You must have heard stories of apps that gain popularity overnight and then vanish just as quickly, right? While these apps have a successful launch and gain initial positive reviews on the app store, they soon start showing problems that lead to a drop in active users worldwide.
According to the AppsFlyer App Uninstall Report of the 2023 edition, 53% of the users uninstall an app within the first 30 days of downloading it, which causes an average app to lose over $33,000 per month.
Do you wish to learn the causes of such incidents and why the apps fail to meet user expectations on performance? Here are some of the top concerns that people generally list while uninstalling any app from their device:
- When the apps have a long sign-up process
- When the apps take up a lot of storage space
- When the apps have privacy concerns
- When the apps cause rapid battery drain
- When the app hangs or freezes while using
This is where mobile app testing on real devices comes into play. With real devices, the apps are tested on real physical devices like smartphones, tablets, and other platforms. This provides a more accurate representation of how your app will work when finally released to the public, significantly reducing the chances of uninstallations.
In this blog, we will tell you the right approach to conducting real device testing for applications and why emulators and simulators might not be the right choice.
Challenges Of Relying Solely On Emulators And Simulators
Now that you know a bit about real device testing, a question must have been raised in your mind: What is the problem with testing applications on emulators and simulators?
Here are some challenges that can’t be ignored while testing solely on virtual testing devices like emulators and simulators:
- Less Reliable
These virtual testing devices only mimic the condition of actual devices and do not allow testing in the same conditions as users. As a result, they cannot recreate real user scenarios like hardware and software configurations.
- Slow Processing Time
Since emulators and simulators use binary translation for performing tests, they have a slow processing speed as these virtual devices read binary instructions one by one and then convert them into equivalent instructions for host architecture.
- Less Supportive
The emulators and simulators are sometimes less supportive of certain kinds of applications. This results in testing teams purchasing software patches that might be costly.
Given these disadvantages and the increasing role of applications in our daily lives, it is advisable to consider emulators and simulators in the initial phase of software development. For more critical matters that can burn a hole in your pocket, it is vital to carefully strategize and plan the introduction of real device testing in your organization’s testing projects.
How To Test Applications On A Real Device?
If you are planning to begin real device testing, here are some key points that you should keep in mind to know how to conduct real device testing so that you can release flawless apps:
- Know Your Customers
Knowing your customers is the first and foremost part of any testing strategy. Before embarking on real device testing, know how your potential users will interact with the app so that you can refine the customer touchpoints better when conducting real device testing.
For this to be possible, the QA teams must figure out their user behavior and see the app components they interact with most. This will reveal crucial insights into what can frustrate the customers and prevent them from converting into active users.
- Know The Type of Platform
The second step is understanding the platform for which your app is built. Whether it is a native app, a web-based app, or a hybrid one helps determine the testing technique.
For web-based apps, you must check the user experience primarily as it needs to be consistent across multiple devices and operating systems. On the other hand,
web-based apps need to be checked on different types of browsers, performance and load testing, and different screen sizes.
- Choosing The Right Real Device Cloud For Testing
For real device testing, it is crucial to choose the right real device cloud that consists of a combination of devices and browsers to achieve a good user experience. It should be able to provide you with performance reports, perform automated tests, and switch between multiple devices seamlessly.
We strongly recommend TestGrid for real device testing as it provides all these features to you so that you can perform end-to-end testing on different devices, browsers, and OS combinations hassle-free. It allows you to build tests in a scriptless way and run them across multiple browsers in parallel to save time and focus your energy on other crucial testing aspects.
- Test Under Real Scenarios
To gain an advantage from real device testing, you must understand that testing apps for real-time conditions like poor network connectivity, GPS, notification interruptions, low battery, and time zones are essential.
With TestGrid, you no longer need to worry about these things. It allows you to test for hand gestures like zoom, swipe, and scroll. You can also simulate network conditions, perform geolocation testing, and utilize GPS to test real conditions.
The Bottom Line
Developing an application is not easy, and these practices must be implemented over time to ensure exceptional applications that provide a positive rating to your company. But, for that, you need to find a testing platform to meet all your business objectives at the most affordable rates.
TestGrid is an AI-powered codeless testing platform that checks all the boxes for various small and big enterprises by delivering cloud and on-prem solutions to simplify your testing strategy.
In order to eliminate the need for various third-party providers, the platform offers some outstanding capabilities, including IoT automation, robotic arm automation, performance testing, security, and API testing, all under one roof.
So, visit their website and book a demo to create digital experiences that are worth talking about.
