Best Automated Mobile App Testing Tools in 2024 - A Comprehensive Guide

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been searching long and wide for the best mobile application testing tools for your project. Maybe you’re a founder about to build the next big app for millions of users. Or maybe you’ve already built an app and what to make sure that you can launch it without worrying about bugs. If this describes who you are then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the latest tools professionals use to test their mobile apps, what automated testing is, and what to look for when selecting an automated testing tool. So, let's dive in.

The Top 10 Automated Mobile App Testing Tools in 2024 to Uplift Your Workflow - Newly updated

When it comes to the best mobile application testing tools, you have a lot of options to choose from. You’re not necessarily at a disadvantage if you have one over the other. However, knowing about these tools in detail will help you optimize your testing process and development plans.

1. TestGrid

If your priority is to quickly automate the testing process across multiple devices then TestGrid is for you. TestGrid gives you a lot of flexibility too because you can do both manual and automated testing. Additionally, TestGrid gives you AI-powered scriptless testing. This gives TestGrid a powerful advantage over other mobile application testing tools and allows you to test your apps thoroughly, even if you have a very small team.

Key Features:

• You can test your mobile apps on hundreds of real devices for Android and iOS.
• The codeless testing feature saves you a lot of time especially when testing complex use cases.
• If you want more flexibility, you can integrate TestGrind with custom scripts or code.
• The built-in AI Auto Heal feature reduces maintenance by automatically identifying defects and fixing them.
• You can create custom dashboards to visualize your test results and work on improving your app’s performance.
• Integrate it easily with popular CI/CD tools to automate the testing process further. Making it a standout pick among mobile application testing tools.
• If your needs are really specific, you can also reserve a device for exclusive access.

2. Appium

If you’re aiming at open-source development, Appium is a good pick for you. You can automate testing for multiple types of applications such as native apps, hybrid apps, and web apps. It supports both Android and iOS.

Key Features:

• Appium is a cross-platform which means that you only have to write tests once and test it on multiple platforms.
• You can easily automate testing for hybrid applications which have native app and web apps elements.
• You can test multiple tests at the same time using parallel testing. This is a great quality to look for when selecting mobile application testing tools.
• Being an open-source tool, you won’t have any difficulty finding documentation or help from the large community.

3. Selendroid

Selendroid is a great open-source tool for test automation if you’re an Android nerd. You can do automated testing for both hybrid apps and native apps easily. It also allows you to do test automation on web based apps on mobile.

Key Features:

• A great feature with Selendroid is hot plugging of hardware devices. You can connect or disconnect your devices without restarting the app or the device, making it a strong contender among mobile application testing tools.
• It's a great tool even if you’re less experienced because it has a built-in inspector that simplifies test case development. This inspector app provides you a visual interface when you test the UI elements of your mobile application.
• You will be able to test your apps on various Android devices which will include physical devices and emulators.
• Selendroid also allows you to integrate with the JSON Wire Protocol and Selenium 3.

4. ACCELQ

If you’re an enterprise and you love AI tools, then ACCELQ might just be for you. It's a great choice among mobile application testing tools because ACCELQ is an AI-powered codeless test automation tool. This tool suits enterprises because you can use its capabilities for mobile and web app testing, APIs, databases, and packaged apps.

Key Features:

• You can automate your testing process throughout your project’s lifecycle. From gathering requirements to deployment of your app.
• ACCELQ rapidly increases your testing process by applying AI and ML algorithms. It's intelligent enough to understand and adapt to changes in your applications, which reduces maintenance and increases test coverage.
• It also supports popular CI/Cd tools and testing frameworks for ease of use.
• You can collaborate easily with your team members because ACCELQ provides a centralized platform where you can design tests, execute, and report.

5. Calabash

Calabash is unique among mobile application testing tools because it is a Behaviour Driven Development framework or BDD for short. You can use natural language to interact with applications allowing you to write tests that are concise and easy to understand.

Key Features:

• Calabash gives you something called test coverage analysis where you can see if your tests cover your application’s code properly.
• You get plenty of mobile specific features with Calabash like interacting with mobile devices, simulating gestures, and verifying elements on the screen.
• Calabash also allows you to test your apps on physical devices and gives you a better idea of how your app will perform in real world scenarios.

6. Ranorex

Ranorex is a very powerful candidate among mobile application testing tools that can handle automations for mobile apps, web apps, and desktop apps. It supports a great range of coding languages and is easy to use and approach, even if you are non-technical.

Key Features:

• Ranorex gives you a very intuitive object recognition engine that is able to identify elements in your UI even if they have been changed or are not visible.
• It also gives you the ability to integrate with popular tools such as Jira, Jenkins, and TestRail which makes it very easy to automate your entire testing process.

7. Kobiton

If you’re looking for mobile-first testing platforms, then Kobiton should be on your list. Much like many other mobile application testing tools, Kobiton gives you features to automate your testing process such as visual testing, scriptless automation, and performance testing.

Key Features:

• Kobiton is a great tool that gives you access to hundreds of testing devices on the cloud.
• It also gives you support for popularly used frameworks for testing such as Selenium, Appium, Espresso, and XCUI.
• Kobiton is a comprehensive tool for testing because it gives you performance evaluation features in addition to functional testing tools. These features can detect spikes in CPU usage, draining of battery, and latency.
• Kobiton also gives you support for mobile continuous testing such as integration with CI/CD tools and self-healing test scripts.

