Author: Suyash Dubey

Suyash is a content strategist at pCloudy. He is a frequent contributor to the world's leading mobile technology blogs and tech forums. In his spare time, you will find him reading detective novels, watching a documentary or exploring a new destination.

Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

Android Q Beta Devices Available On pCloudy

We are committed to keeping you ahead of others. pCloudy is one of the fastest to release the support of Android Q beta devices on the cloud.
 
Google has launched the final Android Q beta and Android Q official release is just a few weeks away. Testers and developers can test their app against this final beta version. Android Q beta 6 includes the final API 29 SDK and updated build tools for Android Studio. It also supports all the features, developer APIs and system behaviors that will be in the final release.
 
Now you can test your mobile apps on devices loaded with Android Q beta version in pCloudy.
 
Google-Pixel-2 Android Q Beta Device

 

Google-Pixel-2 Android Q Beta Device

 

Realme 3Pro Android Q Beta Device

 
Related Articles:

  • Android Q: All You Need To Know
  • Writing The First Appium Test Automation Script (Android)
  • Problems With Online Android Emulators and How to Solve it?
  • pCloudy Announces Availability of iOS 11 (beta) Devices on Cloud
  • pCloudy Announces Availability Of iOS 13 (beta) and iPadOS Devices On Cloud

    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Starting Appium Server and launching the app from code

    In the previous blog in this series, we learned how to write the first Appium script for Android devices. Now in this blog, we will understand how to start the Appium server.

    The code structure is segregated into three parts, the first part of the code starts the Appium server, the second part stops the Appium server.

    The Code Structure

    The third part is the main method which is necessary to execute the class and from this main method, all the above method are called.

    Starting Appium from code requires a path of two files which are kept inside the Appium folder.

    • node.exe
    • js

     

    Starting Appium Server

    In the code highlighted in red, we have called process class which is a Java class and declared it static.

    Starting Appium Server

    We then created a start server variable and pass the path to node.exe and main.js, highlighted in yellow. In the code highlighted in green, we added both paths into the same variable with spaces and created a method called startAppiumServer() which takes care of the Appium server startup process. Next step is to create an object of Runtime class which is again a java class and call the method getRuntime(), highlighted in blue. We will pass the variable “STARTSERVER” into runtime.exec() method. It will start the Appium Server.

    Once the process is started, we have to store the current state of the process into this variable. We will give a sleep time of 5 seconds as it takes time to start the process. what we are trying to validate here is, if the process is not null; it means that the process is started as highlighted in the gray box.

    Stop Appium Server

    Here we need to create another method named stopAppiumServer(). We again verify the state of the process and if it is not null, call a method of process class destroy().

    Stop Appium Server

    So now we know how to start and stop the Appium server from code. Let’s try to install and launch an app on a mobile device. Let’s see how we can install a .apk file on an Android device and launch it automatically without providing the path in Appium Server.

    Installing and launching the application

    To begin with, we call the stopAppiumServer() method to verify if any instance of Appium Server is already running and if so, then it closes that instance, as highlighted in red. The method highlighted in yellow starts the Appium Server.

    Installing and launching the application

    Then store the apk path file into a variable of File class, which is a Java class as highlighted in blue. Create another variable of File class app. It takes two parameters:

    • The absolute path of the apk file.
    • Name of the apk file.

    Now the absolute path is stored into appDir variable and the name of apk file in the second part as highlighted in the green box. The rest of the things are the same as discussed in the earlier sessions.

    The complete code is shown here.

    Package QA campus

    Appium server installation

    Appium server installation

    Now that you have learned how to launch app from code, let’s move on to the next blog where we will learn how to set up Appium on a Mac machine.

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Writing The First Appium Test Automation Script (Android)

    In the last blog in this series, we learned how to set up Appium for test automation on a Windows machine. Now we will handle the application by writing the Java code. We will require the following software:

    Eclipse

    Selenium standalone Jar

    Appium Java Client
     

    This process consists of five steps as depicted in the picture below.

    Test Automation

    First, we need to collect the Selenium Standalone JAR and Appium Java Client Libraries. To download the Selenium standalone JAR file, go to seleniumhq.org/download then click on the Download version.

