The Ultimate Guide To Real Device Testing: What, Why & How

The modern mobile device market is highly diverse, consisting of thousands of different devices that require equal importance to maintain proper efficiency of the app development process. So, while implementing mobile app testing, the app developers must implement various advanced testing parameters to tackle this diversity.

By implementing real device testing, the application developers can ensure that they are verifying the performance and stability of the application against the physical behavior of an application. Real device testing also allows us to understand the impact of various user interactions on the functioning of the app.

With this article, we are going to guide the new developers and testers through the process of real device testing. We will also understand some of the best practices that can help improve the efficiency and productivity of real device testing environments.

What Is Real Device Testing

It is the process of emulating the performance, usability, and functionality of a software application on real physical devices. Real device testing involves using a variety of devices, including tablets, smartphones, and other hardware devices. The primary objective of this process is to ensure that the application functions correctly and provides a seamless user experience across different platforms.

Real device testing is a crucial aspect of the modern application and software development process. While using real device testing, the developers do not have to rely on emulators and simulators solely. Real-device testing also accurately depicts how the application behaves when exposed to real-world parameters across different operating systems, devices, and network conditions.

Why Real Device Testing Is Vital

Let us now go through some of the most important features that can justify the importance of real device testing in a modern application development process:

Diverse Hardware & Operating Systems

Using real device testing, modern developers and testers can identify and address issues related to various device models, resolutions, screen sizes, and hardware configurations.

Moreover, executing the test cases on actual devices ensures smooth compatibility across various operating systems and mobile device versions, including Android, iOS, and others.

Network Conditions

By simulating real-world network conditions, including varying network speeds and connectivity issues, testers can identify potential performance bottlenecks. This approach also helps them to optimize the application for different scenarios and demographical requirements.

User Experience Testing

While implementing real device testing, the developers can evaluate touch-based interactions device specific functionalities and gestures. This is a parameter that is impossible to implement while using simulators or emulators.

This approach also ensures that the application is responsive and visually appealing across different screen sizes and device software.

Hardware & Sensor Integration

While using real device testing, the developers can test various minute features that rely on hardware sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, and many others. These features are crucial and have a sensitive impact on the functioning of the application.

This approach also helps to ensure audio and camera functionalities work as expected across multiple devices and software restrictions.

Resource & Performance Management

The developers and testers must identify and address performance issues related to memory consumption, CPU usage, and battery usage. So, by implementing real device testing, the developers can accomplish these goals and provide a smooth user experience to their customers.

How To Execute Real Device Testing

With proper knowledge and documentation, it is a very simple process to execute real device testing. To further simplify this knowledge for the new automation testers and developers, we have mentioned all the required steps:

1. Device Selection

The first step in this process is to identify the target devices. While performing this step, the developers must consider their target audience and also the market share of the most popular devices.

Moreover, while executing real device test cases for mobile app testing, it is important to create a mix of different devices, including multiple software and hardware configurations. This is one of the most crucial parameters to constantly expand the target audience in this competitive segment of the industry.

2. Test Automation

It is crucial to incorporate automation testing in modern real-device test cases. The testers can select a test automation framework that supports the platforms and devices that they are currently targeting. Some of the common market leaders include Appium, Espresso, and XCTest.

Furthermore, the developers can also incorporate parallel testing with automation test cases to execute multiple real device testing instances simultaneously. This helps to not only reduce the overall development process but also saves a lot of company time and resources.

3. Cloud-Based Testing

Using cloud-based testing services, the application developers can access a broad range of real devices without going through the hassle of setting up and maintaining an in-house device lab. Using cloud platforms, it is possible to access all of these devices through remote servers.

Moreover, modern cloud platforms like LambdaTest also incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the efficiency of the test cases. It also helps to incorporate automated cross-browser testing with real device testing. Some of the other features include life test activity logs and comprehensive test reports.

