Quality performance is essential in today’s complex and competitive mobile market. Mobile consumers have higher expectations for mobile applications and browsing a website via a mobile browser, therefore achieving high mobile retention and interaction rates is difficult. Performance and load testing are critical elements in the software development cycle before any software products are delivered. It ensures client satisfaction while also preventing delays and overruns.
When it comes to mobile apps, you should test the app on a variety of devices to check if the performance is influenced by the screen size.
In this article, you’ll learn more about what it means to undertake performance testing on mobile apps, as well as tips and tricks for improving the tester’s workflow.
1. Performance Testing
Performance testing is a method of determining how fast, responsive, and stable a computer, network, software application, or device is under load. Performance testing will be conducted in order to identify performance bottlenecks.
2. What is Load Testing and Why is it important for mobile applications?
Load testing is a type of non-functional testing that determines whether an application can manage a given load. As a result, anytime we test an application’s performance, we consider aspects such as load, volume, capacity, stress, and a variety of others.
Load testing is vital in the mobile development lifecycle since it aids in the development of strong and reliable systems by examining visual records, charts, and video recordings from numerous test runs. With load testing, we can determine the capability of a mobile application well before it goes live.
3. Mobile App Performance Testing Process
Performance testing approaches differ depending on the application. To successfully conduct performance testing, a project manager must create a testing plan. You must measure performance testing for any mobile application using the three categories listed below:
3.1 Device Efficiency/Performance
It is possible that the application runs smoothly on Android devices but not so well on iOS devices. In such cases, it is critical to monitor applications running on various operating systems.
The following devices are tested for device performance:
- Modification of hardware and software
- An application that is active in the background
- Startup time of the application
- Consumption of memory
- Battery usage while using the application
3.2 Server/API Performance
To deliver data accurately, the application must be able to control the data productively sent from the server and perceive the browser/device interaction.
Server/API performance is tested on:
- Server downtime
- API Performance
- API calls were made
- Data sent to and from the server
3.3 Network Performance
As network protocols impact latencies and throughput time, the mobile application must be tested on multiple networks.
The following parameters are tested for network performance:
- Network Speed
- Packet Loss
- Network Connectivity
4. What Needs to Test Mobile Apps for Performance?
There’s a tendency to overlook mobile app performance testing when development teams are short on time. That, on the other hand, would be a no; otherwise, a tester would overlook obvious bugs, and the software would be rejected by distributors (Google Play Market for Android and App Store for iOS).
The list of targets that a tester can achieve through performance testing is rather long. It contains the following items:
4.1 Validate an application’s performance under heavy load.
Product owners can employ performance testing to assess the system’s performance as the number of concurrent users or actions grows. At the app’s peak points, a tester will know the responsiveness and quantity of system resource usage. This is extremely useful if your app’s traffic spikes (where, during a certain season or period of time, the number of visitors surges and decreases shortly after).
4.2 Validate the hardware’s use.
Product owners will guarantee that low CPU utilization or limited server storage will not hinder the app from meeting the requirements through performance testing.
4.3 Calculate the application’s capacity.
You’ll be able to see if the present programme can meet the set of measures that you’ve created in advance (peak traffic load, server response time, and so on).
4.4 Evaluate and measure the app’s performance at the protocol level.
A tester will be able to design a load profile and analyze reaction time using a realistic simulation of real-world traffic.
4.5 Examine the app’s functioning in extreme circumstances.
A developer can establish the limitations of an app’s performance through performance testing. You’ll be able to anticipate and avoid system failures this way.
5. Performance Testing Strategy for Mobile Applications
For newly funded firms, developing a strategy from the beginning might be difficult. The good news is that the technique to app performance testing is the same across industries and scales. A project manager must devise a strategy in order to carry out performance testing properly. The phases in a typical step-by-step performance testing plan are as follows:
5.1 Ensure that test objectives and business requirements are in alignment.
Performance testing can only be as effective as its objectives. Make sure that the goals you establish for each case correspond to the business scope of developing an app. The main priority for a tester would be to evaluate the app’s capabilities that are critical for lead generation, such as the cart functionality for e-commerce businesses, the registration and contact form, and so on.
