A Framework for Testing Android Apps by Reusing Test Cases

Abstract

Android apps are generally developed by an individual developer or a small team of developers, and the developers may not have experience of testing Android apps or they may not have experience of testing any software systems. Furthermore, even an individual that does not have a basic knowledge of Android can build Android apps using various app generator tools available in the market. In this environment, apps may not get tested at all or developers may not prioritize the testing activities, which may result in low-quality or error-prone apps. Eventually, users may give negative reviews to the apps or they may abandon the apps due to bugs. Therefore, instead of designing and writing new test cases, developers need tools and techniques that can automatically test their apps by utilizing the test cases of existing apps. It will not only help novice app developers in testing their apps but also help experience app developers in reducing time and effort to test their apps. In this paper, we propose a framework for testing Android apps by reusing test cases. The framework leverages test cases and domain knowledge of existing open-source Android apps to test new Android apps.