What makes mobile app testing more challenging than testing traditional web- and PC-based applications?
- Device variety—In theory, there are many devices available that run on the same platform. However, if an application is created for one device or handset, there is no guarantee that the application will run with 100 percent integrity on another device—even in the same product family. This is due to differences in the screen resolution, the handset, operating system, and any customizations to a device by a manufacturer.
- Industry standards—Because mobile applications are at the beginning of the adoption phase, no industry standards have been established for mobile application testing.
- Mobile testing tool availability—Current tools for recognizing screen objects for web and PC applications do not work for applications on mobile devices. In the absence of this object recognition, complex scripting techniques are required.
- Skilled QA automation specialists—With few available tools to conduct automated testing for mobile applications, there is a lack of trained specialists available to develop automation test scripts.
These are key challenges because mobile test automation of applications—when done accurately and correctly—can potentially reduce test development and execution time dramatically.