Why Test Mobile Applications On Real Devices?

Mobile applications have become an integral part of our lives. All credit to mobile phones, we can now do a lot of activities (i.e. shopping, gaming, banking, etc.) at the click of a button. Proliferation of mobile phones and mobile internet is not limited only to developed economies but it is also spread across developing economies.

As per reports[1], there are close to 5.2 billion mobile users worldwide. To top it all, close to 218 billion mobile applications[2] were downloaded in the year 2020 and the numbers are rising with each passing day. This includes apps on PlayStore, App Store, KaiOS Store, amongst others.

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Since users have access to a plethora of applications and less attention span, it is upto the app developers to ship quality apps to their users. Shipping top-notch and well-tested applications not only garners good reviews but also helps in generating stickiness, a factor that is so important from a long-term perspective.

When it comes to scalable and reliable testing of mobile applications, app development companies can opt for experienced outsourced QA vendors that have expertise in providing mobile application testing services. Like websites, mobile applications (i.e. web and native) must be tested for different aspects - usability, reliability, performance, functionality, etc.

However testing of mobile applications (particularly native and hybrid) is significantly different than testing of websites (or web apps). There are options to run tests on emulators, simulators, as well as real devices. The point is can an app be released without testing on real devices? Well, we unlock the mystery in this blog.. so read along…

What are mobile simulators?

As the name indicates, mobile simulators simulate (or mimics) the behavior of the actual environment (or device). It is an application that needs to be installed on the machine from where you intend to run the simulator.

iOS developers can leverage the benefits of iOS simulators for debugging and testing the application. Simulators run much faster when compared to emulators, since they do not run the complete software. As a matter of fact, simulators only mirror the software.

Though iOS simulators can be extensively used for building, running, and testing iOS apps; you still need to test the apps on actual hardware devices.

What are mobile emulators?

Unlike smilators, emulators emulate the software and hardware of the device on the machine. In case you are testing an Android app, you can make use of Android emulators that simulates a range of Android devices on your machine.

Android emulators help in testing the app across different devices and API levels, avoiding the need to own real mobile devices. Emulators in Android offer flexibility since the app can be tested across a gamut of viewports (i.e. Android phones, tablets, Android TV, Android smart watches, etc.).

Most of the features like network throttling, incoming messages & calls, access to sensors, geolocation, display rotation, Play Store access, etc. can be done using Android emulators.

The downside of the emulator is that it is using the resources of the machine on which it is installed. Hence, app developers and testers cannot release an app in the market even if it works as expected on the mobile emulator. In such cases, apps can be tested on in-house real devices or on a real device cloud that can be accessed using manual as well as automated mobile automation frameworks.

Mobile app testing company that has experience testing a range of Android apps can aid in choosing real device setup (in-house or cloud) that meets the project & budget requirements.

Also Read: How To Get Started With Mobile App Testing?

Why App Testing On Real Mobile Devices?

Mobile device fragmentation is one of the major challenges that app developers and testers normally face in their journeys. In simple terms, mobile device fragmentation refers to users (specifically in the target market) running different versions of mobile OS on devices with different screen sizes. Since every mobile device has different hardware configurations, app developers have to ensure that usability and functional aspects of the app are well tested on those device hardwares and view ports.

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Prioritizing the devices and OS versions is one of the important steps of real device testing.

Here are some of the major reasons why mobile apps must be tested on real mobile devices:

Foolproof Approach

Mobile app testing on emulators and simulators definitely speeds up the testing process. Not only that, this testing strategy also helps in saving critical $ since you do not have to invest in procuring a number of real devices.

However, emulator and simulator testing is not a fool-proof approach since the apps might act differently when tested on real hardware. It is important to note that the configuration of the machine on which the emulator is installed is entirely different from the mobile device on which the app is installed.

Almost all apps in different categories e.g. gaming, online streaming, etc. make use of a range of sensors in the device. In case your app is making use of hardware features like accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, GPS, etc.; it is recommended to get the app tested on real devices.

Real device testing is an absolute must in case you want to achieve performance and flawless functionality on different mobile devices.

End-to-End Testing

Simulators cannot mimic the mobile hardware features completely due to which emulator and simulator application testing must be complemented with real device testing. Testing on emulators and simulators help in unearthing issues at the early stages of product development.

End-to-end (E2E) testing of the application can be performed only on real devices. This ensures that the app is doing well from all the perspectives (i.e. functionality, performance, usability, etc.).

Zoom-in & Zoom-out, interaction with hardware peripherals, network throttling, detection of app crashes and low memory scenarios can be detected by running tests only on real devices.

E2E testing of mobile apps also includes testing the mobile web app on different combinations of browsers and operating systems. This can be realized by using a real device testing cloud and mobile app testing frameworks.

Also Read: Top 6 Challenges Testers Face During Mobile App Testing

Improved Product Quality

The mobile device and OS landscape has been constantly evolving, with foldable phones being the recent entrants in the category. Considering all these factors, building and maintaining an on-premise (or in-house) mobile device grid can be a technically challenging and costly affair. It can slow down the app release cycles where code is tested on a continuous basis using the prominent CI (Continuous Integration) tools.

Potential blockers like operational burden, reduced device scalability, and reduced productivity can be fixed by opting for a real device cloud from vendors like Sauce Labs, LambdaTest, BrowserStack, etc. These real device cloud providers let you run manual as well as automated tests on devices that are located in the data centers closest to your location.

Also, you can run tests on real device cloud using popular test automation frameworks like XCUITest, EarlGrey, Espresso, Appium, etc.; that too with minimal code changes. All of these factors lead to a higher test coverage and improved app quality, key factors that will be instrumental in acquiring and retaining users of the application.

Many app development companies onboard experienced QA vendors that have expertise in providing mobile app testing services. Such an association helps in further accelerating the time to market of the application.

Also Read: Reasons Why You Should Outsource Mobile App Testing

Conclusion

Be it Android or iOS, mobile applications can be installed on a range of devices that have different hardware and software configurations. Though mobile emulators and simulators can be used for performing app testing, you cannot confidently release a high-quality app without testing on real devices.

Since the end users of the app will install and run the app on real devices, you need to prioritize the testing on devices that are used extensively in the target market. A device and OS matrix can come in handy in such scenarios, as it is impossible to test the app on all the available device and OS combinations.

To summarize, mobile app testing on real devices is an absolute necessity in case you want to release a top-notch application that does wonders for your business!