With no access to internal or private servers, complexity in the process of VPN connections, or the problems to test a software, website or service in a production-similar environment, testing your local or a private website or url on a cloud platform has always been a challenge for testing teams.
For all the users who have been asking for a solution to test their private servers on pCloudy devices before deploying them on production, we have a good news for you.
Now, you can access your site behind a firewall, on a staging server, or locally with pCloudy before it hits production.
Since private servers are internal to your network, they have no public access which makes it difficult to test on a device on cloud. Local Site emulation Testing provides a platform to test private or internal servers on any Android device present on pCloudy.
Let us see how to set up the connection for Local Site Testing:
2. Select desired device from the Device page and click on “Local Site Testing” icon present at top on right hand side as shown in below screenshot.
3. Download the Local Site Testing jar file as shown in snapshot below.
Note: Ignore if jar is already downloaded.
4. Copy the command by clicking on icon as shown in the snapshot.
5. After the file download is complete, Open your command prompt or terminal
Let us see how to open Command Prompt in different Operating system.
You can follow any of them among three mentioned ways
For Mac-OS users:
a. Open “Launch pad”: It’s the silver icon in the Dock that looks like a rocket. Type “terminal” in search bar and hit enter.
b. Hold command button and hit space bar. Pop will appear and type terminal and hit enter.
c. Open Launch pad and click the “Other” folder: It’s a square icon containing several smaller icons. Then look for terminal.
For Windows users:
a. Open Start and type in command prompt or cmd then hit enter.
b. Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen, or press the ⊞ Win key. You can search for Command Prompt on all supported versions of Windows.
c. Open the Run program. Hold the Win key and press the R key to open the Run window. Then enter “cmd” or “Command prompt” and press enter.
For Ubuntu users:
a. Using Keyboard Shortcuts: Press Ctrl+Alt+T This will launch the Terminal.
b. Press Alt+F2 and type gnome-terminal. This will also launch the Terminal.
c. Press Win+T (Xubuntu only). This Xubuntu-specific shortcut will also launch Terminal.
6. Execute the command on same location where the local site testing jar file was downloaded.
7. After the command is successfully executed you will able to see a success message appearing as “Local Site Testing is enabled in your system”. This confirms that now you are ready to test your private server on the device connected on pCloudy.
Note: Don’t close the command prompt until session ends.
8. Go to the connected device and using the browser open any private URL to test. That’s all you are all set.
You can now find more bugs and defects on your local sites before deploying it to production with this breakthrough feature.
Here’s testimony to it by one of our customers from TagIT mobile.
Why don’t you try it yourself and let us know your feedback in comments about how this feature is useful to you!
Mobile market has shown a phenomenal growth over the years and guess who is responsible for such tremendous success- undoubtedly, it is the mobile application market and evidently its progress appears to be indomitable even in coming years. As per the research, mobile applications are expected to generate around 189 Billion USD revenue figure by 2020 merely by means of app stores and in-app advertising.. As this stream of Mobile application gets strengthened, the competition to make each app unique and effective grows even stronger. The real challenge is to maintain the competitiveness by keeping up with this fast changing industry. With so many variations in the mobile devices, it becomes a challenge in the mobile app testing to succeed in ‘All-Device’ scenario.
Here are the most common challenges faced in the mobile application testing:
1. Multiple Devices: As the mobile market is growing, it’s coming up with more advanced features that before. This becomes a challenge when mobile apps are incompatible with different Operating systems. A mobile app that runs smoothly in one OS might not work well in the other operating system and in different versions of it.
2. Networks: This factor has the most impact on the performance of the mobile application which effects the experience of the app even more. The Wi-Fi speeds, signal strengths or the network drops can cause a bad taste in the mouth of the end user. Since all the network carriers are supporting different data volumes, it is important to test the bandwidth usage. A mobile app tester has to consider all these factors and ensure the app runs smoothly on all networks.Testing on real networks is a fundamental practice to check the existent challenges of testing. In order to cater to this situation, pCloudy offers such a testing environment where the user can test their apps on different network conditions on real mobile devices on cloud.
