With the growing popularity of mobile devices and browsers, testing websites and mobile apps across various devices, operating systems, and browsers are getting harder. In order to provide a smooth user experience across all platforms, organizations must implement a test management strategy that takes into account real mobile device and cross-browser testing. An effective mobile application test management strategy allows us to verify the site functionality, UI consistency, and performance on the most popular mobile devices and web browsers.
Challenges of Mobile and Cross-Browser Testing
Mobile and cross-browser testing comes with several unique challenges that organizations need to address:
Device and Browser Fragmentation
The diversity of mobile devices and desktop/mobile browsers that users may use to access a website or app is huge. Every device and browser has its specifications like screen size, resolution, processing capability, and conformity to web standards. Testing on all possible combinations is unrealistic.
Testing Effort and Cost
There are so many devices and browsers to test on that it may become too much. Licenses for mobile device labs and automated testing tools can be costly. Applying QA resources to thoroughly test your apps manually is not scalable, disastrous and time consuming.
Rapid Release Cycles
New mobile devices, OS versions, and browsers are coming out often. Running full regression tests every time a new release comes is going to slow down development cycles.
Mobile Optimization
Test management tools in mobile app testing have to take into account mobile-specific problems such as touch targets, network connectivity, battery usage and mobile analytics. Testing mobile app versions of the sites also brings additional complexity.
Effective Test Management Strategies
To cater for the increasing issues associated with mobile and cross-browser testing, companies need to devise effective test management approaches. A risk-based approach should be used to select the high-usage devices and browsers used by the majority of customers for prioritized testing.
Test management tools in mobile app testing should be used to cover basic functionality, while manual exploratory testing discovers usability problems on real devices. Mobile device simulators, emulators and cloud-based device labs offer efficient methods to test on multiple platforms. Responsive web design testing across different viewport sizes is crucial to ensure site flexibility.
Standardized test environments and data sets promote consistency of browser and device test iterations. Clearly defined bug replication processes help to address issues faster. Construct matrices catalog all tested device and browser combinations to identify coverage gaps.
Automated reporting aggregates results across configurations for convenience in analysis. Testing early in the development lifecycles speeds up the detection and correction of inconsistencies between browsers. A combination of these approaches lets you make more efficient use of the testing resources and still have good browser and device coverage.
Risk-Based Testing
Focus testing efforts on mobile devices and web browsers with high usage among the target users. Analyze web traffic and analytic data to know the most popular platforms. Concentrate on fully testing the functionality, UI, and performance on these high-risk devices and browsers first. Testing on all possible platform combinations is not a smart use of QA resources. Define clear criteria to distinguish high, medium, and low-risk devices and browsers.
Responsive Web Design Testing
Test sites and applications across different screen sizes and resolutions to check responsive design adjusts properly. Systematically resize browser widths from minimum to maximum to expose layout problems. Test on real devices using developer tools to emulate alternate resolutions. Give priority testing to popular device sizes such as iPhone, iPad and common Android phones.
Standardized Environments
Consolidate the test environments, test data, emulators, simulators and physical devices to standardize testing across teams. Implement access controls and maintain environments up to date to match production. Replicate issues reliably by controlling the variability in the test environments. Compare test results among browser versions with the same test data and conditions.
Bug Replication Process
Implement a streamlined process for replicating mobile or browser-specific problems. Save the device details, OS version, browser and the clear steps to recreate each bug. Share this context across QA teams to effectively verify fixes during regression testing. Precise bug replication helps developers pinpoint and trace the root cause.
Build Matrices
Employ build or configuration matrices to enumerate all device and browser combinations that have been tested. The testing matrix helps identify gaps needing extra test coverage and any discrepancies between test environments. Cross-reference the matrices with site analytics to direct the testing to the platforms with considerable user traffic. Keep the matrices up-to-date as new devices, operating systems, and browser versions appear.
Automated Reporting
Set up automated testing tools to generate comprehensive reports that include browser versions, operating systems, viewport size, device specifics and results. Incorporate reporting into a centralized test management system for easy access across project teams. Automation of reporting enhances record keeping as mobile and browser coverage broadens.
Conduct Cross-Browser Testing Early
Start cross-browser testing during the development, not only before release. Fixing UI inconsistencies, styling issues and JavaScript bugs is more costly if found in QA cycles. Develop on multiple browsers at the same time so that you can detect the issues earlier. Give more priority to functional testing as compared to pixel-perfect UI testing which may delay releases.
Mobile and Browser Testing KPIs
Measuring key metrics allows us to compare the results of cross-browser and cross-device testing. Track browser and device coverage percentages to make sure testing is aligned with the high-risk platforms. Measure automated and manual test pass/fail rates by platform. Follow open defects related to compatibility problems. The supported browser versions and page responsiveness across viewports.
Compare mobile page load times against the benchmarks. Analyze failure rates attributed to particular devices and browsers. Periodic review of these metrics improves the visibility into testing gaps, identifies areas of concern across platforms, and assists in developing better test coverage through data-driven insights. Proper mobile application testing helps you offer better digital experiences across the expanding mobile devices and browser landscape.
