Today Mobile phones have evolved from simple communication devices to gadgets that can basically do anything, be it shopping online, ordering food, availing of a taxi service, or even looking for simple directions. These can all be done using a mobile phone with the help of mobile applications or, in other words – Mobile “Apps”.
Apps constitute the core of many businesses around the world. Hence, it is crucial to have quality apps developed. In this article, we will be talking about testing such apps.
Types of Mobile Apps
The type of Mobile App to be tested plays an important role in defining your testing process. There are around four types of Mobile apps.
- Native Mobile Apps
These mobile apps are native to a particular platform, whether Google’s Android, Apple iOS, or Windows Phone. This leads to better use of the operating system and device-specific functionalities because it was developed specifically for that platform.
For example, native Android Apps can be found on the Play Store, and iOS apps can be found on App Store, etc.
Examples of Native Apps: Calculator, Notepad, etc.
- Web Apps
These apps are pure web applications and are accessed through mobile native browsers like Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc. Web Apps are tested using the most popular test automation frameworks like the Selenium Test framework.
They do not require any storage space or installation processes. These web apps are built to be responsive. Hence they also adapt to the different screen sizes and devices, thereby helping to reduce business costs.
Examples of Web Apps: Any app that can accessed on browsers.
- Progressive Web Apps
PWAs are extensions of websites that can be saved on your computer or other devices and then can be used like a Web app. They use very little data and get updated just like a Web page. They run fast regardless of the device type or the operating systems.
Examples of PWAs: Twitter, Telegram, etc.
Also Read: How to test Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
- Hybrid Mobile Apps
These apps are an amalgamation of both Native and Web apps. They are written using HTML, JS, and CSS web technologies. They work across different operating systems.
Hybrid Mobile Apps are built on a single platform and distributed across various app stores like App Store or Play Store. This helps in saving the business time and resources.
Examples of Hybrid Apps: Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Here’s a quick cheat sheet on How to test Native App vs Hybrid App vs Web App vs Progressive Web App (PWA)
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