be at its finest.

Focus Points in UI Testing for Android

Android offers its consumers better flexibility. That is its greatest advantage and curse. Android app development is more intricate and often requires more QA resources. But people don’t really care what’s going on behind the scenes. They care about:

Functionality and speed.
Ease of navigation and intuitive design.
Customizability and personalization.
Security and privacy.
Consistency across devices.

So, when testing UI for Android, your team should prioritize the following:

Layout. An app’s grid must be logical yet adaptive to various environments. That’s why the majority of customers prioritize easy navigation.
Responsiveness. 70% of users abandon applications with long loading times. Hence, your product’s speed and performance should be top-notch.
Consistency. Non-adaptable design is the second most common reason for people leaving a platform. For Android, testing UI must ensure visual stability across devices.
Accessibility. Most digital services have issues with minimal accessibility compliance. Given that over half of users leave an app they find difficult to use, your UI should consider customers with diverse needs.
Usability. People prefer mobile services due to their ease of use and convenience. And if you’re taking these aspects away from them, they’ll just switch to another app.

These are five components of our Android app testing services. And we’d suggest remember and prioritize them in your UI tests as well.

Approaches to UI Testing in Android

Android defines two kinds of UI tests:

Behavior testing focuses on how the UI elements respond to user actions. It checks an app’s functionality and usability.
Screenshot testing centers on visual accuracy. it validates that the app looks as you intend it to across devices.

This categorization is specific to the Android ecosystem. It’s also closely tied to its testing environments and tools, Espresso Android UI testing, for example. Given that the OS powers over 24,000 distinct devices, such a division serves as a simplified approach to QA services. You check the visuals and the functions behind them – that’s it.

Different types of UI tests, such as functional, usability, cross-browser, etc., are still included. They’re just neatly divided between the two approaches.

The Aftermath of Underestimating Android UI Testing

Android is known for its objectively worse UI. iOS offers cleaner interfaces because they’re easier to achieve with fewer devices. But don’t let yourself fall into the trap of “it’s good enough.” Though Android users may be somewhat used to wobbly UI, it doesn’t mean they have to settle for it.

Delegating mobile application testing services to a professional QA company can set you apart, making your excellence the new norm. Neglecting UI testing for Android, on the other hand, can turn your app into another mediocre project. And that’s the best-case scenario.

Weak UX. Unresponsive, confusing interfaces prompt user frustration and app abandonment.
Inconsistent behavior. Unstable UI makes the app look unfinished, limits feature accessibility, and curbs usability.
Higher bug frequency. Users are more likely to find defects, increasing post-production work and support expenses.
Security vulnerabilities. Unprotected input fields, inconsistent error messages, unclear security prompts, etc., put your product and customers at risk.
Reputation damage. People see subpar UI as unprofessional and untrustworthy. You’ll find it much harder to retain and acquire clients.

UI testing is among the few software QA services that are about more than one aspect. It seeks the balance between good looks and functionality. On the one hand, you have the aesthetic-usability effect. People perceive a well-designed app as superior, even if it has some flaws. On the other hand, customers are more forgiving of UI mishaps if the functionality is decent.

But instead of leaning towards one or the other, why not secure fine performance for both elements? People won’t feel like they have to choose between good-looking and useful. And this could be your app’s advantage.

Special Traits of Android UI Testing

Mobile app testing has some universal rules. But UI testing Android applications offers some unique challenges. It’s nothing scary or exceptionally difficult. Don’t worry. There are just a few things you need to be ready for.

Android runs on a (very) vast range of devices with different screen sizes and hardware.
The OS versions are extensive, too. Plus, users often delay updating them.
Android’s modular UI calls for testing its elements in isolation and combined.
Like most devices, Android relies on touch interactions and gestures. But the amount and diversity of people using them is a lot higher. You’re likely to spend more time testing this to secure usability and accessibility.
The same can be said for Android’s screen rotation and multitasking. Checking your app’s adaptability to different screen formats will be another challenge.
Many UI elements depend on permissions (like camera or location access). Without them, multiple functionalities just won’t work.
UI behavior often changes based on network conditions. So, you’ll have to test under ideal as well as terrible connectivity.
Android’s frequent updates mean UIs need quick yet thorough testing to keep your app up-to-date.
With all of the above, it’s clear that Android UI testing requires specialized knowledge. And finding knowledgeable talent is rather tricky right now.

Overall, make sure you have the resources and specialists needed to deliver a high-quality project. Android apps typically require more time and infrastructure expenses, as well as precise skills.

