Mobile Testing With Appium On Lambdatest

18 August 2023

Worldwide, there has been a sharp increase in the number of mobile application downloads. Organizations aim to increase user engagement for their applications by releasing new features every few weeks to gain a foothold in this market. This increases the pressure on testing organizations to publish thoroughly tested mobile applications to increase user engagement.

To accomplish this, they must have a testing process that not only delivers applications that are free of bugs and function well but also has more thorough coverage. Naturally, automated mobile testing is becoming necessary to satisfy these demands. Automation testing is advantageous for all applications, including web and mobile ones.

Appium is the most widely used automation tool for testing mobile applications out of the many available options. Appium is a free and open-source test automation tool that aids in automating mobile app testing to provide users with a high-quality application and a better user experience.

The use of Appium on LambdaTest for mobile testing will be covered in this article. Before getting there, let’s quickly review what mobile testing is and why Appium is utilized for this purpose.

What Is Mobile Testing?

The use of smartphones and mobile technology is growing exponentially. People find it difficult to see their lives without them. Today, we use mobile devices for practically everything, from grocery shopping to viewing films. To survive in the competitive market, mobile app testing has become imperative. Mobile testing guarantees that the apps and smartphones are safe, reliable, and easy to use.

Several tests are conducted on mobile devices to evaluate an application’s reliability, functionality, and usability. Mobile testing can be divided into testing of mobile applications and testing of mobile devices. Mobile device testing verifies and validates both the physical components and software aspects of a device to authenticate its quality. It evaluates aspects like the screen, apps, camera, etc. On the other side, mobile application testing is a procedure used to test applications that are being created for mobile devices. The primary goals are to test the apps’ usability, stability, and functioning. It makes sure that the chosen application, in terms of connectivity, hardware, and software, is compatible with the chosen device.

For an app to survive in the market today, mobile application testing is essential. The application is also tested in numerous other areas, such as its performance, security, and UI, to provide the best quality for the end users

Types Of Mobile Apps

There are three primary categories of mobile applications:

Native mobile apps

Native applications are platform-specific. In other words, they were created for a particular platform or operating system. It may be a Windows SDK, Android SDK, or iOS SDK. They have the extra benefit of being faster and more dependable in terms of performance because they concentrate on a single OS, but they are expensive to maintain. Such programs include Skype, Google Maps, and Snapchat, for instance.

Mobile Web Applications

Only mobile browsers are compatible with mobile web applications. They are accessible through mobile web browsers like Chrome and Safari. They are created using web-based languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Additionally, it is inexpensive and does not need users to install or update it. These include websites like AliExpress, OLX, Flipkart, etc.

Hybrid Mobile Applications

Native and web-based mobile apps are combined to create hybrid mobile apps. They can operate through browsers but can also be installed on native application devices. These apps are easy to create and affordable, but they lack the speed and power of native apps. These include services like Instagram, Uber, Gmail, etc.

Now to test these apps many testers and developers leverage automation test tools like Appium. Let’s quickly define what Appium is.

Appium

Appium is a free, open-source, cross-platform test automation tool that uses the common WebDriver library to automate test cases for web, native, and hybrid applications. It primarily focuses on testing mobile applications while utilizing the same API across several mobile operating systems, such as Android and iOS.

The most popular mobile testing tool, Appium, offers simplicity, flexibility, and cost-friendliness for delivering the best user experiences with the continuous delivery method. It is used for quick and reliable testing across numerous platforms and devices.

Numerous programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, C#, etc., are supported by Appium. This gives testers the freedom to create test scripts in any programming language they choose. With its many features, mobile testing with Appium has quickly become popular in the mobile application organization.

Why Use Appium

Appium continues to be the top option for mobile app testing, regardless of whether the application is native, hybrid, or mobile and operating on Android, iOS, or Windows. By providing scalability and flexibility, Appium significantly improves the effectiveness of testing for mobile apps. It stands out as the best possible choice for testing mobile applications due to its broad feature set. Let’s examine a few of its attributes.

