There are now more people using mobile apps every day since there is an app for everything, giving them more options.  They may choose from dozens of apps and have them on their mobile device in a matter of seconds, whether they want one for cooking, listening to music, exercising, learning languages, or anything else.

Test teams need to produce high-quality applications that function as intended across a variety of device types, operating systems, and browsers because of the fast-growing popularity and complexity of mobile apps. This has increased the importance of mobile app testing to make sure they run well and provide a consistent user experience across all devices. As a result, they must test mobile applications on real devices.

However, it is challenging to decide which devices to test on given the expanding number of mobile device types on the market with new ones being released every year.

In this article, we will learn how to select the best real device testing tool for app testing. Before doing that, let’s first define real device testing, discuss why it’s vital to choose real device testing, discuss its advantages, and determine when to test mobile apps on real devices.

Real device testing

Mobile app testing using real devices is referred to as “real device testing.” This is crucial in creating mobile apps since it enables developers and QA to test the app’s usability, functionality, and performance on real-world devices. To do this, the app must be used on a variety of device combinations, operating systems, and screen sizes and resolutions.

This ensures a uniform user experience and that the app works effectively across a variety of devices. Testing on real devices is crucial since it enables the detection of problems that might not be seen when testing on emulators or simulators.

Why testing on a real device is preferred

There is no better solution than testing on a real device cloud since people need excellent service each time they use your app or website. QAS can track how the application performs in actual user circumstances by testing websites or apps on actual devices. For instance, testing on a real smartphone gives QAs the chance to see how an app or web application will function while the device’s battery is low. Alternatively, they can use geolocation testing to observe how an app performs in various locations.

Advantages of conducting testing on a real device

Testing using real devices has various benefits. The key justifications for selecting an actual device for testing are listed below.

  • Testing on real devices enables a more accurate testing environment, which might aid in identifying problems that could occur in the real world. Because testing on real devices enables testers to assess how well the app works on actual devices with different hardware and network configurations.
  • A better user experience is guaranteed when testing on actual devices.
  • Testing on real devices helps testers to carry out more thorough testing, such as checking the app’s performance, usability, and security.
  • Testing on real devices increases the app’s reliability by allowing developers to find and address problems that could lead to breakdowns or other problems in real-world circumstances. This can ensure that the application works properly and offers a satisfying user experience.

In addition to understanding the advantages of real device testing, it’s critical to understand when to do it. Let’s look into them.

When should mobile apps be tested on real devices?

At different stages of the app development process, mobile testing on real devices should be done. The situations listed below will help you understand when it is very crucial to test on actual devices.

  • Test throughout the early stages of development. This will facilitate the early detection of problems and errors and eventually help to save time and resources.
  • Thoroughly test the application on real devices just before making it accessible to users. This will aid in making sure the app functions smoothly across a variety of devices and offers a satisfying user experience.
  • Test the app whenever there is a significant update or modification. This will help to guarantee that there are no problems or defects brought on by the upgrade or change.
  • Testing on the intended specific devices or platforms is especially crucial if the app is being developed particularly for those devices or platforms. This will guarantee that the application functions properly and offers a satisfying user experience.
  • It’s crucial to test new features on real devices before they are released to make sure they function properly and don’t cause any problems.

Choosing the appropriate real device tool for testing

Due to the participation of several aspects and conditions, testing mobile applications is one of the most difficult and complex testing jobs. Testing must be done on every possible combination of variables relevant to how the apps function across various devices, including their various versions and variants, the operating system, platform, network setup, and other parameters. Therefore, it’s crucial to test the app on real devices to allow it to function properly and excel on every metric. Therefore, the first step in testing a mobile application is to choose the appropriate real-device tool. This will simplify the job of mobile testers and cut down on the time and effort required.

Here are some tips for picking the most ideal real device testing solution.

Ease of Use and Learning

The tool that is simple to use and understand should be taken into account. Even the best testing tools are useless if they are difficult to use. Since many individuals in the team will use the tool, its learning curve shouldn’t be too steep.

Support for Continuous Testing

To assess the kind of impact produced on an application by a change or update to the code, the testing tool should be able to conduct continuous testing. The tools should be developed in particular to support continuous testing. It is an essential component of the perfect tool.