Choosing a Testing Method For Android Apps

Given that Android UI testing is rather resource-intensive, you ought to structure your QA processes accordingly. The key is to fit within your timelines and budget without compromising quality. Here’s how you can navigate various testing methods to achieve that.

Manual software testing for Android is time-consuming. But it’s also irreplaceable for refining your app and checking aspects that automation can’t handle (e.g., usability or accessibility). So, you can use manual QA when:

Validating intricate or dynamic interactions that require human judgment.
Evaluating the overall UX, such as ease of navigation, intuitive design, and visual appeal.
Checking for visual consistency, design issues, or pixel-perfect UI elements.
Testing new features or those in the prototyping stage.
Working with features or edge cases that are only tested occasionally or are specific to certain versions of the app.
Performing exploratory testing.
The app undergoes frequent UI updates (e.g., color schemes, layouts, or text changes).

Android UI automation testing is much faster and often more accurate. But it can’t cover your app completely and requires a lot of preparation and maintenance. That’s why it’s better suited for:

Long-term, stable cases.
Testing the same features or workflows across different devices, screen sizes, or OS versions.
Ensuring that new changes or updates do not break existing functionality (regression).
Working with a wide range of devices with varying screen sizes, resolutions, and configurations.
Running performance tests, such as load testing, stress testing, and battery usage tests.
Checking how the app behaves with various inputs.
Validating app compatibility across different versions of Android.
Large numbers of test cases or complex workflows.

Finally, general testing combines the previous two methods. It works by assigning one specialist to deal with manual and automated testing. Such an expert, of course, is proficient at either, offers more flexibility to your QA processes. They can take on tasks based on your workload and needs. Yet, they can’t handle everything on their own. Consider general testing for:

Smaller teams or startups with tight budgets.
Products with evolving requirements, scope, and complexity.
Adding specific expertise to an existing team.
Projects that need quick turnaround times or frequent releases (e.g., agile environments).
Short-term, pilot, and MVP projects.

Speaking from experience, we often see that leaning towards one method isn’t enough. What’s more, it can also be dangerous. For instance, prioritizing Android automated UI testing can make the team overlook certain aspects within an app. Software can’t really assess the ease of navigation and visual appeal or uncover unexpected behaviors.

Manual QA’s quality depends on an engineer’s skills. And general testing might not be a good fit for everyone. That’s why, in many cases, it’s better to mix and match. Strategically.

Test Coverage in UI Testing for Android

The one thing all teams should remember about test coverage is that it’s impossible to do 100% of it. It’s expensive, time-consuming, resource intensive, and mentally straining. But it doesn’t mean that your app won’t be stellar. You simply should secure the main Android UI testing aspects.

Core UI Components

Test all menus, buttons, lists, and input fields for functionality and responsiveness.
Verify visual performance (load times, smooth transitions) of core UI components.
Check for design consistency across all UI components (alignment, spacing, and styles).

Color & Theme

Test color accuracy and design in both standard and dark modes.
Ensure UI components remain visible and legible in both light and dark themes.
Check for consistent color schemes across various settings (ensuring no color contrast issues).

User Flows

Validate all user journeys (e.g., login, checkout) for intuitive, smooth navigation.
Test user flows for any UI interruptions or inconsistencies (e.g., unexpected loading screens).
Ensure navigation across each step of user flows is seamless and logical.

Screen Resolutions & Sizes

Verify layout adaptability to different screen sizes and resolutions.
Ensure UI readability and usability across various screen dimensions.
Check that UI elements scale proportionally on all devices and resolutions.

Screen Orientation

Test transitions between portrait and landscape modes.
Verify that UI components adjust correctly (e.g., no overlap, proper resizing) upon rotation.
Check for any display issues or lag during orientation changes.

Gestures & Interactions

Test tap, swipe, pinch, and other gestures across different devices.
Verify responsiveness and accuracy of UI gestures.
Ensure interactions feel smooth and intuitive, with correct UI feedback.

Error Handling

Test input validation (e.g., format checks, required fields) with clear UI prompts.
Verify that error messages display appropriately near the affected UI element.
Check for visual feedback on errors, ensuring users understand what went wrong.

Edge Cases

Test app behavior in low battery mode for any UI impact (e.g., reduced animations).
Verify UI stability during interruptions like incoming calls or notifications.
Simulate resource-limited scenarios to ensure UI remains responsive.

Accessibility

Ensure text size adjusts according to system-wide settings.
Verify compatibility with screen readers and that important UI elements are accessible.
Check color contrast and legibility to support visually impaired users.