It allows for the flexibility to write test code in a variety of programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, and C#, and it can automate any mobile application created in any of these languages.
Appium allows test automation scripts to run simultaneously on various Android or iOS sessions. This ensures scalability while accelerating the testing process.
It has a built-in UI Automator that enables thorough examination of mobile apps while producing thorough logs and reporting structures for a better understanding of test results and enhanced troubleshooting.
Appium offers the reuse of the same code for many device platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows, which saves a significant amount of time and work.
It provides versatility in allowing users to select their testing environment and device by allowing testing of mobile applications on emulators, simulators, and real devices in the cloud.
It provides cross-platform compatibility, making it possible for the same tests to run on many platforms, expanding the coverage.
It provides real-time test monitoring that enables collaborators to see and share device interactions using the integrated collaborative screen-casting capability, thus strengthening the execution of tests.
Appium smoothly integrates with the TestNG testing framework, providing a greater number of capabilities.
Through test scripts, it gives QAs complete access to the databases and back-end APIs. This aids in evaluating errors that originate from databases or back-end APIs.

Why Use Lambdatest For Appium Tests?

As is already known, Appium enables the testing of mobile applications on emulators and simulators. However, keep in mind that emulators and simulators are completely insufficient for testing at the final stage. They are unable to duplicate several device features that are required to optimize the app for unfavorable events, such as low power, unstable network, IP geolocation, and many more.

Therefore, executing Appium tests on real device cloud is essential to provide conclusive, accurate results, make an app suited for working in actual user conditions, and ensure that the user experience is always at its best.

However, it is highly challenging and expensive to set up an internal device lab that must be regularly updated and maintained for both the newest and older versions. Therefore, using a cloud-based testing platform like LambdaTest is recommended because it makes thousands of real devices instantly accessible for testing.

Appium and LambdaTest, an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform, can work together seamlessly. As a result, testers can scale their existing testing across several platforms and develop, run, and analyze their test automation with Appium on LambdaTest’s real device cloud. Additionally, QAs can use Appium on the LambadTest real device cloud to do manual and automated app testing.

LambdaTest enables testers to run Appium tests by offering online cloud-based access to more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating system combinations online. As a result, testers may meet deadlines more quickly and with less setup time.

The Appium automation testing on LambdaTest can assist with:

Simplify the entire CI/CD process, make it simple to write reliable Appium scripts, and minimize the complexity of test frameworks.
Support numerous mobile devices for parallel testing to speed up test execution and guarantee the best app performance across a range of devices, networks, and geographical regions.
Test apps on actual remote devices in real-world conditions to speed up development and quickly find and fix major flaws.

Additionally, LambdaTest offers a wide variety of advanced features that facilitate easy-to-use, effective testing. Here are a few of these features:

It has an inbuilt mobile inspector that makes it simple for testers to check the components of an app. Additionally, it enables them to record their test procedures from the same location.
It enables seamless integration with well-known technologies like Circle CI, Jenkins, Bamboo, and others to speed up DevOps and continuous delivery workflows.
Gives testers access to a variety of debugging tools for Appium testing, including text logs, network logs, device logs, Appium logs, extensive reports, and accompanying screenshots and videos for both successful test execution and complete test failure.
The test cases execution metrics reports can be retrieved whenever necessary from anywhere. This helps to support all remote team workflows.
A mobile app can now be developed utilizing a variety of technologies and programming languages. Thus, another fantastic benefit of using LambdaTest is that it covers all of the key technologies and programming languages required to support a particular set of development practices.
Furthermore, with LambdaTest, testers can benefit from manual cross-browser testing, automation testing, visual user interface testing, responsive testing, manual app testing, geolocation testing, and more, all with lifetime free access to LambdaTest.

The Prerequisites To Use Appium

There are a few prerequisites that must be installed on the system before automating apps with Appium.

Downloading and installing the JDK (Java Development Kit) and the Appium Desktop/Server.
Installing, and configuring the environment variable for Java.
Installing the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) after downloading it.
JAR file for Selenium Server.
Setting up the Eclipse IDE.
Having access to Google Play’s APK app information.
js installation is not necessary. Because “Node.exe” and NPM are included by default whenever the Appium server is installed.

