Automated vs Manual Mobile App Testing: Do You Need Both?

Software testing is a crucial part in creating a successful project. By assessing every facet of the product, a developer will know if the code meets business requirements. It’s through the testing that companies increase user tolerance and improve the performance of their apps. 

Having said that, testing is only as beneficial as it is efficient. There are two main approaches to testing – manual or automated. Both are critiqued and advocated all over the web, so choosing the one to fit your project is not an easy task. In this post, we’ll give you a brief rundown on the difference between them, their respective pros and cons, and the ways developers can take advantage of both.

We have been providing automated and manual performance testing services since 2008, and have done it for 300+ customers, so our 400 employees will be happy to share their experience. 

Automated Mobile App Testing

Automated testing is an approach that implies using a tool to find defects and assess the performance of the product. In order to get started, a QA specialist chooses a set of tools, writes scripts, executes them, and collects the data. These tests can run without human supervision, but a developer will be limited by the choice of tools. That’s why executing automated tests on complex scenarios is rarely a way to go. 

Automated app testing is used in order to test features that require a high load of tests to be executed simultaneously, as well as those that require a large amount of data. 

While automation often seems like an easy solution for testing multiple processes (especially for regression testing) due to being fast, efficient, and unsupervised, it has its drawbacks as well.

Pros

• Running tests 24/7. Automated testing is a perfect fit for cases that need to be tested for 24 hours consecutively. Creating a team of testers to oversee the test is more challenging than executing a script that would run automatically overnight. At this rate, all a QA specialist has to do is to set up the automation, go home – and when they come back to work the next day, the test would already be concluded.
• Increased return on investment. While creating an automated test requires more expertise than running a set of manual ones, at the end of the day, developers will be able to run tests more meticulously every time the source code is changed. As a result, by running a set of automated tests, a QA specialist can know for sure that all parts of the app work according to the requirements.
• Reusability. A developer can repeat automated tests as soon as the source code is changed. Moreover, a test script could be used for different projects in order to save time and ensure faster delivery to the market.
• Improved speed of bug fixing in the early stages of development. Certain bugs, such as, for instance, memory leaks, are easier to detect after conducting multiple simultaneous tests. With automation, a developer can check a wider array of conditions and test cases in a shorter time frame. This way, all the scripts can be reused during the later development stages and no time is wasted on writing new ones.
• Increased reliability. Automation increases the reliability of tests, as a QA specialist can be sure that the same set of steps will be performed during each execution.
• Parallel testing opportunities. With automated testing, a QA specialist is capable of running dozens of tests on a wide range of systems simultaneously. You wouldn’t be able to pull off that much multitasking manually.

Cons

Who needs it?

We suggest you use automated testing in the following situations:

Examples

Automated testing can be used on all stages of the mobile app development cycle. However, there are certain cases that are particularly fitting for it.

Manual Mobile Application Testing

Manual testing is the most basic type of testing, and it relies on human supervision only. This approach presumes that a QA specialist will execute the test on his own from beginning to end without using automated tools, extensions, or scripts. 

While manual testing can be tedious and time-consuming, you can’t avoid it completely. Any application needs to be tested manually before tests can be automated. The good news is, while for automated tests companies often have to hire an automation engineer, the manual ones don’t require looking for a new talent outside of the team of testers. 

Over the last few years, manual app testing has started losing its ground to the automated approach – the latter proving to be faster and more efficient. Having said that, it might be too early to claim manual testing dead as it has its own advantages.

Pros

• Increased accuracy and precision. If a tester checks the application manually, he can get a better insight about the way the end user would feel scrolling through the product. While automated testing is more precise in terms of technical specs, testing the functionality of the app can provide a developer with new insights and ideas.
• Better fit for multi-layered scenarios. There are test cases that would simply be too complex for automation. Gaming apps, for instance, often require users to tap, swipe up, down, tilt a device, and so on. Automating this range of movements will be too expensive, so going with manual testing is a developer’s best bet in those cases.
• A better understanding of bugs and crashes. When looking through the problem manually, you will be able to understand it at a conceptual level. In a way, manual testing provides testers with ‘out of the box’ thinking and is crucial in case there’s a need to redesign the system to prevent it from fatal errors and crashes.

Cons

Who needs it?

It’s often challenging for project managers to break a tie between manual and automated testing. There are too many factors to consider – the scale and the scope of the project, the delivery date, the size and the skill level of the team, and so on. 

In order to make the decision-making process easier, here’s the list of cases when QA specialists tend to choose manual testing.

Examples

With the rapid advancement of technology, it seems there are hardly any functions that cannot be automated. In reality, in some areas automation still does a poor job. Here are some examples of cases that are normally tested manually:

App Testing Services at PFLB

A team of competent testers is crucial for app testing. At PFLB, our certified QA specialists are experienced in both manual and automated mobile testing.

You can consult PFLB regarding a particular stage of testing or the entire cycle. We work closely with developers, and you will get regular reports from our testers. You’ll have your personal account manager to help you through the entire development process and ensure your satisfaction along the way.

Take a look at our list of performance and load testing services to know what PFLB can help you with. If you want to contact us to discuss quality assurance for your project, be sure to leave a message!