Maintaining effective and user-friendly mobile applications is critical for being relevant in today’s digital age. This requires testing applications frequently as new features evolve every day. While still applicable in some circumstances, traditional in-house device labs may increase costs and reduce productivity. So, instead of establishing a physical device lab, testers may employ a cloud mobile phone to achieve these goals.
DevOps teams can use cloud-based mobile testing to automate their application testing in virtual environments, offering access to various devices alongside multiple operating system versions and browsers. Cloud mobile testing has several advantages, such as reduced expenses and time, enhanced automation, and improved teamwork.
In this article, we will begin by exploring the concept of cloud-based mobile testing. We will then discuss the importance of cloud-based mobile testing for DevOps teams, as well as key strategies to keep in mind when implementing cloud mobile testing.
Understanding Cloud-based mobile testing
Cloud mobile testing is the use of cloud services to create a highly scalable mobile testing environment. It entails utilizing cloud-hosted resources to create a scalable testing environment that enables testers to perform tests from a remote location.
This cloud-based infrastructure contains real mobile devices (both Android and iOS) or emulators, which are available around the clock for web and mobile application testing. It enables developers and testers all over the globe to interact and connect to mobile devices over the internet. Web clients or APIs can be used to upload applications to the cloud.
Additionally, it provides the capability for testers to assess bandwidth, along with carrying out performance testing, phone model testing, UI testing, OS version testing, and several other testing types.
Cloud-based testing is recommended as testing with real devices might be costly. Simulators and emulators are available on the cloud, allowing testers to perform every task that a real user would do in real life, including swiping, double-tapping, zooming, scrolling, rotating, and so on. Cloud-based testing can also help identify performance concerns. It relieves the burden of cost and labour time, allowing DevOps teams to focus on their objectives. This results in increased accessibility, decreased overhead, and more efficient testing.
Why Cloud-Based Mobile Testing is essential for DevOps teams
Cost Efficiency
Cloud-based mobile testing will eliminate the expenses of setting up and maintaining an in-house device testing lab. DevOps can access as many devices as they require, depending on the needs of the testing projects. Moreover, testers do not have to invest additional resources in maintaining the devices as they will be undertaken by the platform itself. This flexibility stands as the most essential benefit that assists both individuals and small startup organisations.
Scalability and Flexibility
One of the major challenges in testing is accounting for multiple devices, screen size variations, and operating system changes. However, by using cloud-based mobile testing, testers have a scalable structure that will let them add numerous different devices depending on target configurations.
With such a huge array of devices, testers will also have access to perform parallel testing. This means they can run multiple test scripts on different devices at the same time. This is a very important parameter as testers have to deal with thousands of different test cases in a modern testing scenario. So, the proper implementation of this process will allow us to wrap up the entire testing infrastructure.
Remote Access and Collaboration
The cloud infrastructure of a remote mobile testing lab allows DevOps teams to access these devices from anywhere in the world. This will be one of the primary aspects that testers will use to ensure seamless communication and teamwork within the organization.
This means that the developers, testers, and QA can work in real time, accessing the test scripts instantly and also troubleshooting the issues as soon as they arise within the application infrastructure. Moreover, while using cloud-based mobile testing, DevOps teams also have the option of adding project management tools, continuous integration, and continuous deployment pipelines. This helps them to have a smooth workflow and also improves the productivity of the entire testing workflow.
Increased Test Coverage
Testing mobile applications on a few test devices results in poor test coverage that produces essential bugs undiscovered by testers. Since cloud-based mobile testing has access to multiple devices, operating systems, and browsers, testers can choose all the variations of mobile devices to ensure comprehensive test coverage.
It also lets DevOps Teams access devices with different network configurations. So, they can use this parameter to understand the fluctuation in the application’s performance when exposed to real-world scenarios.
Faster Testing and Time-to-Market
Traditional mobile testing processes are investing a lot of time in the application development cycle. In most cases, this time is mostly consumed by device procurement, setup procedures, and maintenance overhead. Switching to cloud-based mobile testing, the DevOps team can massively cut down this time as they will instantly access real devices for initiating the test cases.
Additionally, features like parallel testing, automated testing, and integration with DevOps workflows will also speed up the entire testing procedure. Testing methods that accelerate through various stages lead to faster deployment of high-quality applications. These factors are very important to continue maintaining a positive brand reputation in this market.
Support for Automated Testing
Mobile testing through cloud services uses automation tools such as Appium, together with Espresso and Selenium for test case automation. Automation testing eliminates the possibility of human errors or redundant testing scenarios.
This process will also help the DevOps teams to execute large test suites in parallel configuration automatically. With the help of automation testing, they will not only improve the efficiency of the testing infrastructure but also gain faster feedback to improve the application performance.
