How to do Mobile App Performance Testing?

The use of mobile applications has become mainstream. In light of this, it’s not surprising that app development has become a standard part of conducting business for most companies. High performance, however, is essential for the success of any mobile app. People will remove your application and look for a replacement if your application doesn’t perform well.

Performance testing is a non-functional software testing method that evaluates an application’s stability, speed, scalability, and responsiveness under a specified load. It’s a crucial step in assuring software quality. Still, it’s frequently viewed as an afterthought, performed in isolation, after functional testing has been finished, and once the code can be released.

Types of performance testing

• Load Testing- Mobile app load testing aims to determine whether an application’s performance can handle the requisite number of users while operating and performing optimally. It tests an app’s performance under normal and peak conditions (an increased number of users) to identify any software bottlenecks within the app.
• Stress testing- Stress testing evaluates an application’s performance under extreme conditions of use. It purposely exceeds normal load conditions to determine which application components break first. Specifically, it indicates the app’s breaking point, which helps analyze an app’s data processing and reaction to high visitor volumes.
• Capacity Testing- Capacity testing determines how many users an application can support before its performance falls below acceptable standards. It helps foresee scaling performance difficulties and future user growth.
• Volume Testing- Volume testing, often known as flood testing, tests an application’s capacity to handle and process enormous amounts of data without slowing down, crashing, or losing data. It influences an application’s overall ability.
• Spike Testing- Spike testing is closely related to stress testing and assesses an application’s responsiveness to rapid increases in workload or volume. Spike testing is crucial for apps that undergo significant user influxes. This is done by rapidly raising the workload created by many users to determine whether the application will fail or handle the unexpected changes in load appropriately.
• Scalability Testing- Testing for scalability determines an application’s capacity to process an increasing workload. It analyses parameters like response time, network traffic rate, hits, requests per second, and transaction processing speed. Including scalability testing in the planning and design, phases reduce costs and mitigate potential performance difficulties.

Step-by-step guide

Here are some steps for a performance testing guide –

• Define the test objectives – The absence of mobile app performance testing goals contributes to most unsuccessful app development and performance testing efforts. The testing process becomes more efficient and streamlined when the objectives of mobile performance testing are crystal clear, thoroughly defined, and linked with the goals of your business app.
• Identify the KPIs- Your plan must establish and achieve testing benchmarks to demonstrate the viability of your UI performance and comprehensive testing. This is how you maintain a competitive advantage and determine whether the testing execution was successful. While strategic goals outline the objectives for app testing, key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you gauge how close you are to reaching them. These KPIs can assist you in measuring the efficacy of your testing;
• Average and maximum response time
• Error rate
• The highest amount of requests
• Average output and concurrently active users per device, in addition to the operating system
• Time-to-interactivity: The time it takes for an app to become interactive after its release.
• Blank display time during a session
• Time required to load animations during a user session
• The time required to load apps fully
• Build a testing environment- Before creating the testing environment, you must thoroughly understand the mobile application, operating systems, and devices that will be tested and their geographic location. Therefore, you must first construct an environment containing emulators and actual devices. Emulators are ideally suited for load-testing mobile applications and gaining a sense of the user interface before development. Select the load-testing tool to run performance tests after completing an exhaustive analysis. Quality assurance (QA) experts employ system emulators to comprehend the app-user experience.
• Streamline the testing method- The chosen testing technique must be compatible with the organization’s development structure. In the agile methodology, a tester conducts continuous integration, whereas, in the waterfall methodology, the tester must routinely report defects and do regression tests. Aligning testing procedures enhances communication and accelerates decision-making.
• Plan and design the tests- Consider the extent to which usage is likely to vary, and then develop test scenarios that account for all possible use situations. In this manner, design the tests and provide the metrics to be gathered.
• Prepare the Test Environment and Equipment- Before running performance tests, configure the testing environment. Gather your testing equipment in advance. Choose a tool that enables you to achieve the best results.
• Conduct the Performance Tests- Perform the tests. Monitor and record the outcomes.
• Resolve and Test Again- Compile and evaluate test results. Communicate the results to the project team. Optimize the application by addressing the identified performance deficiencies. Repeat the test to ensure that each issue has
• Test app’s performance under different conditions- The performance quality differs between high-end and low-end devices. Applications must maintain their usual level of performance over a wide range of lower-capacity devices. In addition, they should be able to manage heavy server loads and resist bandwidth and latency fluctuations. During load testing, a tester must also evaluate the stability of the application’s response as the incoming traffic volume grows.

What are the challenges?

Here are the common challenges faced when assessing the performance of mobile applications:

• Some tools may only be compatible with online apps.
• Purchased tools may perform better than their free counterparts, and some paid products may be costly.
• Compatibility between tools may be limited.
• Complex applications might be challenging to test with specific technologies.
• Organizations must also watch for performance bottlenecks such as CPU, memory, and network consumption. Additionally, operating system limits and disc utilization should be monitored.
• A delay in the mobile application’s response time.
• Application is occasionally restarted, hung, or frozen.

How do we ensure better results?

• Determine which performance testing tools will best automate your performance testing strategy.
• Keep the UAT environment and the performance testing environment separate. Do not modify the testing environment between iterations.

Conclusion

As performance testing aims to determine how well a system functions under varying workloads, it is challenging to carry out such tests effectively without the support of automated testing tools. Utilizing a tool such as HeadSpin, you can significantly increase the effectiveness of your performance testing.