8. TestComplete Mobile

If you’re looking for mobile application testing tools for simple tasks such as automating UI actions, then TestComplete Mobile is for you. You can automate your UI actions on real mobile devices or emulators with scriptless record and replay easily.

Key Features:

• You can use a library which contains predefined keywords and create tests that you can update and maintain easily.
• You can get comprehensive coverage by running tests in parallel on multiple devices and operating systems.
• You can even do test automation by recording your test steps as you interact with your app and playing them back.

9. Eggplant

Eggplant is another big name among mobile application testing tools for graphical user interfaces. Eggplant has image-based testing and you can use it with multiple platforms and technologies. The great thing about Eggplant is that you can create a single script and use it to automate different combinations of mobile, desktop, and web apps.

Key Features:

• You can use Eggplant’s image-based testing to test GUIs by recording actions. You don’t have to code with Eggplant as it generates test scripts for you.
• Eggplant is really useful if you want to automate complex tests such as those involving multiple windows, tabs or interacting with your database.
• It is easier to use as compared to other mobile application testing tools because it uses an English-like scripting language called SenseTalk.
• That’s not all, it also has an AI powered automation feature that lets you automate very complex tests.

10. Frank

Frank is special because it's built just for automating tests on iOS and Mac applications. You can use natural language style to write tests because it uses a framework called Cucumber. You also get Symbiote which is their app inspector that you can use to see detailed information about your running apps.

Key Features:

• It takes very little time to integrate Frank with an iOS application unlike other mobile application testing tools.
• You can record videos during testing so that you can see how your app behaves during testing.
• You can use Frank with your CI/CD system.
• Last but not the least, you can see detailed information about your app by using Frank’s app inspector.

What is Mobile Automation Testing and Why Should You Care?

The fancy jargon can be a bit daunting so let me simplify what mobile app automation testing is for you. Mobile app automation testing is a method where you use automated mobile application testing tools and scripts to check the quality of your apps. This includes the functionality and usability of your app, along with the performance.

The reason test automation is important is that your app has to work on multiple devices under different real world conditions. Manual testing is an option and you should still do it even if your tests are automated. However, it is practically impossible for you to manually test for all cases that may arise during real world use of your apps. Additionally, automated mobile application testing tools provide useful features to reduce the time you take for testing, which results in you being able to launch your apps faster.

Another hurdle in app testing is that different people use different devices. It's very difficult to fine tune your app for multiple devices manually especially if you have a small team. Test automation solves this by giving you access to tools and features that can run simultaneous tests on multiple devices, saving you time and money.

Automated Mobile Application Testing Frameworks For Rapid Product Development

It's understandable if this is confusing you a little bit. You’ll see the terms mobile application testing tools and mobile application testing frameworks being thrown around interchangeably. So, let’s simplify things.

You can say that tools are software or programs you can use to automate your mobile app testing process. However, frameworks are like rules. Typically, a tool or software will have a user interface that you can use to complete your tasks. Frameworks are rules that you can import into a code editor or inside of the tools that you use to accomplish tasks.

In our context, a test automation tool is what you would use when you want to carry out a specific kind of task or automate tests for a specific kind of app. Mobile application testing tools are great for this because they have built-in tools to help you accomplish your tasks.

Now, you would use a framework when you need more flexibility. Frameworks do not have graphical user interfaces and work using code. In short, you would need coding knowledge to run test automations.

I hope that wasn’t too overwhelming.

Best Testing tools for Android App

If you’ve come this far, then you might have realized that there’s a lot to choose from when it comes to finding mobile application testing tools for your project. But, if you want to run optimized tests for your applications, you can use tools specifically designed to work with the device or platform you’re building for.

These tools are good choices:

• Selendroid
• Appium
• TestGrid

Best iOS Mobile app Testing Tools

When it comes to test automations on iOS, you have a bit more control because you’re only testing for a few devices. However, you may still want to pick a tool that works great with iOS devices. For this, you can consider adding these mobile application testing tools to your workflow:

• Frank
• Kobiton
• ACCELQ

Criteria for Selecting a Mobile App Test Automation Frameworks

We’ve covered the Top 10 Automated Mobile App Testing Tools in 2024. However, you still might not be sure which app suits your project. Lists and recommendations can take you some distance but what you really need is a checklist or criteria you can use to make the decision. You should ask yourself a few questions and the answers to those questions will help you pick the right tool for your project.

So, here are 10 things you should consider before choosing mobile application testing tools.

• What devices and operating systems have I built my mobile app for?
• What kind of application have I built?
• Am I comfortable with coding throughout the process or do I need a codeless solution?
• Can I use the tool with the CI/CD system I am currently using for my project?
• Can I learn the tool quickly so that I can use it in my project?
• Is there good support from the community and documentation available for the tool?
• Is the tool scalable enough to be used in the future for my project?
• Does the tool provide me AI and ML tools to make my testing process easier?
• How much does the tool cost and is it worth it for my project?
• Will I be able to see detailed analytics and properly do reporting

Now, it's your turn to explore mobile application testing tools by yourself

I hope that this blog was helpful for you in choosing the right test automation tool for your mobile app project. Keep this in your mind, the concept of the best test automation tool does not exist. What automation tool you choose should depend on what kind of app you’re building and what makes sense for your project. Only you understand that. However, you now have the right information to make that choice.

If you found this a good read, make sure you share it with someone who needs this information. If you’re a founder and don’t want to mess with mobile application testing tools or fiddly code, you can book a call with one of our consultants and get started hands-free.