In 2019, global mobile device sales were 1.524 billion units. By the first nine months of 2020, we had reached 1.59 billion units, and this trend is still increasing year by year. Ten years ago in 2010, this number was only 296 million. This trend shows us how mobile devices have become a part of our lives and the increasing level of mobile testing challenges. We have become accustomed to and fascinated by these devices, making their application development a quite intense process.

The pressure on mobile phone sales is increasing, leading to an increasing number of mobile applications every day. Every task we want to complete through mobile devices has an application. The framework and development tools have also enhanced the entire process, reducing the workload of application development. Let's not forget that progress is beneficial for both parties.

If mobile application development becomes easier to access, there will also be significant changes in mobile devices and user preferences. This forms a wall of challenges that testers and developers must overcome. This will be the key to this article. In this article, we will analyze these challenges in mobile application automation testing and how we can address them.

What are the main challenges of mobile phone testing?

Diversity of mobile applications

When it comes to mobile applications, the first thing we think of is various mobile application icons. Although native mobile applications are only a subset of the applications we are discussing, the overall situation is even more important. Mobile applications include both "download and install" web and hybrid applications. Each of them has its own challenges and testing methods.

When conducting mobile application testing, we must address specific challenges for each application. We cannot implement textbook style standard solutions for all applications. For example, web applications will not be able to store data on mobile devices, but native applications can.

This feature will enable local applications to communicate data much faster than web applications. Therefore, we must remember that we design test cases and scenarios for mobile applications based on the type of application we are dealing with.