Top 10 Tools for Mobile App Testing and QA

Every business across all verticals is adopting digitalization. The first step for that is to build a mobile application. However, the next thing is that your mobile app is bug-free.

One successful custom app development is the mobile app testing strategy. This will help you to meet customer expectations as well as business goals.

Testing is an important step because after passing all of them your app can be deployed. However, testing can be a tricky and expensive task. Sometimes the cost of testing is even more than the cost of mobile app development.

To tackle all the challenges to finding the best solution to automate testing as much as possible. This article will help you to know the best mobile app testing tools that you can implement to your needs.

What Are Mobile Testing Tools?

Mobile testing tools are like detectives for your mobile apps. When people create apps for multiple devices, these tools help check if it is working well and easy to use.

Imagine every time a new iPhone comes out, these tools make sure that your favorite apps still work smoothly and do not have any issues. It’s like giving the apps a checkup to make sure they’re in good shape before they reach your devices.

On an extreme level, mobile app testing includes the following:

1. Performance testing across different OS versions
2. Appearance testing in portrait and landscape mode
3. Compatibility testing on multiple settings
4. Mobile sensors testing like Gyroscope, Accelerometer, GPS, etc.
5. Functionality testing, like menus, dropdowns, etc.

What Questions to Ask While Selecting Mobile App Testing Tools?

1. Is the tool easy to use?

When you use open-source frameworks, you often need to install extra things like JAR files, specific drivers, and libraries for different programming languages. But if a tool has everything you need already built into it, then it is ready to deploy. However, if there are some bugs then make sure to fix them before the deployment.

2. Do its feature sets cover essential mobile-specific testing tasks?

When you are looking at your mobile app’s technical documentation, go for important features. These features can include screen checking, fixing problems, running on different devices, sharing files, and creating reports. Just go through the guide to find those key features that you’d want to have.

3. Are integration with CI/CD systems or other platforms native?

Most tools can connect with other frameworks, tools, or project management apps. But if they have integrations, you don’t need complicated tricks to link them with the tools. It’s like having a direct, smooth connection without many extra steps.

4. Is the mobile app testing tool suitable for your budget?

You need to identify the complexity of mobile app development company in USA. About that you need to create a slot for mobile app testing tools in your budget. Because if you don’t have the proper quality testing it can be a failed mobile app.

Top 10 Mobile App Testing Tools

1. Appium

Appium is a popular mobile app testing tool. It is a familiar quality testing tool with Selenium. That lets you test different kinds of mobile applications, like native, hybrid, and web apps. It uses WebDriver protocol to perform all the tests.

Features:

1. Various scripting languages you can use, like, Java, Ruby, Python, PHP, JavaScript, and C#
2. If you know how to use Selenium then you can easily pick up on it
3. It pairs well with other frameworks and testing tools
4. You don’t need to recompile your mobile apps or mess with other code
5. You can reuse your tests and code between iOS, Android, and Windows

Pros:

1. Support multiple programming languages
2. You don’t need access to the source code
3. You can develop cross-platform scripts
4. Better online support
5. Supports both Android and iOS applications

Cons:

1. It’s server desktop app sometimes has unstable releases
2. If you’re using Windows, you can’t record scripts in the desktop app

Price: Open-Source

2. Espresso

If you’ve ever worked on Android apps, you probably heard of Espresso. It’s a mobile app testing automation framework created by Google, specifically for Android.

Features:

1. It works with Java and JUnit for native apps
2. The APIs (the tools it gives you) are lightweight, making it easier to maintain
3. Automatically sync up the UI elements and testing actions
4. Turns Android UI tests into APKs
5. Commonly used for both unit testing and black box testing

Pros:

1. Writing test scripts is like speaking in plain English
2. It supports all actions on the screen, like swiping, pinching, rotating, and tapping

Cons:

1. If one test step fails, the following steps might get skipped, which could make it easy to miss some important issues
2. It only works for Android apps

Price: Open-Source

3. XCUI Test

XCUI Test is a special product from Apple just for iOS developers. It helps them create and run tests for user interface (UI) using XCode. The software that iOS developers use to build apps. Importantly, this mobile app testing tool is only for iOS and doesn’t work with Android.

