Mobile applications are a huge part of the modern world. From your smartphone to your tablet, there’s a good chance that you have a mobile device in your hand right now. In fact, according to Statista, 77.7% of the global population will access the internet from mobile devices by 2020.

Mobile apps are everywhere—on your phone, tablet, and desktop computers—but they’re not always tested for vulnerabilities and security issues. That’s why we’ve put together this list of critical test scenarios and test cases for testing mobile applications.

What is Mobile Application Testing?

Mobile application testing verifying the functionality, performance, and security of mobile applications. The apps may be tested on an actual or a simulated device. It is also known as end-to-end testing, covering all the steps from planning to execution.

As mobile device use increases and mobile device development grows, testing becomes essential for the successful delivery of high-quality mobile applications.

Significance of Mobile Application Testing

Testing Web applications on mobile devices is more difficult than testing the same application on the web because of the following reasons:

1. Different Range of Mobile Devices: This is one reason why application testing is challenging on mobile devices. A diverse range of devices in the market has different screen sizes and hardware configurations like hard keypads, virtual keypad (touch screens), trackballs, etc.
2. Wide Varieties of Mobile Devices: There are many mobile devices available in the market, like HTC, Samsung, Apple, and Nokia.
3. Different Mobile Operating Systems: Many different mobile operating systems exist, including Android, Symbian, Windows, Blackberry and IOS. Each of these has versions that differ from one another.
4. Different Versions of Operation System: In the market, you can find many different operating systems versions like iOS 5.x, iOS 6.x, BB5.x and BB6.x, among others.
5. Different Mobile Network Operators: Mobile contains other network operators like GSM and CDMA.
6. Frequent Updates: Android-4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and iOS-5.x and 6.x are frequent updates in the mobile phones, ensuring that the new testing cycle should not affect the application’s functionality.

Functional Testing Test Cases

The functional testing of mobile applications is the process of testing functionalities of mobile applications like user interactions and testing the transactions that users might perform. The main objective of mobile application functional testing is to ensure that the quality meets the specified expectations, reducing the risk of errors and providing satisfaction to the customers.

The most fundamental test scenarios in functional testing can be thought of as:

• To verify whether the application works as per requirement whenever the application starts and stops.
• To verify whether all the required mandatory fields are working as expected.
• To verify that the mandatory fields are distinctively displayed on the screen from the other non-mandatory fields.
• To verify whether the application is minimised during interruptions such as incoming phone calls, notifications, etc.
• To verify whether the phone can store, process, and receive the SMS whenever the application runs.
• To verify that the device can perform required multitasking requirements whenever it is necessary to do so.
• To verify that application allows necessary social network options such as sharing, posting and navigation, etc.
• To verify whether the page scrolling functionality of the application is working as expected.
• To verify that the page navigation between relevant modules in the application works as per the requirements.
• To verify whether the auto-logout or auto-login functionality works as per the requirements.
• To verify that the truncation errors are absolute to a reasonable limit.
• To verify whether the application can fulfil the multitasking requirement.
• To verify that the user receives an appropriate error message whenever there is any network issue.
• To verify whether the application allows third-party integration.
• To verify that the installed application enables other applications to perform satisfactorily.
• To make sure the application resumes from where it left off in case of a hard reboot or system crash.
• To verify whether the application provides an available user guide for those end users unfamiliar with the application.
• To verify that application performs auto start facility according to the requirements.
• To verify whether the application performs according to the requirement in all mobile versions, that is 2G/3G/4G/5G.

Performance Testing Test Cases

The main aim of performance testing is to ensure that the application performs acceptably under certain performance requirements, such as access by a huge number of users or removing the key infrastructure part like a database server.

Most fundamental test scenarios in performance testing can be considered as:

• To verify whether the application performs per the requirement under different load conditions.
• To check whether your application can handle the constraints imposed by this proposed load
• To determine whether the network can support the application at its peak, average and minimum user levels.
• To identify the various application and infrastructure bottlenecks preventing the application from performing at required acceptability levels.
• To ensure that a client-server configuration setup provides the optimum performance level and that an application’s response time is as per the requirements.
• To verify the application performance under various network strengths when it is changed to Wi-Fi from 2G/3G/4G/5G.
• To verify whether the battery life can support the application under the projected load volumes.
• To check that the battery is performing as expected, the memory leaks and performance of GPS and camera are within acceptable parameters.
• To verify whether each CPU cycle is optimized as per the requirements.
• To test the application in a different client-server configuration.
• To verify the application performance when only intermittent phases of connectivity are required.

