Twenty years ago, one of the biggest software testing practices was all about testing websites or web apps for desktops and laptops. Today, the rise of the mobile ecosystem has gained the focus on app testing against mobile gadgets like smartphones, tablets and wearables. Though they may share some general testing methods, the approaches to mobile app testing vs. web app testing still differ vastly.

The first step to creating an efficient testing strategy is to draw the line between web and mobile apps – what they are and how they are built.

Web applications refer to computer programs that run in a web browser. Commonly built with the help of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, web applications offer more interactivity than websites and can be accessed via a desktop or laptop. The classic examples of web applications include webmail, online stores and web banking.

A mobile application is a program that was built to be used on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets and various wearables). Mobile apps are not as straightforward as desktop web apps and fall into three varieties: mobile web, native and hybrid apps.

A mobile web application is a program that can be accessed via a mobile browser, meaning that you don’t have to download them to your device to start using them. Like web apps, mobile web applications are usually built using JavaScript, CSS and HTML5; however, there is no standard software kit. Contrary to other mobile applications, web apps for mobile use are easier to build and test, but they’re usually much more primitive in terms of functionality.

Fast and more advanced when it comes to features, native mobile applications run on the device itself, so you have to download them before using them. Since they are platform-specific, native mobile apps are built using specific languages and integrated development environments (IDEs). For example, Android native applications are developed using Java or Kotlin and Android Studio or Eclipse IDE. At the same time, to build an app for an Apple device, you’ll need to use Objective-C or Swift and the XCode IDE. Native apps are secure, integrate with the hardware perfectly and have the best UI/UX experience.

Hybrid apps combine the characteristics of native and mobile web apps. Built with the help of the “standard web” stack (JavaScript, CSS and HTML5), they are then wrapped in a native environment, so you can use the same code for different platforms. While running on your mobile browser, hybrid applications are downloadable and have access to your camera, GPS, contact list, etc. Though such applications are easier to build and maintain, they are slower and offer less advanced functionality than their native counterparts.

Whether it comes to testing web or mobile applications, the aim is to ensure that an app is user-friendly and functions properly under different circumstances, even if it’s already in production. Furthermore, both application testing varieties include common types:

At the same time, the divergence between mobile app testing and web app testing is more discernible in terms of user interaction, Internet connection and compatibility.

From the viewpoint of interaction with users, most desktop browser-based applications are limited to a mouse and a keyboard, and all the operations can be performed by clicking or hitting a particular key. Mobile apps, on the other hand, offer a wider scope of options in this respect. While all the tapping, swiping, pulling and pinching is not as challenging to test, there are voice assistants and move commanders to be included in your testing checklist.

The majority of web applications don’t function offline, and the same rule applies to mobile web applications. To this end, when dealing with this type of apps, you should test if they perform well under different speeds of the Internet connection. When it comes to native and some hybrid mobile apps, it is critical to verify if an app works properly in the offline mode, how it reacts to interrupted connection and how it functions with 3/4/5 G or WI-FI.

Web applications should be tested against different browsers, which also applies to their mobile web and hybrid counterparts. From the device compatibility viewpoint, web-based applications are usually more simple to test due to the functionality of a desktop. With mobile apps, the testing procedure is much more complicated because of the wide variety of mobile devices, which expand their functionality at an exponential rate. That is why, when checking mobile applications for compatibility, it is critical to pay attention to the technical characteristics of each mobile device and how they affect the behavior of your app. The most important of these characteristics are:

Note that RAM and SSD are absolutely different for web and mobile. While some mobile devices can ship 3-4GB of RAM, the capacity of even the best smartphone falls behind that of an average desktop. To this effect, if your app isn’t properly optimized for mobile use, it will function much slower than its desktop fellow. Furthermore, since mobile apps are updated more frequently than their web counterparts, it is critical to test how your app affects memory and whether it resumes proper work after a number of updates and installations.

Desktop computers don’t have problems like this, but a smartphone battery that’s running low has become an actual nightmare for thousands of people. Even when you’re using a laptop, having a dead computer is not as bad as having a dead mobile phone. An application that drains battery life will be deleted soon. So, it is paramount for your QA team to check the performance of a mobile application on a fully-charged and a low-charged device.

While desktops are limited to a few screen dimensions, mobile devices offer much greater variety in this respect. It is important to examine specific mobile screen dimensions and make sure that all the app fields are visible and easy to access.

The main goal of testing an app — web or mobile — is to ensure its usability and proper functioning under different circumstances. However, mobile applications are far more challenging and time-consuming to test than desktop ones. The main reason for such discrepancy is that mobile devices fall behind desktops and laptops in terms of technical characteristics while offering many more settings and options. Next time, we will cover different tools available to be used for web app testing and mobile app testing.

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