Best QA Automation Tools for Mobile Testing

The Test Lead
3 min readSep 22

Mobile Testing has become indispensable in the age of smartphones and mobile applications. As mobile usage continues to surge, ensuring the functionality, performance, and compatibility of mobile apps across various devices and platforms is paramount. Mobile testing includes a range of activities, from verifying the responsiveness of an app’s user interface to evaluating its performance under different conditions.

To assist you in this critical aspect of quality assurance, we present a selection of the best QA automation tools for Mobile Testing. This article ranks these tools based on their merits, highlights their pros and cons, and provides guidance on where to obtain them, empowering you to deliver high-quality mobile apps.

Appium

Pros: Appium is an open-source, cross-platform mobile automation tool. It supports both Android and iOS and allows testers to use their preferred programming languages.
Cons: Setting up Appium for mobile testing can be complex, especially for beginners.
Download: Download Appium from the official website: Appium.https://appium.io/docs/en/2.1/

XCUITest (for iOS) and Espresso (for Android)

Pros: These native automation frameworks provided by Apple and Google respectively offer deep integration and access to device-specific features.
Cons: They are platform-specific and require separate test scripts for iOS and Android.
Download (XCUITest): XCUITest is bundled with Xcode, Apple’s development toolset. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/testing_with_xcode/chapters/09-ui_testing.html
Download (Espresso): Espresso is part of the Android Testing Support Library. https://developer.android.com/training/testing/espresso

Calabash

Pros: Calabash is an open-source mobile automation framework that supports both Android and iOS. It’s beginner-friendly and allows writing tests in Cucumber’s Gherkin language.
Cons: Maintenance and community support are not as strong as with some other tools.
Download: You can install Calabash via gem: gem install calabash-android (Android) or gem install calabash-cucumber (iOS).https://github.com/calabash/calabash-android

Conclusion

Picking your automation tool for your testing is very important. If you feel I left your favorite tool out or have suggestions for other tools that I should consider, please feel free to respond!

The Test Lead

SDET at fintech company in NYC. Visit personal page http://thetestinglead.com// Twitter @juss_bailey Youtube @The Test Lead