3. Choice of tools: Testing is the vital aspect of Mobile App Development life Cycle and there are myriads of tools available in the market. pCloudy offers access to tools like Espresso, Appium, Selenium, OpKey, Calabash, Jenkins and many more. Choosing the right tool as per the requirement is the most important decision. The efficacy of MAT process would completely depend upon the competency of the Test-automation tool.
Things to consider before tool evaluation:
Type of apps: Apps can be native, hybrid or web. While the trend is inclined towards hybrid apps but the tool of choice should be competent enough to support other kinds of apps.
Cloud Testing: Implementing a test automation cloud empowers teams to perform testing on any automation external testing framework .Moreover, the test results can be accessed from any location worldwide.
OS Support: Most of the apps are developed for IOS and Android but the scope can expand to Windows, Firefox OS, etc., anytime as the customer base increases. So, the automation tool should be able to support all platforms.
4. Screen Sizes: There are numerous devices-Android or IOS, available with different screen sizes. It is quite a challenge to test for each screen size. IOS mobile app developers who mostly focus on pixel perfect screen design now have to focus more on adaptive without changing all necessary screen elements. So, the businesses have no choice but to change their mobile app design as per the screen size of the devices to offer a top- notch user experience.
5. Types of Mobile Apps: Mobile apps can be based on either of these three architectures-native , hybrid or web application. All these types have different test case scenarios, and have different app behavior from installation to functionality.The decision of how the app will be tested depends on all these aspects.
6. AI Test Automation: AI testing automation has become a vital part of the testing world and is the future of automated app testing. AI Bots can create test cases automatically, generate test codes etc., just by defining a specific testing goal and by providing the initial stage inputs. People still believe in traditional test approach without encouraging and believing testing by Bots at the times when Automated AI testing bots are the Golden Key to MAT automation success.
A good mobile app testing strategy would include a right mix of testing on real devices, user testing and bot testing all at a single platform.
pCloudy provides a biggest cloud platform for automated and manual testing of mobile apps on real devices. It has its own cluster of real devices hosted on cloud to test IOS and Android Apps. Visit pCloudy to choose your plan for availing the best MAT services.
Today, the world is earnestly dependent on mobility devices and so is their dependency on the mobile applications. The number of smartphone users are expected to reach 3 billion by 2019 out of which India alone covers half a million. So, it becomes impertinent to have an extremely practical mobile application strategy to make the usage of it more effective. Unless the mobile application is acceptable and extremely compelling to the users, it becomes inconsequential to even trade in it. So, there is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of Mobile application companies to assure the accessibility, security, purpose and usability of the mobile application to make it noticeable and engaging enough in long term.
pCloudy is fully equipped cloud based platform with a strong principled approach to tackle and heed the performance of today’s robust mobile applications. Following are the 5 best practices to count on for successful mobile app testing:
1. Master Plan: A common plan is what will drive the team towards the ultimate business goal. Defining the testing approach, the effort, the timeline and the expected results would solve a lot of anticipated problems in different testing phases.
2. Device Testing: Some important points in context to devices are:
Testing on every possible device is what looks promising but is impossible. So, testers have to be smart and cover the largest market with largest sample size.
Testing on real devices is what is going to be the reality check and is going to give a better idea of the challenges and the convenience of the general usability of the app.
Test on more than one OS version to check interface compatibility and consistency.
3. An early stage testing move: Testing early ensures quality and makes the application more favorable in the market as per the new approaches in mobile application development. To minimize the defects at later stages, testing efforts should start at the early stages of mobile app development life cycle.
4. Crowd Sourced App Testing: The best platform to employ the benefits of cloud which allows global pool of experts from all over the world to be utilized for incomparable testing practices and performance saving both time and money.Not to be considered as a replacement of traditional testing but it has some obvious benefits of testing in real world conditions and without investing in full-time testers. With more participation,feedback and reporting actions, crowd testing has become a reliable and most sought practice today. With the help of pCloudy’s global crowd, testing has become an easy ballgame ensuring app testing in different environments with different network bandwidth, on different devices and on time delivery.
