Mobile App Testing Trends for 2019

Who runs the world? According to Statista, it’s mobile. In fact, 52.2 percent of all worldwide online traffic in 2018 was generated through mobile phones.

While there’s no doubt smartphone usage will inevitably continue to grow, the trends in mobile development and mobile app testing are constantly changing. The emergence of the Agile and DevOps methodology and considerable changes in software testing methods means that developers spend a lot of time playing catch up with technology. Thankfully, there are some testing trends and mobile testing tools that not only will transform the future of mobile apps but will be here for the long haul.

Merge Agile and DevOps

While not a new concept, DevOps principles have gained a tremendous amount of support with its consistent ability to reduce the amount of time from development to operations. These principles will only gain traction across entire business ecosystems – especially with an added emphasis on test automation.

Automation requires verifying requirements, configuring toolsets for integration and delivery, creating automation frameworks… to name a few.

This is where Agile Methodology shines.

This methodology promotes collaboration among various small teams to make quick and continuous delivery. Because QA can sometimes be a bottleneck, quality engineering allows the introduction of mobile app testing and automation earlier in the process.

As such, QA testers and developers roles will merge with a shift towards quality engineering ensuring an agile and integrated approach to testing.

Shift from performance testing to performance engineering

It’s no surprise that user experience (UX) matters. It’s one of the key differentiators of the most successful apps in the market. And switching from Performance testing to System Performance Engineering (SPE) is necessary for better UX.

Performance engineering ensures the components of your network are functioning as intended. It offers testing teams more flexibility, data, and better opportunities to automate processes.

This approach focuses on the architecture, design, and implementation of mobile apps… and lowers the cost throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) while meeting performance requirements on time.

At the end of the day, SPEs positively affect ROI.

API and Mobile App Test Automation

There’s an app for everything. And with a plethora of device and platform choices, most software runs on single app.

As such, mobile application testing is a much more complex task than ever before. When cost and market readiness are important, mobile app testing automation is imperative.

Automated testing helps teams make the most of their testing resources and frees up test engineers, allowing them to focus on tests that require manual attention and human interaction.

Beyond mere test automation, modern DevOps are investing in Microservice-based architecture. This method specifically tests small, focused functions to develop a complete application.

This gives you the freedom to change a specific area of the app rather than the whole system.

Increase adoption of open-source tools

The old adage that “the more eyes, the merrier” is the reason open-source testing tools have revolutionized the world of QA over the last decade. While it’s a myth that open source is always a cheap alternative, there are many other advantages of using these tools.

Open-source testing tools are extremely versatile. They cover testing for web app and all mobile app types: native, web, and hybrid. Additionally, most open source platforms offer code libraries for any programming language.

They are also often customizable and adaptable to changes within the technological landscape.

That said, being available to the public may prove worrisome for security.

It’s already a fact that more and more companies accept Open Source services for the execution of test management and automation, Agile and DevOps tactics, and the defect management. This only means that the next era will bring the further expansion of the newest mobile app testing tools on the market – the Open Source ones. Which can lead to the greater involvement of support communities for the open source tools that would become more active.

If you’re interested in a vibrant contributing community, check out Testlio’s global network of professional testers.

Adapt to the Internet of Things

It’s undeniable that we live in an era of connected products and that’s not going to change. In fact, Gartner estimates that over 20 billion devices will be connected things by 2020.

Internet of Things (IoT) expands upon the possibilities of technologies, but not without an increase in security threats. That’s why QA teams must be thorough when performing both static and dynamic testing of IoT devices.

These products must be tested for functionality, reliability, and – more importantly – security. But this is easier said than done. It can be difficult to establish security priorities and define the right testing tools.

For one, testers should use a Test-As-A-User [TAAS] approach rather than usual requirements-based methods. Additionally, integration testing is another useful tool for IoT.

The future is now

The increasing demands of mobile devices can be a headache for app developers and QA testers. New mobile app software testing trends will raise the new challenges for mobile testers but they also will make the development strategy more cost-efficient and effective.

While it’s important to understand testing trends, it’s equally important that testers follow the best choice for their products. Added to a complete and cohesive testing solution, the above trends equal quality assurance.