Integrating Appium With Lambdatest

LambdaTest integration with Appium is necessary to utilize Appium testing fully. The following actions are necessary for the integration process:

Visiting LambdaTest and creating an account.
Acquiring the API credentials needed for Appium integration. The credentials will facilitate linking the LambdaTest cloud infrastructure and the Appium tests.
Next, setting up and specifying the desired capabilities in the Appium tests to specify the device, operating system, browser, and any other essential factors that create the intended test environment and guarantee that tests are executed on the desired devices in the cloud. These configuration variables specify test environments and guarantee the smooth operation of the tests in such environments.
The next step is configuring the test execution by including the appropriate capabilities and the LambdaTest endpoint URL in the Appium test script. By doing so, the platform and the Appium tests will be connected.
Finally, run the Appium tests and keep track of their progress on the LambdaTest dashboard. The test results can then be analyzed to find any problems that require attention by examining the test reports, logs, and screenshots.

Conclusion

It may be concluded that due to Appium’s cross-platform capability and simplicity of use, it has grown to be widely utilized in testing mobile applications for iOS and Android to meet the expectations of quick and dependable testing that spans numerous platforms, devices, and versions.

In comparison to alternative testing techniques, Appium offers greater efficiency, flexibility, and cost-friendliness, empowering teams to deliver excellent user experiences while utilizing the continuous delivery methodology.

It is advantageous to use Appium with a cloud testing platform like LambdaTest because it gives users access to automated test environments with cloud-hosted real mobile devices that are simple to use. The testing process is made more easy by having access to the vast array of functions offered by the cloud.

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Mony Shah

With an adept skill of curating content on multiple genres, Mony has harnessed success as a Content Writer quickly. Find her sharing profound thoughts and opinions on lifestyle, beauty, fashion, pets, and parenting.

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Android App Testing: Beginner’s Guide

