Automated GUI Testing of Android Apps: From Research to Practice
Kevin Moran, Mario Linares‐Vásquez, Denys Poshyvanyk · 2016
The last decade has seen tremendous proliferation of mobile computing in our society. Billions of users have access to millions of mobile applications that can be installed directly on their mobile devices and electrical appliances such as TV set-top boxes. Factors such as new monetization/revenue models, programming models, and distribution infrastructures contribute to an "attractive" movement that captivates new and traditional developers, as well as a crowd of other professionals that explore, design, and implement mobile apps [9]. Also, the need for "enterprise apps" that support start-ups or serve as a new front-end for traditional companies is pushing software related professionals to embrace the mobile technologies [9]. However, the nature of the economy (devices, apps, markets) imposes new challenges on how mobile apps are envisioned, designed, implemented, tested, released, and maintained. This technology briefing aims to help address the challenges of testing and maintaining mobile apps by providing participants from both academic and industrial backgrounds with information on the state-of-art and state-of-practice mobile testing and maintenance techniques. Specifically, we aim to highlight two things: first, new techniques and methodologies for making effective automated testing of mobile apps practical and accessible to developers, and second, open academic research questions related to such technology transfer.