At this point, the testing team learns as much as can about the product’s architecture, including its presentation, business, and data layers.
5.2 Determine the test KPIs.
You’ll be able to detect if the execution was a success or a failure if you establish standards for testing. The following KPIs should be considered when testing mobile apps:
- Maximum response time
- Average response time
- Error rate
- Peak number of requests,
- Average throughput
- The peak number of connected active users.
5.3 Make a list of scenarios to prioritize.
A common pitfall for a new tester is to test all of the app’s features at once without first deciding which instances to test. Instead, it’s preferable to create a list of multiple packet circumstances that are critical for the app’s consistent functioning.
After you’ve confirmed that critical features are working effectively, you can go deeper and test less important scenarios.
5.4 Simulate a real-world testing environment.
The testing environment is critical for understanding the app’s user experience as it will be experienced by users after it goes live. System emulators are commonly used by QA specialists to speed up the testing process.
These tools are useful in simulating the basic parameters of an operating system and allowing testers to get a sense of how the interface looks and feels. However, it is preferable to use genuine hardware to evaluate the performance of features that require camera authorization, GPS, and other device-specific tasks.
5.5 Align the testing strategy to the whole development process.
Testing should be included into a company’s overall development strategy. In Agile, the tester must be prepared to put continuous integration principles into practice. If an organization uses Waterfall, a tester’s workflow should reflect this, which involves embracing regular defect reports and regression tests.
Implementing the same testing technique as development allows both entities to be on the same page about the project, increase communication, and accelerate decision-making.
5.6 When testing, keep in mind the speed and bandwidth of a carrier network.
As mobile devices connect to the internet via third-party carriers, network latency and bandwidth might vary. A QA professional can optimize the app’s performance and improve the user experience by considering carrier network variances.
6. Challenges of Mobile App Performance Testing
Testing mobile apps is generally more difficult and time-consuming than testing PC software. A wide range of devices, increased user mobility, and the use of device-specific capabilities can all become an obstacle for a tester.
The following is a summary of the most typical issues encountered when performing performance testing on mobile apps:
6.1 A wide range of device-specific functionalities are available.
Many apps make use of GPS, camera, microphone, and other features, but it’s difficult to replicate them with an internet tool. As a result, a tester must purchase a variety of hardware, increasing the test budget.
6.2 There are numerous UI versions.
Page layouts and system typefaces differ depending on the operating system. The app’s publishing process may be halted or delayed if you do not follow the requirements for Google Play Market or App Store.
6.3 Multiple devices or emulators are required for a tester.
The mobile device market is tremendously fragmented, with a wide range of capacities, screen sizes, and built-in functions. A developer must collect as much hardware as possible in order to test an app across as many devices as possible.
6.4 Context-based Issues
A QA must consider the network quality as well as the user’s location in order to test the app effectively. Because there are more use cases and patterns to examine in mobile app performance testing than there are in PC software, the process can be more expensive and time-consuming.
6.5 Touch Screens
Touch screens are a common form of user interaction, and interpreting the full range of activities available on a touchscreen on a PC emulation is difficult. Signals or indicators that suggest a human input process require greater precision and stability since they are difficult to automate.
7. Conclusion
There are a lot of competitors in the mobile app business. You must earn a space on a user’s smartphone by providing excellent service.
We talked about speed and load testing for mobile apps in this guide, as well as strategies to test the performance of mobile applications. We also discussed the constraints and processes involved in performing mobile app performance testing. We hope you found this detailed information useful and that you can put it to good use.
At TestDel, we offer a complete mobile app performance and testing solution. Throughout the development life cycle, we allow for the switch from traditional to power testing, and we provide zero-day OS and device support.