Android's market share on mobile devices increased from less than 1% in 2009 to 71% in march 2021. In other words, Android powers more than two out of every three devices. Making native Android apps and websites that can be seen on Android smartphones necessitates to run Android tests on those platforms. Around 45 percent of tablets are Android; from 2012, the percentage of Apple tablets has decreased from 85 percent to 53 percent. Although testing procedures are established for phone products, there are still many different frameworks, languages, tools, and development and testing techniques available. In this article, we'll provide you a sense of the overall context of Android testing, the dangers and difficulties it faces, as well as how solutions like Lambda Test may assist. Things To Do Before Beginning The Testing Process In contrast to a typical testing cycle, there are a few things that require exploratory research and planning for successful delivery of the app during its initial release. The following are some key actions to complete during a question-and-answer session before the test really begins: Research On OS And Devices: You need to appreciate the influence of the numerous OS versions and phone models in addition to the app demand. You must develop test cases or scenarios that take the OS and device models into consideration. Setting The Test Bed: Because Android is an open system, testing Android apps is far more difficult than testing desktop, web, or iOS apps. The choice should be made following consultation with the BA, developers, and product owner to identify the target market. Making A Test Plan: Everything should be included in the plan if more time is needed to investigate functionality or business rules, or if testing will be challenging. An authorized strategy with an approved test bed, testing kinds, etc. should be in place because this is the initial release. Using Automation Tools: In comparison to desktop or web apps, mobile apps require completely different automation technologies. As a result, learning the tool may need more time and effort on your part. The product owner or client should authorize the time and effort necessary for the same. Testing Techniques: There aren't many tests that are particularly tailored to mobile apps, in contrast to the traditional tests we do. Specifically, field testing, GPS testing, imaging testing, etc. These must be specified in the test cases, along with how they will be evaluated. Types Of Tests In Mobile Applications The following are types of tests that are conducted to certify an Android application. Functional Testing: Typically, user interface-initiated test flows are used to conduct testing. The numerous business rules are tested in addition to the use case's flow. By confirming the requirements, testing is accomplished. i.e., whether the application is operating in accordance with the specification. Let’s take the example of the Zomato app. The list of restaurants appears when you start the app based on your current location. You must now test the list of restaurants as a Q&A. Some Tips On Testing The Functionality: Check to see that the restaurant cards are shown appropriately for the location. Confirm that the listed eateries are accessible from the specified area. Check to see if the number of reviews for each card matches the reviews left. Check to see if the number of reviews for each card matches the reviews left. Check to see if the restaurants are included according to Zomato's filtering criteria. User Interface tests: This application testing is user-focused. Items such as text visibility throughout the app's screens, interactive messaging, data alignment, the app's look and feel for multiple screen sizes, and more are assessed during this test phase. We Are Taking The Example Of Zomato Again: Check to see if the cards are shown correctly aligned with the mobile screen size. Check to see if the restaurant's picture is shown as you would expect. Check to see if the card information, restaurant rating, cuisine type, address, etc., are properly aligned. Check to see if there are any bugs in the list-scrolling process, such as cards being misaligned when a big list of cards is scrolled, among other things. Compatibility Tests: The two matrices OS vs. app and device type vs. app are mostly used in this experiment. Typically, the manufacturer or customer will offer a list of compatible operating systems. Why Consider Doing The Compatibility Tests? When an OS like Android is considered, 7 basic versions are discovered without accounting for the number of patch releases/Eps. There are more than 24000 different types of Android, and each one is distinctive in some manner. Compatibility testing is crucial in certifying an Android app given these discrepancies. In addition to verifying the OS and the device type, we also need to verify a few additional elements that come under compatibility testing, such as screen sizes, network connections, and screen resolutions. Interface Test: It is also known as integration testing, in other words. This testing is carried out following the complete development, testing, and verification of all bug fixes for each module of the application. Interaction with other programs such as Maps and social media, using the microphone to enter text, using the camera to scan a barcode or snap a photo, and other tests are all included in interface testing. We Are Taking The Example Of Zomato Again: Check to see if the user may reserve a table at a restaurant. Check to see if the user can examine the menu and place an online order for food. Check to see if the customer may utilize coupons when placing an order for food. Check to see if the user can access the restaurant's location on Google Maps. Check to see if the user can use the phone dialer to contact the restaurant. And many more Network Tests: The key features of Network Testing include: To complete the procedure, the app has to communicate with the intermediary services. The service's request and answer are tested under various circumstances throughout this testing. The main purpose of this test is to check how quickly certain operations, such as loading data after logging in or refreshing data after syncing, are completed. This is an internal test that checks both the mobile data network and a solid WiFi connection. Performance