These days the mobile domain is growing rapidly and people are getting dependent and used to using handy and high-performing mobile apps. If any app is slow, buggy, or difficult to navigate then the user will end up using the app and choose some other convenient one. Therefore an effective mobile testing approach is essential to stay competitive without sacrificing quality. But running a mobile app test is never easy
Millions of mobile apps are specifically designed for numerous platforms (android & iOS) and operating systems.
There are different types of testing scenarios, also the issues across a wide variety of devices, screen sizes, a variety of network connections/speeds, and carriers need to be tested carefully. Later the reports are to be produced to the developers so that they can understand and solve the problem. All these steps are a huge task for the testers to perform on a daily basis.
Therefore implementing mobile automation testing is essential. It will help to ease the task and enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and coverage of Android and iOS app testing. When we talk about mobile automated testing it revolves around using various modern tools. Test automation tools reduce the risks of human error throughout the test execution, and free up the QA team from tiresome manual tasks so that they can focus on other critical areas of the application.
Keeping this in mind this article is going to assist you to ease your task by providing a list of the top mobile testing tools. But before we explore the tools it is important to learn what exactly automation testing is. Why it is important to adopt automation testing and what to consider while selecting an automation tool.
Automation Testing
Automation testing is executing tests automatically using specialized testing tools and scripts. In automation testing, all the actions are encountered automatically without
human interference from obtaining results to comparing them with the expected ones.
On the other hand, manual testing need human intervention to execute all the repetitive testing actions carefully which is time-consuming and difficult to perform. Thus automated testing is ideal and fits perfectly for teams performing repetitive tasks on a large scale because it can cover more ground during the testing process.
Reasons To Adopt Automation Testing
Automation testing has made the testing procedure effortless and benefits the testing teams in multiple ways. It enables the developers to enhance the application’s overall quality and makes the testing process faster than the traditional one. Due to automation, testing efficiency gets maximized. Let’s discuss some more reasons why automation testing is important.
- Automation testing is more accurate and precise than manual testing. it assures that there is no single defect or error present in the application.
- Automation testing improves test coverage as it executes lengthy tests faster. Thus more features can be tested in a shorter period of time. This is quite demanding and tricky in manual testing
- Automation tools help to catch bugs or faults in the application at the early stages of its development. This saves a lot of time and costs needed to correct them in the later stages.
- Automation testing provides faster feedback for every single test case executed. Therefore, detecting bugs at each phase of development gets easier.
- It is cost-effective in the long run because generated test scripts in automation testing can be repeatedly reused anytime. Testers can also run multiple test cases simultaneously on different platforms. In manual testing, this is not possible.
Considerations When Choosing a Mobile Automation Tool
There are a number of mobile automation testing tools in the market. The availability of too many options can also be confusing when selecting the right test tool, especially when the selection criteria of automated testing tool solutions is unknown. So before you compile an automation testing tools list, it is a must to consider these tips carefully.
- Check the versatility of the tool. The tool must provide comprehensive testing support and add-ons so that you can use them whenever needed and pay accordingly.
- Research with your available options that the tool is compatible with all significant platforms and environments.
- An ideal automation testing tool should not be confined to a few operating systems. Instead, it should be compatible with all modern and older operating systems configurations and versions in case user preferences ever change.
- An automation testing tool should offer several ways to perform the same single task. If the tool only supports scripting for creating automated test scripts, then for inexperienced team members it would be challenging to carry out the automated testing process. Therefore look for an automation testing tool that allows each team member to generate tests efficiently and quickly, regardless of their coding expertise.
- Check whether the tool is truly worth the cost and offers all essential features available on the market or not. Moreover, also consider the additional cost that may pop up in the future when you require any add-on or an upgrade. The tool should provide everything that you need it to do without exhausting your testing budget.
10 Mobile Automation Testing Tools
Knowing which test automation tool will be right for your team is a must. So before you create your list of mobile automation testing tools it is important to remember that no two mobile automated testing tools are alike. From resourcefulness to OS compatibility, the supported features and strengths of each testing tool are different and must be evaluated carefully before selection. If you are a mobile app testing expert, you need to know which tools to use.
Hence considering the means discussed below can help you to improvise your list accordingly. The list below includes both open source (free) and paid tools.
1. LambdaTest
LambdaTest is one of the best and most popular cross-browser compatibility testing platforms that allows its users to perform both automation and manual testing across desktop, mobile, and web apps at scale.
When you need to test your app on a wide range of devices, LambdaTest is the best choice as it provides a cloud of more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating systems with their respective versions. This lets you perform mobile automation testing using multiple programming languages, like JavaScript, Java, Python, Ruby. The geolocation testing feature enables you to test your publically or locally-hosted apps from any location across the globe.
You can automate apps using Appium automation, and other app test automation frameworks like Espresso and XCUITest.
LambdaTest also provides support to perform cross-browser testing on the secure and reliable Selenium Grid to ensure efficiency and reusability. It supports parallel testing that enables testing of multiple test scripts simultaneously across thousands of devices. Thus reducing the total time required for the testing process.
Additionally, it can be integrated well with a long list of desired project management, CD/CI solutions, automation framework, and bug logging tool. With such seamless integration, you can immediately inspect and log bugs that occur during the testing process and easily debug them on the go.
LambdaTest has proved to be very advantageous in developing robust, scalable, reliable, defect-free, and errorless applications. Use this platform to ensure higher test coverage, and less test execution time, by running tests concurrently without sacrificing the quality of your testing.
