Get the best test.io alternative

Global App Testing as a test io alternative

If you develop apps, whether web-based or mobile apps, you know how frustrating the process can be. It’s a bit like competing in the 400m hurdles: You have one part where things are going smoothly, then a hurdle appears that you need to deal with. It may be a major bug or a compatibility issue with a particular OS (operating system), but it needs to be overcome.

Such issues are not only frustrating and time-consuming, but they can sometimes be costly, too. When you’ve had a great idea for an app and have looked at its viability, you may have already announced a release date. You may even have advance orders, so any delays can push that release date back and lead to disgruntled customers. 

Testing is an integral part of any development process. If you do it in house, then it can be a laborious process that diverts your experts’ attention away from ongoing development and focusing on fixing any bugs or issues you’ve encountered.

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What is Global App Testing?

GAT is a testing platform that offers QA (quality assurance) and testing of your app in over 189 countries. Using a combination of AI-powered automation and crowdtesting by more than 60,000 professional testers around the world (all of whom have been fully appraised and vetted), GAT offers fast and convenient solutions for your development process. 

GAT has a client list that reads like a Who’s Who of the tech world, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Instagram, and many more, and offers reliable solutions that can allow your own development team to focus on fixing any issues that have been encountered. Clients choose GAT for their scale, their advanced test automation tools, software testing tools, and the experience of their crowdtesters. 

Crowdtesting is when a group of people test software to increase release velocity. Software testing can include mobile apps, SaaS, desktop apps, digital products, and even websites. You can utilize crowdtesters in end tests once initial development is complete or as each stage of the process is done.

Who is Global App Testing for?

Global App Testing is for any company creating software, but is particularly useful for mobile and web apps, websites, and any type of consumer software, including SaaS. It’s specifically aimed at your Agile and DevOps teams to help them stay on any planned schedule, and to free their skills up to focus on any issues discovered by testing. 

Testing can take time, especially when you consider you usually have to test your product on multiple devices, as well as different operating systems. It allows your Agile and DevOps teams to remain focused on the actual development of the product and not be caught up in the time-consuming testing process. 

Why do you need Global App Testing?

There are many reasons why you might decide to use GAT to facilitate the testing process:

• Limited resources. You may be a startup or a small tech business with a small workforce. Using GAT means your experts can focus on their core skills. 
• Time. The tech and app market is extremely competitive. If there are delays to your release schedule, then another company may beat you to market with a similar or identical product.
• Identify issues. If you launch a product with undiscovered bugs or issues, it can affect the integrity of that product and of your brand in general. 
• Speed. Receiving real time results on tests means you don’t need to wait before fixing bugs. 
• Costs. By outsourcing your testing to GAT, you save on the expenses incurred by hiring, training, and onboarding in-house testing staff. 
• Processes. The increased speed of testing offered by GAT is essential if your development process includes CD (Continuous delivery/deployment) and CI (continuous integration). 
• Usability. If your products focus on user preferences, testing by GAT is ideal for checking that your product is usable by as many consumers as possible, and that any metrics are positive. 

Global App Testing vs. test IO

Features comparison

When it comes to testing your apps or other digital products, different companies will have different needs when it comes to features. However, there will likely be more common features than differences. 

For example, you want testing platforms to be able to check your product on different devices and operating systems such as Android and iOS.

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Some other tests that are common to many testing tools are included below: 

• App stability at different rates
• Load testing
• Mobile applications not interfering with other phone-based functions
• Use of actual devices and not emulators
• Mobile device screen rotation
• Screen size and touch interface
• Response rate
• Memory leakage
• Ability to update
• Functioning feedback
• Localization of language
• App response to external interruptions (such as SMS messages or lost network). 

Just carrying out those simple checks isn’t all you want from a testing and test management platform, though. The following are some key features offered by GAT:

Functional testing

Functional testing is when you test a specific software system against the required functionality and specifications. This type of testing mainly focuses on black box testing and doesn’t look at the app’s source code. It checks functions such as the database, security, APIs (application programming interface—open source and otherwise), UI (user interface), and client-server communication. 