5. Automation:Test Automation is what a machine does much faster and with less error than humans. This approach would save a lot of time, cost and would provide great return on investment but for reaping all these benefits, this has to be properly planned as it involves good investment, training and cost of trained resources and tools.If the objectives are undefined, it can lead to wastage of time and resources.
Mobile app testing is facing challenges in terms of changes in networks, operating systems and of course devices. So, the functioning and performance of the mobile applications becomes the prime focus. Selecting the best tool and the reason of doing so is very important. A strategy with clear objectives would be an informed move and a savior in this decision making process.
In the end, all we have to keep in mind is the user is happy using the app and is able to fulfil the purpose. All of this cannot be achieved by an individual but by the effort and strength of the team of both Developers and testers. There can always be brainstorming and learning from failures but the real game can be played by having a strong unified strategy.
pCloudy is a market leader in mobile app testing providing a wide range of MAT services. It has the most powerful mobile app testing platform which gives you a chance to access to real Android and IOS devices in a single click. Connect with our expert team to build a customized MAT strategy for your mobile application.
When it comes to the more favorable app in the market, the true measure of a developer’s success is the app’s retention rate. An app has to have the right mix of touch, feel and design for the best user experience that represents your business value; as well as the functionality and performance true to the needs of the user and his device health.
With touch devices everywhere now, more than 3 million apps for those devices are available for download and the numbers keep on increasing. App users are increasingly demanding too. When reports have shown that Android users are far more likely to uninstall apps than iOS users for a number of reasons, it becomes easier to collate it with the information that currently Android users are more than four times the market share of iOS devices. Both have a duopoly of 99.6 percent in smartphones. At the same time, unlike iOS, Android is pretty fragmented. Which means, your app must be compatible with tons of device versions and Android versions.
Hence, more and more businesses need to churn out apps for their growing users, and developers having to churn out more and more apps faster, with qualitative inspection of each application that shouldn’t lag, crash, have bugs or glitches, drain phone memory or battery and work anywhere in the world from a smartphone. Added to that, 70 percent of apps get deleted by users within a couple of minutes of their installation.
That’s a tall order! And technology is the only way to sway the game in our favor.
If your app has to compete on the qualitative level of a 5 star rated app in the app store, it needs a thorough and quick check before you hit the launch button. In-house testing within companies can only do so much, there aren’t enough device in-house, there is a lack of right tools or the testing cycles take far too long to make it to the market before ten new apps pop up in the app store. Low ratings, mean low revenue.
How pCloudy is changing the game
Machines and intelligent technology are the newest recruits to the workforce in the world. We at pCloudy have always worked with an approach to apply technology to exponentially enhance the ability of individuals, teams, and businesses.
pCloudy’s helps you create the magical combination of your internal workforce and intelligent platform. With pCloudy, your teams get a wide spectrum of the latest Android and iOS devices in the market to maximize testing coverage, cognitive software bots to run quick, thorough checks on your App and the power of the crowd so that you are aware of what your users think about your app.
pCloudy has developed a Single Click App certification feature within its platform enabling testers to deliver on faster test cycles for users whose attention span is shorter & shorter with every bug, crash, drain or slip that an app can suffer from. Reality check is critical for every developer. So is the need for it to be quicker.
Today pCloudy is working with global companies who have often realized not just the growing potential of the market, but also the need for a crucial wing for testing with pCloudy’s platform. This is probably due to a growing desire from companies across sizes to fully understand the buyers experience consistently.
Watch out this space as we unveil the power of pCloudy’s Test Cloud over next couple of weeks.
If you are anything like me, you’d agree that the armor of present day mobile phone technology has a few chinks on it. Nothing is worse than applications draining the battery resources of your mobile device faster than you can fill it back up. The sunnier side of course, is that you can create teachable moments for your kids better by hiding their phone chargers and watch the colors drain from their faces.
Studies show that battery life is a top priority for smartphone buyers. In fact, just recently, an IDC survey showed that 56% of Android buyers, 49% of iPhone buyers and 53% of Windows Phone buyers said that battery life was a key reason when they bought their particular device.
