Software automation testing is not just for developers anymore. Quality assurance (QA) engineers can now use automation to make their jobs easier and more efficient. In this blog, we’ll share ten ways you can incorporate software automation testing into your quality assurance process to improve the release of your mobile app projects.
What is automatic QA testing?
Automation testing is when a developer writes scripts that can perform the same tasks repeatedly and compare results to previous runs. This allows for testing which uses the same steps each time, providing a more consistent and reliable result than manual testers can provide.
The process saves time and resources because it doesn’t require people to follow these scripted instructions manually. Instead, it’s performed by machines or software tools. Automated QA also allows tests that would be impossible with human intervention, such as regression testing using historical data from older versions of an app, functional UI testing across thousands of possible device configurations, running through test suite overnight without error reports being generated on each run, and so on. It gives you faster feedback about your project status so you can spot issues sooner.
Is automation testing right for you?
A mobile app project begins with planning. There are three key steps to consider when deciding whether automation testing is the right choice for you:
- Is your test suite complex?
- Do you need frequent feedback about its success rate?
- Do requirements change frequently throughout the life cycle of the project?
If so, then consider automated QA testing because it can be run over and over without any additional effort from your team, saving you time and resources.
Why should you use automation testing?
- It makes it easier to manage changes in a script; manual testers will have less experience following scripts than developers or quality assurance engineers who are more familiar with the application.
- Automated QA allows teams to keep track of bugs found while doing regression. You can run through regression tests to consistently check whether changes were successful, ensuring quality is met before features go live so there’s no chance something breaks after release. This helps avoid embarrassing bugs and issues which could ultimately damage brand reputation and lead users away from your product. Automated software testing also allows for full coverage of code, meaning more bugs will be found before you release your app into the wild.
- From a human resources perspective, you won’t have to worry about your QA testers leaving for other projects while in the middle of running through a massive test suite. Since the tests are done automatically by machines, manual testers can focus on moving forward with other tests or getting feedback from stakeholders.
- Since automated testing only requires machines or software tools to run through scripts instead of people, it’s faster and provides results in a matter of minutes, not days. This helps you get feedback sooner on whether new features are working properly, which cuts down on deployment delays.
7 ways to use automation testing in QA process
- You can run through regression testing with automated QA, which is the continuous checking of an application to make sure updates haven’t broken anything that worked before.
- Use automation testing for UI regression tests, functional/systems integration test suites, unit tests and smoke tests. These are commonly used during both development and quality-assurance stages in mobile app projects.
- Utilize device farm providers like Xamarin Test Cloud or cloud-based devices provided by Sauce Labs so your team isn’t limited to just the physical devices you have on hand.
- Make tests more maintainable and easier to work with by simply updating a script, instead of doing it manually, which is time consuming and inefficient.
- Run scripts continuously to reduce effort for people on your team, meaning they can focus on other tasks like building new features or testing once all fronts have been completed.
- Utilize test automation software like TestComplete or Selenium web driver that can automate both regression and other types of tests to be run without human intervention.
- Choose to run your test suite in parallel across different devices or even cloud.
Automation won’t do everything for you—you’ll still need to choose the appropriate tools and plan, create, and maintain tests—but it is an excellent way for your business to save time and money by expediting the testing process and ensuring a higher level of accuracy. It also frees up the QA team for more sophisticated testing and enables you to increase test coverage, resulting in higher-quality products. Something that can only benefit your business, and your bottom line!