What is functional mobile application testing?

William Hruska
3 min readJul 14, 2022

Functional Mobile application testing is performed so that each and every component of the application is validated in order to know whether it is working as per the specific requirements or not. When the mobile device orientation is changed, the application along with its user interface should adjust accordingly. When a specific application is in the background, then it should consume fewer system resources. In this article, you will get a brief idea about functional mobile application testing.

What is functional Mobile application testing?

It is defined as a process in which various websites and applications are tested on varied mobile devices so that the quality of the developed application can be enhanced. Every component of the application is validated in order to know whether it is working as per the required expectations.

Following are the three key factors influencing Mobile app testing:

1. Network conditions: The mobile applications need to be tested under various network conditions in order to make sure that the application behaves perfectly under networks like 2G, 3G, or 4G.

2. Mobile simulators: An essential role is played by mobile simulators in mobile testing. The behavior of an actual device is simulated by a simulator, which is software. The behavior of an actual device is mimicked by simulators. Various mobile devices are tested in a cost-effective way provided by simulators.

3. Mobile devices: A device testing approach is followed by mobile application testing. The application needs to be tested in various mobile devices, browsers, resolutions and operating systems.

Following is a seven-step process to perform Mobile Application testing:

1. The process needs to be outlined: The entire process needs to be outlined first. This includes preparing a compatibility matrix, selecting mobile devices to test on, identifying multiple constraints, planning various activities etc.

2. The testing type needs to be identified: The type of testing should be identified that needs to be performed based on the type of application under test.

3. Designing the test cases: A proper test case sheet needs to be prepared that covers all the functionalities and features that need to be tested. In this step, the manual test cases are separated from automation scripts.

4. Manual and automated tests are executed: Execution of both manual and automated test cases and test scripts takes place in this step in order to identify any loophole or major issue in the application.

5. The significance of beta testing and usability testing: Once the testing of the application’s basic functionality is carried out tactically, the next task is to make sure that the application provides the best user experience and is user-friendly. The in-house employees test the application first and then a beta version is released so that beta testers can test and detect any flaws or issues.

6. Conduct performance testing: The application’s performance is ascertained to identify scalability issues.

7. Final closure of the process: A set of final testing is performed to make sure that the application is stable and up to the mark with no major issues or bugs. The final regression testing needs to be performed by the QA team and thus make sure that the major functionalities are checked before the Signoff report is given and thus verify whether the acceptance criteria have met or not.

Following are some of the best tools used for Mobile Application testing:

1. Appium: It is an open-source mobile testing tool that is used for automating both Android and iOS applications. Python, C#, Ruby, Java etc., are some of the programming languages supported by Appium. It can easily integrate with Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Development (CD) tools.

2. Robotium: It is an open-source mobile testing tool used for automating android applications. It supports the Java language.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing Mobile application testing for your specific project, then do get connected with a leading software testing services company that will provide you with an exhaustive testing strategy that is in line with your project specific requirements.

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