It is rare to find mobile app testing tools that assure proper usage of resource by the mobile app as, included in the overall test plan and strategy.
It’s rather a tedious and long process for conventional mobile app testing methods and as such, Let us talk about how resource consumption as an app takes top priority, because nothing stops a user to uninstall their resource draining apps from their phone. Also we’ll talk about how developers and testers efficiently test mobile apps for Android applications.
Figure 1: IDC Survey
Why battery testing is important:
Thousands of new mobile apps are being launched every day. And these apps have gone beyond just utilities, games and shopping apps, nowadays, apps need to be integrated into self-driving cars, digital assistants, wearable devices etc. Billions of users need to install apps that are not only compatible with their varying devices, but also provide quality experience of the app so that it doesn’t prompt the user to uninstall it and move to an alternate app.
When you get worried about potential battery abuse, its fair economics to identify the markers that can cause increased consumption of energy by the mobile application. Critical are the functionality, usability, performance and security to make sure that the app does what it was meant to do, seamlessly. The growing need for perfect enterprise and consumer apps and the continuous need to upgrade the application to match it with what the consumer exactly wants is a job that creates high pressure for developers and testers alike, who are responsible to delivering them.
We would get deep into the best practices and tactics that should be kept in mind while testing for battery drain in your mobile app in a later blog post. For now, let us look at how developers can test for battery consumption during Android App Testing.
How to test battery consumption for mobile apps:
So far there hasn’t come a good automation method to test app battery drain. So testing Real Mobile Devices meets many requirements for efficiency in the process. Let us check out a few parameters to test battery drainage due to mobile apps.
Battery test flow
This will vary based on the functionalities of the applications. But overall the below approach or points should be considered while testing for battery consumption.
Check the status of the battery before the test begins
Enable the location services for the application if app supports
Start the data sync of the application if app supports
Start the streaming service of the application if app supports
Check if the application send/receive the data when in the background
Check if the application send analytics to its server
Observe the battery consumption while doing above supported features by your application.
This will give us an idea as what is the battery consumption by the application.
Testing as end user
It is very critical to test the environment needs of the app from a real user perspective. Environments like device types, operating system, background popular apps installed and running, network conditions (WiFi, 2G, 3G, 4G, Roaming) as well as diverse set of devices with different battery states, brings DevOps teams as close as they can come to end users.
Android App Testing across varying devices
Android is guilty of OS fragmentation due to its open approach to OEM vendors. Different devices have varying battery capacity and each loses its battery chemistry over time, negatively impacting performance and battery hours. This is why we must check the battery consumption for the mobile app on variety of mobile devices. The best practice is to use multiple devices from device labs/ device clouds.
Different tools available in the market.
Android’s built in Battery App
Your Android Mobile Phone has a ubiquitous battery testing resource, as it comes preinstalled on all Android mobile devices. Android’s native battery analyzer, for example, (Settings> Device> Battery) is built into Android’s OS and helps analyze each app and let you know which are the ones draining the most fuel.
Commercial Battery Saving Apps
There are a few commercial Android Battery Analyzers which are available for free in the market, like:
GSam Battery Monitor can reset testing cycles as you go, which means there is no need for draining and recharging the battery like in android’s native battery app, and monitor app power usage without having to wait to get an information reset.
Clean Master on another hand, lets you know through its notification feature as and when an app is causing the phone’s battery/CPU to drain, which gives instant information on any CPU overuse.
pCloudy platform for Testing Battery Drain
pCloudy platform allows comprehensive features for Android App Testing. Moreover, Using pCloudy’s platform, one can monitor the battery consumption by the application. additionally, the user can also monitor memory, CPU and data consumption by the application.
The user can do the complete functional app testing on the application by touching all the critical/non-critical paths in the application. The pCloudy platform provides the necessary data for the work flow.
Conclusion
Google has said that this year their focus is on the ‘vitals’ of mobile phones, battery being one of the critical four. It’s always best to use varying angles of attack to test your app’s battery usage. And the only way to do that right now is to cover as many mobile device variants in the market and test against them.
