Mobile testing runs to the same basic principles as web app testing. Equally, there are some ways in which mobile teams have it a little bit worse (don’t come for us, web app engineers).
Maintaining duplicate sets of resource and accessibility IDs for iOS and Android, frequent UI changes breaking tests, and flakiness due to a range of factors (from keyboards not closing to network availability) are just a few of the challenges your mobile team has to contend with.
These should be reflected in your test cases for mobile applications. To help you out, we’ve listed the most important test cases for mobile applications, along with a few tips on how to improve efficiency for each test case with AI software testing tools.
10 Top Test Cases for Mobile Applications
1. Installation and First-Time Launch Tests
First impressions count! Installation and first-time launch are foundational test cases for mobile applications. Ignore them at your peril.
Installation issues lead to frustration and high levels of churn. If they can’t install your app without a glitch, users won’t trust your app to perform well.
Key Scenarios
- Verify successful installation from the App Store or Google Play
- Test installation under low storage conditions
- Confirm smooth first-time launch and rendering of onboarding screens
- Ensure correct handling of updates and re-installation
Raise Your Testing Game
AI testing tools like Momentic can automatically simulate installation paths, device states, and OS configurations. They can also validate UI rendering on first launch with visual comparisons, ensuring nothing breaks across devices.
2. Login, Authentication, and User Account Tests
Username and password are a given, but you’ll also have to consider biometric login methods like fingerprint, face, and voice unlock, as well as interaction with third-party apps like Microsoft Authenticator.
Ultimately, this added complexity is a good thing because it makes it more difficult for cybercriminals to steal user data – but it does add extra considerations to your testing process.
To make sure your login/authentication processes are offering security to users whilst remaining intuitive for those logging on regularly, these should be among your core test cases for mobile applications.
Key Scenarios
- Successful and failed login attempts
- Social login flows (Google, Apple, Facebook)
- Multi-factor authentication
- Password reset and session expiration
Raise Your Testing Game
Look for agentic AI testing tools that can autonomously check complex authentication flows (including 2FA) to check for inconsistencies or blocked paths. If you update the UI of your mobile app frequently, self-healing tests with intent-based locators will save hours of maintenance time over brittle, selector-based automation.
3. UI/UX and Navigation Tests
If your app’s UI is glitchy or doesn’t display properly on a user’s particular device, chances are they’re going to stop using it. To keep your users’ interest, you’ll need to maintain a flawless UI across an ever-widening variety of devices and screen sizes.
Key Scenarios
- Layout validation across device models and resolutions
- Visual consistency in portrait/landscape modes
- Tap area accuracy and navigation clarity
- Accessibility features (large text mode, screen readers)
Raise Your Testing Game
Visual testing tools can detect glitches, alignment issues, and incorrect styles more reliably than traditional scripted tests – use these to verify UI changes if you make frequent updates.
4. Functional Tests for Core Features
Get the basics right. If your mobile app is a banking app, for example, the features that allow users to make payments or transfer money should work without issue. These ‘core’ features are likely to be why people download your app in the first place – making sure they fulfil their intended purpose is vital for user retention.
Key Scenarios
- End-to-end testing of core features (e.g., ordering flow, messaging, location tracking)
- Input validation
- Handling of edge cases
- Offline/online synchronization
Raise Your Testing Game
Use low-code testing to quickly validate functional requirements. There is a range of tools available, but what could be faster than writing what you want to test in plain English and letting an AI take care of the rest?
Learn more about Momentic’s natural language testing tools
5. Performance and Load Test
On the list of minor mobile app frustrations, poor responsiveness and load time sits pretty near the top. It might not be the main reason for an uninstall, but it can lead to negative app store reviews and will certainly contribute to users falling out of love with your features.
Key Scenarios
- App launch speed under cold and warm starts
- Smooth scrolling and animation
- Response time for user interactions
- Stability under high server load
Raise Your Testing Game
Benchmark performance metrics over multiple runs and flag regressions – AI can detect subtle slowdowns and UI lag more accurately than human testers.