Navigation

Test navigation between screens and sections for a logical, smooth flow.
Verify back and forward gestures lead to the correct screens.
Ensure links and buttons are intuitive and functional, leading users correctly.

Network Conditions

Test UI behavior on Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G, and offline mode (loading spinners, error messages).
Verify data handling UI elements under unstable connections (e.g., error dialogs).
Check for user notifications in the UI to indicate connectivity status.

Different Locales

Verify UI layout consistency in various languages.
Check that text expansion in languages like German or Arabic does not affect alignment.
Ensure localized formats (dates, times, currency) are displayed correctly.

Keep refining your UI. But don’t get in over your head. After all, user interfaces aren’t the only thing you’ll be working with.

Android Diversity & Its Impact on UI Testing

The amount of devices within the Android ecosystem presents another challenge to the teams – infrastructure. Specifically, you need to decide what environments you’ll be testing on.

Virtual Devices

Emulators simulate Android devices on a computer. So, you can test an app on multiple versions and screen sizes without physical devices.

Pros:

Cost-effective with no hardware investment.
Fast access to multiple Android versions and device configurations.
Great for testing UI layout, app responsiveness, and behavior in simulated environments.

Cons:

Limited performance accuracy compared to real devices (e.g., slower, different processing power).
Can’t fully simulate certain hardware features like sensors, battery performance, or network variability.

Device Clouds

Device clouds provide access to a large number of virtual and real devices hosted remotely. In other words, you don’t have to own each device to test on it.

Pros:

Access to a wide variety of devices, OS versions, and screen sizes on-demand.
Simulates real-world scenarios more accurately than emulators, especially with real-device clouds.
Scalable, allowing tests on multiple devices concurrently.

Cons:

Subscription costs can be high, especially for extensive usage.
Potential for latency, as tests are run remotely.
Limited access to certain device-specific features (varies by provider and configuration).

Real Devices

Testing on physical devices provides the most accurate results. Yet, it’s often impractical for Android UI testing due to the number of potential environments.

Pros:

Full access to actual hardware features (e.g., camera, GPS, fingerprint sensor).
Accurate representation of performance, usability, and battery impact.
Best for detecting UI issues like layout inconsistencies, lag, and hardware-specific bugs.

Cons:

Costly to maintain a collection of physical devices.
Time-consuming as tests must be run sequentially or with multiple devices.
Limited flexibility in terms of available OS versions, as devices can’t be easily updated or downgraded.

All these benefits and drawbacks can make settling on one of the options tricky. That’s why companies often go for a hybrid approach. This calls for a strategy that clearly defines what and how to test. We can’t offer precise insights here, as your mix of devices depends on your project.

For now, here are some tips on when it’s better to use each tactic.

Emulators are excellent for quick iterations in the early development phase. You can catch straightforward UI issues early without needing physical devices.
Device cloud suits middle and late testing stages. During these, scalability is required for compatibility checks across devices, screen sizes, and OS versions.
Real devices are best for the end stages of development before deployment. With them, you can verify that the app performs well in real environments, focusing on user-critical aspects.

You can also outsource real device testing to a QA company as they’re arguably the most difficult to work with. For example, QA Madness has a large bank of real devices that is continuously updated. We also use device cloud services like BrowserStack to power up the testing and extend coverage.

So, if at any point you feel like Android UI testing is a bit too much for you, don’t overlook QA outsource. It can be difficult to delegate a part of your work to someone else. That’s natural. But it’s better to spend some time researching a good QA partner and let them take care of testing than compromise the quality of your app.

Automated UI Testing for Android

UI automation testing in Android projects is a must-have. Realistically, it would be impossible to cover the entire ecosystem manually. Plus, automated tests offer QA-boosting perks, letting you:

Run tests much faster, especially useful for repeated scenarios across multiple devices.
Ensure the same actions are performed each time, reducing human error.
Shorten the feedback loop.
Simplify the work with Android’s countless devices, screen sizes, and OS versions.
Reduce long-term testing costs by minimizing manual effort and time spent on repetitive tasks.
Handle complex scenarios and edge cases more consistently, improving overall test coverage.
Support continuous integration and delivery workflows.
Unload the team and let them focus on more intricate tasks.

All in all, you should definitely set up automation (if you can and want, of course). But you also need to consider where to apply it so it brings value.

