Methods for Testing Mobile App Performance Using LoadRunner

By Anil G 16 Min Read

 Poor performance can lead to user dissatisfaction, negative reviews, and low engagement. That means your app’s success hangs in the balance with every update. LoadRunner performance testing solves this problem.

LoadRunner quickly simulates thousands of users and complex scenarios. It provides advanced testing and analysis for your mobile app. Get actionable insights and real-time data in minutes. Ensure your app always performs at its best with Prometteur’s LoadRunner performance testing.

LoadRunner Performance Testing 

Many organisations and testers use the potent LoadRunner tool. It ensures their applications and websites function properly. LoadRunner offers a simple platform for evaluating application performance under various conditions. It also helps users pinpoint areas for improvement. You can use LoadRunner to mimic real-world user scenarios, monitor response times, and examine system behaviour. This helps find bottlenecks. Using this tool, businesses can best distribute resources for optimal effectiveness.

What is LoadRunner Performance Testing and How Does it Help with Mobile App Performance Testing?

The LoadRunner performance testing tool is very effective. It locates and resolves performance issues in mobile applications. With LoadRunner, developers can mimic actual user scenarios. They can test their mobile applications across various platforms and devices. LoadRunner enables testers to examine how their software behaves in various scenarios. They can ensure that it operates at its best before launch. Additionally, LoadRunner identifies potential coding faults. This allows programmers to take immediate corrective action before users experience any problems. Mobile app developers can use LoadRunner to ensure their applications are bug-free. It helps them offer the best user experience.

 Who is a Loadrunner Mobile App Performance Tester?

In this section, we will explore the features and benefits of a LoadRunner mobile app performance tester. We will see how it helps businesses deliver high-quality mobile applications.

Mobile applications are now an essential part of our daily lives. With millions of users accessing these apps every day, ensuring optimal performance is crucial. The LoadRunner mobile app performance tester plays a key role here.

Testers have used the LoadRunner tool for years to test web applications. Now, with increasing mobile app usage, LoadRunner offers a mobile app performance tester.

A LoadRunner mobile app performance tester uses the tool to simulate real-world scenarios. They test mobile app performance under different conditions like network connectivity, user load, and device types. By collaborating with the tester, developers can identify potential bottlenecks. They can then optimize the app’s performance before it goes live.

Top Methods for LoadRunner Performance Testing

LoadRunner performance testing can resolve all issues with the help of certain protocols.

1. HTTP/HTML:

This LoadRunner method tracks the browser and any native scripts that communicate with the server using these protocols. The entire procedure occurs in the TCP/IP model’s transport layer. PCAP, a separate file that records network traffic, generates a visual script. Third-party emulators can even create the script logic.

2. Mobile web protocol:

In this method, the protocol records user activity in mobile applications based on browser scripts. The whole process takes place in the TruClient browser, which engineers modify to be an emulator.

3. True client essential for native mobile:

LoadRunner uses the True Client method to record scripts for browser-based or hybrid mobile applications. This makes it vital for native mobile. Teams download mobile apps and test them thoroughly to identify issues. The process requires installing the mobile test centre app on the device. It uses emulators that facilitate complex testing and help create the most memorable apps on the market.

The Benefits of Using LoadRunner for Mobile Apps Performance Tests

Why use LoadRunner for mobile apps? Here are some key reasons.

  • Tests Legacy Systems: It uses modern technology to test outdated applications.
  • Fast and Easy: It tests mobile apps quickly and easily.
  • Reduces Costs: LoadRunner educates users about the full capacity and scalability of their product. This helps reduce software and hardware costs.
  • Pinpoints Bottlenecks: It can precisely identify system-level, end-user, and code-based bottlenecks.
  • Reduces Downtime: It identifies the root cause of performance issues, reducing the cost of application downtime.
  • Enables Smart SLAs: It enables teams to create clever service-level agreements before release.
  • Accelerates Delivery: It provides quick test cycles that hasten application delivery across international test resources.
  • Optimizes Load Testing: It produces improved load test results and makes the best use of load generators.

LoadRunner Mobile App Testing Best Practices

Mobile applications form an integral part of our daily lives. The ever-increasing demand for mobile apps creates a need for efficient testing. LoadRunner is a popular tool that simulates real-world scenarios and analyzes application performance under different loads. To get the most out of LoadRunner, you must follow mobile app testing best practices.

This section explores key mobile app testing best practices for LoadRunner. Following these guidelines will ensure your tests are accurate and reliable. They provide valuable insights into your application’s performance. You can optimize your testing process and deliver high-quality mobile applications that meet user expectations.

Here are the mobile app testing best practices:

1. Create Smaller Units for the Testing Process

It is one of the mobile app testing best practices to divide the testing procedure into smaller components and carry out the tests one at a time. These devices could be employed to evaluate specific app features or elements. By dividing the tests, it is possible to thoroughly test the app and target all of its features.

2. Test in Real-Time Environments

 Mobile apps must be tested in real-world scenarios, including those with bad network access, different time zones, GPS locations, SMS interruptions, low battery notifications, and other issues.