    Test Automation SeleniumHQ

    For Appium Java client you need to go to appium.io/downloads and download the libraries for the selected language.

    Test Automation Downloads

    Now to create a java project download Eclipse from eclipse.org/downloads. Launch Eclipse and select the workspace location.

    Test Automation Eclipse

    To set the Android SDK path into Eclipse, click on the Windows tab in the menu bar and select Preferences in the drop-down list.

    Test Automation

    Then select the Android option and browse your Android SDK location and click on Apply.

    Test Automation Preference

    Launch Eclipse and right-click on Package Explorer. Then select a new Java Project.

    Test Automation Java ADT

    Enter a project name and click finish.

    Once the project is created, add a folder to the project, for the project dependency files [Selenium Standalone] and [Appium Client Library] which you have downloaded.

    Test Automation Package Explorer

    Copy the downloaded file into the newly created project dependencies folder. Select both files and right-click. Then select the add to Build path option and then Add to Build Path. Thus both classes have been added to your project reference libraries.

    Test Automation Package Exp

    Create a class and import the required packages. Now right click on the src folder, hover the mouse over the new option and select the Class option.

    Test Automation Class

    Provide a package name, the name of class then select the main method checkbox.

    Test Automation Java Class

    A .java file within the package is created in Package Explorer panel. An auto-generated the main method is generated on the right panel.

    Test Automation Lauchapp

    You need to define a public class variable of AndroidDriver as your first line of code. You will now see an error for an android driver. Now hover your mouse over the error, you will get a list of quick fixes. Select Import ‘AndroidDriver’. Once you select the import package option, the android driver package will be imported and the error will be removed.Test Automation Android Driver

    Create an object of DesiredCapabilities. Again you will get an error for DesiredCapabilities. Hover the mouse over DesiredCapabilities and then select Import ‘DesiredCapabilities’ from the quick fix list.

    Test Automation Emulator

    Once you select the import package option, the DesiredCapabilities package will be imported and the error will be removed.

    Now set the DesiredCapabilities and also provide the package of an application and the name of application launcher activity.

    Now you need to instantiate the Android driver.

    To do this we need to have two parameters, the first is the Appium server address with the port number which it is running and the Capabilities.

    Test Automation capabilities

    Hover mouse on URL and import URL from Java.net. You will get an error for complete new URL section, hover mouse on the error and select Add throws declaration. By doing so exception has been added into your main method.

    Test Automation Driver

    Now start the Appium server and connect a device to the system. Now return to Eclipse and execute the code. This will launch the app in the device.

    In the code, we have declared the class as public so that we can access it anywhere inside out test.

    Test Automation Diving Deep

    The java main method is highlighted in yellow. We created an object of desired capabilities class which you can see in the green box. In method setCapability, there are two parameters. First is the capability name and second is the capability value as highlighted in blue. Then we created an object of AndroidDriver class highlighted in the black box. The code highlighted in gray is the findElement(By) method which can locate an element on the screen.

    Now that you have learned how to write a mobile test automation script using Appium test automation framework, we can move on to the next blog where we will learn how to start the Appium server and launch the app from code.

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Appium Setup for Windows

    In the previous blog, we informed about the basics of Appium and its architecture. Now let’s understand how to setup Appium. There are four steps required to setup Appium, they are enabling the Android device for test, test environment setup, Appium Configurations, Launch the app on the device.
     
    Appium Mobile Testing

    Pre-requisites for Appium Mobile Testing

     
    1. An Android device with OS 4.2+
    2. AUT(Application Under Test) file (.apk)
    3. Phone USB Drivers
    4. Java (JDK)
    5. Android Studio (SDK)
    6. Eclipse
    7. Selenium Standalone JAR
    8. Appium Java Client
    9. Appium for Windows
    10. .NET Framework 4.5
     

    Want to test your Mobile App?

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    Android Developer Options in device

     
    Every Android smartphone contains a secret set of Android developer options which are used by app developers who need additional functions to test their apps they are making for Android devices. It allows you to enable debugging over USB, capture bug reports on your Android device and show CPU usage on the screen to measure the impact of your software.
     