Network Testing Test cases

Network testing helps analyse and test the network to which the application is connected.

Most fundamental test scenarios in network testing can be considered as:

• To verify whether an application behaves as expected when connected to networks of various strengths such as 2G/3G/4G/5G etc.
• To test whether the application behaves as expected when it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
• To validate whether there is any packet loss between the source and the destination.
• To verify the latency of the application.
• To verify the application behaviour when the network can be barely reached or is out of reach.
• To verify the behaviour of the application once it’s been restarted.

Security Testing Test cases

Security testing ensures that the application data and networking-related security are met per the requirements & guidelines.

Most fundamental test scenarios in security testing can be considered as:

• To check that the application can withstand any brute force attacks.
• To verify whether an application is not permitting an attacker to access sensitive information or functionality without proper authentication.
• To verify that the application has a strong password protection system.
• To verify the application, security can defend against malicious injections on the client side and during run time.
• To verify that the application does not suffer from insufficient session expiration.
• To verify the dynamic dependencies and take measures to prevent attackers from accessing these vulnerabilities.
• To verify the dynamic dependencies and take measures to prevent attackers from accessing these vulnerabilities.
• Verify to prevent SQL injection-related attacks.
• To verify if any cryptography code is broken and ensure that it is repaired.
• To make sure that the certificates are valid. Verify to protect the application and the network from denial-of-service attacks.
• To verify whether the application can prevent memory corruption.
• To verify & analyze the data storage and data validation requirements.
• To verify and recover from unmanaged code scenarios.
• To verify & enable the session management to prevent unauthorized users from accessing unsolicited information.
• To verify whether the business logic implementation is secured and not vulnerable to any attack from outside.
• To ensure that the cookies are working properly, and prevent any malicious attacks.
• To verify & provide regular audits for data protection analysis.

Compatibility Testing Test Cases

Compatibility testing on mobile devices ensures that mobile devices have different sizes, resolutions, screens, versions and hardware. So the application should be tested across all the devices to ensure that the application works as desired or not

Most fundamental test scenarios in compatibility testing can be considered as:

• To verify that the user Interface of the application is as per the screen size of the device, no text is partially invisible or inaccessible.
• To verify & ensure that the text is readable for all application users.
• To verify & ensure that the call functionality is enabled whenever the application runs.
• To verify that the application is available for backward compatibility.
• To verify that the application works properly with various mobile browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.
• To verify UI stability across various devices and OS versions.

Usability Testing Test Cases

The main objective of usability testing is to ensure that we end up having an application that is easy to use and has industry-accepted interfaces which are widely used.

Most fundamental test scenarios in usability testing can be considered as:

• To verify & ensure that the buttons should have the required size.
• To verify & ensure that the buttons are placed in the same screen section to avoid confusion for the end users.
• To verify & ensure that the icons are natural and consistent with the application.
• To verify that the buttons with the same function should also have the same colour.
• To verify that the validation for tapping zoom-in and zoom-out facilities should be enabled.
• To verify the keyboard input can be minimized appropriately.
• To verify that the application allows you to go back or undo an action.
• To verify that the text is kept simple and visible to all users.
• To verify & ensure that the contextual menus are manageable because it has to be used quickly.
• To verify the navigation process and ensure it is simple.
• To verify that the closing of the application is performed from different states and it re-opens in the same condition.
• To verify that all strings are converted into appropriate languages whenever a language translation facility is available.
• To verify that the end user is provided with a user manual that helps them operate the application.

Battery usage Testing Test Cases

Most fundamental test scenarios in battery usage testing can be considered as:

• To verify the overall energy consumption for application.
• To verify the battery performance when the system is under heavy load
• To verify the application behaviour when the battery is low, and the application is at a high load.
• To verify that the battery usage leaked.
• To verify how the new features impact battery usage.

Conclusion

As mobile application testing testing becomes more popular and common, ensuring you follow best practices and procedures will become crucial for the success of your testing efforts. These best practices help ensure that your applications are thoroughly tested and can withstand a variety of worst-case scenarios that might otherwise go unchecked. You’ll also want to be familiar with test-development tools like UFT or similar software to make the process as easy as possible and get the most out of each test.

If you have any questions regarding mobile application testing or want to know more about our services, please contact us at [email protected]