iOS App Testing Tutorial: Manual & Automation

iOS App Testing is the process of testing an iOS application on supported iOS versions to see if it performs as expected for specific user actions.

With the large customer base migrating from android to iOS devices, it is very important to test mobile applications on the iOS platform. iOS apps are tested on Apple devices to make sure that there are no bottlenecks. Along with the functionalities, UI, response time, and performance of the application are tested as well. With different versions of OS, it has become very important to test iOS applications on all OS versions.

There are a lot of common bugs which happen now and then in iOS applications such as app crashing, memory leakage, application incompatibilities, and security breaches. Due to some bugs or memory leakage iOS application start crashing and many a time it happens that an application works smoothly on one version of iOS but when upgraded it start causing errors.

An application that is vulnerable to security attacks puts customer data at risk and it can happen in different OS versions. All the above-mentioned pointers should be avoided when developing an iOS application.

Effective and regressive manual and automation testing is a prerequisite to making the application more robust. Let’s look at the iOS app testing tutorial which should be inculcated by testers while testing an iOS application.

More about iOS Testing

There are 4 important pillars when you start with iOS testing. They are Hardware, Software, Functionality, and UI. Under hardware, we test out the application on all Apple devices such as iPad, iPhone, and iPod. Under Software, we test app crashes, security vulnerabilities, and memory leakage.

Under Functionality, all the product use cases are tested, and it is made sure that they are no lingering bugs. Under UI iOS application is tested to make sure that it is user-friendly and has smooth navigation. It is also made sure that the application runs without any issues on both landscape and portrait mode.

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General Test Cases for iOS App Testing

Some general test cases need to be tested and validated on all iOS applications. Let’s take a brief look at them.

• The application takes an acceptable amount of time to install in the device.
• The app icon and name should be shown in the installed application after successful installation.
• The application should launch without any issue.
• The splash screen should successfully launch on opening the iOS application.
• Home and splash screens should take minimum time to load.
• The application is user-friendly and navigation can be done without any hassle.
• The iOS application behaves without any issue when there is a lack of internet.
• No blank screen or app crash should be there when the device is not connected to the internet.
• The location permission alert should be displayed to users when the device wants to use location services.
• The location permission alert should not be shown again once accepted by the user.
• Push notifications should be displayed to the user.
• Application should re-launch without any issue.
• The iOS application should be displayed in settings.
• Only the supported OS versions find the application in the app store.
• Application should go in sleep mode when it is run in the background.
• Validate the behavior of the application when there is slow internet.
• Behavior of the application in both modes – landscape and portrait should be as expected.

iOS Application Testing Strategy

Few pointers need to be kept in mind while developing an iOS application testing strategy. We need to create a test bed of devices on which the iOS application has to be tested. Also, a market analysis should be done and the devices which are widely used should be selected. The second is the platform on which test cases will be executed such as real devices and emulators.

2 types of testing need to be performed for iOS applications.

• Automated Testing
• Manual Testing

Unit Testing, performance testing, security testing, and UI testing are part of automated testing. Exploratory and User testing are subcomponents of manual testing. Within User testing, Usability, A/B, and beta testing are covered.

The difference between manual and automation testing lies only in the approach. In manual testing, a tester executes all the test cases manually while in automation testing, several automation tools are used for faster execution of test cases.

Let’s look at what is manual and automation testing and the advantages of manual testing and automated testing in detail for iOS applications.

Automated Testing for iOS App

Automated testing is very important as one can easily find bugs during the process. There are large sets of scenarios that are impossible to execute in a short interval of time. Automating them can help in reducing our burden and the automated suite can be executed on multiple devices with different OS versions to avoid wastage of time. It can help in saving the cost of development by detecting bugs early in the SDLC.

Let’s take a mobile app testing tools tutorial that can be used for automated testing.

• Unit Testing

OCUnit framework is used to execute unit test cases on iOS applications. OCUnit framework helps in developing object-oriented tests with low overhead and has the same language as installation.

• UI Testing

For automating Ui functionalities, Appium is used which is like selenium. Test scripts can be written in various programming languages such as Java, Python, C#, and JavaScript. Appium server is launched and XCode is used in identifying element properties. Other tools which can be used for automation testing of UI are UFT, Ranorex, Tricentis Tosca, Espresso, and Squish.

• Performance Testing

It is very important to validate the response time of APIs and different screens of the application. Many tools are available in the industry. Some of them are JMeter, Blazemeter, Gatling, Eggplant, and others.

• Security Testing

iOS devices are very secure, and it becomes very important for testers to make sure that applications are not vulnerable to security breaches. There are tools available that can help in identifying security bottlenecks. ZAP, QARK, Drozer, and Micro Focus are some of the known tools used for the security testing of iOS applications.

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Manual Testing for iOS App

Even though we have automation tools, many use cases need to be tested by an individual to test real-time experience. Exploratory testing is very important as ad-hoc testing helps in finding edge test cases that can introduce bugs. No test plan is needed as part of exploratory testing, and it can discover some of the potential bugs which can cost a hefty amount to businesses.

User Testing is another subcomponent of manual testing. Usability testing is covered as part of this type of testing. It analyses the ease with which the application can be used. iOS app Beta testing is also performed under user testing in which feedback from customers is gathered and then the final product is released in the industry.

Conclusion

Now, you must be aware of the strategy which needs to be followed for iOS app testing and everything about mobile app automation and manual testing tutorial. Some best practices need to be kept in mind such as real devices should be preferred over emulators for better analysis, usage of console logs for better debugging, and finally, crash reporting with log details for analysis of not so easy reproducible bugs.

Applications can be tested on simulators too. But there are hardware, framework, and UI limitations. If you still have any doubts, get a free estimation from us to help make your iOS application more robust with minimum bugs.