    To enable developer option in the phones to go to the settings, click on the about phone options and click on the build number 7 times to enable the developer options.
     
    About Phone

    Doing so will display a toast message for enabling the developer option. the current message appears if the developer message is already enabled on the phone.
     

    Phone Drivers

     
    The phone can communicate with the PC only if there are proper drivers installed for the USB cable. Each phone manufacturers provides its own drivers for the phone. PDA net is a driver which works with all the Android devices. It makes sure that your phone is detected in DDMS.
     
    Open pdanet.co and go to download screen and download the latest version to install it on your PC.
     
    Appium Setup

    Let’s verify if the phone is prepared.
     
    The ddms.bat file is present in the Android SDK tools folder.
     
    Dalvic Debug Monitor

    Double click on the file and you will see the Dalvic Debug Monitor window.
     
    DDMS

    If your DDMS option is enabled i.e. if you have installed the PDA net software and connected the device to the machine, that device should be detected in this monitor. Now let’s move on to the second step.
     

    Test Environment Setup

     
    First, you need to download JDK from the Oracle website.
    Oracle download

    Once downloaded, install it to your machine. Now you need to set the Java installation path in your Environment variable. Right-click on Computer option in the Start menu and select the Properties option. Select Advanced system settings and then select the Environment variables option in the Advanced tab.
     
    Advanced system setting

    Then select the new option and enter the new variable name as JAVA_HOME.
     
    Java Home

    Set the path of JDK to variable value and then click OK.
     
    To get an Android emulator you need to go to www.developer.android.com\studio#downloads and Scroll down to Command-line tools only section to download the zip file of SDK tools package for Windows.
     
    Command line tools only

    Don’t download the EXE file. Once the SDK file is downloaded, copy it to the C drive, make a new folder and extract the zip file in the new folder.
     
    Now you need to search for SDK manager in the bins folder and open SDK manager. Once the SDK manager window is open, go to tools and then get into the bin folder and in the address bar type cmd and hit enter. Now in the command prompt type SDK manager “platform-tools” “platforms; Android-28 and then hit enter. So now you will be able to see Platform tools and Platform folders in now folder you created for the extracted files.
    Click on platform tools and copy the address bar text and then again go to an environment variable. Then go to the path, a new window will pop up, make a new path and enter the copied text there and then click on OK.
     
    To download Appium go to www.appium.io and click on the Download button.
     
    Download Appium
     
    Under the latest version, click on the Appium-windows-1.12.1.exe file. Once the file is downloaded, open the appium.exe file. Click on the Start Server v1.12.1 button.
     
    ApAppium Start Server v1.12.1

    Then in the server window click on the Start inspection session icon at the top right corner.
     
    Appium server

    Now you can get started with Appium automation testing. Do read our next blog to get more information about Appium mobile automation and how to inspect elements using Appium Desktop.

    Want to test your Mobile App?

    Join pCloudy Platform!

    Signup for Free

     
    Related Articles:

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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Basics of Appium Mobile Testing

    [xyz-ihs snippet=”quickLinks-Appium”]
     
    Appium is an open source mobile app UI testing framework. You can test all types of mobile apps and perform automation test on physical devices as well as on emulators and simulators. Appium mobile testing does not have a dependency on mobile device OS and it supports cross-platform app testing as a single API works for both Android and iOS. Appium supports many popular languages like C, PHP, Python, C#, Java, Ruby, JavaScript, etc.
     

    What is Appium Mobile Testing?

     
    When Appium is installed then a server is set up on your machine that exposes the REST API. It receives a command request from the client and executes that command on Android or iOS mobile devices. Then it responds back with an HTTP response. It uses mobile test automation frameworks like Apple instruments or UIAutomator2 to drive the UI of apps.
     

    Approaches to Test Automation

     
    There is two approaches for mobile test automation, Image-based and Object-based approach. Let’s understand both in detail.
     

    Image-Based Approach for Test Automation

     
    This technique of object identification is based on the image processing attributes of the objects in the Application Under Test (AUT). Example: Automate user options like “click, type, drag-drop, mouse actions, etc.”
     

    Visual verification of the expected output

     
    • Not dependent on the platform underneath
    • Can be used to automate emulators as well as a real device.
     