Continuous testing is essential to competency in the testing field since it promotes speed. This is so that QA teams can meet users’ needs while maintaining high quality and speed, which is impossible with any other testing method.

Complete test reporting, catching errors, and debugging

The chosen tool should be able to record test failures as they happen and generate thorough reports that identify exactly when they failed and provide all relevant information to aid developers in fixing the issues.

They should be able to collect screenshots, provide information about specific test steps, export reports in different formats, and view them on various platforms and operating systems.

Integrating with additional testing platforms and tools

The mobile app testing tools that offer the most native integration with widely used tools and frameworks are the best and most worthwhile investments. When a testing tool connects with the top CI/CD technologies, it simplifies the lives of developers and testers and aids in the accomplishment of tasks like inspection, defect recording, test execution, test management, and revision control. Bamboo, Jenkins, GitLab, JIRA, and other prominent CI/CD framework integrations are just a few examples.

Support for various testing methods and codeless tests

Support for codeless tests benefits team members who lack programming expertise but are capable of contributing their full capabilities to the team. These experts benefit from codeless testing since it speeds up the time it takes to run repetitive test cases. It might be among the greatest tools for testing mobile apps. The chosen test tool should also be updated frequently to support and enable more modern testing methods such as accessibility testing.

Support across platforms

The best mobile testing tool should be chosen based on compatibility with the platform and all of its variations and versions, for which a mobile app is meant to be used. To assure cross-platform testing, it would be preferable to use the option that supports several platforms.

Support for a variety of programming languages

The ability to create successful test cases in a variety of programming languages is a crucial aspect to consider when choosing the best device testing solution. The most popular programming languages include HTML, CSS, C++, Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, and Java.

Code standards and construction safety

The most effective mobile testing tools are those that are concerned with security and user data. Due to the collaborative nature of modern app development, testing, and build distribution, it is frequently possible for unauthorized users to access an app when it is at its most vulnerable. To safeguard the build and source code of the application against malware, viruses, and attacks, the chosen tool must have a high level of assurance.

All of the aforementioned requirements for the ideal real device testing solution are met by LambdaTest, a cloud-based digital experience testing platform for real device testing.

Utilize the LambdaTest cloud platform to test on real devices

It’s no longer safe to assert that testing will be sufficient if done exclusively on Apple and Samsung smartphones because there are so many competing mobile device models and manufacturers on the market, including those made by Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO.

Choosing which mobile device model to test on might be difficult given the wide range of options available. To ensure how the app performs under actual user circumstances, it is, therefore, best to test on real devices.

However, since it takes time, effort, and money to buy each newer device and maintain an existing one with several operating system versions, it is not an easy task. So choosing a cloud-based digital experience platform like LambdaTest for real device testing is much easier. It offers an online farm of more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and test frameworks, including both the newest and oldest devices with up-to-date installations of popular operating systems.

Testers may quickly execute manual and automated app testing on the most recent mobile devices with LambaTest real device cloud. Additionally, they can use real mobile devices for responsive testing to see how their app displays on various screen sizes and resolutions. They can even test their apps using the online APK and iOS simulators on the LambdaTest virtual testing platform.

Built-in visual testing is one of LambdaTest’s mobile testing capabilities that helps to guarantee that mobile apps have pixel-perfect user interfaces across all platforms and devices. To quickly identify UI flaws, the visual testing function takes screenshots of the app and compares them with the baseline images, highlighting any variations. One of the best features offered by LambdaTest is record and playback, which makes it easy to record and replay all actions connected to various test scenarios.

It also has many other capabilities including login and defect reporting, object identification and recognition to make it easier to maintain test scripts, rapid test script generation for each scenario, priority monitoring, and issue tracking. Geolocation testing, parallel testing, cross-browser testing, data-driven testing, and more features are also available for LambdaTest mobile testing.

In addition, LambdaTest may be easily linked with well-known frameworks and tools for developing mobile apps, such as Appium, Selenium, and Cucumber, giving testers a comfortable setting in which to conduct their mobile app testing. To facilitate continuous testing and quick feedback cycles, users can also integrate LambdaTest with well-known CI/CD systems like Jenkins, Bamboo, and TeamCity.

Conclusion

From the explanation above, it is clear that real-world mobile testing is a crucial step in the creation of mobile applications. It ensures that the application is of excellent quality and offers a satisfying user experience across all devices and platforms under actual user circumstances.