How to perform Android screenshot testing?

What is Android Screenshot testing?

Android Screenshot testing is the process of taking screenshots on Android devices while testing them. This is primarily done to check how the UI looks on different devices.

At present, Android has a market share of about 71% worldwide and there are over 3 billion active Android devices. Due to cost effectiveness, users tend to use Android devices more than iOS ones.

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To meet the expectations of the users, Android brands keep adding extra layers of their specific features to their mobile phones. Due to the device availability and cost, Android fragmentation is huge. Here is a quick rundown of the Android OS fragmentation.

This makes it difficult for the developers and testers to develop and deliver Android applications that provide a consistent user experience over such a large variety of devices. Even a small discrepancy in an application feature can lead the users to uninstall the app and hence a great loss. 

Let’s take a look at some side effects of Android fragmentation:

• Difficulty in testing apps: Due to the availability of a diverse range of Android devices, it becomes really difficult to test the apps. It is not possible to test all the features of an application on every single Android version available.
• New apps do not run on older Android versions: There are many new applications available in the Play Store that do not run on the older versions of Android. For example, you can not use the Uber app, on Android devices below 4.0.3.

• Security risk: Many Android users are not even close to the latest upgrades and some of them will never even get to use them at all. Applications that are infected with malware find it easier to enter phones that are not running the latest upgrades. 

Android Screenshot testing can help in providing a consistent user experience at multiple devices. Screenshot testing of Android is basically a way of taking a screenshot of an app and then comparing it to another screenshot taken while the test is running.

But performing Android screenshot testing manually can be a tedious task because the operating system versions, hardware specifications, screen sizes, and system UI all differ from device to device and brand to brand, test results will vary in the same way.

Having automation to a third-party cloud for parallel testing, can help to optimize usability for various Android devices in order to be inclusive of your current market as well as the potential market of mobile users. 

Steps to Perform Android Screenshot Testing using BrowserStack

• Go to https://www.browserstack.com/screenshots

• Enter the url of the website that is to be tested as shown below:

• Select the combination of devices and browsers from the given list:

• Click on the ‘Generate’ button to start screenshot testing.

• Wait till all the screenshots are done as shown below:

• One can also view the screenshots by clicking on the thumbnails given:

• One can share and save the screenshots generated using the Share and ZIP button.

Perform Android Screenshot Testing now!

BrowserStack offers the largest real device cloud platform to test apps on Android devices and browsers. You can seamlessly test your websites, native and web apps on latest and legacy Android devices. 

To get instant access to an Android device, all that you need to do is sign up for BrowserStack.

Live Platform: Using BrowserStack Live you can test how your website and app behaves on different browsers and browser versions on a Android device.

App Live Platform: The App Live platform allows you to test your native Android apps on different Android devices.

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