    Image based approach

    The object-based approach of test automation

     
    This technique of test automation is based on recognizing the nativity of the objects in AUT. This nativity reorganization process for each individual object in the application is carried out using different attributes that are assigned to the object.
     
    It is used to extract the application object identifier with its properties from the actual native operating system source code, just like the developer used. This is an accurate and fast method to recognize the buttons, lists and other objects used by the application.
     
    One drawback of the object-based approach is that the recognition of the individual attributes of the object involved restricts these techniques ability to function in test scenarios that require third-party application access. This reduces the automation coverage of utilizing this technique.
     
    Object based approach

    Which approach should we choose?

     
    As we have seen, both approaches have their pros and cons. To get better results, you can merge both approaches and think about devising a hybrid test automation solution.
     
    The combination of OCR (image based) and native (object-based) approach allows users to build a single script that will be portable across different devices. It will make your automation robust and efficient and allows the users to confidently detect the relevant native and GUI defect within the mobile application.
     

    Appium Overview and Architecture

     
    Appium is an HTTP server that manages WebDriver sessions. On iOS devices, Appium proxies command to a UI automation script running on Mac Instruments environment. Apple provides an application called instruments which are used to do a lot of activities like profiling, controlling and building iOS apps. It also provides an automation component where you can write some commands in JavaScript which uses UIAutomation APIs which interact with the app user interface. Appium mobile automation uses these same libraries to automate iOS apps.

    Appium Overview and Architecture

    The Webdriver Script sends a command in the form of HTTP (JSWP) to the Appium Server. Then the Appium Server will then decide as per the request which driver should be initiated. So, in this case, the Appium Server will initiate the XCUITest driver and it will pass the request to the WebdriverAgent which is an IPA (WebdriverAgent.xcproj) developed by Facebook. WebdriverAgent is responsible to send the command to the Application Under Test (AUT) to carry out the actions in the app. Then the response will be sent to the Webdriver Script through the Appium server.
     
    Only iOS 9.3 and above version are supported by the XCUITest Driver. You can find all the capabilities for XCUITest Driver in the link mentioned below.

    https://github.com/appium/appium-xcuitest-driver

    UI Automation Server flow diagram

    The situation is very similar in the case of Android where Appium proxies command to a UIAutomator2 test case running on the device. UIAutomator2 is Android’s UI automation framework which supports running JUnit test cases directly into the device into the command line. It uses Java as the programing language but Appium will make it run from any of the web drivers supported languages.
     
    To answer the question “what is Appium automation?”, let’s have a look at the Appium philosophy.
     
    Appium philosophy
    Appium mobile testing is required for proper execution of continuous integration as it speeds up the overall testing process. Appium mobile testing helps to run the repetitive test which would take more time to perform manually. This is why appium mobile testing is the preferred choice for the developers when it comes to test automation.
     
    In the next blog, we will learn more about Appium mobile testing and how to install/configure the Appium setup on a windows machine.

     
    Related Articles:

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  • Appium Setup for Windows
  • Starting Appium Server and launching the app from code
  • How To Install Appium On A Mac Machine
  • Appium vs Espresso: The Most Popular Automation Testing Framework in 2019

    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    How To Achieve Scalability,Quality And Speed With Appium

    There are more than 5.5 Million apps available on Google Play and Apple App Store combined and by 2022, the number of app downloads will be around 250 Billion. The number of smartphone users in the world is more than 3 Billion and the users prefer using smartphones instead of desktop. This data shows that the mobile app market is very competitive and growing. In this age of digital transformation, the focus of enterprise mobility is to provide better user experience at great speed. The launch of 5G will further complicate the app development and testing process initially. But apart from this, there are three main challenges to overcome and pCloudy is leading the path to bring positive change. Let’s look at these challenges and their solutions.
     

    Challenges Faced by Enterprise Mobility

     
    There is a growing demand for quality at speed in the mobile app industry. The current market dynamics are such that it is necessary to provide the best quality product in less time to remain in the competition. When we talk about mobile app testing, quality can be maintained only when the enterprise can achieve scale. There is a myriad of devices in the market with different OS versions, browsers, Custom ROM, etc. and the app should be compatible with all the devices. How can ensure this and most importantly, how can we speed up the testing process on multiple devices? pCloudy can help you overcome this challenge with its best in the class features. Let’s have a look at them one by one.
     