Tests: The performance of the application under some peculiar conditions is checked. Those Conditions Include- Low memory to work within the device. Low batter. Poor network. This test is used on the device on which the application is installed as well as on the application server. Installation Test: An Android smartphone has two different kinds of apps: those that are pre-installed and those that the user installs. Installation testing must be done for the two examples above. This is done to guarantee that the programs install correctly without encountering any issues. Security Tests: An app must meet two fundamental requirements: privacy and security. However, this becomes a prerequisite in the financial and medical industries. During this step, the data flow's encryption and decryption mechanisms must be tested. This phase also tests access to data that has been saved. Field Tests: Field testing is conducted particularly for the mobile data network outside of the office, using the app as one would normally do. Only when the entire program has been designed, tested, and reverted is this testing carried out (for bugs and test cases). Basically, it is done to check how the software behaves while the phone is connected to 2G or 3G. A field test determines whether the app crashes when the network connection is sluggish or if the information takes too long to load. Interrupt Tests: The term "offline scenario verification" is another name for this kind of testing. Offline situations are those in which communication is interrupted in the middle. Following are a few scenarios where network outages can be tested: During the data transmission process, data cables are removed During the transaction posting phase, a network outage occurs If following the outrage, the network recovers. Or when it is in the transitional phase, the battery may be removed or switched on and off. Practices That You Should Consider In Your Workflow When developing a plan for mobile app testing, there are a few things to keep in mind. Some of them are: Choosing the devices- This is the most important stage before beginning the testing of Android applications. Select the devices that will be used for testing, keeping in mind that you want to reach as many potential consumers as possible. During the selection process, elements like the OS version, screen resolutions, and form factors are crucial. If necessary, even the assistance of emulators can be considered. However, actual device testing should not be replaced by emulators. Device emulators are affordable and useful throughout the early stages of development. Real-world scenarios must be tested using tangible equipment. both physical and virtual Beta testing- Beta testing offers a good image of the network density, network variances, and the influence on the application. Beta testing is particularly successful in testing with real-world people, real devices, actual networks, and apps deployed in large geography. Real-world beta testing is unique and cannot be duplicated in a controlled setting. Connectivity- For a variety of purposes, Android applications are often linked to the internet. The connection of many devices is important for setting up the plan. Simulation software is typically used to regulate connection, which assists in managing network speed, latency, and restricted connectivity during testing. For real-time results and data, it is suggested that testing with genuine network connections is usually advisable. Manual or Automated testing- Even though automated testing requires a lot of time during the initial run, it is useful when the testing needs to be repeated. Additionally, it shortens the total amount of time spent testing across the various development phases. When the recurrence of regression testing during the application development phase is high, compatibility testing for the same application across many OS versions is required, backward compatibility checkpoints are required, etc. Android automation should be combined with manual testing. LambdaTest, a cloud-based platform, makes it easy to test Android apps. App testers can accelerate their release cycles with LambdaTest's reliable, scalable, secure Appium testing execution cloud. You can test your application using online Android emulators, simulators, and real device clouds. Furthermore, you can access any device directly from your desktop browser. Espresso and Appium allow you to automate Android testing for free. Busting The Myths Related To Android Testing Many companies create testing techniques for Android based on widespread myths. This section looks at some common misconceptions and facts about Android testing. Testing on emulators is enough: The application runs well on emulators; however, it malfunctions while running on some genuine devices. Emulators may not be able to examine the full compatibility and extent of your software so it is highly recommended to use an Android-based device for testing. Testing on similar devices is going to be sufficient: Because various devices have varied hardware, screen sizes, RAM, etc., your application will seem different on each one. You must test your application across a range of platforms, operating systems, carrier networks, and geographic areas. Exploring in depth just before release would be fine: In general, test cases are created and then run in all testing. However, test design and execution will be done concurrently in exploratory testing. In exploratory testing, there is no preparation or strategy; the tester simply conducts the tests that he wants to. Some functionalities will undergo repeated testing, while others won't be examined at all. Some bugs? Users can be considerate: The answer to that is a big NO. Just because the app has many minor bugs the users can uninstall the app and you will be left with nothing but an application with bad customer satisfaction and lots of negative reviews. This may affect the whole team in a negative way and the lost reputation that comes with it. It is recommended to patch any bugs you come across for a smooth and comfortable user interface and user interaction. Read Also: Which Is A Benefit Of Using Server–To–Server App Conversion Tracking Over An SDK? Mark Stiffler Gives You 7 Ways To Automate Your Business For Success 9 Ways To Improve Efficiency At Your Manufacturing Business

