The New Era of Mobile Testing – and What’s Still Getting in the Way

Mobile apps aren’t just another digital touchpoint anymore – they’re the front line. Whether you’re banking, booking a ride, ordering dinner, or catching up on emails, it’s happening on your phone.

But when things go wrong, customers don’t wait around. According to PwC, 32% of customers would stop doing business with a brand they love after just one bad experience. In the U.S., 59% will walk away after several bad experiences – no matter how much they love your product.

That’s why mobile testing isn’t just about checking boxes – it’s about making sure users never hit the kind of bug that makes them delete your app for good.

Why Mobile Testing Is So Hard

Mobile QA teams are under pressure to deliver fast, flawless releases on an ever-growing range of devices and frameworks. And that pressure comes with real hurdles:

• Hybrid App Complexity: Hybrid frameworks like React Native promise “write once, run anywhere” – but testing often reveals subtle platform quirks and inconsistent behavior that make automation tricky.
• Locator-Based Testing Fatigue: Most tools rely on brittle element locators. If a button moves or a label changes, your tests will break, resulting in high maintenance costs.
• Device and OS Fragmentation: You’re not just testing generic iOS and Android – you’re testing iOS 15 vs. iOS 17, Pixel vs. Samsung, and more. This means extra time spent troubleshooting across environments.
• Slow Setup and High Overhead: Building and maintaining device grids (physical or virtual) takes more time, effort, and budget than most teams can spare.

Why Existing Tools Aren’t Enough

Legacy mobile testing tools were built for a different time – when release cycles were slower, mobile apps were secondary to web, and testing could afford to lag behind development. Fast-forward to today and the pressure to deliver high-quality mobile experiences quickly is higher than ever.

In response, a wave of no-code and low-code tools hit the market, promising effortless automation, lightning-fast test creation, and seamless cross-platform coverage. On paper, it all sounds like the future. But in reality, most of these tools fall short:

• Cross-platform testing still often means writing and maintaining separate tests for iOS and Android.
• “Low maintenance” solutions can still rely on brittle locators that break with minor UI changes.
• Hybrid framework support doesn’t always extend reliably to real-world React Native or Flutter apps.
• Fast setup sometimes turns into hours of configuration before the first test can even run.

The result? Teams are stuck with broken tests, mounting maintenance, and tools that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

Where AI Steps In (But Doesn’t Take Over)

Here’s what’s different. For the first time, AI is being meaningfully applied to mobile app testing to solve these problems.

Here’s how it can help:

• Write Tests Like You Talk: With GenAI that understands plain English and user intent, testers can write tests without writing scripts.
• Maintenance That Actually Maintains: AI adapts to UI changes in real time, reducing brittle tests and the need for constant updates.
• More Coverage, Not More People: AI-powered execution enables fast, repeatable testing across platforms – without growing your team.
• Fewer Fires, More Confidence: Testers can spend less time fixing broken scripts and more time focusing on exploratory testing, accessibility, and release risk.

And this isn’t just a passing trend – it’s a fundamental shift. According to IDC’s FutureScape: Worldwide Developer and DevOps 2024 Predictions, by 2028, GenAI-based tools will be capable of writing 80% of software tests.

But that doesn’t make testers any less essential. In fact, it makes them more valuable than ever. While AI can simplify testing, it doesn’t replace the human insight, intuition, or control required to guide the process. These tools still need someone who knows how to shape prompts, refine outcomes, and make judgment calls when context matters most.

Now There’s a Better Way

What if we told you all of this is now possible? Meet SmartBear Reflect – the no-code, AI-powered tool that simplifies mobile and web testing without cutting corners.

Here’s what makes it different:

• No Code, No Locators: Use natural language or record a test – no scripting, no selectors.
• True Cross-Device Execution: One test covers iOS, Android, and hybrid frameworks.
• Tests That Adapt – Not Break: Reflect’s runtime GenAI engine behaves like a human tester, dynamically adjusting as your UI changes.
• Flexible Device Options: Bring your own device grid or use Reflect’s real device grid or opt for secure private devices.

Here’s what one Reflect user had to say:

Reflect completely transformed how I see front-end automation. It showed me that automating complex flows doesn’t have to involve heavy code or tedious maintenance. The mobile testing experience mirrors what I love about [Reflect’s] web automation – intuitive, innovative, and powered by AI-driven prompts that genuinely change the game.

— Tommy Marín, QA Lead at Connect Assistance

And because security matters just as much as innovation, SmartBear never uses customer data to train its HaloAI models, and Google Gemini does not use SmartBear customer data to train theirs either. We’re committed to helping teams adopt AI confidently and securely.

Ready to Try it Out?

Don’t rely on testing tools built for yesterday’s challenges. Try Reflect and see how no-code, AI-powered testing can change the way your team delivers mobile software.

Try it for free today.