The main things functional testing looks at are:

• Do the features of your product work as you intended them to?
• Accessibility. Can the end user (consumer) interact with every part of the product they need to?
• How usable is the product for your end users?
• What happens when there are errors? Are messages provided to the user? Are errors logged? Is there an automatic reporting process? 

GAT has six steps in their functional testing stage:

• Clearly identify the various functions you expect your digital product to perform.
• Create a list of input data that correlates to those identified functions. 
• Determined output based on those same specifications. 
• Create test cases in order to gather data. 
• Compare results to expectations. 
• Make changes where required to meet the specified functions. 

Exploratory testing

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Exploratory testing could be described as a form of freestyle testing. In this stage, the testers have more freedom and do not always follow a linear plan. They can “roam” about the app to see if they can find any bugs or issues. This stage is more about how the app works, so testers only need an idea of QA rather than any coding languages such as Python, Linux, or Java. 

GAT only onboard the best testers, so they will never take shortcuts at any stage of your process. The testers will look deeply into every aspect of your app and you will receive real-time reporting while the tests are happening. You will also receive reports on issues (videos, screenshots, logs) and you'll get full test results within 36-hours max, or even as fast as 15 minutes via our On-Demand platform.

Test case execution

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While other tests may look at functionality, test case execution looks at how your actual code works by comparing what was expected with what actually happens. It usually follows these stages when moving through the test:

1. By identifying possible risks, choose a subset of the entire test cycle for this part.
2. Assign the tests to specific testers for them to execute.
3. Carry out the tests, identify and report bugs, and continually monitor and record the test status.
4. If a tester encounters a blocking issue, resolve it there and then. 
5. Report all statuses, change assignments when needed, and review plans on a daily basis.
6. At the end of the process, report all findings from the test cycle. 

GAT provides workflows that are specific to your web or mobile app. With its proprietary combination of testing software and crowdtesting experience, GAT can help process all of your required tests so you can focus on more important issues. 

GAT can import any test cases you already have, provide understandable reports, offer 24/7 support globally, and give you speed and scalability for quick results. 

 

Usability testing

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Usability testing (sometimes referred to simply as user testing) evaluates your digital product by having testers who are representative of your planned end users. 

The user testers will carry out the tasks and functions associated with the product across various platforms, including social media. The idea is to see if there are usability issues, collect relevant qualitative and quantitative data, and also see how satisfied the user is with the product.

GAT’s experienced usability testers act as consumers, looking at how your product performs and the quality of the user experience. The feedback they provide can help you make improvements to the product and they review everything from content and linguistics to functionality, so that you have a good overall view of what the average consumer will think of your product.

Web application testing

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Web app testing (or web testing) tests the quality of your web applications and ensures that they work in the way you intended. It can help find any bugs, whether prior to release or on an ongoing daily basis. This can really help, as even a minor adjustment to your code can have a knock-on effect and produce a bug somewhere else in the product. 

GAT offers you the capability to manage targeted testing at any point of your test case suite. They help you to create test cases that examine the functionalities that are most important to you, and you can even set automatic tests using the GAT API, as well as identifying any security issues. 

With no specialized skills needed, anyone on your team has the ability to create and maintain your overall test suite. 

 

Mobile app testing

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When you launch a mobile app, you may want it to work on multiple devices and different operating systems. Mobile app testing looks at the usability, functionality, and consistent performance across different mobile devices and OSs. With the mobile app market so competitive, it’s crucial that your app meets all expectations and works properly.

GAT provides you with efficient testing, utilizing real users and real devices so you get a realistic view of their experiences. That means you get real data that can give you the edge in developing and launching your app. 

With testing available in more than 189 countries, GAT also offers an extensive range of devices, networks, and operating systems to test on, covering almost every possible combination. 