Limitations of Automated Testing

That’s right. Automation isn’t “better” than manual QA. It simply has different purposes. And there are quite a few things it isn’t equipped to deal with. Generally, automated tests:

Struggle with nuanced visual aspects, such as user interface “look and feel” and visual coherence across screens.
Cannot measure subjective user experience elements such as intuitiveness, ease of use, or emotional response.
Can be highly sensitive to UI changes. Even minor adjustments may require significant test updates.
Cannot mimic unexpected, exploratory actions that real users might take.
May overlook unique, device-specific behaviors that arise in real-world conditions.
Have trouble with intricate or multi-touch gestures.
Can break when they encounter unexpected errors or changes. They don’t adapt dynamically to recover or investigate errors.
Have limitations in thoroughly checking for accessibility compliance.

So, when working with Android UI automation testing tools, you ought to select suitable cases. Pick those that automation can handle gracefully. And focus on scenarios with few or no dependencies. This will improve testing stability, simplify maintenance, and streamline debugging.

UI Testing Tools for Android

Now, let’s discuss the tools themselves. There are many options. And you’re definitely not limited to using established approaches like Android studio UI testing.

Espresso is Google’s official UI testing framework for Android. It’s ideal for testing native Android apps. And it integrates with Android Studio and provides a robust API for interacting with UI elements.
UI Automator is designed for testing UI elements across different apps. The tool is particularly useful for testing system-level interactions and accessibility features. UI Automator also provides a powerful API for simulating user interactions.
Appium is a versatile framework for testing native, hybrid, and web apps on both Android and iOS platforms. It allows you to write tests in various programming languages. And it’s well-suited for cross-platform testing and complex UI interactions.
Robotium is a simple and easy-to-use framework for functional testing of Android apps. It’s perfect for writing straightforward tests quickly.
Calabash is a behavior-driven development framework that uses a domain-specific language for writing tests. It presents a higher-level abstraction for interacting with UI elements.
Selendroid is an open-source test automation framework for Android native and hybrid apps. It supports testing on real devices and emulators. Plus, it offers features like parallel testing and integration with Selenium Grid.
Nightwatch.js is an end-to-end testing framework for web and mobile apps. It also supports testing on real devices, emulators, and simulators. Nightwatch.js also supplies a rich set of APIs for interacting with UI elements.Take your time when settling on Android UI testing frameworks and tools. You may feel tempted to go for the most popular or praised options. But their recognition doesn’t automatically make them good variants for you.

Consider whether the Android UI testing tools cover your project’s needs, suit your team’s expertise, and can scale as you need them to.

Best Practices for Android UI Testing

The quality of UI testing for Android depends on the level of your team’s expertise. Whether you’re working with an in-house crew or plan to outsource, make sure the specialists are genuinely proficient in Android’s particularities. For now, here are a few tips from the QA Madness’ professionals.

Document test objectives, cases, and procedures to maintain consistency across processes and teams.
Test the UI on various Android devices, screen sizes, and versions for sufficient coverage.
But don’t overdo it. Select environments that represent the majority of your user base to avoid wasting resources.
Use a mix of real devices to catch hardware-specific issues and cloud platforms to quickly test on a wide range of devices.
Test your app under realistic conditions, such as varying network speeds or battery levels.
Include comprehensive bug reports with visual aids like screenshots or videos for precise problem-solving.
Hire skilled experts, especially automated quality assurance engineers. Their expertise will optimize automation, improve test coverage, and ensure high-quality execution.

In the end, the most useful piece of advice we can offer is to surround yourself with people who know and love what they’re doing. Fine skills will make a high-quality app. And passion will make users fall head over heels with it.

Android UI Testing Beyond Mobile Devices

Lastly, don’t forget that Android is far more than just smartphones. If you plan to adapt your app to other devices, consider how each is used by people.

Tablets and foldables need UI adjustments for larger screens, different aspect ratios, and foldable layouts.
Wearables call for simplified UIs and minimalistic designs to fit small grids.
Automotive displays need optimization for interaction simplicity and minimal distractions.
IoT devices require testing how your app controls and displays on gadgets with unique layouts and interaction patterns.
AR/VR headsets demand UIs designed for immersive experiences, with clear visibility in 3D environments and interactions that work with head gestures, controllers, or eye-tracking.

There are also consoles, vending machines, kitchen devices, in-car infotainment, etc., powered by Android. And each of them has specific UI needs. If those are a part of the overall experience you provide, make sure you understand what people want and expect from their UI.

To Sum Up

People know Android for its lack of optimization. Developers and QA engineers know it as a pain to work with. So, be the change you want to see. Show users and teams that pristine apps are a reality. They just need some extra care. And the QA Madness crew can definitely offer that to your project.

Daria Halynska