With approximately 80% of the world population having smartphones with 10,000+ mobile apps released daily, mobile app development is an undoubtedly lucrative yet fiercely competitive arena. To remain relevant in such a crowded space, excelling in quality is a must.

To deliver high-quality apps, we need mobile testing, and this practice has existed since the very first day of mobile app development. However, to account for the ever-rising demand for quality, businesses are gradually bringing their mobile testing activities to the cloud. Introducing mobile cloud testing, a new approach that guarantees security, scalability, productivity, and many more benefits, if QA teams know their way around it.

In this article, we’ll explore the concept of mobile cloud testing, its advantages and challenges, as well as the practical steps needed to fully implement it.

What is Mobile Cloud Testing?

Mobile cloud testing is the practice of using testing environments (including the mobile OS, devices, network configurations) hosted on a cloud platform to test mobile applications.

Unlike traditional mobile testing where the app is uploaded and tested directly on a real device, mobile cloud testing enables the QA team to do everything on cloud, saving resources while unlocking automation opportunities.

Understanding The Mechanism Behind Mobile Cloud Testing

Put simply, mobile cloud testing is simply mobile testing done on the cloud. This cloud uses virtualization technology to create a simulated mobile environment that resembles the real environment as closely as possible. It divides a single physical server into multiple isolated servers with unique software, network, and storage configuration that can be used for different testing scenarios.

There are several approaches to mobile cloud testing for QA teams:

Leverage public cloud services to create a testing environment
Set up a cloud-based testing environment within a private cloud infrastructure, which provides additional security, yet requires extensive and ongoing maintenance
Leverage an existing cloud-based testing platform from a third-party vendor. Such platforms either provide virtual environments (known as simulators/emulators) or a device farm (real device connected to the cloud). The former option is more scalable and flexible, while the latter is favored for its realism.

The final choice depends on the specific needs of the organization. A hybrid approach is always possible where the team combines multiple approaches to get the best of both worlds.

Benefits of Mobile Cloud Testing

Why Mobile Cloud Testing

Accessibility: cloud-based testing enables immediate access to environments that would otherwise not be readily available for the team. Testers can work remotely, and all they need is Internet access to start testing without the need to have a physical device available locally.
Cost-effectiveness: as there is no need to purchase and maintain real devices for testing purposes, companies can cut down on a lot of costs. Imagine having to constantly add new mobile devices to your testing inventory to achieve high test coverage.
Scalability: cloud environments can be easily scaled up or down based on real-time testing needs, which allows QA teams to optimize their resource allocation more easily.
Real-time testing: cloud-based environments are readily available, so QA teams can incorporate it into their regression testing plan to continuously identify bugs as code changes occur.
Automated testing support: cloud-based environments are ideal for automated testing thanks to their high consistency, scalability, and accessibility.

On-premise real device testing vs Cloud-based real device for mobile testing

Criteria	On-premise Real Device Testing	Cloud-based Real Device Testing
Device and OS Coverage	Limited to the devices and OS versions owned by the enterprise.	Access to a wide range of devices and OS versions globally.
Cost	High initial investment in devices and maintenance.	Lower initial cost, pay-per-use models, and no maintenance costs.
Scalability	Limited by the number of devices available on-premise.	Easily scalable to meet varying demands without physical limitations.
Flexibility	Physical constraints limit testing scenarios and environment setup.	Greater flexibility in testing scenarios and environment setup.
Remote Access	Limited, requires physical access to devices.	Enables remote access and testing from anywhere.
Collaboration	Challenging for distributed teams due to device location.	Easier for distributed teams with shared access to cloud resources.
Integration with CI/CD	Possible but requires additional setup and resources.	Easily integrated into CI/CD pipelines for automated testing.
Real-time Testing	Constrained by the availability of specific devices.	Enabled globally at any time with a wide device range.
Monitoring and Reporting	Dependent on internal tools and processes.	Often comes with advanced monitoring and reporting tools.
Security	High control over security, but requires internal expertise.	Depends on the cloud provider's security measures and policies.
Compliance	Company is responsible for ensuring compliance.	Cloud providers often ensure compliance with various standards.
Maintenance	Requires ongoing maintenance of hardware and software.	Maintenance is handled by the cloud provider.
Access to Advanced Tools	Limited to tools owned and managed by the enterprise.	Access to a wide range of advanced tools and technologies.
Initial Setup Time	Can be time-consuming to set up and configure.	Quick to set up and start testing.

Implementation Of Mobile Cloud Testing

Implementation of Mobile Cloud Testing

It’s not difficult to integrate cloud mobile testing into your project. Your implementation plan should have the following detail :

Parameter of your AUT for cloud-testing: Some criteria for an app to be considered for cloud testing are those with large target audiences that need extensive performance tests, complicated UI or imaging features, Native mobile apps.
Prerequisites for your cloud testing platform: This includes supported testing frameworks, mobile environments, automation tools, etc.
Candidate for cloud platforms: Major public clouds (AWS, Azure) offer cloud-based mobile testing services with little testing features. Teams can also use specialized cloud-based software testing solutions like Kobiton. Another option is automation testing tools that provide integration for cloud-based software testing. Among these Top 15 mobile testing tools available in the industry, any tool can maximize the use of cloud technology. For an all-inclusive solution, teams can try Katalon as this automation tool is made for testers of all experiences and is scalable for teams or projects of any size.
POC for cloud implementation: Although any mobile testing strategy leveraging the cloud will be more agile and scalable, it’s still advisable that teams detailed out a solid plan with optimization points. For instance, you should use a parallel testing approach as it utilizes cloud-testing strength: the ability to run virtually an unlimited number of tests at once.

Click here to learn how to apply the codeless solution to mobile testing.

Conclusion

Cloud technology, when applied correctly, continues to provide great convenience and transparency regardless of industries. The cloud’s online storage and computing nature create great flexibility: all your data is in one place, and all you need is a wifi connection to access the data. So businesses and developers should adopt cloud mobile testing into their development pipeline to ensure their competitive edge on the market.

Mobile Testing With Katalon

The Katalon platform makes software testing more efficient and simpler. We are an end-to-end quality platform that provides automation testing on multiple domains such as web, API, mobile app and desktop testing. Let us help you begin your mobile testing journey and assist in the creation of high-quality products.