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In the fast-paced world of today, users are generally intolerant of applications with software issues, especially with regards to speed and quality, as per a survey report from Dimensional Research. It is denoted in the same report that users generally tend to discard the application after just a few mishaps or occurrences. The survey results also indicated that user expectations are quite high in terms of speed and quality, as around 61 % of the customers expect their mobile application to start in less than 4 seconds, while almost 49 % of the users expect the application to take only 2 seconds or less to respond. It is implied that any behaviour that deviates from these expectations would have a detrimental impact on the sustainability of the application on the users’ choice list. The insights derived from the report were indicative of the fact that given the high competition in the market for applications, users are highly impatient when it comes to the responsiveness of the applications. Around 80 % of customers usually only give the app 3 or less chances if they encounter any performance or usability issues, however, in case of more severe issues like crashing or freezing, 53 % of the users tend to uninstall or delete the application altogether. The results also posited that 36 % of users are less likely to use the application and might even remove it if it was not battery-efficient. More often than not, if the users experience any performance or stability issues, they hold the application or company responsible for the errors, irrespective of the actual cause. This means that the companies are at a high risk of losing loyal customers because of poor quality or low speed of the app. Hence, it is of utmost importance for the mobile application testing companies to define and generate metrics for the app that are measured from the point of view of the customers and not just technical elements to ascertain that it fulfills the necessary requirements and meets the expectations of the users.

Role of Mobile Application Testing in Enhancing the Quality Assurance Process

Gone are the days when mobile phones were used for utilitarian purposes, instead they have slowly evolved into smartphones that not only cater to all our needs but they in some cases they are also able to predict our needs. Even if a company has the most experienced developers and quality assurance team as their disposal, there is still a chance for performance or responsiveness issues to slip through the cracks. Delivering a successful application does beyond timely completion of development phases and impeccable code base, one of the most important aspects that companies need to take into account is user experience. Therefore, a mobile application testing company is essential for the speed, reliability, performance, and seamless user experience of the application.

Some of the main requirements for the mobile application testing companies in the era of the Internet of Things and connected devices include;

The emergence of new technologies – it is important for the mobile application today to be completely in sync with connected devices like smartwatches, home appliances, smart cars, etc.

Localization and Geo-awareness – the application experience should not be limited to a certain audience or a geographic location, lieu it should be relevant to users across the globe

Shorter release cycles and reduced time to market – In an industry where continuous improvement of testing processes and continuous integration is quickly becoming the norm, it is crucial for the mobile application testing companies to keep up with the shorter sprints and release cycles.  

Customizations for users – with companies churning out applications in the market faster than ever, customer expectations are reaching sky high. This means that personalization of the application as per user needs is one of the few differentiating factors for the software development companies.

Fragmentation of devices – there are millions of different devices that are floating around in the global market, along with various different networks and operating systems. Thus, the quality assurance and the development teams have to ensure that not only does the application perform seamlessly on all devices, but that it is able to keep up with the new system yet function properly on older versions as well.

Use cases for outliers or unexpected customer behaviour – delivering a defect-free and high-quality application to the consumers on time means that proper, representative use cases for the expected customer behaviours have to be defined. This means that the testers have to take the outliers and even the unexpected user behaviour into account as well while generation use cases.

Types of Mobile Application Testing

Devising a robust testing strategy for quality mobile applications largely includes the development of a test plan which is based on the understanding of requirements and features. There are four basic areas of testing that are integral to the successful release of the application;

Functional testing – the goal of this testing phase is to make sure that the app does not deviate from the basic requirements of functionality. Mobile application testing companies check for certain scenarios like ensuring that there are no glitches in the signup or login process or that the app is able to launch and install without any hiccups.

Edge case testing – Edge case testing stage tests for the outlier scenarios or cases that rise under extreme operating conditions. This type of testing identifies vulnerabilities in the system and tends to isolate the risks as well.

Usability testing and user acceptance testing – the intuitiveness and the ease of use for the application is tested in this stage, especially the user-friendliness. This testing area revolves around the user experience and derives insights from the reported bugs in order to improve the overall customer experience.

Performance testing – the testing team uses this testing stage to determine how well the application is able to perform under varying loads and different environmental conditions to make sure that the app does not malfunction after it has been released.