10 Key Challenges of Mobile App Testing 

Mobile users are unforgiving, and discovering an issue in the wild might result in users abandoning the app for good. Therefore, mobile apps and websites must be rock solid before launching to meet market demands.

In this article, we explore the top 10 mobile testing challenges that app developers and testers face, as well as recommended strategies and best practices for addressing them effectively.

Top 10 Mobile App Testing Challenges

1. Screen Sizes 

Screen sizes present one of the most critical mobile app testing challenges, as users encounter numerous screen sizes, aspect ratios, and pixel densities. 

Screen sizes impact layout, readability, and functionality. Testing only one device does not guarantee the same performance across other devices with different aspect ratios.  

For instance, when the iPhone 6 introduced new, larger screen sizes, iOS developers had to incorporate adaptive designs. These designs ensured app layouts adjusted smoothly across different screen sizes on old and new iPhones. However, they also made testing more complex because teams had to account for various display sizes. 

The Solution

To tackle these challenges, you should ensure thorough device coverage by testing across various devices to confirm compatibility with different screen sizes and aspect ratios. Use responsive design principles to adapt the app layout to all screen sizes. 

Implementing adaptive layouts instead of relying on pixel-perfect designs is crucial to maintaining intuitive and accessible interfaces. This approach helps assess how different screen conditions impact app performance, leading to more accurate results.

2. Connection Types 

Varying connection types are also one of the top mobile app testing challenges. Mobile data connections such as EDGE, UMTS, and 3G, as well as Wi-Fi standards like b, g, and n, must be tested. 

Users frequently experience connectivity issues, such as losing connection when switching to flight mode or when connection types change as they move around. Additionally, some carriers filter web access, causing devices to appear connected without providing service for specific apps like messaging or calling. 

Even though connection APIs on mobile platforms have been developed with these challenges in mind, real-world environments introduce many variables, making it difficult to ensure consistent app performance across different network conditions. 

The Solution

To prevent issues related to varying connection types, conduct tests under multiple network connections and conditions using real devices with real users. This approach helps you identify potential threats and ensures the app functions correctly in different scenarios. 

You should also monitor bandwidth usage during testing. It ensures the app remains functional within the data limits imposed by carriers, as most do not support unlimited data volumes.

3. Different OS Versions

Navigating mobile app testing often involves dealing with various operating system (OS) versions. Today, markets offer mobile devices running on different OS versions and updates, making testing challenging and time-consuming. 

For example, iOS users upgrade to the latest OS versions more quickly than Android users, leading to a fragmented ecosystem with several versions of the same operating system.

The variations in OS versions can result in inconsistent app behavior, performance differences, and varied user experiences.

This fragmentation demands developers and testers to simultaneously support newer and older OS versions and ensure backward compatibility. 

The Solution

To address fragmentation, test your app across devices running various OS versions to ensure compatibility and functionality. 

Testing real devices with older OS versions is also crucial, as it helps identify and resolve issues that might not be apparent on newer versions. Doing so will ensure your app delivers a smooth experience across all platforms, making it accessible and functional for every user. 

4. Power Consumption and Battery Life

While app consumption has grown rapidly recently, battery technology has not advanced at the same pace. 

Users often run multiple apps and background processes, which leads to a quick battery drain. This decreases app performance and user satisfaction. 

For mobile app testing, the challenge lies in ensuring that apps minimize power consumption while maintaining performance despite the slower advancement of battery technology. This makes battery life and energy efficiency key to address during mobile app testing.

The Solution

To tackle power consumption and battery life issues, carefully minimize power usage and ensure that apps do not excessively drain battery life. Develop the app with best practices in mind and conduct tests to measure and reduce energy use across multiple devices and operating conditions. 

5. Usability

With mobile screens providing limited screen space, balancing a clean user interface with necessary information has become critical to mobile app testing. 

Overloading users with too much data, font size, and readability impacts usability and app experiences. Testing every possible user pathway can be difficult for many QA teams because of mobile devices’ inherent variability. 

The Solution

To address usability issues, design interfaces with clarity and simplicity in mind. Ensure that clickable areas are appropriately sized and that text is legible across different screen sizes and resolutions. 