    Parallel Testing to Achieve Scalability

     
    If we are talking about scalability then testing your app on 5,10 or even 20 devices are not enough for the enterprises to ensure a bug-free app. pCloudy enables to testers to run your test scripts concurrently on 50, 100 or maybe more devices. Enterprises have the option to perform parallel testing in our public cloud or in our plug & play on-premise infrastructure solution. With more than five thousand device browser combinations, enterprises can ensure that the application is working properly in all the devices.
     
    Parallel Testing
     

    Parallel testing on 50 devices

     
    You can see in the picture above, we have set up a device infrastructure for 50 devices for demonstration. Similar device setup can be provided for our on-premise solution and public cloud users can just log into the pCloudy platform and book the devices to perform testing. These real devices can be accessed remotely on the cloud which makes it more convenient for the users as there are no location constraints.
     

    Progressive Reports to Improve Quality

     
    It won’t be efficient to go through each and every report to analyze the data for every device. Instead of that, you get intelligent results where you can do a quick analysis of the errors and then debug quickly. In the pic below you can see the list of results for different builds with their start time, progress, status, and Action.
    In the status, you will be able to see how many tests pass, fail, and errors. This way you can concentrate on the tests which failed and you will save time as you don’t have to manually go through all the cases.
     
    Progressive Reports
     
    You can integrate any reporting framework with your existing Appium setup. The same way you have to configure with pCloudy by adding a one-line code while creating an asset.
     
    Test Case Report
     
    In the pic above you can see the test case result in detail. You can see the tags, test case name, build, Automation, and the live status of errors.
     
    Progressive report
     
    Once you expand the test case you can see the logs, Jason format, screenshots, video for that particular session. This information can be used to expedite the test execution.
     

    Integration with AI to Speed up Mobile App Testing

     
    The next challenge is to speed up and simplify the test script creation process. Usually, the procedure is to connect the device to the system and use an automation framework like Appium to use object repositories. If you are using images then the XPath may change depending on the devices.
     
    AI
     
    This AI based utility will help you to get the object repository for the entire page. So if there is an icon for contacts then this utility will automatically recognize the element.
     
    AI Code
     
    In the code, you just need to declare the driver for Appium and for pCloudy as well. Then you need to initialize the drivers and start using the code generated using the AI utility. This is how the script creation is expedited using AI.
     

    Conclusion

     
    To sum up, pCloudy has come forward with solutions for the enterprise mobility to deliver quality at speed with scale. Whether it’s parallel testing, progressive reports or creating a script using AI-based utility, all these features fix the problems that were mentioned earlier. The proverb “change is the only constant” fits well as pCloudy comes up with updates on a regular basis to resolve the issues and make mobile app testing better.

     
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  • Python + Appium + Robot Framework
  • Inspecting Element on pCloudy Devices Using Appium Desktop
  • 5 Reasons Why Appium is The Best Mobile Automation Testing Tool on Device Cloud
  • Help Guide for pCloudy-java-Connector for Appium

    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Continuous Integration with Jenkins

    The efficiency of the software development life cycle is what differentiates a successful app delivery to a faulty one. The industry is emphasizing on the need to increase the productivity of the development process with speedy deployment. This can be achieved with continuous integration and continuous delivery. In agile development, there is a constant need to test the code regularly with continuous integrations of the builds. Jenkins helps in optimizing the CI/CD process. So let’s start with Continuous integration and then we will move on to the role of Jenkins in achieve continuous integration.
     

    What is Continuous Integration

     
    Continuous integration is a process in which multiple commits are made every day and each commit code is built and tested immediately. Once the test is passed the build is tested for deployment and then it is sent to production. A CI/CD pipeline consists of Continuous Integration server like Jenkins, Source Control tool, Build tool, and an automation testing framework like Selenium, Appium, etc. There are many benefits of continuous integration and according to the project requirement, the development team can choose the best continuous integration tools.

