When you think of all the things you can do in the cloud, mobile app testing may not be the first to come to mind. Although it’s easy to spin up cloud-based test environments that closely resemble those used in on-premise infrastructure, creating a test environment for mobile apps in the cloud is a less obvious proposition.
Yet, it’s entirely possible to do cloud mobile testing—and there are many advantages to taking that approach. Here’s an overview of what cloud mobile testing entails, its benefits, and how to get started.
What is Cloud Mobile Testing?
Cloud mobile testing is the practice of running software tests for mobile applications in the cloud instead of in an on-premise environment. The mobile apps can be tested in the cloud using simulated or emulated mobile environments (meaning virtual software environments that are designed to mimic the conditions of a mobile device) or on real mobile devices that are hosted in the cloud (such as Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud).
What are the Benefits of Cloud Mobile App Testing?
Migrating mobile testing to the cloud offers many benefits. In particular, it is much easier and cost-effective than acquiring, managing, maintaining, and hosting all the physical hardware required to set up a mobile testing infrastructure.
The benefits of performing cloud-based mobile app testing include:
Secure access anytime, anywhere: Test from anywhere. Your teams can be centrally located, spread out globally, or working from home. No more worrying about stolen competitive data due to lost, misplaced, or stolen devices.
Easier scalability: A cloud-based testing platform can scale to support both manual and automated testers running scripts. Developers can get immediate access to clean devices and OS combinations when they need them.
Increased team productivity: With everything needed for mobile app testing in one place, distributed development and QA teams can more quickly and easily share test results and collaborate on resolving application issues.
Expanded device coverage: Test your native and hybrid apps across a wide range of Android and iOS devices. A cloud-based testing platform provides your teams with immediate access to a broader mix of devices, including the latest device models and new/beta OS’s.
No maintenance or updates required: Eliminate the operational burden required to maintain physical and on-premises devices. You don’t need to worry about ensuring the right device mix, or dealing with the complexity of constant device, OS, or browser updates.
Accelerated test execution: Run larger volumes of real device tests with low error rates.
Access to unique capabilities: Cloud-based mobile app testing vendors typically offer additional features like automated screenshots, video recording, device reset, device reboot, and more.
On-Premise Real Device Testing | Cloud-based Real Device Testing | |
Scalability | ❌ | ✅ |
Reliability | ❌ | ✅ |
Security | ❌ | ✅ |
High Parallelism | ❌ | ✅ |
Team Productivity | ❌ | ✅ |
Error Monitoring & Analysis Across the SDLC | ❌ | ✅ |
Real User Conditions | ❌ | ✅ |
Visibility | ❌ | ✅ |
Cost-Effectiveness | ❌ | ✅ |
Beta Testing | ❌ | ✅ |
How to Perform Cloud-Based Mobile Testing
Getting started with cloud mobile testing first requires a cloud-based solution that supports the mobile test automation frameworks you want to use to run tests (like Appium, Espresso, or XCUITest).
You should also ensure that the cloud solution supports the specific device/OS combinations you need to test against. It’s a safe bet that all major mobile testing clouds can support popular Android and iOS device models, but if you deploy your app to other types of mobile devices, you should make sure your cloud-based mobile testing vendor supports your unique testing requirements.
Getting Started with Cloud Mobile Testing
A cloud-based mobile testing strategy is more cost-effective, scalable, agile, and easier to implement than one that depends on on-premises infrastructure. However, there are additional steps that testing teams can take to get even more value out of cloud-based mobile testing:
Incorporate a mix of emulators, simulators, and real devices to increase the coverage of your mobile app tests.
Run as many tests as you can at the same time. This approach, called parallel testing, helps to speed up test routines. Cloud mobile testing makes it possible to run a virtually unlimited number of tests at once.
Identify which mobile test environments are most important for your market. Even in the cloud, it’s typically not practical to test on every type of mobile hardware and software environment out there. Instead, you should be strategic and prioritize the environments that matter most to your customers; our blog post on how to choose mobile devices for testing can help you here.
The Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud for Cloud Mobile Testing
The Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud provides instant access to the most extensive range of iOS and Android device/OS combinations and test automation frameworks such as Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest, enabling your development and QA teams to test securely from virtually anywhere, anytime, on any device/OS combination.