To check battery consumption during Android App Testing Click Here.
If recent past has been any indication, then it is a certainty there are growing expectations from Testers and Developers alike, to take quality head on, as a joint feature. More so in the Mobile App Testing projects where changes are required faster than ever.
As part of DevOps practices, it’s has become imperative for developers to run as many tests as possible with every code check-in. These tests could be automated functional, API or Unit Tests. Some of the popular tools to used by Developers to create their tests are Espresso, XCTest and Appium.
Following are some the Challenges faced by developers:
Developers need access of right set of devices across different versions to be able to run their tests.
Debugging capability on those devices so that they can fix issues quickly.
Access to a specific model of devices to debug production issues.
Try taking a look at a typical developer’s cubicle and you will see a series of mobile devices connected with several long USB cables running into computers. It does get frustrating to see others furiously plugging USB cables in and out of the mobile devices for App Testing on various devices.
Many of the organizations are shifting to device cloud to provide their teams access of right Mobile Devices. Device cloud are solving the need of test teams but provide limited debugging capabilities and hence not preferred by Developers.
To directly address need of Developers, pCloudy recently introduced DeviceTunnel, which fully allows developers to take complete control of the device in cloud. This unique solution provides access of cloud devices through the Android Studio or Eclipse IDE and the command line tool installed in your computer.
It works as if Device is connected directly to your computer through a USB cable. From the point of view of tools like Android Studio or Eclipse, a cloud-based device appears physically attached. In reality, the Device Tunnel communicates with pCloudy’s servers over Internet.
Access devices directly from your terminal
Once a connection is established, the developers can perform the following actions on these devices:
Issuing a range of ADB commands for debugging, shell creations, port forwarding, and viewing general information about any cloud-based Android device
Copying and pushing files to connected cloud-based devices
Installing and uninstalling applications
Debugging apps during development or testing by adding breakpoints, inspecting variables, analyzing run-time metrics to optimize your app and more
Run their tests on the device directly from their IDE
To know more on how to connect any device on pCloudy using Device Tunnel Click Here.
It is undeniable that developers and testers need quicker access to diverse devices for the brisk evaluation of app and debugging. Device Tunnel enables both sets of engineers to instantly connect to any device hosted on cloud and run faster debug sessions and thereby, maximize the quality of their build cycles.
“Users who wish to prolong their iPhone’s battery life can enable Low Power Mode under Settings > Battery.
Once enabled, Low Power Mode changes the battery indicator in the top right corner to yellow, reminding users that their device is running in a more efficient state.
In Low Power Mode, iOS conserves battery life by enacting certain energy-saving measures. For example, the system may:
Reduce CPU and GPU performance
Pause discretionary and background activities, including networking
Reduce screen brightness
Reduce the timeout for auto-locking the device
Disable Mail fetch
Disable motion effects
Disable animated wallpapers
The mode automatically disables when the battery level rises to a sufficient level again.
Impact on Apps
Your app should take additional steps to help the system save energy when Low Power Mode is active. For example, your app could reduce the use of animations, lower frame rates, stop location updates, disable syncs and backups, and so on.
What if your App is resource intensive, and user is trying to use the App when iPhone is in the low power mode? You App might crash. Regardless of the scenario, You need to make sure your app works and the best way to do that is to conduct mobile app testing on real devices. You need to put your App through rigorous testing on low power scenario on real devices.
Have you observed that it’s only takes few second to uninstall a Mobile application. If user is not engaged and doesn’t like the app in first few minutes of use, user will most likely delete the app. Moreover, If user has a bad experience and posts a bad rating, it going to impact future users as well.
This means, Usability and UI design for Mobile App is one the most critical aspects in success of the App. We are presenting here 7 core principles which we need to apply while testing the App for Usability.
Hence, more and more businesses need to churn out apps for their growing users, and developers having to churn out more and more apps faster, with qualitative inspection of each application that shouldn’t lag, crash, have bugs or glitches, drain phone memory or battery and work anywhere in the world from a smartphone. Added to that, 70 percent of apps get deleted by users within a couple of minutes of their installation.