Testing on various devices is essential to validating these design elements. Additionally, you can gather user feedback to identify and address usability concerns, enhancing the overall user experience.

6. Internationalization 

Internationalization is designing your app to easily adapt to handle different languages, locale settings, time zones, and cultural norms from the get-go. Without testing, internationalization can impact the overall functionality of the app and its usability in specific regions.

Localization testing is crucial to ensure an application is well-suited to its target market. For instance, some designs that work well in Western markets might not be effective elsewhere. Similarly, right-to-left languages, such as Arabic, present additional challenges for developers compared to left-to-right languages like English.

The Solution

To tackle internationalization challenges, perform comprehensive localization testing. This includes checking translations, locale settings, time zone handling, regional regulations, etc. 

Ensure your app’s design is adaptable to different cultural contexts and languages. Test with users from various regions to identify and resolve cultural differences and language variations issues.

7. Simulating Real-world Usage in Testing

Simulating real-world conditions in mobile app testing is challenging because it’s difficult to recreate every scenario users might face. Mobile apps are tested in simulated environments that mimic various factors, such as network speeds, geographical locations, and fluctuating device states like low battery or changing screen orientations.  

While simulations can help assess some real-world issues based on data and usage patterns, they may not reflect actual user conditions. Simulations rely on developer perception of user experience, which can be limited, especially when you’re expanding to new markets. 

As a result, the gap between simulated scenarios and real-world experiences can lead to discrepancies. 

The Solution

One way to access real-world user experience is to test on actual devices rather than relying solely on simulators. This approach provides more accurate insights into real-world usage under various conditions. 

Another method is crowdsourced testing, which typically involves engaging a large group of individuals remotely from diverse locations, platforms, devices, and network conditions for the quality assurance process. This strategy helps evaluate the app’s performance in various environments. 

8. Continuously Evolving User Requirements

As requirements change due to technological advances and customer preferences, your test suite must adapt to account for these changes, delaying releases and deployments. 

The Solution

Use agile testing to keep up with evolving user requirements and stay competitive. Agile testing allows you to make periodic updates and introduce new features after launching the app. This approach helps maintain an efficient testing process and minimizes deployment delays, even as requirements change.

9. Hardware Variability of Mobile Devices

Numerous mobile manufacturers compete globally, including Apple, Xiaomi, Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Huawei. Each produces devices with unique hardware specifications, such as different processing power, storage capacities, battery life, and sensor configurations. These variations can significantly impact mobile app performance and user experience.

For instance, an iPhone 15, with its advanced processing power and specialized sensors, may run your app differently than a Huawei P40, which might have less powerful hardware. Battery life differences between devices can also affect how your app manages power consumption.

The Solution

To address the challenge of hardware variability, test your app on a diverse range of hardware configurations, including processing power, storage capacities, and battery life variations. Identifying and addressing hardware issues early in the development process ensures your apps achieve consistent performance and maintain user satisfaction.

10. Security and Privacy

Mobile apps are particularly vulnerable to various threats and attacks, including cyberattacks, intrusions, viruses, and other forms of data compromise.

For instance, imagine a testing app for managing and tracking software testing activities. This app lacks strong encryption, so there is a risk that the sensitive test results and other important data could be exposed to unauthorized access. 

This issue is further complicated by the evolving nature of security threats and the need to comply with regional regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA.

The Solution

To effectively tackle security and privacy issues, rigorous testing is essential. Start by identifying and fixing vulnerabilities to protect against malicious attacks, breaches, and unauthorized access. 

You can avoid evolving threats by regularly updating your security protocols and performing detailed vulnerability assessments. Also, ensure that your app complies with data protection regulations like GDPR, CCPA, SOC2, and HIPAA to meet legal requirements and safeguard user privacy. Strong data encryption and protection measures are essential to protect your user data.

Conclusion

Overcoming mobile app testing challenges requires a strategic approach. At Testlio, we leverage our global community of expert testers and tailored tools to address these challenges effectively. Our community offers access to 600K+ devices, enabling clients to test their apps on specific configurations and under real-world conditions. 

Learn more about our industry-leading mobile app testing services or schedule a call with one of our experts to learn how we can help you improve customer retention and lower churn rate.