This basic information wrote down in this post is maybe unneeded and not necessary for most of users, but just remember, when you got the first Android/IOS device and need to setup something. So the information below is a basic testing startup guide.
First important thing is to check your Android or IOS device system version. The possibilities are different for Android or IOS systems and the application settings are depending of the OS versions. It is very important to the developers to have the information, which device was used for testing and which characteristics they have.
How can you check it?
On Android you should open the device Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the settings. Tap on the About phone option and find now the Android version of your device. There will be a number like 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich – API Level: 15).
You can read more about the system names and other api levels here: http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html.
If you want to check the OS version, there are more possibilities. If you have iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, than tap on Settings from the Home Screen, than on General and on About. Scroll to the Version section and there will be displayed a number.
If your device is not from these three categories, check the Apple’s site for help: http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht2188.
Some issues will be present only on some of the devices, because the page or the app was not properly set up for them. The next important thing is the dimensions of your device.
The easiest and shortest way to find out is to find your device on sites which are specialized for it. I will recommend for you http://www.gsmarena.com. There you can find a very good database with mobile devices (phones and tablets either), and you can compare different devices too. You can enter a keyword or browse by the mobile brand (http://www.gsmarena.com/makers.php3).
Now, do not forget to check how can you make screenshots or videos from the device screen. It also depends from the device, too. If you are not familiar with it, check some of our earlier posts:
If you have found these information or application for you, next thing is to check which browsers you have on the device. It is always better to check in more than one browser. For app testing, you should check the latest application release.
During the testing different kind of issues can be found. Some of them will appear only in Portrait or only in Landscape View. Don’t forget to check everything in both of views. What can you do if you should test file types for uploading and files which you don’t have on the device? You can browse them online and download to the device, or you can browse files and save them on computer, than connect your device to a computer and copy (better solution for slower internet connections) etc.
If you have internet on your device, there is a faster solution. You don’t need to browse drivers for the devices or download different kind of programs. You can browse the files on the internet, save them on computer and upload them to http://www.box.com. They have a really useful application as well, which is downloadable for Android and IOS devices. So, you can manage your contents, upload and download the files anytime and anywhere. Official list of the Box applications: https://app.box.com/services/browse/official.
In other hand, it is always good to browse a little your device, to get familiar with it. Later you will need to clean up the browser cache or install/uninstall or reinstall some sort of apps.
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