You can test under genuine user situations, such as natural app gestures and interactions, in-app purchases, payment procedures, geotargeting, etc., by using a suitable testing platform in addition to the standard device testing.

3. Choose a support policy.

Testing every combination of platforms, operating systems, and browsers is challenging. Define your support strategy early on and revisit it about every three months to keep up with the pace of the mobile market. 

Using information from end users and market research, identify the platforms and devices that you want to target. In general, testing should focus on any OS and devices with the biggest number of end users. Furthermore, since it could cost you a lot, it’s worthwhile to think about limiting support for out-of-date systems. 

4. Check the Right Platform

The testing methodology will differ depending on whether your software is web-based, native, or a hybrid of the two. The most control over the user experience can be achieved with a native app, however due to the variety of device hardware and operating systems, maintaining a native app across different platforms is substantially more difficult.

Otherwise, hybrid and native apps use different underlying technologies but offer identical functionality. As a result, they use the same functional testing methodology, including validating the app’s access to built-in device resources and testing gestures, screen orientation, etc.

Testing web-based applications has unique challenges and this is why we encourage you to always consider utilising all the mobile app testing best practices for best results. You’ll need to take care of, among other crucial things, how the app works with various device screen sizes.

5. Recognise Your Customers

You need a lot of information about your end users in order to create a mobile app that users will find appealing. You can prioritise development, improve the user experience with more engaging touchpoints, and make smarter commercial decisions only if you are aware of how potential users engage with the app. 

QA specialists can comprehend user behaviour and test any areas of the app that are often used by collaborating with the development team to incorporate analytical processes into the app. You may determine any aspects of your design that irritate users, where they become perplexed, and what prevents them from converting by using a product analytics tool like Mixpanel.

Measuring end-user data is an undisputed mobile app testing best practices. It is essential for developing effective test strategies as well as for reaching pertinent business judgements.

6. Functionality comes first, then user experience

The major reason consumers search for an app is because it can carry out specific tasks and fulfil their needs. It’s crucial to make sure that the primary functions are carefully carried out and tested before launching because an app’s desertion rate will increase with incomplete or insufficient functionality.

Mobile app testing best practices is aimed at making bobile apps slick and user-friendly. If the functionality doesn’t flow naturally or the user interface is badly designed, the development team will need to modify it.

The best course of action in this situation is to assess user experience before the app is complete. Early in the development cycle, you can start testing the user experience as soon as the prototype or design mock-up is finished.

7. Rely on Real Device Testing Before Launching

In the early phases of app development, testing on emulators and simulators is a highly beneficial strategy. They offer improved debugging capabilities to accelerate the app’s testing lifecycle. 

However, it is also critical to test the mobile app on actual mobile devices. Before releasing the app, real device testing is worth considering. It offers more precise results by permitting testers to check every possible scenario in the testing cycle. Hence, the flaws can be corrected instantly based on the realistic output.

8. Prior to launch, rely on real-world device testing

Testing using emulators and simulators is a very effective method for early app development. They provide enhanced debugging features to quicken the testing process for the programme. 

Testing the mobile application on actual mobile devices is essential as well, though. Real device testing is something to think about doing before launching the app. By enabling testers to test every conceivable scenario during the testing cycle, it provides more accurate results. As a result, on the basis of the realistic output, the deficiencies can be immediately fixed.

9. Early performance testing

After functional testing is complete, it is typically more expensive and risky to make changes when performance issues are detected later in the development cycle. Therefore, conducting a performance test at an early stage is a mobile app testing best practice and can assist in identifying any potential performance difficulties. 

Performance testing is not a one-and-done procedure, so developers cannot get all the information they require from a single test. For a performance test to be truly successful, repetition is required.

10. Intelligent Balanced Testing

Exploratory testing and script-based testing should be used in moderation. Script-based testing won’t even be helpful for figuring out emotional involvement, and it usually takes longer to finish this kind of testing to have the right level of coverage.

On the other hand, session-based testing can be efficiently used to spot problems with the user experience, edge case scenarios, and particular usage scenarios. You must get the blend just right to have the broadest coverage possible.

11. Refine and improve

A/B testing can be used by testers to find out which options end users prefer and then base final decisions on the findings. This is a mobile app testing best practices. Additionally, you can evaluate UI and functionality changes utilising optimisation testing. Early in the development process, testing may also be used to determine which new features end users are most interested in.

12. Combining manual and automated testing

Finding the testing method that is most suited for each feature and stage of the product development process is the key to combining automated testing and manual testing.

Since manual testing allows you to do UX tests from a human perspective on a number of devices, environments, and locations, it is still essential. However, including automation in your approach might improve the effectiveness, speed, and precision of manual tests.

13. Test on more devices by using a cloud service.

App developers and QA specialists may obtain insights on app performance, move between devices with ease, and complete automated activities using mobile device cloud.

When testing a mobile app takes a while, Katalon Testcloud uses limitless concurrency to speed up the time to market. When a certain functionality is missed, as opposed to physical device testing, you must wait, With the actual device cloud, you can quickly debug and release software while testing from any location with instant access to thousands of devices.

We offer the best packages when it comes to LoadRunner performance testing. Get in touch with us to enjoy some of these benefits now!

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