Testing Mobile Applications

1 Day

This course will teach you how to plan, perform and evaluate the testing of mobile applications. As the need for testing mobile applications increases, so does the need to understand and apply test practices that cover more than just functional correctness.

Randy Rice leads you through techniques for designing the right tests for your mobile applications, whether they be on the device or on a website. Learn how to know which items of functionality are important to test, based on relative risk.

Randy presents his visual method of how to rank important attributes such as usability, compatibility, accessibility and security, and then how to design tests for them.

View Scheduled Virtual Course Presentations Here

Introduction (.5 hr.)

In this module, we take a quick look at mobile applications to gain understanding of the risks, benefits and challenges in testing mobile applications.

• The landscape of mobile applications

• •     Phones
  •     Pads
  •     GPS
  •     Medical devices

• The business drivers
• The risks of mobile applications
• The challenges of testing mobile apps
• How mobile apps differ from web apps and PC-based apps
• The development aspects of mobile apps which drive test approaches
• Exercise – Exploring a case study

Your Mobile Testing Strategy (1 hr.)

In this module, you will learn what makes testing mobile applications unique and how to define your mobile application testing strategy.

• The scope of your testing
• Critical Success Factors for mobile apps
• Understanding your business drivers and risks
• Defining the user audience
• Understanding the technology

• •     Platforms & devices
  •     Networks

• Understanding the functional goals
• Knowing your project characteristics
• Profiling testers
• Thinking about tools
• How to define your mobile application test strategy
• Exercise – Define your mobile application test strategy

Ingredients of Mobile Application Testing (1 hr.)

This module explains the things you need to perform the testing of mobile applications from an external black-box perspective.

• Understanding of the application’s intended use and user audience
• Techniques and processes for mobile app testing

• •     Test planning
  •     Test design
  •     Test performance
  •     Test automation

• Tools

• •     Simulators
  •     Automation
  •     Screen capture
  •     Incident reporting and tracking

• People

• •     Developers
  •     Testers
  •     Marketing

• Environments

• •     Tools
  •     Test data
  •     Platforms and devices
  •     Simulators
  •     Control of test environments
  •     Cloud environments
  •     Virtual environment
• Exercise – Design a mobile application test environment for the case study application

Techniques for Testing Mobile Applications (2 hrs.)

These are techniques that can be applied for testing mobile applications. • Manual

• •     Exploratory testing
  •     Session-based testing
  •     Short tests
  •     Scenario-based tests
  •     Role-based tests
  •     Security tests
  •     Usability testing

• Specification and Model-based tests

• •     Requirements-based tests
  •     Use case tests
  •     State-transition tests
  •     Policy-based security tests

• Classification Trees
• Automation

• •     Regression tests
  •     Compatibility tests
  •     Performance tests

• Exercise #1 – Perform exploratory tests of the case study application
• Exercise #2 – Design scenario-based tests for the case study application
  

Testing Essential Attributes of Mobile Applications (1 hrs.)

In this module, you will learn techniques and tools for testing these important attributes of mobile applications.

• Security testing

• •     OWASP Top 10 mobile risks

• Interoperability testing
• Networking and communication testing
• Reliability testing
• Usability testing
• Compatibility testing
• Performance testing

More About Tools (1 hr.)

This module explores types of tools helpful in testing mobile devices. You will get hands-on exposure to examples of these tools.

• Test automation frameworks and drivers
• Simulators
• Compatibility test tools
• Cloud-based tools
• Tool pros and cons
• Success factors for test tools