What are the best strategies for testing mobile apps under adverse conditions?

To ensure mobile apps perform under adverse conditions, adopt these strategies: 1) Use network simulation tools to test varying network speeds and latencies. 2) Implement device farms or emulators to assess app behavior across different devices and OS versions. 3) Conduct battery drain tests to evaluate app performance on low battery. 4) Utilize thermal testing to check app stability under device heating. 5) Perform memory leak tests to ensure efficient memory usage. 6) Test app functionality in background mode and during interruptions (e.g., incoming calls). Prioritizing these areas helps guarantee robust app performance in real-world scenarios.

Thorough regression testing across different scenarios, including offline mode, poor GPS signal, and device rotation and different device profiles, ensures comprehensive app performance evaluation. Integration of automated testing frameworks aids in repetitive testing processes, improving efficiency. Continuous monitoring and feedback collection from real users provide valuable insights for further optimization. Regular updates and patches based on user feedback enhance app resilience and usability.

Emulators and simulators are virtual environments that are used for testing early in the development cycle. They are used to establish a safe environment where attributes can be tested and refined across production levels. Emulators and simulators differ in the following ways: Emulators Mimic all the hardware and software features of a production environment. They are best for testing external behavior, such as calculations and transactions. Simulators Create an environment that contains all the software variables and configurations of an app's production environment. They are best for testing internal behavior, such as internal hardware and firmware.

When testing mobile apps under adverse conditions, it's crucial to simulate various challenging scenarios by different audiences/stakeholders to ensure the app performs well even in less-than-ideal situations. Many areas should be considered, like security and data privacy, reliability with big data and stress tests, etc.. By following these strategies, you can identify and address potential issues in your mobile app, ensuring its reliability, performance, and resilience under adverse conditions.

Limited network testing: While network conditions can be simulated, they may not perfectly replicate the real-world variability experienced by users. Security limitations: Emulators and simulators may not be as secure as real devices, posing potential security risks during testing. Battery life testing is inaccurate: Battery life can be difficult to accurately assess on emulators and simulators due to the differences in hardware and software.

Here are some ways to use real devices and dusters for mobile app testing: Sauce Labs A real device cloud that provides access to thousands of Android and iOS devices. Developers and QA testers can use the cloud to test on different device and OS combinations. BrowserStack A platform that offers a wide range of physical mobile and tablet devices, including iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, Nexus, and Pixels. You can use BrowserStack to run automated app tests on these devices. Emulators and simulators In mobile testing, an emulator is a virtual device that emulates a real Android device. A simulator is a virtual device for iOS devices, such as iPhones and iPads.

Real testers and devices can provide: 1. Accurate Representation of User Experience 2. Uncovering Edge Cases and Bugs 3. User-Centric Insights 4. Increased Confidence and Trust

Cloud-based platforms and emulators can facilitate testing across various devices, but addressing usability and security concerns is best achieved through E2E or UAT since these aspects cannot currently be adequately assessed on cloud platforms.

Certainly, real devices and human testers play a crucial role in mobile app testing, offering a more authentic assessment under varied and challenging conditions. While they come with higher costs and logistical challenges, their ability to simulate real-world scenarios, including environmental factors, interruptions, and nuanced interactions, can uncover issues that emulators and simulators might overlook. The balance between using emulators/simulators and real devices/testers is key for comprehensive app testing.

When developing a mobile application, real devices and testers play a crucial role in ensuring the quality, performance, and compatibility of your app. Here are some key reasons why using real devices and testers is important: 1) Device Fragmentation 2) Performance Testing 3) Hardware-Specific Features 4) Network Conditions 5) User Experience 6) App Store Compliance 7) Security Testing 8) Localization and Internationalization 9) Real-world Scenarios

Clouds based or Device farms we can call them are a good place to test , however the practical experience we have faced is that the real devices sometimes behave in an unpredictable manner which is difficult to simulate in device farms, we have got bugs reported from live apps but still the device farms help reduce the number of bugs which can be found once app goes live .

In my experience there are severe faults that can occur in specific devices, even though technically they run the same base operating system. For example, if one develops an Android app, there is a possibility certain features of an app to fail or behave abnormal in specific devices. Even though these features work in other similar device models with exact hardware specification and same Android OS. This is due to the fact often manufacturers customize the Android OS. Which can lead to on occasion difficult to recreate issues on emulators/available test devices. A cloud platform would often allow you to order instances of real devices to be used for testing. This becomes very helpful as in scenarios above.

