Automating tests for mobile apps isn’t easy–
=> You cannot install a decent tool on a device with little memory and relatively weak CPU;
=> Nor are there many tools that would support exotic operating systems most mobile devices have, yet it’s a must.
Most of the solutions now on the market are specialized tools that allow you to access the device and then record and replay simple tests. Some offer a lab where devices are hard-wired to custom hardware. Others connect to devices through a USB cord. Yet all these solutions suffer from a number of common shortcomings:
=> First, they are built to support one, two, or three specific mobile platforms: iPhone and Android, for example. However, the mobile world is diverse and is not getting unified any time soon – so being limited to two or three specific platforms is a big problem.
=> Second, all these solutions are based on a "black box" components supported by small companies. If something goes wrong, e.g., the tools stops working due to a new Windows security update – you might get stuck with your 300 or so scripts.
=> Thirdly, some vendors are so smart as to require testers/programmers to learn highly unusual scripting languages.
There is an alternative – RealMobileTM by Conflair.
Differently from the competition, it’s a method, not a tool. It takes the good old reliable QTP and makes it test mobile apps – no strings or add-ons attached.
RealMobileTM is not limited to a particular platform: it supports iPhones and iPads, Androids, BlacklBerry, Windows Mobile devices, Symbian – and has no principal limitation in terms of platform.
Moreover, the way you connect to the device is completely transparent: it can be a local WiFi, a cellular network, or a USB cord – you choose.
To start using RealMobileTM you need to engage Conflair services. They bring to the table not only their knowledge and expertise to transfer to your team, but also few dozens of reusable functions that will be yours to use. And all those are VBScript that runs in QTP – open-source for you to change in the future, if and when needed. Since it’s a method backed by reusable functions and not a tool, it is possible to adjust RealMobileTM to your existing test automation framework – which brings about significant savings, if you think of it in terms of implementation costs.
While it sounds like too nice to be true, RealMobileTM has been out there since 2008. By now it has been implemented by a number of Fortune 100 companies and is gaining traction. Due to its flexibility, real mobile can support test cases that are traditionally believed to be impossible to automate – for example, barcode generation and scanning.
To learn more about RealMobileTM, take a look at Conflair YouTube videos:
General explanations and iPhone demo
BlackBerry demo
Windows Mobile demo with barcode scanning