Web and Mobile App Testing: What Are the Differences?

The difference between mobile and web functionality is apparent: they are the versions of the same software adapted for mobile devices and PCs correspondingly. But when it comes to web apps and websites, beginners may get puzzled.

Actually, things are quite simple there, too. A website displays text and visual data, while a web app provides access to more features. You not only view and read things but also manipulate the restricted data. Users pass authentication and can modify some elements of different web pages.

So when you are using Facebook on your Smartphone via a pre-installed program, you deal with the mobile application. If you take a laptop and open Facebook in a browser, you access the social network via the web application.

So the functionality of both apps is almost identical. The app QA process, however, will flow differently for each platform due to their particularities. Let’s take a closer look at the mobile and web app testing to understand why.

The Difference Between Mobile and Web Applications

Firstly, a mobile application is an umbrella term designating three different types of apps – native, PWA (Progressive Web Applications), and hybrid. Each is coded in a specific way and has a number of distinctive features.

Secondly, mobile applications are meant for more diverse devices and a broader range of users. On the one hand, there are iOS and Android smartphones with numerous OS versions and screen sizes. On the other hand, some apps run on devices other than smartphones – tablets, watches, fitness trackers, etc. Each requires a specific functional design and adjustment of features.

Meanwhile, web browsers are designed as “stations” and aren’t supposed to work on the go. Both the number of user interactions and environments where an app operates are smaller compared to mobile apps. Thus, the scope of testing can exponentially grow as you move from web to mobile.

Web & Mobile – Overlap in App Testing

The testing process and procedures are the same. You get familiar with the functionality, estimate the testing time, decide what to cover by manual software testing and what to automate, write cases, etc. Both web and mobile applications would share the same types of testing.

• Functional testing estimates the software features from the point of view of requirements, verifying that customer expectations keep up with reality.
• Performance testing provides an insight into the behavior of an application in usual conditions, under high load, in case of extended high load, sudden spikes of activity, and accumulated in-app data.
• Compatibility testing verifies that different OS, browsers, screens, etc. support all the software features equally well.
• GUI testing inspects all the graphical elements of an application – banners, icons, buttons, forms, links, checkboxes, textboxes, and different kinds of controls.
• Usability testing focuses on the user experience, taking into account the convenience of operating an app and emotional factors.
• Recovery testing shows whether an application can recover from network failures, software or hardware crashes, etc. and how much time it takes.
• Localization testing is a must if an app is targeted at several countries or regions. Besides checking the presence of a multilingual interface, it verifies the support of different date and time formats, metric systems, text input methods, etc.
• Regression testing verifies that the recent code changes haven’t affected the existing functionality. In other words, adding new features can have an unexpected impact on the unrelated old features. QA engineers need to make sure that no critical bugs pop up.

Web vs Mobile – Differences in App Testing

Although types of testing are common, some peculiarities make the approach to QA different for each app type. The inspection of each solves different technical challenges closely tied to the specific features of every platform. Most likely, testing of mobile functionality will require more QA resources.

You can find more details on mobile app testing in one of our previous posts. This time, let’s focus on things that make web and mobile applications different from the QA perspective.

Connection & Connectivity

Web applications don’t work offline. The same rule applies to PWAs, but there’s a difference when it comes to native and hybrid apps. When the data is off, users should still be able to open an app and see a no internet connection message. The majority also displays cached content that could load when the data was on.

It is critical to verify that a mobile application works correctly when the device connects to Wi-Fi or cellular network (3/4/5G) and when the connection is interrupted. Apps can also offer access to some features offline, like interaction with pre-loaded data, usage of cached files, etc.

Constant connectivity is essential for a mobile application, especially if you use its web and mobile versions occasionally. The synchronization across multiple platforms should be immediate and take a few seconds at most.

RAM & Storage

We can talk about the newest revolutionary smartphones for hours. But that doesn’t change the fact that many mobile devices still come with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage space. These specifications put restraints on operation and app performance.

Outdated hardware, low storage, and many tabs opened simultaneously can slow down web apps, too. These factors, however, are less numerous and less harmful. Besides, web apps are updated less frequently, and these updates don’t affect device memory.

Battery Life

This aspect is alien for desktop computers and of low priority for laptops since we often use them connected to a power source. Low charge on a mobile device can shut down all but core features. Users always pay attention to what drains the battery, and these apps aren’t installed for long. So it is essential to pay attention to how an application uses device resources. Remember to go beyond using virtual devices and conduct real-device testing.

User Interaction

First of all, with a web application, you don’t have to go through the install/uninstall process. Thus, smoke testing will focus on different aspects of a web and a mobile app. But there’s more to user interaction.

All the operations with browser-based applications happen via mouse clicks and button combinations. We’ve also got a touchpad on laptops, but usually, that’s the most diverse it gets. With mobile apps, we can tap, swipe, pull, shake, pinch, use voice commands – a quite long list to check. Device-specific innovations, like headsets that come with a specific brand, add more complexities.

Platform Independence

Both types of applications are tested against different browsers. Web-based apps are usually easier to examine, while hybrid mobile apps are to be tested against a large number of devices and OS. It becomes even more challenging when you remember the variety of screen sizes and OEM’s custom skins.

What about Test Automation?

Both web and mobile automation facilitate dealing with repetitive tasks. As a rule, mobile applications are updated more frequently, so the need for automating regression testing is higher.
The case with GUI is similar. Due to the diversity of screens and devices, the scope of tasks during mobile app testing is vast, and automation can be a real time-saver.

It doesn’t mean, however, that you should forget about automated regression or GUI testing for a web application. Just estimate if it’s reasonable for a particular project. Other candidates for automation are API, smoke, performance, and acceptance testing.

To choose an app testing tool, consider the following moments:

• OS and browsers you need to check;
• areas that require inspection and types of testing to apply;
• whether non-technical team members will be involved;
• scripting languages you work with;
• whether you are going to use a tool on a constant basis;
• whether you need a free or paid option.

Tools for Web App Testing

Selenium is probably the most commonly used software. It is an open-source framework that supports multiple programming languages. Despite being self-sufficient, Selenium still provides vast opportunities for integration with other tools. Users can save and re-run scripts, record the process, use it for different browsers and operating systems.

TestComplete is one more widely used tool for cross-platform web testing that easily integrates with many other systems. There is also LambadaTest with its cloud-based Selenium grid combined with over 2000 browser combinations.

Tools for Mobile Automation Testing

The choice of tools for mobile app testing isn’t that straightforward. Some of them are suitable for a particular platform only, while the others are compatible with native, web, and hybrid applications. Some of the most popular tools are:

• Selendroid – Selenium’s test framework for Android app testing (native and hybrid).
• Appium – for Android and iOS app testing (native, web, and hybrid apps).
• Calabash – for Android and iOS testing (native and hybrid apps).

Key Takeaways

The differences between mobile and web application testing aren’t defined by the techniques used for inspection. The scope of work and strategic areas that QA engineers focus on are what makes them peculiar.

We can say that for sure since QA Madness has experience in working with both web and mobile applications. If you are looking for a software testing company to join your project or have any questions related to QA outsourcing, feel free to contact us anytime.