Localized app testing

Many apps have location specific functions (for example, food ordering apps). Localized app testing looks at how your product will behave in different locations. As well as geographic functions, this can also look at other factors, such as language and culture, and can ensure that your app not only functions but adheres to any localized regulations and requirements. 

As GAT offers testing in more than 189 countries, the localized testing is second to none. The global testing network means that you get swift results and pointers as to any particular configuration changes needed for different regions. GAT also offers cross-device and cross-browser testing that recognizes patterns in different areas.

Fast results

Speed is often of the essence when it comes to your SDLC (software development life cycle). If problems arise, the cost of delay can be damaging and in some cases, you could lose a percentage of the market to a competitor who launches an identical app. GAT understands this issue and aims to ensure you have results as soon as possible so that there are no delays to your process.

GAT aims to reduce any delays and bottlenecks in your development workflow by delivering exploratory test results and test case execution results in real-time, with detailed bug reports in as little as 1 hour. The fast results GAT delivers means you can address and fix issues quicker with little or no interruption to your workflow. 

Integrations

You may well already have some testing and development software and systems in place. Ideally, you want any chosen testing platform to integrate well with those. GAT offers easy and continuous integration with the following common tools:

• Jira. By integrating GAT with existing Jira processes, you can easily track and fix bugs, finding them before they have any impact on your users. Find a bug using GAT’s Ada platform and you can easily export them to Jira so that your DevOps team can track their current status.
• GitHub. If you use GitHub, integration between that system and Ada is again simple so that your team can export the bugs to GitHub and track them until any issues are resolved.
• Azure DevOps. Bottlenecks can be frustrating for any DevOps teams and can disrupt workflows. GAT’s integration with Azure means you have an end-to-end solution covering planning, development, and delivery stages. The integration also allows you to connect GAT testers directly to your Azure processes.
  
  
• TestRail. GAT’s integration with test case management platform, TestRail, gives you greater visibility over all your testing. From smoke tests to regression testing, you can track and manage all the tests being done by real people or real devices, all around the world. 
• Slack. It isn’t only your QA team who need to know about, understand, or even run software tests. By integrating Slack with GAT you get a dedicated Slack channel to report test results. What’s more, anyone in your organization can intuitively launch tests.
• Pivotal Tracker. By integrating GAT with Pivotal Tracker, you boost your team’s productivity. Once any critical bugs have been highlighted by the GAT testers, you need to prioritize what needs to be fixed and when. PT’s shared backlog processes means you can add bugs as they are found, prioritize tasks, and even break work into smaller sections.
• Trello. A lot of DevOps teams like Trello because it is easy to use and to collaborate on, and because its user interface (UI) is accessible even for non-tech team members. Integrating GAT with Trello means your teams can access simple visualization of the bugs found by GAT testers and your progress in fixing issues.
• Sprintly. Spreadsheets may list bugs and issues, but they do not offer the versatility of Sprintly’s dashboard, which easily helps your team track and tackle new bugs while giving your team real time updates. Integrating GAT with Sprintly lets your staff add new bugs to their trackers as soon as they’re found.
• DoneDone. Integrating GAT with DoneDone takes your work beyond the development stage and helps tackle customer support issues. It helps with planning new releases and tracking any identified bugs, but also allows your support team to communicate directly with customers who are experiencing issues.
• Basecamp. When a bug is found, you want to work on it as quickly as possible. Basecamp’s integration with GAT means you can achieve that objective. It aids with collaborative scheduling and task management, as well as offering messaging boards and group chat to get your team working together.
• Asana. Asana is one of the most popular platforms when it comes to productivity and task assignment. By integrating with GAT, you gain the ability to assign the fixing of issues to the person best qualified for the task. You can add new bugs to Asana as tasks, and then assign them to team members as well as adding a review process.

Why choose Global App Testing?

