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What Makes Mobile App Testing Different From Web App Testing?

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A few decades ago, the prominent testing practice revolved solely around websites to ensure they performed well on desktops and laptops. Today, thanks to the meteoric rise in the mobile ecosystem, mobile app testing has begun to dominate the market, requiring companies to focus most of their efforts on polishing their mobile apps. Although they have some similarities with web app testing, they are still different and use various metrics to ensure top performance.

Understanding the two processes will help you know what you need to ensure proper, thorough testing and help you develop well-working apps that offer substantial value to your target audience. Here is what you need to know about the differences between mobile app testing and web app testing:

The Different Applications

There are various applications you must familiarize yourself with to understand how they are different. Web applications are computer programs that deploy in a web browser, usually built through HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Web apps provide more interactivity than websites and are accessible via desktop or laptop. A few examples of web applications include online stores, online banking, and email. 

Mobile applications are programs designed to be used on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology. They are classified into mobile web, native, and hybrid apps. Mobile web apps are programs that you can access through a mobile browser, which means you don’t have to download them onto your device to use them. Like web apps, they’re built using CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5, although there isn’t any standard software kit. Web apps for mobile use are simpler to develop and test, although they’re often more primitive in their functions.

On the other hand, native applications are engineered to run on the device itself, requiring users to download them to use them. They’re specific to platforms, built using certain languages and integrated development environments or IDEs. Developers build native Android applications through Kotlin, Android Studio, Eclipse IDE, and Java. To develop an app for Apple devices, developers must use Objective-C, Swift, and the XCode IDE. Native apps are much more secure and seamlessly integrate with the hardware.

Lastly, hybrid applications feature a mix of characteristics of native and mobile web apps. They’re built using the standard web stack then wrapped in a native environment, allowing developers to use the same code for various platforms. They’re simpler to develop and maintain but are slower and have less advanced functionality.

The Different Types of Mobile App and Web App Testing

Whether you’re testing web or mobile applications, you’ll need to ensure that the app is user-friendly and works as intended under various situations, even when it’s in production. Both testing varieties include the following:

  • Recovery testing
  • Localization testing
  • Functional testing
  • Usability testing
  • Compatibility testing
  • Certification testing
  • Performance testing
  • Change-related testing

What Sets Mobile App Testing Apart From Web App Testing

A few factors separate mobile app testing from web app testing: user interaction, compatibility, and Internet connection.

User Interaction

Desktop browser-based applications are restricted to a mouse and keyboard, with all operations doable by clicking or pressing a specific key. On the other hand, mobile apps feature a more comprehensive range of options, with tapping, pulling, pinching, and swiping resulting in different actions. It is also not difficult to test, and you’ll have voice assistants and move commanders to add to your testing checklist.

Compatibility

Testing web apps against various browsers is crucial to ensure that all users benefit from the app. This quality must also apply to mobile web and hybrid counterparts. Web-based applications are easier to test due to a desktop’s functionality, but the testing procedure for mobile apps is more complicated due to the wide variety of mobile devices. For this reason, it is essential to check the technical specifications of each mobile device and how they impact your app’s behavior.

Internet Connection

Most web applications need an Internet connection to function, which also applies to mobile web apps. That is why it is vital to test your mobile app and check its performance under various Internet speeds. You’ll also have to verify if your native or hybrid mobile app works correctly in offline mode, how it responds to interrupted connection, and how it works with various Internet connectivity like 3G, 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi.

Conclusion 

Mobile app testing is a crucial part of refining your app and ensuring it functions properly. By understanding its differences with web app testing, you can determine your testing strategy and ensure the quality of your app.

Codoid is one of the top software testing companies. As an industry leader in quality assurance, we take pride in offering the best app testing services to ensure your product’s quality. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for your app.

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