A survey on the practices of mobile application testing

Abstract

[Context:] Mobile devices have become increasingly popular, and mobile applications should guarantee a very high level of reliability and quality. Mobile application testing needs to consider several unique requirements that distinguish it from conventional software testing. [Objective:] Our study aims to establish an overview of the testing practices conducted in mobile companies, to identify weaknesses that can be improved to make the testing activity more effective. [Method:] The survey questions were carefully designed using the Goal/Question/Metric method to provide relevant information to the questions raised in our study. [Results and Conclusions:] Our study outlines that native applications are more common. The testing level more performed is the system test and the positions that perform testing levels and objectives are described. Practices related to testing technique selection in the context of mobile applications are highlighted. In the context of this study, Cucumber and Selenium are the testing tools most used to automate testing activity. Some mobile testing characteristics were outlined to understand how the testing in mobile applications run on different devices, how testers deal with the diversity of operating systems that are constantly updated and whether tests are unified to testing a mobile app that runs in different platforms. Furthermore, we report the main challenges faced by testers during the validation of the mobile app.