Mistakes Made in Real Device Testing and How to Avoid Them

During the early years of application development, the apps were fairly simple and didn’t require extensive testing cycles. This is because there were very limited chances of bugs or errors arising in these apps. However, with the advancement of technology and complexity, developers have realized that apps consist of thousands of different elements with a complex working structure and need to be adequately verified. If the developers fail to do so, there may be critical bugs and errors in the app that can crash it and destroy the company’s reputation. In the modern app development market, various advanced testing technologies can help the developers verify the application’s stability and maintain its quality. Real device testing is an essential part of the modern app development market as it helps to signify the performance of applications on physical devices.

Although real device testing is essential for properly managing applications, there is a lot to learn about this technology. So, with this article, we will discuss some of the most common mistakes developers make while conducting real device testing and how they can avoid them. Moreover, we’ll also understand the role of various tools and platforms in effective real-device test cases.

Modern Device Market

To understand the role of real device testing in the application development process, the developers must have a definite idea about the modern device market. This is because, in the early years of technology, the desktop was the only platform to use the Internet and access multiple applications. However, with the advancement of technology, portability has become one of the most important factors in the life of consumers. So now various alternatives like smartphones, tablets, and even smartwatches have arrived. With these devices, users can achieve a desktop-like performance on gadgets that can fit in their pockets. So, to keep up with the rising demand for these portable devices, app developers must also ensure their apps’ compatibility.

Moreover, the smartphone industry is very diverse. The three most popular smartphone platforms are Android, iOS, and Windows. To understand the diversity of this market, we can consider the example that only on the Android platform do thousands of new devices come into the market every year. Each device is unique regarding screen size, hardware, and display specifications. So, app developers have to invest a lot of time to ensure the proper placement of UI elements, stability of the core, and other functions on these devices. This diversified modern device market has also given rise to various other forms of applications like hybrid apps and cross-platform apps.

Need for Real Device Testing

Considering the size of the device market we discussed in this article, we can easily understand the role of real device testing. This is because if the developers confine the test cases to only simulators and emulators, they cannot achieve accurate test results. This is because, with the help of simulation software, it is impossible to understand the role of physical parameters in the functioning of an application. For example, an emulator will not show how the application behaves when there are errors like low bandwidth, broken display, or a simple user input error. On the other hand, real device testing consists of a test bench that can help the developers verify the performance of these apps on hundreds of devices on site.

However, before initiating real device testing, the developers must be aware of some of the massive drawbacks of this form of testing. For instance, maintaining an in-house test bench is a costly process. This is because the developers have to buy physical copies of multiple devices. Moreover, it is also very hectic and hassles some processes to continue updating the device test bench. This is because thousands of new devices come on the market every year, and the developers must ensure that their test bench is updated according to modern application development standards. Lastly, collecting legacy devices that are no longer available on the market will also be a troublesome process to collect legacy devices that still play a crucial role in your target audience.

Common Mistakes in Real Device Testing and How to Avoid Them

Application developers and testers need to implement real device testing in their development environment properly. This is because multiple common mistakes often hamper the efficiency and accuracy of the real device test results. So, we have created a list of some of the most common mistakes in this testing form and how the developers can avoid them. They are as follows:

The first common mistake:

The first common mistake regarding real device testing is not performing real device testing at all. This is a common phenomenon in small companies and individual developers. This practice contributes to the high expense of real device testing. However, various alternatives like cloud platforms help the developers to achieve similar test results while eliminating the hassle and headache of having a physical Test match. We will learn more about the influence of cloud platforms as a replacement for real device testing in the later part of this article.

The second common mistake:

The second common mistake regarding real device testing is not verifying the application’s performance on enough devices. This is because, in certain cases, the developers try to reduce expenses by limiting the number of devices they verify the application’s performance. However, the app developers need a clear idea about the total number of popular devices among the target audience and test accordingly. For this purpose, running a market survey before the test planning phase is an excellent practice. Based on the data the developers will collect in this phase, they can shortlist the devices for testing. If you are working for a new company and still trying to determine its target audience, you can select the top devices in the present market and begin testing.

Some more common mistakes:

While executing real device testing, the application developers and testers often need to remember to test the application’s performance based on device-specific features. These are some of the features that are unique to devices and might play a critical role in the stability and usability of the application. The testing team needs to have a definite idea about all the unique features available on every device and concentrate on their influence on the core functioning of the app. It is also one of the great practices for the developers to consider these features during the test planning and strategy creation phase.

While executing real device testing, the developers should also consider the variation in user interactions. This is because not all forms of users will interact with the application similarly. There might be differences in terms of inputs from scrolling and display interaction. So, during the test case creation process, the application developers and testers must consider these parameters and verify the application’s stability based on user interactions. It is also essential for app developers to concentrate on devices based on the touch interface. This is because huge forms of variations can arise in these interfaces.

Considering all the parameters, we can easily say that the developers must perform a proper planning phase to utilize the full potential of real device testing. Customizing the test cases based on various scenarios, user’s specific interactions, and device-specific features is also important.

Integrating Tools and Platforms with Modern Test Bench

As we already discussed earlier, real device testing can be expensive while maintaining an onset device test bench. However, there are various platforms easily available in the market that can help the developers to substitute this process. In simple terms, with this platform, the developers can achieve similar test results while executing the test cases over remote servers. By paying only a minimum license fee, the developers can conduct unlimited test cases on real devices through remote servers. Moreover, remote servers provide access to hundreds of old devices that are impossible to find in the market. While executing the test cases over remote servers, the developers aren’t confined by any form of geolocation barrier and can conduct the test cases anywhere in the world.

We can improve our knowledge about the influence of remote servers in the modern app market by bringing in LambdaTest as our discussion point:

LambdaTest is a unified intelligent digital experience testing cloud-based platform that allows developers and testers to initiate and execute tests manually and automated over more than 3000+ different browsers and operating system configurations. With LambdaTest, developers can run automation test scripts from well-known frameworks and test suites like Selenium, Appium, and Playwright. You can also perform mobile testing with hundreds of real devices on the LambdaTest cloud, finally reducing test execution time and improving the accuracy of the test results.

Conclusion

With this article, we tried to spread the required knowledge regarding healthy real-device test cases. Moreover, we also tried to spread proper awareness regarding integrating automation testing with real device testing. This is because various market experts believe that automation testing. That will continue to increase its grasp over the modern app development industry. So, the developers and testers must continue to learn and update themselves regarding this segment’s new additions and innovations.

The app companies can also take a crucial initiative by conducting seminars to spread knowledge regarding automation test cases. It is also important for the developers to choose the correct testing tool or platform that can complement their requirements. Lastly, app developers must consider efficient test cases as one of the vital steps to maintaining the company’s position in this competitive market.

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