Introduction:

Given the wide variety of conveniences and functionality that mobile apps provide, they are now a crucial part of the mobile ecosystem. Unfortunately, most apps have bugs. The main reason is that they need to be able to handle a wide variety of system configurations and user interactions. An app should switch to the background at any time while its state is being restored, and then continue as if an interruption had never occurred. The mobile operating system is enabled to kill apps in the background to save battery life, while apps should automatically save their current state.

Testing such actions takes time, and testing them on many device configurations takes even longer. Most bugs and vulnerabilities are attributed to mobile devices. But this may not be the case. Mobile apps can harbor bugs and vulnerabilities alike, and serve as primary attack vectors. Some of the factors behind mobile app vulnerabilities are bad data storage practices, malware, lack of encryption, and sideloading.

During testing, the bugs found may seem small and insignificant, but further investigation may reveal larger inconsistencies. To find vulnerabilities and bugs in mobile apps, answering the following questions can help.

  • Does the application work as specified in the requirements documents?
  • Does the app work beyond the specifications?
  • How does the app perform when used for a long time under constant load? How is it supposed to work in such conditions? If its performance is not optimal, what are the reasons?
  • Is the data secure?
  • What are the third-party integrations of the app?
  • How does application redirection occur? What is the data transmitted in this redirection.

Common test activities:

  • Check the crash reports.

  • To test an application, all states of the application must be monitored. Collect all the actions available in the app and perform the actions in the app.

  • Generate a clean boot emulator snapshot repository per configuration. By checking to start an app for the specific snapshot instead of starting an emulator from scratch. Check multiple runs of the app by reusing the same instance of the emulator. This approach reduces setup overhead and ensures more testing time.

  • When executing possible executions of an application, it is more productive to decide the next action yourself. This gives you more control over the exploratory testing process and has the best chance of catching bugs.

  • Often, an input is required to move from one point to another. This can be accomplished by leveraging an input generation component that generates inputs based on specified rules.

  • The record and replay technique is a good way to trace a corresponding failure.

  • A bug can manifest itself by causing many redundant bug reports. After collecting test reports from all servers, filter the redundant report based on failure type.

  • Unzip the application and analyze the .xml file to find the necessary information, identifiers, library dependencies, and startup activities. Use this information to start the application.

  • Check what happens when the mobile device is full of data and devoid of all data.

  • Uninstall the app and review the data. Reinstall and check again.

  • Work in different time zones and at different times.

  • Use invalid data.

  • Use duplicate data.

  • Effect of data update on other services

  • Check if the errors conform to good practice. Checks the state of the user after an error is raised.

  • Try on a new phone and on an old phone.

  • Consider crowdsourcing your tests.

  • Always check that what users see is correct.

  • Check app with variable connectivity, OS updates.

It is recommended to test the mobile app after each launch. A set of priority tests can be defined and must be covered under a variety of conditions.

Testing is mostly seen as a completely logical process, test scripts and test plans, pass and fail, red and green flags. A good test is all about asking challenging and direct questions. Ideally, testers are supposed to have all the information about what and how an application is being developed. But in practice this is not the case and testers have to do what comes to hand. Information needed for testing can be obtained from many internal and external resources. Based on the information collected, a testing approach can be planned.