7 Top Mobile Testing Tools to Help You Build Better Apps in 2023

Even since the introduction of smartphones, the world has been fascinated by this device. According to a survey, by 2025, there will be 7.49 billion mobile phone users worldwide. Shockingly, 92.5% of the time spent on mobile is spent using mobile apps. It’s evident that we are surrounded by mobile apps in our day-to-day life.

Whether we need to talk with our close ones, order food, or book a cab, there is an app for everything! The demand for quality mobile apps is growing exponentially. According to a recent survey, 37% of businesses have apps for both iOS and Android devices.

Competition is tough. To stay at the top, offering flawless experiences to your end customers is mandatory. No one likes to dwell around a buggy app when there is already an alternative available in the market. That’s why developers and organizations conduct rigorous mobile testing for a seamless end-user experience. Now that we know why mobile app testing is necessary, let’s have a sneak peek at different mobile app testing tools and what they have to offer.

Best Mobile App Testing Tools

1. Appium

Appium is an open-sourced automated testing tool that can be leveraged to test mobile, web, hybrid, and native applications. The framework supports multiple programming languages like JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, etc, to write tests through dev tools.

Features

• Provides full access to DB and back-end APIs for test code.
• Features easy integration with CI/CD tools like Jenkins
• Has a record and playback feature for speeding up the testing process
• Hassle-free installation
• Supports any type of testing framework

2. Robotium

It is a testing tool that is designed especially for black-box testing of android applications under an automated testing framework. It leverages JavaScript for preparing test scripts. With the help of the Robotium testing tool, developers can write functions, systems, user acceptance tests, etc., that can span across multiple android activities.

Features

• Can test both native and hybrid android applications
• Due to black box testing, knowledge of the application under testing is not required
• Faster test-case execution
• Features smooth integration with Gradle, Maven, and Ant as a part of continuous integration

3. Kobiton

Kobiton is a cloud-based mobile testing tool that allows emulators and real devices to work together in performing manual as well as automated testing. This testing tool uses no-code technology and is compatible with every UI/UX across all devices. Although a paid app, the tool is reasonably priced at $50/month.

Features

• Provides free mobile testing
• Features CI/CD integration for seamless workflows
• Features a centralized repository for testing reports and data logs
• For users who prefer scripting, the app supports — Selenium, XCUI, Appium, Espresso, etc.

4. Perfecto

Perfecto is one of the popular cloud testing platforms for mobile applications. It provides a unified platform for testing mobile and web applications. As it is a cloud-based platform, you can test on emulators without worrying about device maintenance. Being on cloud makes it ultra-portable. Users can access the tool for end-to-end testing from anywhere in the world.

Features

• Provides enterprise-grade security with the feasibility to execute 10k tests per day.
• Find bugs and fix them easily with the help of detailed analysis, heatmaps, dashboards, crash logs, etc.
• Features seamless integration with many test frameworks like XCUITest and Appium
• Supports parallel testing for speeding up the delivery process

5. Katalon

Built on top of Appium and Selenium, Katalon is one of the best codeless automation testing tools. Katalon leverages scripts and reusable test objects to maximize automation efficiency. The tool is packed with complete platform support for executing tests on any type of OS, browser, or device. The tool is available on licensing basis starting at $839/license per year. They also feature a free plan which you can leverage as per your needs.

Features

• Beginner-friendly codeless testing experience
• Built-in integration with popular project management tools like JIRA
• Features cross-environment test execution
• Features object spying for accelerating the scripting process

6. TestGrid

Interested in both manual and automated testing with the flexibility to cloud? — then TestGrid could be your testing solution. It is a cross-platform mobile testing tool empowering software testers to automate the mobile application testing process. You can start the application using their free plan. Upgrading the tool is affordable, as low as $39/month.

Features

• AI-based no-code automation
• Test case reusability on multiple applications
• Integrate with your favorite CI/CD tool for continuous testing
• Parallel testing for faster execution
• Available both on-cloud and on-premise

7. Apptim

Apptim is a mobile app testing tool that empowers developers and testers to scrutinize mobile apps and analyze their performance. It offers the most powerful dashboard for your team for measuring render times, power consumption, crashes, resource usage, etc.

Features

• Compatible with both Android and iOS devices
• Doesn’t require you to install heavy SDKs.
• Features easy collaboration by offering a user-friendly interface to share among team members.
• You can integrate JIRA to publish your reports in the JIRA project.

Tips for testing a mobile application

Even with the most feature-packed tools at your disposal, you need to keep in mind a few pointers before proceeding with mobile testing.

• Familiarize yourself with the mobile application.
• Keep in mind that mobile application testing differs from desktop software.
• Take into account the hardware specifications and OS of the device you are testing on.
• Try to test on real devices whenever feasible.
• Pick the tool based you are familiar with rather than the popularity.
• Try leveraging cloud mobile testing.
• Have a balance between automated and manual testing.
• Beta testing is an added advantage.
• Strategize your time for various testing activities.

Conclusion

Mobile testing tools offer a plethora of features that ease our app testing process. Although there are countless tools, here in this blog, I have listed down the top 7 tools along with their features. I hope this will help you in making an informed decision while selecting the mobile testing tool for your project. Are you aware of any other interesting tools? Let me know in the comments below.