2. Kobiton
Kobiton is a cloud-based mobile app testing platform. It offers access to the latest real devices and configurations to execute manual and automated testing on native, web, hybrid, Android, and iOS apps. It uses the framework of Appium, an open-source tool, and experiences regular updates to improve its testing efficiency. This is an easy-to-use platform where you can experience better testing. It allows you to quickly and easily perform functional, performance, and visual testing across devices using Kobitons scriptless solution. Kobiton supports complex gestures, like geolocation and device connection management.
It automatically generates activity logs, commands, and screenshots, so that the issues can be identified and resolved faster. It also provides data logs and centralized testing history for increased collaboration.
3. Appium
Appium is flexible and one of the best automation test frameworks used by professional testers for iOS and Android mobile app testing. This mobile automation testing tool supports many programming languages, like Java, Ruby, C#, PHP, Node, Python, etc. One of its best features is that it offers cross-platform compatibility testing, which allows the testers to run the same tests on multiple platforms simultaneously.
In mobile automation using Appium, there is no requirement to modify or recompile any codes over the applications under test as Appium seamlessly integrates with both (Android as well as iOS) platforms. Moreover, Appium is also used for automated functional testing to improve the overall functionality of the applications.
It is an open-source framework and its flexibility and scalability make it a popular solution for automating mobile app testing. Another remarkable feature is its built-in UI Automator, which can produce detailed information logs and reports for robust analysis and debugging.
4. TestComplete
Test Complete is an all-inclusive automation testing tool for testing mobile, desktop, and web applications. It provides unmatched script and script less flexibility. This tool allows you to create and run repeated and robust UI tests across native or hybrid (both Android as well as iOS ) mobile apps. It can be integrated with other tools, such as Jira, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Git, etc.
Test Complete has an object recognition engine that helps in catching potential bugs and corrects them without delay. This script-free tool allows recording and replaying actions and creating automated test scripts by choosing from programming languages such as Python, VBScript, JScript, or JavaScript.
This easy-to-use tool reduces test creation time thus speeding up your test cycle, it also improves test efficiency without compromising the quality of the application.
5. Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is one of the leading all-in-one automation testing tools with the capability of testing mobile apps, API, desktop apps, and web apps. This is an alternative testing tool for Appium. It can be run across Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. This platform supports testing applications on Android and iOS platforms, API services, and web applications on all modern browsers.
Katalon Studio, as it provides scalable and robust features like record & playback, built-in keywords, pre-defined project templates, friendly UI, and automated test script generation for all operating systems and platforms.
Additionally, Katalon Studio does not require any complex setup, people with minimal coding experience can also design automated test scripts. It can seamlessly be integrated with commonly used project management tools, like Azure, Bamboo, Jira, Jenkins, and Git.
6. Testsigma
Testsigma is an extensive cloud-based automated testing platform ideal for web application testing, mobile application testing, and API testing. Testing supported by this tool is regression testing, cross-browser testing, continuous testing, and data-driven testing. It helps you to develop and execute test scripts across different browsers and on Android/iOS devices and desktops.
Using its built-in test management feature will help in generating test plans, handling user requirements, and prioritizing test cases. It also provides detailed real-time results of every test execution. Moreover, the integrated reporting feature helps to concentrate on the most priority test cases.
This automation testing tool uses simple English language to write test scripts which makes Testigma the perfect choice for those who have no coding background. Testsigma integrates well with bug tracking, CI/CD, and collaboration tools, such as Jenkins, and Jira. This seamless integration ensures efficient bug tracking.
7. HeadSpin
As an app developer, testing an app on limited devices and platforms is not enough. You need to make sure the app works well on various new and old Android and iOS devices worldwide. HeadSpin is a great mobile app testing tool to test and debug mobile, web, audio, and video applications on thousands of devices and operating systems. This performance testing tool allows you to test the app in multiple scenarios and easily see any differences across thousands of devices
Thanks to its geolocation testing feature that allows testing your app globally on all network infrastructure and data bandwidth. Its integrations include automation frameworks like Appium and Selenium, and CI/CD tools like Azure, Jenkins, and Jira.
8. TestGrid
TestGrid allows the easiest way to test your mobile application on real devices hosted on the cloud or on your premises. It allows performing both manual and automated testing of their mobile applications. Using this tool tester can execute test cases without having any programming background.
With TestGrid you don’t need to worry about rewriting different test cases as it allows the reusability of already written test cases on different versions of the apps. For faster execution, it offers parallel testing also.
9. Eggplant
Eggplant is an easy-to-use, AI-assisted test automation tool for testing web, desktop, and mobile applications. Eggplant needs machine learning to move from manual testing to automated testing, to facilitate a quick release cycle. Using this tool you can perform compatibility checks and continuous testing before the release of the app which will help in eliminating errors and inconsistencies. It can be integrated with CI/CD tools, including Jenkins, Bamboo, GitHub, and more.
10. Ranorex Studio
Ranorex Studio is a perfect solution for cross-platform, GUI testing for desktop, web, and mobile applications that allows running automated tests across a wide variety of legacy and modern systems. For Android and iOS, it supports testing on both real devices and emulators.
Ranorex Studio is for both beginners as well as for automation experts. By providing a cordless click-and-go interface and helpful wizards it becomes easy to use for beginners. Its feature of customized test reports with video reporting of test execution lets you see what happens in the running test without having to re-run them.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is already understood that mobile automation testing tools are very essential in releasing top-notch application quality.
Hope the above-listed mobile automation testing tools provided with their feature will help you to pick the most appropriate one for your testing requirement. They will also help you to get the best results and improve your mobile testing experience.