How does a bbq smoker work

If you have an attraction for food especially for BBQ (Barbecue), you should have known that without a smoker a perfect, delicious and appetizing bbq is almost impossible. Low and slow are two important terms for making a bbq. Perfect bbq needs lower temperature with an extended period of time to cook them. For making BBQ, you need smoke gears without which you cannot finish making BBQ in the smokers. A smoker does the entire process of cooking with lower temperature and an extended period. You may be thinking now that is that all for the article titled ‘how does a bbq smoker work?’ Nope! This is just the main concept of the entire process of making a bbq in a smoker: all the smokers out there in the market work in the same way but a little bit different way. In this short composition, we are going to show and teach you how. Without further ado, should we go ahead of the process? Let’s get started…. The process: As mentioned earlier in this article that it needs the low temperature to cook a bbq in the smoker. Low temperature does not allow the meat to dry up. Instead, the meat is being cooked keeping it cheesy. There is a fuel chamber where woods or coals are burning to produce heat and smoke for the meat, and it follows a way to the cooking chamber. Thus a smoker works to cook bbq in it. Fuel to use in a BBQ smoker: Wood is mostly used in the most BBQ smokers out there. But it does not mean that wood is the only option for the fuel of a BBQ smoker. There are some options to create heat and smoke to make BBQ. Apart from wood, charcoal, gas, hardwood, electricity and so forth. But for a real BBQ, charcoal is the best as fuel. It makes smoke smoothly, and BBQ making process finishes. But if you want to do it with ease, electricity or gas should be the best option for you though it is expensive as well. Types of smokers you can purchase: There are two main types BBQ smokers out there in the market. They are vertical smokers and horizontal smokers. Besides, few other options are available in the market also. Vertical water smoker: It does not need a lot of space in your house. There is a cooking rack on top of the smokers. And a burning chamber is located at the bottom of the smoker. In the burning chamber, there creates heat and smoke and finally follow the path to the cooking chamber. In this manner, the meat in the cooking chamber starts to cook without drying out. It is not also so expensive like other BBQ smokers in the market. Offset smokers: It also has two main chambers of making BBQ. It has a cooking chamber with a lift door and a smokestack. At the end of the cooking chamber there attached a firebox with an adjustable vent. Fuel burns in the chamber and produces heat and smoke and finally follows the cooking chamber to make be tasty BBQ. Box smokers: It is also known as vault smokers or cabinet smokers. It is very simple, and its functionality is also too easy. Its heat source is located in the bottom and the cooking chamber at the top of the smokers. It has only one issue of insulation. Drum smokers: Drum smokers are also familiar as ugly drum smokers. It is also very simple in its execution. A steel drum with the firebox in the bottom of the smoker and a cooking chamber at the top of it comprises the smokers. It has a vent to adjust the temperature as well to make the BBQ properly. Heat from burning the charcoal supplies the radiant energy to cook the food especially the meat to be BBQ. It does not allow the direct system. Smoker Ovens: Due to its heavily insulated box with an electric heating chamber in the bottom, it becomes more popular than others in the market at present. There is a funneled metal which is located between the cooking and burning chamber. As electricity is used to produce heat and smoke, it is very easy to make the delicious BBQ. Final thought: Though there are a lot of options to choose a BBQ smoker that best suit your needs, they vary depending on price and fuel. Among them, charcoal and wood fuel can make the perfect BBQ as they can create heat and smoke at the same time. The meat does not dry up for the low temperature. Instead, this BBQ becomes more spicy and crispy than others. But it takes time to select a BBQ smoker according to your need. Make sure your BBQ smoker works at a low temperature with an extended period of time to make the meat real BBQ. Read Also: Five Efficient Uses Of Propane In Your Home 10 Unique Kitchen Hacks To Save Your Time In Kitchen And Cooking

Comparium The Best Cross Browser Web Testing Option

Do you wish to build a business of your own? Well, if you do then you need to make sure that you know exactly what you are doing with the website of yours. Yes, website testing over different platforms has been one of the most important things for the people these days. So, there is simply not a single speck of doubt about the fact that you need to know how to do it in the first place. Well, this is where Comparium comes to help you out in the best way for sure. With the help of Comparium, cross-browser web testing becomes a lot easier and simpler to do. Not to mention that you get to save a lot of time and money as well. What Exactly Is Comparium? Most people these days would want to have a service that provides them with the best benefits of cross-browser web testing and Comparium is simply one of those tools that people like to use all the time. When you have this amazing web testing tool of your own, there is no doubt that you will be able to test your website across different platforms for amazing performance and resilience as well. Surely that is something which is going to help you make a lot of improvements to your website in the best way right? So, why wouldn’t anyone want to use it in the first place? After all, it is an efficient tool that has been helping a lot of developers and designers from all over the world in the creation of websites that are responsive across all the web and mobile platforms in the best way for sure. Variable Browser Support This is probably one of the best things that we have in store for you when you are using the amazing Comparium tool in order to test your website. You will be completely impressed to know that this tool is something that helps people gain some amazing insights on the performance of their websites across the different browsers on different platforms as well. Multiple Device Support Here is another great thing which we definitely love about the amazing tool and that is you get to use Comparium no matter what device you are using or what Operating system it is. Windows, Mac, iOS and so much more are supported here in the best way. Offline Reports What is even better about the Comparium tool is that you don’t have to worry about the internet speed when you are using this tool as it works offline in an automated manner. Not just that but the reports are mailed on your email account. Surely that saves a lot of time and effort for sure. Conclusion It can be said without a speck of doubt that Comparium is one of the best tools that one can use for cross-browser web testing. In case you want to try out something else, there is an alternative known as Selenium that you can use in order to get some amazing results in the end with your cross-browser web testing. Read Also : Top Utility Tools You Need For Your Website High Technology Devices For Better Life The Beginners Guide To Dealing With Website Downtime

Mobile Testing With Appium On Lambdatest

What Is Mobile Testing?