FoneMonkey - the first tool for automated testing applications for iPhone

Hi, habrasoobschestvu.

I test mobile applications, and therefore periodically browse the Internet in search of tools that can ease this hard work. Today I want to tell just about one of them.

This tool is a Gorilla Logic FoneMonkey application. Oddly enough, I did not find any mention of him in Runet. Although the application can be very, very useful for many developers / testers / etc.

Let's start by listing the basic fiche and ryushechek:

• Powerful Script Writer — Records and plays events such as touch, scroll, keyboard events, and shake;
• Easy support, because The script records events occurring with objects, not with screen coordinates. Therefore, a minor design change will not lead to the need to rewrite the script;
• You can record / play tests both on a real device and on an emulator;
• You can edit the scripts on a real device or programmatically;
• Easy to use - testers without programming knowledge can use this tool;
• Ability to extend the framework through an easy-to-use Objective-C API;
• The ability to automatically check the result of the test;
• Open source;
• And, by the way, the tool is free.

Now a little about how it works.
To start testing, you need to embed the FoneMonkey framework into your application. After that, when you start the application (no matter on a real device or an emulator), the FoneMonkey panel will appear, with which you can record, modify and play scripts. A brief guide on this case can be found here .
')
Well, now, finally, let's talk about who this tool can be very useful for, and who is not useful at all.

Pay attention to the minuses, because pluses are already listed in ryushechka :)

• Such a tool cannot verify the correctness of the drawing / design;
• Unable to check the processing of incoming events such as call / sms / alarm / etc.

It is necessary to clarify that these disadvantages apply to all test automation tools of this type (recording and playing back scripts).

From all this we can draw very simple conclusions:
If you have a lot of such functionality in the application, which can be checked only visually, which is related to the quality of drawing, speed of work, etc. - do not even look in the direction of FoneMonkey, only spend time in vain (for example, I would not use this tool to test the pre-installed Maps, Compass applications; and would apply to the Contacts application).
Or if you make the application “on time”, do not plan to develop the functionality further - which means you do not plan to conduct regression testing, then FoneMonkey is also unlikely to be useful to you. I think this tool only makes sense to automate regression testing.
And the last thing - if the application is raw, the interface often changes, and you are not sure at all how it should look like in the end - it’s too early for you to think about any testing tools, including this one.

I advise everyone else to pay attention to FoneMonkey, and think about the topic - is it time to implement automated testing to improve the quality of your iPhone application?