    What is Continuous Integration
     

    What is Jenkins

     
    Jenkins is an open-source server-based application written in Java used to achieve continuous integration in an automated fashion. It is popular because it makes monitoring the repeated task which arises during the development phase. While working on the project, Jenkins automation will continuously test the builds and recognize the errors in the early stages of the development. Jenkins speed up the software development process by automating the build and test quickly.
     

    Why CI needs Jenkins

     
    When a team of developers works on a project and uses a shared repository, some might take 20 days and others might take 25 days to complete. When the developers were done with their coding, they used to commit at the same time and then the build was tested. This way a single build was done after many days. But with Jenkins, build, and testing of code can be done many times in a day. Once the testing is done then the source will be deployed into the test server. Jenkins will notify the developers if the build fails.
     
    Since the code was built all at once, some developers would have to wait for others to complete which is not efficient. It was difficult to detect and fix bugs for multiple commits. Now with Jenkins, once the developer commits, the code is built immediately and thus it is easy to find the code that causes build failure.
     
    Earlier the code build and test process were done manually and this was the reason for more number of errors. This is rectified by the automated build and testing in Jenkins.
     
    One more issue was that code was deployed when all the bugs were fixed and this made the development cycle slow. Jenkins helps speed up the process as the code is deployed after every build and test.
     

    Advantages and Disadvantages

     
    The best thing about Jenkins is that it is open source and the community takes feedback from the users for enhancement of the project. In every three months, there is a stable release and there are more than 320 plugins are published in its plugins database. It also supports cloud-based architecture and it can be integrated with cloud-based platforms.
     
    Some flaws include its outdated user interface and lack in the overall user experience in some ways. It runs on a server which requires more maintenance and skills to install, configure and monitor the activity. There will be some issues with the setting changes and the continuous integration will break which will need developers attention.
     

    Use of Jenkins to Achieve CI/CD Pipeline with pCloudy

    Here we can see a sample app code that will be used in this process.
     
    Use of Jenkins to Achieve CI/CD Pipeline with pCloudy
     
    This app is also hosted on Git as shown in the figure.
     
    Hosted on Git

    Go to the configuration page in Jenkins for this project.
     
    Jenkins 4

    We have configured it to pCloudySampleAndroidApp. Jenkins will pick up this project from the location and build it. Then we need to get the Github access and branch to pick the code. The source control mechanism should be polled with a schedule.
     
    In this build, we will build the android studio project using Gradle wrapper.
     
    Jenkins 4
     
    Here we can see the location of the Gradle wrapper and the task that needs to be performed by Gradle.
     
    Next step is to integrate Jenkins and the plugin can be taken from the pCloudy website.
     
    Jenkins 5
     
    In Step 1, we have mentioned the URL of the device cloud followed by the user name and the API key. You can retrieve your API access key by going to the settings page in pcloudy.
     
    Jenkins 6
     
    In step 2 we need to provide the command line path where we have mentioned the Appium Jar file which has the test cases. Next, you need to give the path of the app that has been build by Jenkins and then mention the automation duration.
     
    In step 3, we can choose the device on which we want to run the Appium. So you can select the Android version and select the preferred device with desired specifications. We selected two devices for the process.
     
    Jenkins 7
     
    Now we can go back to the code and check how the entire configuration comes together.
     
    Jenkins 8
     
    After making the changes in the code, go to the version control system and add a commit.
     
    Jenkins 9
     
    After that push the code. Once the push is successful you can check in the Git if it is showing the code change.
     
    Jenkins 10
     
    Now again go to Jenkins and click on “Build Now”.
     
    Jenkins 11

    In the next screen, we can see the initiation of Gradle Daemon.
     
    Jenkins 12
     
    Now go to active sessions in device.pcloudy to see the live view of the activity in the devices.
     
    Jenkins 13
     
    So this is how you can make changes in the code and push the code into Git from where Jenkins download the code and upload the build into pCloudy. This process takes a few minutes and we were also able to see the test activity live which is an advantage of integrating the Jenkins based build system with pCloudy’s automation.
     