Here are some cloud-based testing platforms: CloudTest A scalable cloud-based testing service for load and performance tests. It is a single integrated platform designed for modern web and mobile applications testing. BlazeMeter A cloud-based load testing platform that offers on-demand scalability for running performance tests. It supports various protocols and can simulate high loads to assess the performance of your custom ServiceNow app. Xamarin Test Cloud A cloud-based testing solution that facilitates cross-platform testing of mobile applications. It offers support for over 2,000 real devices, and the results can be accessed in real time via a web-based interface.

Implementing cloud-based testing platforms for an experience program can greatly enhance efficiency, scalability, and reliability. Here's how you might approach it: Assessment of Requirements: First, assess the requirements of your experience program. Identify the types of testing you'll need (e.g., functional, load, performance, security) and the platforms/devices you want to test on (e.g., web browsers, mobile devices, operating systems). Selection of Cloud Testing Platform: Choose a cloud-based testing platform that aligns with your requirements. Popular options include Sauce Labs, BrowserStack, and LambdaTest. Consider factors such as supported environments, ease of use, pricing, and integration capabilities.

Test automation frameworks can help reduce costs and risk, improve test efficiency, and reduce maintenance costs. They can also help achieve maximum test coverage and maximize application functionality. Here are some examples of test automation frameworks: Selenium A widely used framework for testing web applications. It automates browser testing and reduces redundant test efforts. Appium An open-source framework that supports automated testing for hybrid and native mobile and web applications on Android and iOS.

Cloud-based testing platforms offer various advantages for mobile app testing, but they do have some downsides to consider alongside their benefits. Here are some disadvantages you should be aware of: 1. Cost 2. Network Dependence 3. Limited Control 4. Security Concerns

TDD can help improve the quality of a software project in the long-run. It can also help ensure the code's accuracy and ensure the program runs correctly. Other benefits of TDD include: Rapid feedback: TDD provides rapid feedback on what you produce No extensive testing: TDD means there's no longer a need for extensive testing to determine if the code works correctly. Safeguard: Adequate test coverage acts as a safeguard so you don't accidentally change the functionality

Advantages of Test-Driven Development (TDD): Higher Quality Code Reduced Bugs Better Communication Disadvantages of Test-Driven Development (TDD): Steeper Learning Curve Potential for Over-engineering Not Suitable for All Projects Time Investment Requires Discipline: TDD requires developers to stick to the red-green-refactor cycle consistently, which can be challenging and requires commitment.

One quick and dirty strategy for testing mobile apps under adverse conditions works like so: 1. Light house on fire 2. Test mobile apps

Using device platform (e.g. BrowserStack) test automation could (and should?) randomize - app input data (logins, configs) - device settings (locale, TZ, language, device-type, OS-version, connection speed, font-size, accessibility settings) - concurrent apps running/interruptions ... and log all the above conditions for bug reproduction.

I think EUM End User Monitoring is also a good choice. Mobile Real User Monitoring (Mobile RUM) allows you to understand your native iOS, Android, Xamarin, Cordova-based, or React Native mobile application as your end users actually use it. It provides you with visibility into the functioning of the application itself and the application's interactions with the network it uses and any server-side applications it may talk to.

Adverse conditions prevent the success of the app. So make a checklist of those real world conditions such as: (a) Adverse regional laws. (b) Adverse bad network. (c) Phone operating system that crashes. (d) Crime. (e) Lost private keys. (f) Zombie pandemic lockdowns. (g) apps that take too much resources on some mobile brands. Then go to those real world regions/environments to do tests or subscribe to a test-hosting company in that region to run your tests. Emulators are good for testing. And the actual device, actual network, actual environment is bettering the tests.

Network Conditions: a. Simulate Poor Network Connectivity: Emulate scenarios with slow and unreliable network connections, such as 2G or 3G. Use network emulation tools to simulate varying network conditions and assess how the app performs under low bandwidth. b. Intermittent Connectivity: Introduce scenarios where the network connection fluctuates or drops intermittently. This helps identify how well the app handles network interruptions and recovers when the connection is restored. 2 Limited Resources: a. Low Memory Conditions: Simulate low-memory situations on the device to evaluate how the app behaves when the system is under memory pressure. This is crucial for identifying potential memory leaks or inefficient memory management.