8 Major Mobile Testing Challenges & Their Fixes
By the end of 2025, an estimated 1.63 billion smartphones will be sold, contributing to a global user base of approximately 7.4 billion. As a result, companies are increasingly prioritizing mobile responsiveness across websites and applications.
Mobile applications have become fundamental to business operations due to their portability. Unlike desktops and laptops, which require fixed setups, mobile devices enable real-time interactions anywhere.
Many features available on desktops are also found on mobile devices, but the reverse is not always true. Thus, QA teams have undertaken additional testing to ensure smooth and uninterrupted usage of the apps, which has created new challenges in mobile testing.
To address these challenges, most companies offer targeted mobile testing solutions. As businesses expand their testing scenarios to ensure a seamless user experience, they introduce additional complexities.
So, this article is about major mobile testing challenges and provides solutions to overcome them.
Challenges in Mobile Application Testing and Their Solutions
1. Device Fragmentation
Device fragmentation presents significant challenges in mobile testing. Android, for instance, operates across thousands of devices with unique specifications, including screen sizes, resolutions, operating systems (Android, iOS), hardware configurations, and network conditions.
OS fragmentation, particularly in Android, complicates standardization across devices, as different manufacturers adopt updates at varying speeds. These variations impact app performance and hinder a consistent user experience.
How QA Handles It
Device fragmentation refers to variations in screen size, resolution, operating systems (e.g., macOS, Android, iOS), hardware capabilities, device manufacturers, network conditions, and more.
To deal with this fragmentation of issues related to the devices, the QA team focuses on performance, compatibility, and cross-browser testing.
QA teams are more concerned with resource utilisation features like memory, CPU, and battery efficiency on a variety of products.
These tests help identify resource inefficiencies that impact user experience on specific devices.
Furthermore, through these tests, both the QA and the app development teams can ensure that the app runs seamlessly on all new high-end devices as well as low-end and older devices.
Best Practices
1. Prioritize Your Device Test Coverage and Platforms
This is the first step in addressing mobile device fragmentation. To do this, as a QA, you must determine which devices have the largest user bases and market share.
Hence, when focusing on all of them, you can have better test coverage and also know which tests you need to prioritise and utilise all the resources as required.
The testing team can reduce the compatibility issues by giving preference to the devices with higher usage.
2. Take advantage of the cloud-based testing services
Cloud testing platforms are one of the most reliable and modern ways to tackle device fragmentation issues.
With the help of services like the AWS Device Farm and Test Evolve with a local emulator and real device testing and device cloud testing via BrowserStack integration, testers can access a wide range of real devices and validate their apps in a variety of configurations without requiring physical devices.
Additionally, cloud-based testing platforms enable parallel testing, which greatly accelerates the testing process by enabling multiple tests to run concurrently on various devices.
2. Variation in Screen Sizes
Why: The second challenge that is common with mobile app testing is screen sizes. A wide variety of smartphone screen sizes and resolutions complicates app development and testing.
Mobile companies launch many versions of a given model, so the application should provide a similar feel to the user regardless of the device in use.
To ensure that the application would look and work the same way across devices, developers tend to focus on whether the specific application is adaptable to different specifications in terms of functionality, readability, and layout of the screens.
Testing on a single device is not sufficient, as performance can vary significantly across devices.
For instance, an application created for the most recent version of iOS should be cross-platform compatible to ensure a smooth user experience on all devices that support it.
Best Practices
1. Adapt Responsive Design Principles
To ensure app responsiveness, prioritize test cases that cover diverse screen sizes and resolutions.
This entails confirming that the content and layout of the application adapt dynamically to various screen sizes without sacrificing usability or aesthetic integrity.
2. Choose devices that support responsiveness principles.
To confirm the app's functionality and layout across various screen sizes, testers should use automated testing frameworks like Appium and Espresso.
These automated testing frameworks help you identify and rectify responsiveness issues in the early stages of the software development process.
Additionally, you can also automate your mobile app tests for emulated, real, or cloud-based devices with Test Evolve and a local emulator with a 30-day free trial.
3. Verify User-Interface Elements
Ensure that UI components like buttons, text fields, images, and icons maintain their functionality and aesthetic appeal across a range of screen sizes and resolutions. Also, ensure that these UI elements adequately maintain spacing and remain accessible without any overcrowding.
3. Updated Mobile OS Versions
The global smartphone market grew 4% in the third quarter of 2024, with 316.1 million units shipped, according to several studies, including Backlingo, Statista, Counterpoint Research 1, Counterpoint Research 2, and Counterpoint Research 3. Android saw an annual growth rate of about 1.7%, while iOS saw an annual growth rate of 3.1%.
As a result, the company shipped over 232 million iPhones worldwide in 2023, and nearly 226.5 million units were sold worldwide. Source: Statista
With this information in mind, developers must create apps that function flawlessly and are free of compatibility issues. But still, in many scenarios, the app is not compatible with every operating system. In this situation, testers must expand their testing and develop multiple devices to ensure that users, regardless of OS, do not experience any lag when using the app.
Best Practices
Cross Browser Testing
To provide users with a consistent app experience, testers must verify compatibility across all current operating system versions (Android and iOS).
However, testing application compatibility across all available operating systems can be challenging. So, you can use cross-browser testing with an advanced approach.