Real-Device Testing vs. Emulators and Simulators
With cloud-based testing, the DevOps team can access real devices that can exactly mimic how the application will perform when users are accessing it on their devices. Testers can also understand the behaviour of the application under various hardware conditions like CPU usage, battery consumption, and thermal performance.
These factors are very important to guarantee that the smooth and optimal performance of the application will not be limited by any hardware or application capabilities of updated mobile devices.
Challenges in Cloud-based Mobile Testing
- Data Security and Privacy– Users express the same privacy and security worries about cloud testing as they do with broader cloud deployment practices. Moving to the cloud creates difficulties in controlling data security and privacy which results in significant risks to the organization.
- Multi-Cloud Complexity– Utilizing a multi-cloud approach, which involves different cloud types (public, private, hybrid) from various providers, can create challenges in synchronization, security, and management.
- Environment Development– Unique configurations for servers, storage, and networks can pose testing difficulties, making it vital to develop the testing environment with care.
- User Environment Replication– Ideally, testing should be conducted in an environment that closely resembles that of the end users. However, replicating this can prove challenging, potentially leading to discrepancies.
- Comprehensive IT System Testing– Cloud testing needs to include validation of the application, servers, storage, and network interactions. Ensuring these interactions are validated across all layers and components can be complicated.
- Limited Control Over Test Environments– Certain elements requiring testing might fall outside the capabilities of the test environment, complicating the overall testing process.
- Bandwidth Fluctuations– The availability of bandwidth can vary, as resources are frequently shared among multiple users within the provider’s infrastructure, which may affect testing performance.
How can DevOps Teams fully utilize cloud-based mobile testing?
The growing use of smartphones has resulted in different device variations, making DevOps teams work toward building applications that operate on all devices. Nonetheless, bugs and errors can still arise, making it critical to implement cloud mobile testing to guarantee smooth application operation. Below are essential factors to consider when developing a cloud-based mobile testing strategy.
Planning the testing approach
A test strategy serves as a high-level document to specify application testing criteria at the beginning of cloud testing. The test strategy is often created by an analyst or project manager. It specifies long-term objectives, whereas the test plan, which is based on the application’s needs, delves into specific processes and requirements.
Selecting an Appropriate Test Automation Tool
Choosing an effective test automation tool is vital for accurately detecting bugs. Though many tools are available, relying solely on single-point solutions can lead to system fragmentation, potentially affecting performance and data integrity. A robust quality management system can enhance mobile testing by providing features like cross-functional testing and execution across different environments.
Mobile application testing at DevOps teams relies heavily on automated testing procedures. Cloud-based mobile testing platforms like LambdaTest enhance the automation process by providing robust frameworks and integrations that allow DevOps teams to efficiently test across multiple devices and environments.
LambdaTest is an AI testing tool that allows testers to perform manual and automation testing at scale across over 3000 real environments and real devices. The platform includes several built-in test mobile automation frameworks, including Appium, selenium mobile testing, and XCUITest. This enables teams to improve their test automation process and automate UI, regression, and functional tests.
LambdaTest’s capabilities of cloud-based mobile testing help the DevOps team to elevate their application development processes, ensuring a future-ready approach to mobile application testing. Furthermore, the platform goes beyond traditional cloud testing by integrating artificial intelligence, providing testers with unique insights. Its customizable KPIs give a comprehensive view of data collection points from test results and device interactions via AI-powered analytics, giving the DevOps team actionable insights to drive decisions based on data.
Conducting Parallel Testing
Utilize the parallel testing features of cloud mobiles to execute tests on multiple devices at the same time. This approach expedites the testing process and expands coverage.
Incorporating Continuous Integration
Having cloud mobile testing integrated into CI/CD pipelines allows DevOps teams to conduct automated testing immediately after modifications to the code base. This approach helps organizations find problems at an early stage and speeds up the release schedule.
Monitoring and Analyzing
Consistently monitor test outcomes and evaluate the data to detect patterns and recurring challenges. Apply these insights to refine the testing strategy and tackle common issues.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cloud-based mobile testing is transforming the way mobile applications are tested. Given the advantages discussed, the DevOps team can confidently assert that they offer significant benefits compared to traditional testing methods. The implementation of cloud mobile testing enables both application quality improvement and reduction of testing expenditures and faster development cycles.
Additionally, as mobile applications and devices continue to advance, adopting cloud mobiles into the testing approach will become increasingly critical. DevOps teams can greatly improve their ability to provide robust and user-friendly applications by adopting these practices in the testing environment. This results in improved user satisfaction and success.