Features:

1. You can use it with Swift and Objective-C scripting languages for iOS
2. It links up with XCode and other tools to record tests, making it easier for developers
3. It integrates smoothly with XCode, making coding simpler
4. Works well with continuous integration and deployment of CI/CD
5. Best suited for black box testing

Pros:

1. It comes built-in with XCode, so it does not need to install anything extra
2. There’s a handy test recorder that turns everything on the simulator into code

Cons:

1. Only works with iOS apps and not on Android
2. Only uses Swift language 

Price: Open-Source

4. Robotium

Robotium is like an assistant for testing Android version 1.6 and above. Whether they are networks or a mix of different types. To get started, you need to have Android SDK, Eclipse, Android Development Kit, and JDK set up.

Features:

1. The scripting language is Java
2. Easy to use API, to create tests faster
3. Can be used for different types of tests like functional, system, and user acceptance tests.
4. Support both Android emulators and real devices
5. It plays well with CI/CD tools like Maven, Gradle, or ANT

Pros:

1. Test scripts are simple and strong
2. It can automate apps that come pre-installed on the device
3. Faster than some other tools like Appium because it connects quickly with the graphical parts of the app
4. It only works with Android apps

Cons:

1. It can’t handle things like Flash or web components in the apps
2. It might be a bit slow on older devices
3. Does not support iOS apps

Price: Open-Source

5. Robot Framework

Robot framework is a keyword-driven test that is capable of testing desktop, web, and mobile apps. It is used for many different tests, like acceptance test-driven development, and robotic process automation.

Features:

1. It is for cross-platform testing
2. Makes testing easy by using keyword commands in the instructions
3. It has lots of standard and third-party tools that can help with testing
4. You can run, build, and change tests using different helpful tools

Pros:

1. Easy to use even with little or no programming experience
2. It helps testers run multiple tests simultaneously

Cons:

1. Difficulty with complex testing
2. Debugging tests can be difficult

Price: Open-Source

6. Flutter

Google has created another tool called Flutter, and it’s handy for mobile app development (both iOS and Android), web, and desktop apps. More than 10% of the apps on the Google Play store are built using Flutter.

Features:

1. Easy to change and update the code on emulators, simulators, or actual devices, and see the results instantly with something called Hot Reload
2. It has a feature called background caching that uses service workers
3. Sound null safety helps to reduce errors related to missing information
4. Build interactive interfaces using widgets, rich motion APIs, and more

Price: Open-Source

7. Selendroid

This can be used to test both native and hybrid Android apps, as well as mobile websites. It is made easy with a strong WebDriver API and integration with Selenium, getting rid of many challenges.

Features: 

1. It can react with multiple devices and emulators simultaneously
2. It has good features for recording high-quality tests
3. Automates tests without jumping to a different app
4. Works on both emulators and real devices and is also a part of the Selenium Grid

Price: Open-Source

8. iOS Driver

Compared to actual devices, this tool works better on emulators. It uses the Selenium/WebDriver API to connect iOS hybrid and native mobile apps with Selenium for testing. Before installing, make sure to check the system requirements, as iOS Driver relies on two separate frameworks from Apple.

Features: 

1. When it’s compatible, it can use specific features from Apple’s XCode
2. No need to jailbreak the devices, mess with app code, or ass extra agents to test the applications
3. Act as a part of the Selenium Grid GUI testing faster

Price: Open-Source

9. Xamarin.UITest

Xamarin.UITest is used to create and run acceptance tests across both iOS and Android applications on mobile devices. The testing is enabled on both the Xamarin app and native apps.

Features:

1. An easy option for Xamarin.Form-Built apps
2. Seamless connectivity with Microsoft Visual Studio products
3. Improved cross-platform testing

Price: Open-Source

10. EggPlant

EggPlant performs object-based testing of Android and iOS device applications. It takes help from WebDriver functionality to run the tests. To define all tests, it uses mobile WebDriver commands and functions

Features:

1. More user-friendly through artificial intelligence approach in the mobile app testing automation
2. It created an integrated debugging environment

Price: Open-Source

Conclusion

Automating the mobile app testing apps is a tough task. However, this guide should have given you the top 10 tools for your testers and QAs.

To make sure your automation project is effective and delivered on time, you need to consider several questions. These include having the right tools available and making sure they work well together, setting up the network and environment properly. Taking care of all aspects helps ensure that your app becomes free of bugs, to satisfy your clients.

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