Test Evolve provides cloud testing for desktop and mobile browsers through integrations with Kobiton, Perfecto Mobile, Sauce Labs, and BrowserStack. You can use the TE Cross Browser Automated Testing platform by adding a subscription API key, which will allow you to run your tests against any browser and operating system combination you want.
4. Different Mobile Networks and Bandwidths
While 5G adoption has expanded globally in 2024, most users remain on 4G, with a smaller proportion still relying on 3G and 2G networks. This presents another significant challenge in mobile testing. Users expect a seamless experience, even on 2G networks or in aeroplane mode, while also demanding fast reload speeds similar to 5G. Testers ensure the app functions well across all network types to deliver a seamless user experience.
Best Practices
Test Your Application Under Network Conditions
The QA team can use real devices with real users to perform their mobile testing under various network connections and conditions to circumvent these network-related problems.
By doing this, testers will be able to spot possible risks and ensure the app works properly in various situations.
Because unlimited data plans are rare, tracking bandwidth usage during testing helps ensure the app works well within the data limits set by carriers.
5. Check the Mobile Under Battery Variation
The next selling factor for companies increasing their user base in the market is battery size and durability. Many people are still using outdated phones with long-dead batteries.
Second, there are a lot of apps that constantly use up battery life and run in the background. Resultantly, this battery drain issue will interrupt the users' experience.
This presents a problem since a truly varied application ought to function on practically any battery without causing the device to drain.
In this case, testers must verify that the app works flawlessly on all battery-operated devices to allow the app to minimise battery drain.
Best Practices
Perform Testing On Different Devices
You must first test and identify the power-intensive components of your application to address concerns with power consumption and battery life. These include costly API calls, data processing duties, and the most frequently occurring background processes.
Make your code as efficient as possible to use the device's battery. Reduce the amount of time you spend using unnecessary libraries and native APIs. Last, monitor battery performance frequently throughout testing stages and work towards ongoing development.
Opt for Crowd-Sourced Testing
Crowd testing is a software testing technique that tests a product in real-world settings with a sizable group of actual users
Usually, this testing entails a sizable number of people participating virtually from various platforms, devices, locations, and network conditions to ensure quality. This approach helps in assessing how well the application performs in diverse settings.
6. Mobile App Security
Security breaches remain a significant challenge for QA teams, especially as mobile applications have become prime targets for various threats. The growing prevalence of viruses, intrusions, cyberattacks, and data compromises necessitates a proactive approach to security testing.
These vulnerabilities can lead to severe consequences for users and organisations alike, including data loss and reputational damage. Therefore, it is crucial for QA teams to actively participate in security assessments rather than leaving this responsibility solely to developers.
By collaborating closely, both teams can address potential security flaws early in the development process, ensuring a safer user experience and robust mobile applications.
Best Practices
Test App Followed by 2 FA
Two-factor authentication (2FA) enhances app security by requiring two methods. Identity verification comes first, followed by an OTP request on the registered email address or mobile number.
Testers are required to make sure the mobile application they are evaluating complies with this 2FA.
2FA protects against various threats like phishing and brute-force attacks and is essential for processes such as user registration, device authentication, password resets, and banking transactions.
Check Mobile App Complies Data Regulation Policies
Mobile apps are particularly sensitive to security risks, underscoring the importance of strong encryption to protect sensitive data. Compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA is also crucial. Thorough testing of an app’s security can significantly reduce the risk of breaches.
7. Variety of Mobile Apps
Mobile apps are classified into three main categories that include native apps, web apps, and hybrid apps. Native apps are built for dedicated platforms such as Android and iOS. These apps ensure optimal performance and seamless integration with the device's features.
On the other hand, web apps can be accessed through browsers and rely on an internet connection, offering cross-platform compatibility without requiring installation.
Whereas hybrid apps are a blend of native and web apps. With hybrid apps, developers can build mobile apps using web technologies like HTML5 and JavaScript wrapped in a native container to work across multiple platforms while maintaining some native capabilities.
Best Practices
With the help of the Test Evolve automation solution, any tester in your organisation can quickly become proficient in a central cross-platform solution (Windows, Linux, and Mac) that combines desktop and mobile browsers, cross-browser/device, mobile native apps, APIs, databases, and other desktop application automation.
8. Real-world-Based User Condition Testing
A robust mobile app testing strategy should include testing on emulators, physical devices, and real device cloud services.
Emulators are useful for initial development and consistency verification but do not accurately reflect hardware performance.
Testing on physical devices offers a better representation of user experience, though maintaining these device farms could be costly and time-consuming.
Furthermore, it is challenging to recreate every situation that users might encounter. To test mobile apps, a variety of factors are simulated, including network speeds, geographic locations, and changing device states like low battery or shifting screen orientations.
Best Practices
The best way to access the real-world user experience is to test your mobile applications on real devices rather than entirely depend on the simulators or emulators. However, with the TE automation solution, which creates a unique cloud reporting platform, you can transform the results of your testing process and increase the value of your software delivery exponentially.
Summing up
Mobile app testing ensures seamless user experiences across diverse devices, networks, and operating systems. Overcoming challenges like device fragmentation, varying screen sizes, and security concerns requires a combination of best practices and advanced tools.
Streamline your mobile testing with Test Evolve Spark—a seamless automation solution for Android and iOS testing across mobile apps and browsers. From local environments to cloud integrations, Test Evolve Spark supports JavaScript, TypeScript, and Ruby, empowering teams to deliver robust applications faster.
