Recorded 08/22/18

Demystifying Mobile Application Testing

In the past decade, mobile technologies have rapidly evolved. What started as a “nice to have” feature for companies, is now a “must have” feature. Everything is mobile. Customers won’t even check out your product if you do not have a mobile web, native or hybrid application to showcase your product. This being the case, how are we testers going to align our thinking; based on how the end user will use our mobile applications? After several years of testing various types of mobile applications, I started seeing patterns in terms of common issues which kept re-occurring in applications. Based on this I came up with a mind map which can help to do quick tours on your mobile application. Using this mind map, you will be able to get quick feedback about your application to make informed decisions.

In this webinar, I will discuss how to use this mind map, what kind of issues you will be able to uncover and of course discuss tip and tricks to make your mobile exploration more effective. If you are either new to mobile testing or already doing it but need some ideas to do your job better, this could be the webinar for you.

Session Takeaways:

  • Cover basics of mobile eco system
  • How to do quick tours on your mobile application
  • Mobile Testing tools
  • Advancements in mobile testing

Slide Deck:

Testim.io Mobile App Testing Presentation

Check out Raj Subramanian’s latest article on SoftwareTestPro.com
Machine Learning and Its Impact to Software DevelopmentMachine Learning and Its Impact to Software Development
Why is Big Data such a big deal? According to Gartner, Big Data is projected to drive enterprise IT spending to $242 billion. Big Data provides the ability for organizations to leverage their data to reveal key insights that inform smart business decisions. It literally forms the basis for machine learning and predictive analytics. Which is a good thing considering the very real occurrence of networks and enterprises being inundated with data from social, mobile apps, and IoT that produce a 24×7 continuous flow of data.
Self-Healing Test Automation - Testim.io

08/22/18 Unanswered-Webinar-Questions

[Q] Divya asked: What are the strategies you have used in achieving device make/model/screen resolution coverage and platform versions which have frequent updates?

[A] Raj:I have followed the following strategies:

  • First look into Apple and Google developer website to get information on the most widely used devices, OS, browser versions.
  • Next, use Google Analytics and figure what devices, OS, browser versions your customers are using to access your mobile app, website.
  • Based on the data collected from the above 2 steps, you could:
    • Use a combinatorial tool and narrow down the number of Devices, OS, browser combinations you need for testing - http://www.pairwise.org/tools.asp
    • Then buy the most widely used devices based on your research preferably some combination of phones, tablets in iOS and Android
    • For the rest of the devices use a Device Farm service like AWS Device Farm to test on other devices as well

[Q] Divya asked: Are there any open-source automation tools you would recommend for Android and iOS apps testing?

[A] Raj: Some widely popular open source tools for native app testing I have personally used are:

[Q] Ketankumar asked: Where is (the STPCon conference) in VA?

[A] Raj: STPcon is taking place in Arlington, VA, October 22-25 2018 - https://www.stpcon.com/. I will be doing a workshop and a talk at the conference and will also be there to meet people and talk testing.

My Sessions:

[Q] Femi asked: Please Raj, what should Tester look out for comparing Native app and Progressive Web App in test?

[A] Raj: Progressive Web Apps (PWA's) are in a broad sense similar to Hybrid apps, where the user gets a feel of a native but is implemented using web technologies such as JavaScrip, HTML and CSS.

In terms of what to look out for, For Native Apps - If you follow my mind map, you will be able to find most of the vulnerabilities with your application. For PWA's - I follow Google's checklist for testing PWA's - https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/checklist. In a nutshell it is like testing responsive websites and all the approaches used for that is applicable to PWA's as well.

[Q] Swati asked: How to overcome the challenge of testing a feature where we track the driver location while sitting at your desk?

[A] Raj: Not sure I understood this question. When you say "Driver" I am going to assume that you are talking about an app that tracks Driver Locations using GPS and not the actual drivers used in mobile apps and for testing. With that assumption, if I were you I would do the following (I worked for an insurance company where we were testing usage based insurance devices, so I can speak to this based on my real life experience)-

  • Test the app as an end user and from your desk
    • I would sit with an actual driver when a vehicle is driven and see how the app is gathering data and tracking the location. I will have a checklist of things I would like to do beforehand when sitting with the driver to make this testing session more productive.
    • At your desk, I would try to
      • Disable location service and re-enable it to see what happens
      • I would check what type of notifications you get in the app as and when you are tracking the driver
      • I would check tracking in Wi-Fi/4G and poor network connection
      • I would try to compare you tracking with Find My Friends in the iPhone and a similar app in Android, and do a comparative study to see how you tracking app performs compared to well know tracking apps
      • I would definitely try to check the Privacy settings on your phone when using the app to ensure the privacy of users are not violated

And so on... for more ideas e-mail me at raj@testim.io

[Q] William asked: Is there any open source tool similar to www.testim.io we could use?

[A] Raj: Currently there are NO open source tools or vendor tools in the market which has all the features Testim.io provides to the customers.

[Q] Emil Dan asked: Which is the programming language you recommend to be learned by beginners in the purpose of doing automation mobile testing?

[A] Raj: I would start with learning HTML, CSS and then move onto one of these languages Java, JavaScript, Python or Ruby. These are the most widely used programming languages currently. If you pick up one language, then you can work with any other programming language. Google and StackOverflow are your best friends 🙂

[Q] Matt commented: The difference in prices for mobile/tablet/desktop for airlines is actually intentional. Its all about revenue optimization 🙂

[A] Raj: ROFL. Ha ha....I wish that is the case. But, after working in a well known travel booking company and knowing the insides of how the system works, it is un-ethical to do that to customers. I believe we can even get sued for that. So as far as I know, that is not the case and it shouldn't be. But hey! who knows, some other company may already be doing this and we just don't know about it 🙂 In the current day and age, anything can happen and we should not be surprised, especially with technology and how intrusive it could be to end users.

[Q] Suresh asked: Do you offer any PoC to try on your applications?

[A] Raj: Yes, we do free demos, consulting, give 14 day free trial and have 24/7 customer support through the free trial period and after you get the subscription as well. All you have to do this is, sign up for the free trial here - https://app.testim.io/. You can also use the Chatbox feature on our website and contact any of us who will immediately help you out 🙂 We believe that the customer needs to get a chance to evaluate Testim.io and see if it fits their automation needs and we provide every opportunity to do that. That is the reason why we currently have many customers all over the world.

If you contact me or anyone to know more about Testim.io, just tell them "Raj referred you" 🙂 and we will take care of the rest.


Our Speaker:

Raj Subramanian – Developer Evangelist, Testim.io
Raj Subramanian is a former developer who moved to testing to focus on his passion. Raj currently works as a Developer Evangelist for Testim.io, that provides stable self-healing AI based test automation to enterprises such as Netapp, Swisscom,Wix and Autodesk. He also provides mobile training and consulting for different clients. He actively contributes to the testing community by speaking at conferences, writing articles, blogging, making videos on his Youtube channel and being directly involved in various testing-related activities. He currently resides in Chicago and can be reached at raj@testim.io and on twitter at @epsilon11. He actively blogs on www.testim.io and his website www.rajsubra.com. His videos on testing, leadership and productivity can be found here.

Speaker Details:

Twitter: @epsilon11
LinkedIn: Raj Subramanian
Website: RajSubra.com
Blog: RajSubra.com/Blog
Company Blog: Testim.io Blog
YouTube Channel: Videos
Past Events: Presentations