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    40 views8 pages

    Belatrix Mobile Testing Best Practicesv01

    Uploaded by

    Danish Khan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    of 8

    BELATRIX SOFTWARE

    Mobile QA & Testing Best Practices

    Summary:
    Software testing of mobile applications uses a lot of the same QA & Testing
    practices typically used for other software applications. However, there are
    important distinctions that can define how successful the mobile application is
    ultimately. This whitepaper discusses some of best practices in developing and
    performing Quality Assurance on Mobile Applications and outlines strategies for
    addressing specific aspects of the testing process.

    Introduction
    The demand for mobility shows now signs of slowing fueled by both consumer
    and enterprise appetites for mobile applications. That brings up not only the need
    to create apps but to test them, and ensure that they run on an increasing array
    of platforms and devices.
    While many of the typical Software QA practices also apply to performing QA &
    Testing on mobile applications, the reality is that mobile applications are quite
    different in some critical ways. Mobile Applications therefore require some
    special considerations.

    Belatrix Software is a leading Software Services Outsourcing company with


    its main offices and delivery centers based in Mendoza, Argentina and Lima,
    Peru. We provide Software Development, Quality Assurance, Localization and
    Graphics Design Services using the “Agile Near-Shore Model”.
    How and Where to Test
    It’s important to test the application using the actual device model(s) on which
    the application will run. This ensures a good level of coverage and also guarantees
    that the results of the tests will be much more realistic. Only by having the exact
    device and model can you be 100% sure that the application will compatible and
    behave the way it’s intended to behave. For example, in the case of iPhone, you
    cannot go back in versions unless you have the same hardware model multiplied
    by the number of software versions you want to support. This can get extremely
    complex and very expensive very quickly.
    While helpful for initial testing, none of the alternatives such as emulators,
    simulators, are 100% reliable. That’s true even for emulators / simulators that
    come with the official SDKs. It’s not uncommon for companies to want to target
    all existing devices. However, that’s unrealistic given the actual cost of sourcing,
    managing and maintaining all the physical devices.
    The only realistic approach is to select a list of devices that your company will
    ensure compatibility combined with a well-managed user Beta testing program.
    Aside from assigning resources to focus on the most critical devices, the only cost-
    effective approach to addressing the other field of devices is to engage groups of
    Beta testers. These Beta groups test the application on their devices and report
    any issues or incompatibilities. This will result in a compatibility database that can
    be used to adapt or fix the application as necessary.
    Another important best practice is that companies should, if at all possible, avoid
    supporting devices or operating systems that the manufacturers or vendors no
    longer support. Trying to test on unsupported devices and O.S. versions increases
    costs exponentially.

    Good mobile testing practices


    Ensure that you have access to all physical devices on which the
    application run (Not just emulators or simulators)
    Consider the additional time and/or personnel needed to test all the
    application's modules on all the devices.
    Have an explicit list of devices on which QA will be performed. Basically
    this means that the company is committing to supporting certain devices
    and Operating Systems on which the application will perform as designed.
    The users will be informed that even though the application might work
    on other devices, the company will not be held responsible for
    unexpected issues. This is the approach taken by most leading vendors
    today, including for example, Skype.
    Implement a mixed strategy when you have a scenario where you do not
    have all the possible devices and therefore cannot do exhaustive testing
    on each: Use an emulator on the early stages of app development. Keep
    adding real devices into the testing later down the development cycle.
    This way you can certify that all the requirements and goals are being
    covered.

    Interface Testing
    Validation of buttons, text inputs, labels, etc.
    Validate each screen in a comprehensive manner (does it do what it is
    supposed to do?)
    Validate navigation flow (i.e. from the list of restaurants screen, can I
    access bookmarks?)
    What happens when you change

    Usability
    Is it easy to navigate between screens or does it require weird steps?
    Does it show user redundant information or low value information?
    Can it display text properly, in the language selected?
    ALL (repeat, ALL) user interactions with the system should generate some
    kind of feedback!
    Clicks on buttons
    Calls over the Internet
    Any potentially slow operation: always assume the worst case!
    Verification of the functionality OFFLINE / ONLINE. Does the user lose
    information that is sent to a server while in a non-coverage area?
    Performance

    This is one of the most important factors to verify when developing Mobile apps.
    Users will not accept apps that take too long to load or perform simple actions.
    Load and performance testing is a must on Mobile testing. Here are some topics
    to consider before writing the test plan:
    What if the connection to a server is over 3G instead of WiFi? What about
    2G?
    What about when to send / receive much information from a Web
    service?
    Are the images used the "right" size?
    Optimize: redundant code => CPU cycles => + battery consumption =>
    unhappy users
    Does the App comply with the response times required by users?
    Are there memory leaks?
    Are all resources being freed (GPS, camera)?
    Do you have any tool for running Load tests? (There are several options
    on the market that could help a lot).

