The mobile industry is constantly growing rapidly and parallelly with, 63.92% of users worldwide use mobile devices compared to desktops as of January 2025. Tech giants like Samsung, Google, and Apple continue to roll out new Android and iOS devices at ever-increasing speeds. Constant mobile usage growth has also led organizations to focus on developing apps to cater to their user base.
With the massive device fragmentation existing currently, significant concerns for QA are:
- Will the developed app perform seamlessly across all the latest Android and iOS devices?
- Will the mobile app be compatible with older versions of OS running on Android and iOS?
- If an app is compatible with the latest iOS and Android devices, it’s a big win for the QAs. However, choosing not to optimize mobile app performance for earlier Android and iOS versions may lead to significant losses.
- Many users do not immediately upgrade or consciously continue using older devices or operating systems.
This article will focus on both these concerns and discuss how manual mobile testing can play a crucial role in agile development. It will also explain how one can carry out online manual app testing.
What is Manual Mobile App Testing?
Manual Mobile App Testing is the process of manually testing a mobile application on various devices to identify bugs, ensure functionality, usability, and performance. Testers simulate user interactions without automation tools, ensuring the app works as intended across different environments.
How to perform Manual Mobile Testing effectively?
There are two effective methods QAs perform manual mobile application testing on different Android and iOS devices.
Methods for Manual Mobile Testing
- Testing on Emulators or Simulators
- Testing on a Real Device Cloud
Method 1. Testing on Emulators or Simulators
This is a time-consuming and effort-intensive approach. QAs need to identify the number of devices their app must be tested on and download emulators for each device. Downloading and testing on each Android emulator or iOS simulator is a very cumbersome and inefficient task. Teams can’t afford to adopt such an approach, especially in a competitive landscape.
- Emulators or simulators can be helpful in the initial phases of development.
- Although virtual testing devices mimic the devices and are cost-efficient, they cannot replace real devices due to accuracy and reliability factors.
- However, they are unreliable enough to ensure applications’ efficacy in real user conditions.
- This is why it’s highly recommended for QAs to test on a real device cloud.
- They don’t need to worry about any downloads or pre-configurations. Just upload the app and start testing.
Follow-Up Read: Testing on Emulators vs Simulators vs Real Devices
Method 2. Testing on a Real Device Cloud
This is one of the easiest ways. There is no better option than to test your mobile apps on a real device cloud that offers an extensive range of Android and iOS mobile devices.
QAs can leverage platforms like BrowserStack App Live that provide a diverse range of real Android and iOS mobile devices for testing mobile applications manually. Performing app testing on real devices will help QAs to simulate app behavior in real-world conditions.
One needs to Signup for free and start testing immediately. QAs need to follow the steps below:
- Upload the app to be tested on the platform
- Select the OS (Android or iOS) and mobile device to test on
Note: QAs can also directly install apps from the App Store or Play Store.
Once the app is uploaded and the device is selected, the app is installed on that particular device, and a new session is initiated for QAs to start testing.
Here is an App Live manual mobile testing session on the latest iPhone 14 Pro Max device running on iOS 16.
Apart from regular debugging, QA can access real-user condition testing on the App Live dashboard by toggling iOS and Android settings such as:
QAs also get access to DevTools, bug reporting with JIRA, Trello, Slack, GitHub, and other vital features like device rotation and geolocation testing on the dashboard. While performing manual mobile testing, testers that encounter bugs can easily share them on their preferred project management tool.
Perform Manual Mobile Testing on Cloud
Why Use BrowserStack App Live for Manual Mobile Testing?
BrowserStack App Live offers an easy and effective solution for mobile testing, letting you test your app manually on real devices in real-time. Here’s why BrowserStack App Live is the right choice for your mobile testing needs:
- Test on Real Devices: Unlike emulators or simulators, BrowserStack App Live lets you test on actual physical devices. This ensures a more accurate representation of the user experience, eliminating discrepancies that can arise from simulated environments.
- Wide Device Coverage: With access to a wide range of devices and operating system versions, you can test your app across various screen sizes, resolutions, and configurations. This ensures that your app provides a consistent experience for all users, no matter what device they’re using.
- Cross-Platform Testing: Whether you’re testing on iOS or Android, BrowserStack App Live supports both platforms. This means you can spot and fix issues across different environments without needing to switch between separate testing setups.
- No Setup Required: Forget about maintaining a device lab or configuring your testing environment. Just log in to BrowserStack, and you’re ready to start testing right away. It saves you time and resources you would otherwise spend on device management.
- Real-Time Interactivity: App Live allows you to interact with the app just like a user would. You can navigate through the app, test UI elements, and assess performance in real-time, giving you the most accurate feedback.
- Seamless Debugging: BrowserStack App Live comes with powerful debugging tools, such as access to logs, network requests, and device-specific information. These insights help you quickly find and fix issues, improving your app’s overall quality.
- Faster Release Cycles: By testing on real devices and getting instant feedback, you can identify and address issues early in the development process. This leads to quicker release cycles and more reliable app updates for your users.
Conclusion
With the rise in automated testing, manual testing might sound redundant. However, certain aspects of an app, such as usability, accessibility, ease of use, etc. cannot be judged by a machine, no matter how advanced the algorithm. There is no substitute for human judgment, and manual testing is just as relevant today. With BrowserStack cloud infrastructure, it is easy to perform manual mobile app testing.
