Test Automation Challenges and Solutions in Mobile App Development

With 8.93 million apps available worldwide, competition is fierce. But how many of these apps are actually good? Not many. Some suffer from poor concepts, while others fail due to insufficient testing, often being removed from phones the next day after downloading. That’s where test automation steps in, offering a solution to streamline testing, reduce human error, and ensure your app can thrive in a competitive market.

Many companies are already seeing the value in automating their test cases. However, challenges in automation testing remain a major obstacle, slowing down adoption rates. If you face similar hurdles, you’re not alone – and this article is for you. Further down, we’ll look at the main test automation challenges that can hinder mobile app development and tell you how to overcome them.

Main Challenges in Test Automation

Automating the testing of mobile applications is essential, but in order to truly reap its benefits, it’s important to know what automation testing challenges may arise during the process and get equipped to tackle them effectively. Here are some of the major obstacles most companies encounter:

1. Device fragmentation

The number of mobile devices available globally is projected to reach a staggering 18.22 billion by 2025. While this variety offers users plenty of options, for QA engineers, it creates a significant challenge. Testing across such a wide range of devices—each with different screen sizes, hardware configurations, and operating systems—means ensuring your app runs smoothly on every possible combination, which is no easy feat. Without extensive testing coverage, there’s a high chance that bugs may slip through on other models, causing your app to crash or deliver poor user experiences.

Solution

Such cloud-based platforms as AWS Device Farm or BrowserStack give you comprehensive testing coverage without the need for a large in-house device lab. With the help of these tools, you should be able to cover a good load. Obviously, testing the app on all devices might not be feasible. You should give preference only to modern and common devices.

Alternatively, the approach in this scenario would be to attract an automated testing company equipped with the infrastructure necessary for extensive device testing. Such companies specialize in testing and maintaining large device labs. It allows them to conduct thorough tests across a variety of smartphones and tablets, including flagman devices. Read more about test automation companies.

2. Test environment setup

Testing mobile apps can be tricky and take a lot of time. The hardest part is setting up test environments that replicate real-world conditions. You need to test on different models of mobile phones, software versions, and Internet speeds. You also need to test as if the app is being used in a different country to ensure it works well everywhere, regardless of the location. Without doing all this testing, test results won’t be reliable, and many critical issues could show up after people start using your app.

Solution

To account for as many test environments as possible, take advantage of containerization tools like Docker or virtual machine-based solutions. With the help of these tools, you can standardize test environments and test mobile apps in conditions that closely mirror real-world scenarios. In addition, you can try cloud-based platforms. They provide ready-made test environments, saving you setup time.

3. Flaky tests

Flaky tests – those that fail inconsistently, even when there are zero changes to the code – are another challenge for QA teams. Because they show different results with each test run, they significantly slow down development cycles, making debugging extremely difficult. Testers may not be able to identify where the real issues are and waste a lot of time chasing non-existent bugs. As a result, real bugs may go unnoticed, delaying the app’s release.

Solution

The key is to find the root cause of flaky tests. One way to do this is to run automatic test retries. Whenever a test fails, an automatic re-run is triggered to check if the failure was a one-time issue or a consistent bug. If the test is passed on the second or third try, this is a sign of test flakiness.

Another strategy is adjusting wait times. This will give your tests more time for requests to finish before flagging the step as a failure. You can also try the test isolation technique, which involves running each test independently so that the test results don’t depend on other tests.

4. Network bandwidth and connectivity

Mobile applications heavily rely on network connectivity and may be used in various conditions – from high-speed Wi-Fi to unstable 3G connections or even in areas with limited or no signal. This is why the quality of network access directly affects the app performance. If the application works with lags and timeouts, users will quickly become frustrated and will most likely get rid of the app soon.

Solution

Use network virtualization technologies or throttling tools to simulate different network conditions and test your app’s behavior under varying bandwidth levels. A good tool is Charles Proxy or Fiberbase Test Lab. Automating performance tests with these tools will help find potential issues and optimize your app’s performance to ensure it remains responsive, even when the network is unstable or low. Also, you can add retry mechanisms and local caching to your app to handle poor connections. These tools prevent delays for users and stop them from losing important data if they temporarily lose connection.

5. Different screen resolutions

Testing a mobile app across a range of screen resolutions is important to ensure it looks the same regardless of the device it’s being used. A button that looks great on one device may overlap with other elements on a different resolution, making the use of the app frustrating for end users. Therefore, it’s important to catch these kinds of bugs early to provide your audience with a polished and user-friendly interface.

Solution

There are a number of visual testing tools like Percy and Applitools that provide screenshots of how your app looks on different screen resolutions. You can compare the design across different devices and fix any discrepancies before they make it to the final version. Furthermore, these tools can be used for automated testing to speed up the process and maintain UI quality as your app evolves.

6. Battery usage

Mobile users are wary of apps that drain battery quickly and prefer not to keep them. With that in mind, testing how your app consumes power across different devices is important to preventing negative user experiences and app uninstalls.

Solution

When challenges faced in automation testing try to incorporate automated battery consumption tests using tools like Android Battery Historian or iOS Instruments. These tools can simulate typical app usage patterns and monitor battery consumption, helping you figure out which features tend to consume the most power and should be removed or optimized.

7. Regular OS updates

Android and iOS release updates every now and then, introducing new features, security patches, and performance improvements. The downside is that each release can affect the functionality of an app and cause serious performance glitches. Compatibility issues, crashes, performance drops – these are just some of the unexpected bugs that may arise as a result of a new OS update.

Solution

To prevent such issues, consider automating tests for both new and old OS versions by integrating continuous testing into your development pipeline. Tools like Jenkins or CircleCI can automate the process of running tests on the latest OS updates, giving you peace of mind that your app’s performance remains functional after every new release.

8. Testing with gestures and sensors

Mobile phones become more advanced every year. These days almost every new model relies heavily on gestures like swipes, taps, and pinches, and sensors to enhance the user experience. However, while these interactions make the life easier for consumers, they can be a real headache for a QA team. Testing sensor-based functionality is anything but easy, especially since real-world usage can vary greatly in terms of touch sensitivity, speed, and context.

Solution

To effectively test gesture and sensor-based functionality, it’s essential to use tools that support gesture automation and simulate sensor inputs. Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest are some of the best tools in this regard. Aside from that, take advantage of device emulators and physical device testing to ensure that these features work seamlessly under different conditions.

9. App Store policies

Mobile applications don’t exist on their own. To be found and become successful, they need to be uploaded to Google Play or Apple App Store, two major platforms where people download apps. However, both platforms have rather strict guidelines, and failure to comply with these policies can lead to delays in approval or even rejection, postponing the app’s release for an unknown period of time.

Solution

Google Play and Apple App Store policies are updated frequently, so it’s important to stay on top of the latest changes. Consider incorporating compliance checks into your automated testing strategy. If there are any issues with your app, they will be caught early, preventing approval delays. You can also leverage tools like Fastlane that can help streamline compliance testing before submission.

Read more about best testing companies.

Wrapping Up

In this article, we’ve covered the most common challenges that are faced in automation testing and some of the most effective ways to solve them. By leveraging the right strategies and tools, you can overcome these hurdles and rest assured knowing that your app performs seamlessly across all scenarios and delivers an exceptional user experience. What’s more, you can stand ahead of the curve by significantly reducing your time-to-market.