What are some effective mobile testing strategies for agile development?

1 Know your users and devices

The first step in mobile testing is to understand who your target users are, what devices they use, and how they access your app or website. You can use analytics tools, surveys, or user feedback to gather this information. Based on this data, you can prioritize the most important devices, platforms, and browsers to test your app or website on. You can also use device emulators, simulators, or cloud-based testing services to expand your testing coverage and reduce costs.

2 Automate your testing

Automation is a key component of agile development, as it allows you to run tests faster, more frequently, and more reliably. You can use various tools and frameworks to automate your mobile testing, such as Appium, Selenium, Espresso, or XCUITest. Automation can help you perform functional, regression, performance, and security testing on your app or website. However, automation is not a substitute for manual testing, as you still need to verify the usability, accessibility, and design of your app or website.

3 Integrate your testing

Another mobile testing strategy is to integrate your testing with your development and deployment processes. You can use continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) tools, such as Jenkins, Travis CI, or GitHub Actions, to automate the building, testing, and releasing of your app or website. By integrating your testing, you can ensure that your app or website is always in a ready-to-release state, and that you can catch and fix any bugs or issues quickly.

4 Test in real-world conditions

Mobile testing is not only about testing your app or website on different devices and platforms, but also on different network conditions, locations, and scenarios. You can use tools such as Network Link Conditioner, Charles Proxy, or Firebase Test Lab to simulate various network speeds, latencies, and errors. You can also use tools such as GPS Simulator, Mock Location, or Location Faker to test how your app or website behaves in different geographical areas. Additionally, you can use tools such as Monkey, Crashlytics, or Firebase Crash Reporting to test how your app or website handles random events, crashes, and errors.

5 Involve your users and stakeholders

The final mobile testing strategy is to involve your users and stakeholders in the testing process. You can use tools such as TestFlight, HockeyApp, or Firebase App Distribution to distribute your app or website to your beta testers, customers, or partners. You can also use tools such as UserTesting, Usabilla, or Firebase Analytics to collect user feedback, ratings, reviews, and metrics. By involving your users and stakeholders, you can gain valuable insights into how your app or website meets their needs, expectations, and preferences.