The smartphone market has shown great potential with the tremendous growth in mobile users worldwide. According to Statista, the smartphone mobile network subscription reached 6.4 billion in 2022 and is expected to rise to 7.7 billion in 2028. As the number of smartphone users rises, so does the usage of mobile apps and their downloads. This makes it easier to understand why mobile app testing is thriving today.
Companies are employing mobile app testing solutions to test the functionality, usability, and reliability of mobile apps before releasing them to the market in order to ensure they meet user standards. However, they are often at a crossroads when it comes to choosing the device on which tests are to be run.
If you are also sailing in the same boat and are confused about whether you should choose emulators, simulators, or real devices for your testing requirements, you are at the right place. In this blog, we will cover the drawbacks of emulators and simulators and see how real devices can overcome them.
Drawbacks of Emulators and Simulators
Emulators and simulators are two types of virtual devices that offer similar functionality as a real phone so that you can test your mobile apps across different environments and see if they work as intended. However, they are not an actual phone and often come with the following drawbacks:
1. Limited Accessibility
Both virtual devices are accessible for only a limited number of platforms. As a result, they may not be compatible with your mobile application. For example, Emulators only support Android devices, making it difficult for you to test on other operating systems like iOS. Thus, they may not cover a wide spectrum of devices and operating systems, which is necessary today when users have such diverse smartphones.
2. Inadequate Hardware Testing
Virtual devices fail to replicate certain hardware configurations. Even the nearest representation of mobile device hardware means they can mimic only a few features of the original device. As a result, they cannot be trusted if you want to test battery performance, overheating, or sensory-related features, as they may give false positives or false negatives.
3. Unreliable Performance Validation
Even if you get a positive testing result from emulators and simulators, you cannot be sure that the same will hold in the case of real devices. So, these results need to be double-checked on real devices for accuracy. Similarly, if a test fails, the testing teams need to decide whether they should cross-check the results on real devices or simply believe that the function does not work and needs modification.
4. Limited Real-World Accuracy
As discussed earlier, the emulators and simulators cannot replicate real devices fully. As a result, they prove to be unreliable when it comes to testing real-world conditions that affect users. You might find it difficult to test connectivity issues like changes in the WiFi network and unstable Bluetooth connection, color displays, user interactions (zoom, swipe, scroll), geolocation, etc.
To conclude, while emulators and simulators have their place in the development and testing process, their drawbacks cannot be ignored if you want to deliver flawless apps to users on time. This has paved the way for testing on real devices to ensure that mobile apps perform optimally in all scenarios.
Benefits of Real Device Testing
Real device testing means testing your applications on various devices with different operating systems, screen resolutions, and configurations. To perform this testing, testers generally choose cloud-based services as they provide virtual access to all the devices in a cost-effective manner.
Here are some of the benefits that make it a go-to choice for QA teams:
5. Real World Accuracy
Real devices help in testing app performance under real user conditions. As a result, various real-world factors like network connectivity, background apps, location, gestures, weather conditions, and device malfunctions can be taken into account, ensuring that the app behaves as expected in the hands of real users. The accuracy of real-world testing helps identify and rectify issues hidden in emulator or simulator testing, ultimately leading to a more user-friendly application.
6. Stay Updated
With new devices coming up every month, it becomes essential for testing teams to accommodate these devices in their testing procedures. With real-device testing, you can stay updated with the latest brands and devices that come into the market by picking from the vast number of options provided by your cloud service provider. The best part about this is that you don’t have to worry about the purchase, maintenance, upgrades, and configurations of these devices, as it is all handled by the service provider.
7. Check App’s Usability
With device fragmentation in today’s world, it becomes important to test your mobile apps on different instruments and browsers if you wish to deliver a consistent user experience. With real device testing, you can ensure your app’s appearance in both day and night situations, ensuring that the app provides complete happiness to your customers.
8. Improved Reliability
Testing on real devices provides more reliable results as it reduces the chances of false positives and negatives, as in the case of emulators and simulators. If any bug is detected, it allows testers to identify and resolve the issue before the app crashes to make sure that each function works as intended.
Conclusion
Mobile app testing has become an integral part of the software testing process. However, when deciding between virtual testing devices like emulators and simulators and real device testing, the latter always wins.
No doubt, emulators and simulators have their place in mobile app testing during the early stages of development, but their drawbacks often outweigh the benefits. On the other hand, real devices offer more comprehensive results that guarantee a seamless user experience because they test on real-world conditions.
If you are convinced why you should go for real device testing, let us recommend one of the leading platforms for real device testing- TestGrid. The platform lets you test your mobile applications on various browsers and real device combinations on the cloud, ensuring you can get 100% real user experience.
With its real-device testing, you can test various iOS and Android devices of your choice and conduct cross-browser testing by running tests in a scriptless manner in parallel. So, try this platform today and take your mobile app testing a notch above.
