Mobile APP needs to pay attention to weak network testing

What is a weak network test?

In today's era of the prevalence of mobile Internet, in addition to wired connections, there are also various mobile network connection methods such as 2G/3G/Edge/4G/Wifi. Different protocols, different formats, and different rates enrich the scenarios in which mobile applications run.

From a testing point of view, the scenarios that require additional attention are far more than network disconnection and network failure. For the data definition of weak network, the meanings defined by different applications are different and unclear. Not only the minimum rate of each type of network should be considered, but also the business scenarios and application types to be divided. According to the characteristics of mobile, generally applications with a rate lower than 2G are weak networks, and 3G can also be classified as weak networks. In addition, Wifi with weak signal is usually included in the weak network test scenario.

Why do we need to conduct weak network testing? The product of

my current project is a medical IT system suitable for low-resource environments, which is currently mainly used in Tanzania. According to the data, in East African countries such as Tanzania, 2G networks are commonly used, with a coverage rate of more than 40%, while 3G networks have very little coverage and poor stability. Therefore, for the current App application delivery requirements, it can run normally at least in a weak network and no network state.

How to do weak network testing

Weak network environment testing mainly depends on the simulation of weak network environment. There are generally two ways to build the environment: software way and hardware way. The cost of the software method is low, mainly by simulating network parameters to configure the weak network environment, which can usually achieve the purpose of testing. Generally, it can be set through hotspot sharing. In all kinds of network software, it is mainly to simulate the weak network environment for bandwidth, packet loss, delay, etc. If it is required to be closer to a weak network environment, such as many special tests now, it is more inclined to assist the test through hardware, but this method is relatively troublesome, and it is usually assisted by network maintenance. Of course, for some situations that cannot be simulated, we can only manually move to places with weak signals such as elevators and subways.

I have also mentioned some weak network testing problems before, and I will not talk about the specific testing tools. I will emphasize several problem scenarios that need to be paid attention to:

When the user logs in to the application, the initial data is downloaded. During the download process, the network speed is too slow to click cancel and log in again. During the data download process and after the download fails, the data is not rolled back. After the download is aborted, the data is duplicated. The

user clicks the data upload, During the data uploading process, the network is weak and unstable, and the data upload is automatically triggered based on the network status, resulting in repeated data writing, resulting

in . Business logic processing results in a timeout exception being returned.

In a weak network environment, the user clicks to log in after entering the user name and password, the data download times out, and the loaded data heavily depends on the subsequent asynchronous loading. Before the data can be returned, the application jumps to the next activity, resulting in a crash.

Now, some application companies pay more and more attention to the weak network disconnection test, and they account for more in their own APP test items.