    Conclusion

     
    Jenkins is like the soul of the continuous integration process as it builds and tests the app continuously which makes it easier to integrate changes to the process. Most of the process is automated and this saves time and effort which can be used to perform other tasks related to the delivery. It has some issues like the old UI but the benefits like an active opensource community overshadow the little disadvantages. This is why Jenkins is the most popular CI server among the developers.
     
    Related Articles:

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  • pCloudy Sponsors Jenkins World 2016
  • Integration of TestNG Project with pCloudy Platform
  • Appium Integration Architecture Redefined! Appium Runs Become Simpler with pCloudy
  • Explore Full Power of pCloudy Platform – Improve Quality, Speed and Efficiency

    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    pCloudy Announces Availability Of iOS 13 (beta) and iPadOS Devices On Cloud

    We are committed to keeping you ahead of others: pCloudy is one of the fastest to release support of iPadOS and iOS 13 beta devices on cloud.
     
    iPhone pCLoudy
    iPhone loaded with iOS 13 on pCloudy
     
    iPad pCloudy
    iPad loaded with iPadOS on pCloudy
     
    ipad version
    iPadOS
     
    iphone V
    iOS 13 beta

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    5 Benefits of Parallel Testing

    These days software firms are putting in a lot of effort to attain quality at speed. Whether it’s continuous testing, agile or bringing AI into automation, it is required to refine the software development process to keep up with the rapid technological changes. The best way to do that is to adopt practices like parallel testing which will save time and effort. So let’s get into the details of parallel testing and understand the benefits and challenges faced to implement it into the software development life cycle.
     

    What is Parallel testing?

     

    • Parallel testing is defined as a type of software testing where multiple apps or features are tested simultaneously which reduces time consumption.
    • Mostly it is done when a new version is released for an app. There is a need to check the compatibility of the latest version of different device, browsers and OS combination.
    • For example, if there is a new version of the OS being launched, then there is a need for testing the app to check if all the features are working fine with the new OS version.
    • So parallel testing can be used when the app is to be tested on the different version of the operating system or when there is a new version of the app to be launched.

    To perform parallel testing you can simply create slave projects for the different functionalities of the app and a master project that will run these projects.
     

    Why and When to Perform Parallel Testing

     
    Parallel testing is done to make sure if the new version of the app works fine or to check the consistency between the old and the new version. It can also be done to check the integrity of the new app and the data format between the versions. When a company is moving from the old system to new system and synchronization is performed, it becomes necessary to check the legacy data is imported from one system to another and all the outcomes are defined more accurately especially in the financial domain.
    Parallel Testing

    Benefits of Parallel testing

     
    Parallel testing has become a need for the QA teams as the benefits cannot be neglected. Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of performing parallel testing.

    • Better Development Flow: Better reporting and quick feedback with parallel testing enable testers to share the results with the development team. This practice also boosts the Continuous Integration efforts which lead to the timely delivery of the product. Parallel testing also helps build better communication between the QA team and the developers as the testing and reporting are done in a timely manner.      
    • Less Effort: Needless to say manual testing is very important but doing regression testing again and again on different devices combinations will be time-consuming. Performing parallel testing will reduce the amount of work that you have to put in as you will have to work on one script only. That script will be replicated on multiple devices.
    • Time-Saving: Parallel testing saves your time by a lot and that time can be invested in exploratory testing. Even if you are testing your app on two devices, your testing speed increases by two times. Human error can give you incorrect data so it’s better to use parallel testing for such repetitive testing which can also be boring.
    • Better Test Coverage: The test coverage increases when you test your app on various device browser-OS combinations. The more devices you test your app on the better. This will ensure that the end user gets the best experience irrespective of the device used. In this way, parallel testing ensures better user experience which means better ROI.
    • Less script: You can just write the script once and rerun the test on multiple devices. The older and newer version of your app can be installed on different devices to check compatibility and consistency. The goal is to make sure that the newer version of the app works fine on the latest and the legacy devices similar to the older version with some updates.

     

    Challenges of Parallel testing

     
    Parallel testing has its own sets of challenges and It is always better to get familiar with the issues before making a decision. Although there are solutions to these challenges which are also mentioned below.
     