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When your team is developing a digital product, timeframes and schedules are always at the front of your mind. The last thing you want to do, however, is to sacrifice accuracy, efficiency, and productivity for speed. When it comes to testing your apps or software, GAT combines all the qualities you’re looking for in one easy to use and access platform. 

Two things stand out about GAT. The first is the global coverage on offer, with the ability to carry out testing in more than 189 countries. The second thing is the sheer scale of the GAT talent pool: More than 60,000 experienced and vetted testing professionals who can cover any and every aspect of testing and do it to the extremely high standards you want. 

Those positives do not come with complications either. GAT offers you a simple and intuitive process and platform that allows you to check on various aspects of your products and to receive test results quickly. All of which allows your team to deal with issues swiftly and to avoid bottlenecks and delays to your overall process. 

GAT is also ISO 27001 certified, meaning that we’re recognized as living up to the highest possible security standards. If you have any security concerns—or any other issues, come to mention it—we also offer 24/7 support; a promise not many other testing providers can match. 

From food ordering apps to complicated SaaS products, GAT approaches every project with the same dedication and professionalism. That means that your business can choose GAT with confidence that they will get the job done efficiently and quickly, and that your DevOps teams can focus on fixing any issues the testers find, and on working on the continued development as you head to the launch date.

What is test IO?

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Test IO is another platform which is cloud-based and which assists any size of business to identify bugs quickly, so DevOps teams can work on them and fix any issues in order to keep the development process ongoing. test IO can be integrated with your existing environments via API so that projects are easier to work on. 

With test IO, you have access to crowdtesters to meet your testing needs. It supports most browsers and devices so you can check functionality for different users. You can test a range of digital products, including mobile and web apps, websites, and software, and can look at different operating systems such as iOS or Android. 

test IO limitations

While test IO is an efficient platform, one immediate limitation is that it has a relatively small pool of crowdtesters. This could mean that if they were experiencing a busy period, your project could be a little delayed. Some users have also noted that the test IO dashboard is not very intuitive and contains too much information, making it sometimes difficult to get a broad overview. 

Other users have highlighted that there is a limited range of tests available, thus restricting some teams from getting tests on every aspect they need. The system also sometimes provides duplicate reports of bugs, thus leading to time-consuming verification as to whether a bug has been fixed or not. 

There is also a lack of format standardization, meaning it’s difficult for DevOps teams to look in JIRA to see if the bug has already been identified. Setup time for the system can be lengthy, meaning it takes more effort to get the information needed to proceed. 

Why is Global App Testing the best test IO alternative?

The primary advantage that many companies will see is the pool of crowdtesters available, with GAT offering more than 60,000 professional and fully-vetted testers compared to test IO with just over 20,000. This large pool makes it easier for GAT to assign crowdtesters with the specific experience you may require. 

GAT offers a wider range of integration options, in terms of the tools the systems integrate with, and makes any integration far simpler. GAT also offers better levels of support, something that could be crucial if you are working to a tight schedule and encounter problems. 

Perhaps most importantly in terms of functionality, GAT offers a wider range of testing options, covering your workflow from end to end and giving you the ability to test any component of your digital product. Partial testing means a partial overview, something that could potentially mean you miss a bug or issue if complete testing has not been undertaken. 

Conclusion

Bugs and other issues are unavoidable. How quickly you discover and deal with them is an important factor when it comes to how successful your digital product will be. Of course, testing can be carried out in-house, but that is a time-consuming process that diverts your most important resources (your DevOps team) away from their primary tasks and can result in possible delays. 

With the sheer scope of GAT’s service, combined with the massive team of testers, and simple integrations with the tools you’re already using, you have the ideal solution. A solution that not only helps you identify bugs and get to work fixing them, but that also looks at all the critical features such as functionality and usability. 

There may be many test IO alternatives available on the market, but Global App Testing is by far the best alternative. GAT also offers competitive pricing with various plans available according to your needs. If those needs change, then GAT is a scalable and adaptable testing solution.