Guide to Salesforce Mobile App Testing

Salesforce Mobile App Testing involves validating and verifying the functionality, usability, and performance of the Salesforce mobile application across different devices and platforms. It ensures that the mobile app delivers a seamless experience in accessing Salesforce CRM features on smartphones and tablets, working effectively even with offline capabilities, notifications, and third-party integrations.

This testing covers functional tests, UI/UX, performance under various network conditions, and security compliance to match user expectations for mobile access.

Testing Salesforce Mobile Apps comes with distinct challenges due to the complexity of Salesforce environments and mobile platforms:

Device Fragmentation: There is a vast array of mobile devices with different screen sizes, OS versions (Android, iOS), and hardware capabilities. Testing on all real devices is costly and time-consuming.
Dynamic UI Elements: Salesforce’s DOM structure is highly dynamic and frequently changes based on user roles, state, or data, making UI elements hard to locate and automate tests reliably.
Data Complexity: Maintaining consistent and valid test data in Salesforce is challenging due to validation rules, workflows, security constraints, and tenant isolation. Test data setup needs careful planning.
Offline Mode Handling: The Salesforce mobile app supports offline functionality, which needs specific testing to ensure data sync and user experience remain intact when the device reconnects.
Network Variability: Mobile apps operate in varied network conditions, including fluctuating or no internet connectivity, which impacts app performance and responsiveness.
Automation Difficulties: Automating mobile tests requires advanced tools and scripts that can adapt to the frequent UI changes and handle mobile-specific scenarios like gestures or notifications.
Limited Access to Custom Attributes: Unlike many web apps, Salesforce doesn’t expose stable test-specific attributes in the DOM, complicating element identification for automation tools.

Effective methods to address these challenges include:

Use Emulators and Real Devices: Blend testing on real devices for accuracy with mobile emulators and simulators for broader test coverage and cost efficiency. Use browser developer tools with mobile view emulation for some tests.
Implement Robust Test Data Management: Use sandbox environments designed for testing and create diverse, realistic test data sets with proper validation to avoid corrupt data issues.
Leverage Advanced Automation Frameworks: Utilise mobile automation tools like Appium combined with Salesforce-built simulators/emulators for iOS and Android, to handle complex UI and gestures.
Design Tests for Offline Scenarios: Include offline mode testing by customising cache settings and validation of sync after connectivity restoration to mimic real user scenarios.
Employ Continuous Integration (CI): Integrate automated tests into CI pipelines to frequently run regression and performance tests, ensuring app stability across updates.
Optimise for Network Variance: Test with varied network speeds and conditions using network throttling tools to ensure graceful degradation and error handling in the app.

Define Clear Testing Objectives: Outline exact functional areas, user scenarios, and performance benchmarks to focus testing efforts and resources efficiently.

Perform Comprehensive Test Coverage: Incorporate unit, integration, regression, performance, and security tests to cover all app dimensions and avoid functional gaps.
Automate Critical Workflows: Prioritise automation for frequently used workflows like login, navigation, data entry, and synchronisation to increase test speed and reliability.
Test on Multiple OS Versions: Ensure compatibility by testing on the minimum required and commonly used versions of iOS and Android to cover a wide user base.
Conduct Usability and Accessibility Testing: Validate that the user interface is intuitive and accessible to diverse users, complying with standards for mobile apps.
Maintain Documentation: Keep detailed records of test cases, bug reports, and test results to facilitate future cycles and knowledge sharing.
Monitor and Iterate Post-Deployment: Continuously collect feedback and app performance data post-release to fix bugs promptly and improve the app continuously.

Several tools facilitate efficient Salesforce mobile app testing:

Appium: Popular open-source tool for automating native, hybrid, and mobile web apps on Android and iOS with cross-platform capabilities.
BrowserStack: Cloud-based platform offering real device cloud testing with Selenium integration for broad browser and device coverage.
Salesforce Mobile Simulator and Emulator: Provided by Salesforce for iOS and Android, these tools help preview and debug Lightning components on virtual mobile devices.
Selenium: For automating web-based parts of Salesforce accessible via mobile browsers.
Provar: Specialised Salesforce test automation tool supporting both web and mobile app testing with no-code and code options.
Test Automation Frameworks: Use frameworks that support Page Object Model (POM) and data-driven testing for maintainable and scalable test scripts.
These tools, combined with test management and CI/CD systems, streamline the mobile testing process and improve test reliability and coverage.

Q1: Is Salesforce mobile app testing different from Salesforce web app testing?

Yes, mobile app testing involves additional considerations like device fragmentation, offline mode, and network variability, alongside functional testing common in web apps.

Q2: Can Salesforce mobile app testing be fully automated?

While many test cases can be automated using tools like Appium, some scenarios, such as UX and offline testing require manual validation.

Q3: What is the minimum OS version supported for Salesforce mobile app?

Salesforce mobile app supports Android 8.0+ and iOS 14.0+ for phones and tablets.

Q4: Are there Salesforce-specific mobile testing tools?

Salesforce provides mobile app simulators/emulators and bundles well with general mobile testing tools like Appium and Provar designed for Salesforce environments.

Q5: How to handle test data complexities in Salesforce mobile testing?

Use sandbox environments and create realistic, validated test data sets to closely simulate production scenarios for accurate tests.

What are some early warning signs of inadequate regression coverage?

Constant post-release production defects, lost business logic, or excessive support tickets signal inadequate or poor regression coverage.