    Infrastructure Limitations: The cost to set up the test environment can take a toll on the company’s finance as the infrastructure and maintenance will cost a lot. Mobile and networking devices will add to the cost. Also, the company will have to hire highly skilled professionals just to maintain the setup. Instead of this companies can opt for cloud-based services like pCloudy where they will get all the desired devices to test on which can be accessed from anywhere anytime.
     
    Data Dependencies:  It might be difficult to make a strategy for parallel testing if the test cases are dependent on some specific data. So if we take a case of sign up page. There can be test scripts running for a user login but if not done in a sequential manner then any other script might run first which would delete the user credentials form the database. Another script might also run which will require a user to enter the data. In this case, it will be difficult to integrate the scripts into parallel testing due to data dependencies. This is why it is required to write the test scripts which are truly data independent. Therefore the test scripts should have the configured data which is required for the test run and then the scripts can be modified to run in parallel.
     

    Conclusion

     
    To sum up, parallel testing reduces the effort and time spent on testing the app by multiples. It also increases your test coverage and helps provide a better user experience. The best way to do parallel testing is by using the cloud platform as you will not have to invest in the infrastructure and you will be able to access the devices from anywhere anytime. So if your testing team is distributed across the globe, this will be your best option and all that extra money saved in the maintenance can be put to good use for some other feature development process.

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    iOS 13: New Features And Their Impact On The Apps

    The fans were waiting for the next iOS release and in the WWDC 2019, iOS 13 beta was launched. With the launch of the new iPhone in September 2019, iOS 13 will deliver a deluge of features to your iPhone to take on the Android Q. At the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, some new features and some tweaks were announced in the latest version of the iOS to make the user’s life easier.
     

    What to expect with iOS 13?

     
    The latest version of iOS focuses on speed, user-friendliness, and privacy. So let’s go through the iOS 13 features and then we will try to evaluate the impact of the updates on the apps.
     

    Dark Mode

     
    Dark mode can be very useful as you can adjust it to light gray, dark gray or black which will be implemented on all the supported apps. This will also save the battery life for OLED display. So this is a reader-friendly update and the dark mode can be set to turn on at night automatically.
     
    ios 13 release

    QuickPath Keyboard

     
    This feature is widely used in Android phones and there are some popular apps as well for swipe typing. Now iOS has also come up with the QuickPath keyboard where you can type with a single hand by just swiping through the words. You will also get similar word suggestions while you swipe through the keyboard.
     

    Video and Photos

     
    If you have recorded the new feature in wrong orientation then you need not worry, you can change the orientation post-recording and there are more filters and effects to edit the video. There is a new photos tab which will help you so delete duplicate photos and highlight the best snapshots. Portrait lighting, a tool in the camera app helps you to change the focus of light and change the intensity.
     

    Identity Protection

     
    Sign in with Apple allows you to log into apps with mentioning your email ID which will restrict the third party apps to track the user activities. There is also an option to hide or share your email ID and Apple will create a random email ID for an app that forwards to your original email account which will mask your real identity.
     

    Maps

     
    In the new map, you can explore the city roads, parks, and buildings in a 3D 360° view. Google map does not work smoothly when it comes to saved searches and this is why now you can rely on the improved Apple maps for navigation. There is a probability that the 3D 360-degree experience can also be used as a VR feature in the upcoming iPhones.
     

    Impact on the apps

     
    The iPhone apps are packaged in a new way which makes them 50% smaller and makes updates up to 60% smaller. It also increases the performance as this helps app load twice as fast. Also, there is a slight upgrade in the privacy as now you can allow the apps to use the location just once. Apple will send you warnings about the apps which continue to track you in the background. This means that the apps which use location more often like delivery, transport, e-commerce, etc will have to make changes in their code algorithms to provide a better user experience.
     

    Conclusion

     
    There are many other tweaks like memoji profiles in Apple’s messaging app, new fonts in the mail, a new gallery view for notes and support for shared folders, and adding details in the reminders. So now the question is, which iPhones will get the iOS 13? So to clear things, iPhone 6s or later can get the new iOS 13 update. There are speculations that more updates will be announced with the upcoming phone launch. But these new updates were necessary as Android is already leading with some of these features in Android Q.

     
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