4. Test Cases & Scenarios

The next step is to develop comprehensive test cases that cover different functionalities, use cases, and user scenarios. The primary intention of this process is to ensure that all the features present in the application are being properly tested.

The developers should also create a proper test plan that will help them understand all the crucial elements present in the application and prioritize them accordingly.

5. Continuous Integration & Continuous Deployment

Using continuous integration and continuous deployment, the developers can perform the testing and development process side by side. Using this process, the testers can not only reduce the development phase but also ensure that all the critical errors are depicted and removed at earlier stages before they can turn into serious concerns.

So, it is important to integrate real device testing into the CI/CD pipeline to ensure ongoing validation of changes. Thus, the system can automatically execute the test cases after every code change.

6. Monitor & Analytics

The next step involves the implementation of monitoring tools. Using these tools, the testers can collect data on the application performance and also user behavior in real-world scenarios. This data is crucial for not only improving the functioning of the application but also for the troubleshooting process.

7. Feedback Loop

After this, the mobile testers should focus on establishing a feedback loop between the testers, developers, and also the end users. This approach will help to address all the crucial issues promptly and continuously improve the overall functioning of the application.

Using this approach, the app-developing companies can also develop a loyal relationship with the customers and create a positive image for the brand.

8. Documentation

The final step in this process involves maintaining thorough documentation of the test cases, test results, and any issues that were encountered during the test execution process. This information will act as a reference point so that the developers can not only avoid previously known errors but also smoothly roll out future updates.

We also advise the modern tests and developers to periodically review and update the test cases in the documentation process. It will allow them to accommodate the changes in the application features and functionalities.

Best Practices For Real Device Testing

Let us now understand some of the best practices that can help modern application developers and testers enhance the capabilities of their real device test cases:

Device Selection

While incorporating real device testing, it is advisable to include a variety of devices with different screen sizes, operating systems, resolutions, and hardware specifications that represent the target user base.

We also advise the testers to prioritize devices based on the market share and popularity. This approach will help them to address the needs of the majority of their users.

Test Coverage

The testers need to develop a comprehensive set of test cases covering various user scenarios, functionalities, and use cases. This process also helps to ensure that there is at least one test case dedicated to verifying the performance of all the elements present in the application.

We would also advise the testers to focus on critical paths and high-priority features. This approach will ensure that at least the most crucial functionalities of the application are validated and functional in all instances.

Performance Testing

While implementing real device testing, the developers must design performance tests that replicate real-world scenarios, including different network conditions, extended usage periods, and varying user loads.

While executing these performance testing instances, the testers must keep a watchful eye on resource consumption, including memory usage, CPU usage, and battery consumption. This approach will help to understand how the application behaves in various use cases or changing device specifications.

Usability Testing

It is advisable to conduct usability testing to evaluate how users interact with the application on different devices.

During this phase, the testers must also ensure that the application is accessible to users with disabilities. They can accomplish this goal by testing the application on devices with various accessibility features turned on.

Security Testing

It is important to perform regular security audits on the application to discover serious vulnerabilities. It is also important to address these vulnerabilities in the earlier phases to ensure that all the sensitive user data and other transaction details are secure from any third-party malicious attacks.

We would also advise the developers to ensure that the highly sensitive data is encrypted and protected during transmission and storage on different devices.

With these practices, the testers can establish a robust real-device testing strategy that ensures optimal performance of the app on a diverse range of devices and platforms. Moreover, it helps to catch all the issues early, deliver a better user experience, and improve the overall quality of the application that is currently being developed.

The Bottom Line

Conclusively, we can say that real device testing is a vital component of the modern software development life cycle. It provides developers and quality assurance testers with insights into how their application performs when exposed to real-world scenarios. By incorporating real device testing into the testing strategy, developers can enhance the quality, reliability, and overall user satisfaction.

Moreover, real device testing is an important component when the developers are working on cross-platform applications that are available on diverse devices and platforms. By properly understanding the target audience and app interactions, testers can further customize real device testing parameters while incorporating them with mobile app testing.