    Security

    Any sensitive data being sent or received must be encoded: Encryption +


    Authentication (HMAC-SHA)
    Consider potential detection of areas in the app that could receive
    malicious information. Corollary: the server is not necessarily our friend.
    Do not assume good behavior: the world is evil, cruel and vile!
    Any file you saved in the application can reach the hands of unintended
    third parties.
    Multiuser support without interfering with the data between them.
    Make sure that attacker cannot take your app offline.
    Could an ordinary user take administrator privileges on your app?

    Services

    The Mobile Apps should act as the client, not the server.
    Validate what happens should a service goes down. If it returns
    malformed responses, control errors, etc.
    What if the service takes too long to respond?
    What happens if you try to access a service offline?
    What if I get disconnected during transmission of info?
    Have we included API testing? This is very important since our app could
    be using APIs and we should make sure that we know these APIs and the
    way to interact with them. Sometimes the problem is not in the mobile
    app!

    Low-level resources

    Is the App generating "garbage" of some sort? Temporary files not


    cleaned, local database growing too much...
    Are we correctly using the sensors? Are we freeing the GPS? Do we make
    more calls to the server than needed?
    Are we using too much memory? Or, are we not releasing memory
    properly?

    Operational
    Are we "backing up" necessary information in the app?
    Are we prepared for "shock" mode? If the battery dies, we need a
    Recovery and Save Plan.
    If you upgrade to a new version of the App on the corresponding
    "Market", is data lost?
    What if the user gets a call while using the app? What if there comes an
    SMS?
    Does the battery seem to go down dramatically with the use of our App?

    Compatibility and multi-device environments


    Have you validated the app on devices, OS versions and models agreed?
    How does your application behave on different screens and resolutions?
    What if the integration server changes? Does it support a seamless
    transition?
    Can our application affect other third-party systems? Can it jeopardize
    other systems or degrade them?

    Localization
    The latest HTML5 and mobile web-based apps are optimized to adapt content
    according to geography. This means your app can be accessed from everywhere in
    the world, allowing it to work as expected.
    Have you considered the following items while you developed your testing plan?

    Date formats
    Text direction (some languages are written from
    right to left)
    Languages with different set of characters
    Address formats
    Currency conversion

    There are also several other things to keep in mind when writing your test scripts.
    The key here is to always think that your app could be accessed by people all over
    the world. The goal is to get it to work as if it were in your own country. A proxy
    service could help on testing different localizations without being present on all
    the countries. This is a cheap option to test localization. Consider taking
    advantage of remote real devices as another low-cost option to test localization.

    Native vs. Web


    There are some important things to differentiate when you test a native app
    versus a web based app.
    Some considerations when testing native mobile apps:
    Testing cycle starts from the installation and launching process
    You may probably need physical access to the device ID
    Your app may have access to other APIs. Make sure those connections are
    under your testing scope.
    Important factors when testing mobile Web-based apps:
    Requires internet connection (WiFi, 3/2G, GPRS,
    etc)
    Different web browsers render on their own way
    the pages.
    Make sure performance and load speed is tested (and they are satisfying
    the requirements).

    Native apps developed by cross-platform SDKs -- It is getting more frequent to use


    cross-platform SDKs to develop mobile apps that work for several devices/OS.
    One of them is Titanium. Despite that it brings you a native app, you may want to
    assure the app is running as it is expected on all the supported devices. Just
    testing in one of them is not an option!

    About Belatrix Software


    Belatrix Software helps clients achieve the full impact of their R&D capabilities.
    Belatrix develops high quality, innovative software, QA and testing that enables
    clients to generate best-in-class, revenue producing software products, decrease
    time to market, and gain competitive edge. The company’s mission is to be a
    passionate global partner delivering software innovation to enhance our client’s
    aspirations.
    Belatrix's clients include both established Fortune level and emerging, venture
    backed firms. A rising brand in Nearshore Agile outsourced software
    development, Belatrix Software has relationships with some of the fastest growing
    software startups to Fortune 500 companies. Belatrix is headquartered in
    Mendoza, Argentina with offices in Boston, Naples, Mendoza, and Lima. For more
    information, please call 617-608-1413 or visit http://belatrixsf.com.

    Belatrix’s Quality Assurance Department provides testing and


    quality assurance services for projects developed within the company (internal
    projects) or by other companies (external projects). It also supplies mechanisms to
    improve existing practices by developing standardized processes for the entire
    company and by
    applying ISO™ standards, international standards, and lessons learned from
    CMMI™-SEI. Belatrix’s QA team specializes in high value-added QA services such
    as Load Testing, Scripted Testing, etc. Because of this we are extremely selective
    in our recruitment process and only hire top software engineers that have a
    passion for Quality Assurance.
    Some of the Testing Strategies we follow are:

    Functional Testing
    Risk-Based Testing
    Graphic User Interface
    Acceptance, Usability and Accessibility
    Performance (Stress and Load)
    Regression
    Installation and Configuration
    Security
    API Testing (N.Unit and MS-VSTester Edition)
    Automation (Python, VBscript, Apodora,
    Mercury QTP)
    Smoke Test

    Experience how a relationship with Belatrix can give your company a distinctive
    advantage through high quality Agile software development and quality
    assurance services. Contact us now!

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