6. Network and Connectivity Tests
Users won’t always be using your app in ideal network conditions. They might be on a slow public WiFI connection, or somewhere yet untouched by high-speed mobile networks (not necessarily anywhere distant or remote – ironically, there’s a significant amount of mobile blackspots in and around Silicon Valley).
Make sure your test cases for mobile applications validate robust behavior under fluctuating connectivity, so that users can enjoy your app wherever they are.
Key Scenarios
- Switching between WiFi and cellular networks
- Operating under weak, unstable, or dropping connections
- Offline mode handling
- Sync behavior when connectivity returns
Raise Your Testing Game
Use an AI tool to simulate different network conditions and execute workflows repeatedly to validate resilience. You could also use autonomous test agents to verify correct handling of sync and retry logic without manual supervision.
7. Battery, Temperature, and Resource Usage Tests
Some apps are more resource-intensive than others. Mobile games with pretty graphics and constant screen usage will use more battery than your notes app. However, it’s important to make sure that your app isn’t overusing battery or CPU for the function it provides. Unnecessary resource drain = less user engagement with your app.
Key Scenarios
- Battery consumption under normal and extended use
- CPU, GPU, and memory usage patterns
- Temperature rise during heavy operations
- Background process efficiency
Raise Your Testing Game
Continuous monitoring is your friend here – monitor device metrics whilst executing test cases to identify resource spikes and their correlation with user actions.
8. Permission Handling and Security Tests
For some features, your app might need input from third-party apps – a photo editing app might request permission to access the device’s camera, for example. Getting this right is vital for user trust, compliance, and app store approval.
Key Scenarios
- Requesting permissions only when needed
- Correct messaging when permissions are denied
- Secure API handling and data encryption
- Preventing unauthorized access
Raise Your Testing Game
Agentic AIs can automatically explore workflows triggered by permission prompts, ensuring each permission is requested correctly and handled safely. They can also detect UI blocks caused by overlooked permission states.
9. Device and Platform Compatibility Tests
Dedicating resources to testing across a range of devices provides a long-term payoff of a larger and more widely distributed user base. There are now more devices, screen sizes, and OS variants in use than ever, so this is no easy task –
Key Scenarios
- Testing on multiple OS versions
- Device-specific hardware (camera, sensors, biometrics)
- Manufacturer overlays and custom skins
- Different navigation styles (buttons vs. gesture-based)
Raise Your Testing Game
Momentic supports testing across a wide range of virtual and physical devices, ensuring consistency across environments. Its AI-driven approach minimizes setup time and detects behavior differences that manual testers might miss.
10. Interruptions, Background, and App Lifecycle Tests
If you’re using an app on your phone, chances are there are things that will interrupt your app every now and then whilst you use it, such as background activity from other apps, push notifications, and incoming calls.
It’s important that these interruptions don’t disrupt your app features' work, so ensure there is a robust set of interruption-based test cases to verify this.
Key Scenarios
- Incoming calls, texts, and notifications
- App minimizing and resuming
- Background activity behavior
- Data preservation during lifecycle transitions
Raise Your Testing Game
Finding real device testing expensive to scale, or caught up in queues for particular devices? Don’t let this slow down your release cycle – use mobile emulators to quickly expand your coverage across different devices at a fraction of the cost of cloud device farms.
Momentic: Build and Execute Test Cases for Mobile Applications with Natural Language Tools
Momentic allows you to write tests in plain English and test immediately, reducing hours of manual scripting to a minute or two’s worth of effort. When you’re dealing with the complexities of mobile app testing, those extra hours saved are invaluable.
We also provide a range of mobile-specific testing features, including:
- 1s emulator cold starts
- 1s app installs
- 200ms cached interactions
- Seamless context switching between native and WebViews (think auto-iframe)
- No instrumentation needed
- Embedded interactive preview
- 1-click APK upload
How effective is Momentic? Just ask our customers, who have saved over 40 engineering hours per month and expanded to 80% coverage in just two days.
Book a demo today to take your mobile app testing processes to the next level.
