Getting Started with Testing on the PathCheck GPS Solution - FAQ

FAQs

 

What's the Pathcheck GPS Solution?

Take a look at the PathCheck website, to get a basic overview of our GPS solution, which consists of a Mobile App (iOS or Android), and a Web Applicaton for Contact Tracers.

https://pathcheck.org/en/technology/gps-digital-contact-tracing-solution/

https://pathcheck.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/TEST/pages/247660607

 

Should I test the Mobile App or the Web App?

Testers can focus on the Mobile App (Android or iOS), or the Safe Places Web App, but most testers will need to be at least somewhat familiar with the whole solution. You can find details of the end to end solution here: https://pathcheck.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/TEST/pages/186155009

 

Are we doing any Test Automation?

Yes! We have several Test Automation projects ongoing:

  • Mobile App test automation using 21labs, Eggplant, Appium, SauceLabs and BrowserStack

  • Safe Places Front End test automation using Selenium

  • Safe Places Back End test automation using Postman

If you want to focus on Test Automation, please reach out to @Diarmid Mackenzie or @Stella Nelson and he’ll connect you with the right team.

 

How do I install the Mobile App?

You can download the latest production release of the Mobile App in the App Store / Play Store. Search for “PathCheck”.

However, for testing, we also have pre-production builds of the App. What you need depends on what you are testing.

  • If you are testing on a Cloud device (e.g. emulator or Perfecto), you probably want an IPA or APK file which you can find in #mobile-gps-releases slack channel

  • If you are testing on a physical iOS device, you’ll need to be added to our TestFlight account. @Jonathon Wright can set you up here. This will give you access to Beta builds, usually a few weeks before they are published in the App Store.

  • If you are testing on a physical Android device, we recommend you sideload APK files. We do have a Google Beta program, but it tends not to give you much control over exactly what version you are running.

Details of all the latest builds, APK & IPA files, and what builds you will find on TestFlight Beta, can be found in the #mobile-gps-releases public slack channel.

 

How do I use feature flags?

For more information on how to enable and use Feature Flags..

 

How do I get more data in the Mobile app?

If you want to get more data in the app follow this guide which also tells you how to use feature flag within the app:

 

Which Safe Places instance should I use?

For most testing, use the Staging instance of Safe Places https://staging.spl.extremesolution.com/trace

Login details can be found in a pinned post in the #safeplaces_testing slack channel. That is a private channel, so ask @Diarmid Mackenzie on slack to add you to it.

 

What communication tools do I need to use?

Our primary communication tools are:

  • Slack for general day-to-day communications.

    • You should have received an invitation to Slack as part of onboarding.

    • If you aren’t already in Slack, please join and join at leas the #testing channel.

  • Confluence (where you are now) as a repository for long-lasting content

  • Jira to track feature development, related testing, and bugs.

 

Are there any regular meetings that I can join, to stay in sync with other testers?

Yes, we are in the process of revising this schedule now - expect an update soon.

 

What testing should I do?

There’s 3 key sets of testing activity:

  • Retests for bug fixes

  • New test activity for new features or functionality

  • Regression testing, ahead of production releases

  • Exploratory testing

For new testers to the project, and for inexperienced testers, bugs retest, exploratory & regression testing are the most accessible test activities.

There’s usually a steady stream of bugs available for retest, available in Jira - see:

Regression testing for new releases happens periodically, but we aim for a new release every Thursday.

 

Are there any key basics that I need to get started?

For most testing, you will need to get familiar with how to set the Mobile App up to work in a pre-production environment.

This video shows how to do this, and also illustrates a few other useful tools for testing.

It’s about 30 mins long, but should give you a good basic orientation on how to set up for a variety of different test scenarios.

 

Do I have to use my own smartphone to do the testing?

There are lots of different options in terms of test devices. If you want to use your own smartphone, you are very welcome to do so, and lots of testers have tested successfully on their own devices.

But we also have access to a wide range of mobile devices (iOS and Android) in Perfecto’s Mobile Cloud, which can also be used for testing.


We are also investigating getting access to Browser Stack and Sauce Labs, to provide further options for Mobile Device testing.

 

What if I have never tested Mobile applications before?

If you don’t have experience as a Mobile application tester, you can certainly still contribute to the project.

  • One option is to focus on Safe Places (the Web Application for Contact Tracers)

  • The other is to take this opportunity to learn about Mobile Application testing. We have several testers on the project who had no prior Mobile Application testing experience, but have made valuable contributions as Mobile App testers. A lot of the testing principles you already know are broadly applicable to Mobile Apps, and you can always reach out to other testers on the project, who will be happy to help you out in planning & executing your testing.

 

If this is a location-based application, can I do my testing from home, or will I need to travel out and about?

We are in the middle of a pandemic, and we don’t want anybody to take unnecessary risks in terms of travel outside their homes.

There have been some aspects of location-based function where it has been valuable to have testers who were able to travel around outside their homes, carrying a physical smartphone with them, but this has been a very small part of our overall test effort.

If you are able to safely leave your home, there may be some testing you can take on for which this would be useful. But if you can’t, it’s not going to limit your ability to contribute to the project as a tester.

 

I have another question, that’s not answered here

We have a large Confluence space covering testing information & resources. Have a look through there and see if you can find an answer (there is a search box in the top right).

(unfortunately, a few resources are getting a bit outdated now: we try to keep them up-to-date, but we may have missed something - if you find outdated information, please help to get it up to date, either by fixing it yourself if you can, or by flagging it with someone else who can fix it).

Alternatively, ask a question on #testing on slack, and someone should be able to get you going in the right direction.