As the digital experience becomes key for organizations to offer end-users and a high user experience based on mobile moments, it is important to understand the environment in which mobile apps are “living” in.
We have taken to calling a mobile app’s environment as a wind tunnel – many different conditions and “states” occur, causing mobile apps (Web and Native) running on various screens (Smartphones, Tablets, Wearables) to behave differently with functionality and performance POV.
In order to extend a continuous quality process and enrich its coverage, mobile app quality ought to include real network conditions as part of the test matrix as early as possible in the mobile app development lifecycle.
To achieve coverage of real network conditions developers and network engineers should add the following scenarios into their test plan:
- Network virtualization – What happens to your mobile app in various network conditions, through the use of various profiles which can simulate poor, average, good 2G/3G/4G/Wifi network connections in various geographical locations (see e.g. Fig1 below). Understanding the behavior of your mobile apps in degraded network conditions early is a key to drive your mobile app release velocity as well as increase your app quality.
- Degraded application performance due to other processes, like apps running in the background, can be achieved through mobile device vitals collection, logs analysis and other examinations (e.g. many apps today leverage 3rd party apps like social media apps etc. which can impact the app under test performance)
- Degraded server performance due to load (light load, heavy load) – how do your mobile app performs from response time and availability in peak times, in various network conditions?
- Interoperability and events impact on mobile app functionality – how is your mobile app going to behave and respond when an incoming call, pop-ups, and other events which comes in while your mobile app is running?
- To measure this impact mobile app vendors need to have full access to the mobile system (e.g. iPhone SpringBoard) so they can trigger the events, control them and debug them properly.
Figure 2: Perfecto Mobile Wind Tunnel various capabilities
Some examples for more mobile app testing interruptions
- Incoming Call
- Text message
- Other app notifications
- Storage/RAM low
- Battery low
- Battery dead
- No storage
- Airplane mode
- Intermittent connectivity
- Home screen jump
- Sleep mode
To read more about the continuous quality approach and the continuous quality lab which can enable such capabilities, visit the Perfecto Mobile web site: http://www.perfectomobile.com
Continuous Testing and DevOps Blog 