Testing Your Apps – How Often Should You Do It?

Testing your app throughout the development process is a very important task. It helps to verify the quality of the app and ensures that it has a high level of performance. Application testing is basically a process by which the software of the application is tested for its functionality, usability and also consistency.

When to Test?
Testing should definitely be done after any known change that has occurred, but it is also a good idea to perform occasional testing to check for any possible unknown changes that could affect the performance of your app. Even though the code may remain unchanged, addition of data generally affects the system performance.

While testing your app, there are some key challenges that you will have to face. There is such a variety of mobile devices in the market, all of which differs in input methods, screen sizes and have different hardware capabilities. Also, there is such diversity in the mobile platforms or operating systems as well, each with its own limitations. The application needs to be tested across all multiple devices running on the same OS, and every platform poses a new challenge.

The Steps…
Application testing involves a number of steps. First the application is tested for its functionality to make sure that it is running as per the requirements.. The tests are mostly driven by call flows and the user interface. The app’s performance is also tested under unfavourable conditions such as low available battery, low battery or bad network coverage. It is also important that the app be able to handle interruptions (like incoming calls or network coverage recovery) efficiently, by going into a suspended state and resuming later on. The installation process, including the three stages: installing, updating and uninstalling of an application, also needs to be tested for smooth functioning. Usability of an app is the key to its success and thus, verifying that the app is being able to achieve its goals is an important part of testing. Security testing of the app includes checking for access to files by unintended users that are saved in the app, and other encryption or decryption techniques that are used for data communication.

There are many tools and techniques available for application testing, some of them being device emulators, cloud computing solutions or real time devices.

There are significant challenges involved in mobile application testing, and they can impact the production of such mobile apps. The importance of testing applications before releasing them for use in a live environment cannot be emphasized enough. An app with any kind of bugs, or other issues, no matter how small can affect business and also the reputation of the organization, and thus testing as often as possible provides no harm. Proper testing is an essential part of creating an enriching user experience, which may further translate into the ultimate success of your application.