Mobile test automation has become indispensable in the software development industry. Testing a mobile application through mobile test automation helps development teams to progress faster and without breaking existing features. Testing out each and every feature on different devices, operating systems, and versions is difficult and very time-consuming for test engineering teams. Also, the cost involved in building infrastructure and testing teams to test their mobile applications is more.

That is why most of the development teams are opting for mobile test automation as this saves a lot of time, effort and money. Teams can concentrate on other important things. There are a lot of automation tools that are available in the market, using which we can test mobile applications effectively. But how do we choose the right automation tool? 

By the end of this article, you will be able to decide and select the right mobile test automation tool that can help you test the mobile apps.

Types of Mobile Test Automation Tools

Generally, there are three types of automation testing tools, namely,

  1. Open-source Tools

  2. Commercial automation testing tools, and

  3. Custom Tools 

1. Open Source Tools

These are Free platforms that allow testers to access or use source code. Testers can also modify the source code without incurring any costs or charges. These open-source tools can be used at any phase of the testing process, including test case management, bug tracking, debugging, etc. 

The main disadvantage of Open source tools is limited features when compared to Commercial Test automation tools.

Examples of Open-Source Tools include:

2. Commercial Tools:

These tools are specifically designed for commercial purposes. These tools are mainly used by large organizations and enterprises as these tools provide extended features and support. 

Some of the best Commercial test automation tools include:

3. Custom Tools

There will be particular characteristics for the test environment and testing process, the open-source or commercial mobile test automation tool cannot fulfill. In such a case, the organizations will consider developing a custom test automation tool. As these tools are explicitly developed, these tools are considered to be the costliest option. These tools are used rarely.

How do people Select The Test Automation Tool

The first thing that you have to keep in mind before choosing an automation tool is, there is no “one size fits all” test automation tool available. In other words, not every tool fits for every development environment and pipeline. One tool may work well with one project but not with others. Always try to implement a sample app, which contains all the elements of the production app, in the test automation tool. If the tool is able to handle and interact with the elements and fulfill all your requirements for the sample app, you can consider that as a right mobile test automation tool. 

Customizing a test automation tool requires basic programming skills. you might be using a record and replay tool, but that will ultimately land you in nightmares if you fail to fix broken scripts. So, it is always advisable to learn programming languages. 

The following checklist will help you find the test automation tool best suited to your testing process.

Checklist To select Right Mobile Test Automation Tool

It is important to assess the following checklist before we choose a tool to automate mobile app testing:

  • Supports native, hybrid, and web apps 

  • Supports testing in multiple languages 

  • Supports various mobile platforms (Android, iOS, windows phone, etc)

  • Supports all the UI elements and the change of orientation of the app from the landscape to portrait & vice-versa

  • Does the tool support proper object identification methods? (native, image, text or coordinate)

  • Can the tool execute the test cases on real devices as well as on emulators and simulators?

  • Will the tool be able to take screenshots during the execution of tests?

  • Can the tool be able to give a report along with the screenshots at the end of the tests? 

  • Will the tool be able to execute test-suite on several different devices simultaneously?

  • Does the time taken by the tool to execute tests suits your requirements?

  • Supports Performance Testing

  • Supports Security Testing

  • Does it Support Interoperability Testing

  • Ability to Record and Playback

  • Does the tool have required library functionality like Zoom In/Out, Swipe, etc.,


Conclusion

Choosing right automation framework for mobile application testing, is a very critical task. Our Domain Experts will test your applications, across all platforms with the right mobile test automation that fits your purpose and meets all your requirements.

Talk to our Test Experts to discuss your requirements in detail.