One of the worst things a developer can do is release an app without thoroughly testing the app. It takes one security flaw or data breach to lead to lost downloads, revenue and credibility as a developer.
Testing is the key most important step before releasing an app to the public.
If you're not testing a new app because it's too time intensive or costly, you're making a big mistake which can lead to your app's failure. These five important steps can allow you to test your app quickly and ensure that your app is ready to be deployed.
1. Allocate Resources to App Testing
If you're going to conduct in-house app testing, you need to allocate the appropriate resources to test properly. You'll need to determine how many testers you need and what type of testers are needed.
Afterward, develop personas for beta testers to determine what you need to test.
Once you have the resources figured out, it's time to consider what type of testing you should be performing: manual or automated.
2. Plan Manual vs Automated Testing
Will you be conducting manual or automated tests? Manual tests will reflect what a user will do and what type of issues may arise from user interaction. You'll want to decide on the mobile testing tools you'll use:
- Appium Desktop
- TestComplete
- Espresso Test Recorder
If you want to also conduct automated testing, you'll find a lot of tools that you can use. Automated tests can be run alongside manual tests, too. A lot of developers will have a mix of manual and automated tests that they'll run to find all flaws in an app.
Automated testing may require different tools that your team will have to learn:
You'll also want to consider test management tools that allow you to put everything together to analyze and better understand your tests.
3. Run App Testing
Actual app testing is the next step in the process and you should have scripts and test cases in place to begin testing. You'll want to execute the tests based on your test scope and business requirements.
In-depth testing may be performed before each release, but there are also some companies that follow continuous integration to perform automatic tests. The automated tests are often run on the cloud, while manual testers will perform their own tests.
Managing the tests may include automated deployment of new releases to both the automated testing and to the manual testing group.
App requirements will dictate testing cycles and how long or short they'll be.
When fast release cycles are required, continuous integration can help make testing faster and easier.
4.Track Defects and Review
Testing is irrelevant unless you're tracking, managing and reviewing all of the issues with your app. You'll need to have a system in place that allows you to track and manage these defects accordingly.
Testers may opt to use software like JIRA, which allows your team to be able to view, prioritize and track all defects.
With a defect system in place, you'll need a team that goes through the list and makes any corrections necessary to correct the issues. Strategic choices must be made to allow for quick updates and testing of the new code to ensure that the defect is rectified quickly.
There will be a lot of patching, testing and repatching to make sure that issues are corrected.
Teams may also hire a third party to help perform app testing faster.
5. Hire a Testing Company to Test Performance
A lot of the top app developers in the world hire third parties to perform all of their app testing. The third party will test the app thoroughly and will be able to find security and functionality issues that only dedicated testers find.
Hiring a performance testing company, like QAwerk, frees up:
- Developer time
- Testing responsibilities
- Resources
Dedicated app testing companies perform testing on a daily basis. These companies have the tools and experience to find common issues that an inexperienced testing team may missed.
Even when following the first four steps, the final step should include bringing a third party into the mix to test your app.
Testing can find bugs, performance issues and security issues that are easy to overlook.
