How to increase Test Coverage for Mobile and Web Apps

It is no longer a secret that mobile teams need comprehensive test coverage for rolling out robust applications in the competitive world. Test coverage is a key metric in quality analysis that helps developers and testers measure the amount of testing achieved in the overall test cycle. 

The application’s test coverage helps you evaluate whether you are testing enough or if there’s room for improvement. Inadequate test coverage for an application leaves behind a high probability of bugs that may pop up in the production environment. Naturally, it becomes imperative for mobile and web teams to ensure maximum test coverage for the application they develop to rollout bug-free software.

Remember that maximum test coverage doesn’t necessarily guarantee the release of bug-free applications.

However, it helps you significantly minimize the risk probability of bugs in production. This guide deep dives into increasing and improving your test coverage for mobile and web apps. 

Benefits of increasing Test Coverage

Before going, here are the key benefits of defining and increasing your test coverage.

• Early Detection
• Eliminate Redundancy
• Fewer Resource Allocation
• Smoother Testing Cycles

Moving on, the following three methods that will help you boost the test coverage rate. Moreover, these methods will help you get the most out of your team’s testing time and streamline the overall test cycle.

How to improve Test Coverage?

1. Use Automation Tools and Frameworks

Software test automation is no longer a hidden method for achieving faster coverage. Test automation frameworks such as Selenium, Appium, Cypress, etc. enable teams to run parallel tests for web and mobile apps faster. Automation is best suited for scenarios where teams must run regressions tests across multiple environments at scale. Relying only on the manual testing process leads to bottlenecks and slows your release cycle.

In some cases, you need to manually test whether your app looks and feels as intended to ensure that the user experience is spot-on. However, teams must try to leverage automation wherever possible to improve test coverage as it substantially helps save on time and bandwidth. 

Teams can use the time gained to test on more devices or enhance their code coverage rapidly.

2. Prepare a Concrete Strategy

Achieving adequate test coverage is only possible when teams know the overall test strategy to be followed. The method includes defining a device matrix or browser matrix with information about mobile devices, operating systems, and OS versions on which you want to run the tests. The matrix must be built after conducting thorough research about the target audience.

One must also update the device-browser matrix list when new devices and operating system versions are released. Basis the complexity of the matrix, teams need to define a realistic timeline to achieve the test goals. Teams must set a target percentage of test coverage before releasing the product. Testers must analyze what works the best for them and streamline the process accordingly. This way, QA teams can gradually improve the test coverage.

3. Leverage Cloud Platforms to Scale Mobile and Web App Testing

Testing on real devices is the key as it helps get accurate test results. However, doing it at a scale for organizations can become daunting as it demands enormous investments and maintenance. Investing huge for setting up on-premise test infrastructure is not feasible for every organization.

An ideal way for teams to deal with this challenge is to opt for a cloud-based platform that offers an extensive infrastructure for comprehensive testing. BrowserStack is one such platform that empowers the team to test at scale on real devices without any complex setup. It allows mobile and web teams to run manual and automated tests across 3000+ real device-browser-OS combinations for accurate testing.

This means one can manually test on the desired environment or use automation with popular test frameworks in real user conditions. Leveraging a real device cloud helps teams save time and effort and makes it highly convenient and feasible for organizations of all sizes to boost their test coverage.

Test On Real Device Cloud for Free

Note: It is critical to bear in mind that achieving 100% test coverage is unrealistic. It may be enough for you to reach a high level of 70-80% of the expected test coverage.

Higher test coverage requires significant QA bandwidth, which might delay your product launch. A delayed product release can impact your market acquisition adversely. Make sure to utilize data visualization that will also help you be on the quick foot for better debugging and automation. 

In Conclusion,

Teams must assess their needs and analyze the risks associated with lower test coverage to determine the adequate test coverage percentage. This careful evaluation will help teams make a safer bet about the test coverage required to publish a stable and reliable application. Besides, incorporating the above three methods will help teams release their products faster with more than adequate test coverage.