The IOS versions keep on updating year after year with Apple Incorporations taking care of the demands of the users. According to reports by Statista, the latest IOS 11 version is running on nearly 81% of the Apple devices until May 2018. To maintain the quality of the applications running on these devices the testers need robust frameworks. The iPhone app development companies whether startups, SMEs or big ventures have their own Quality Assurance departments working towards the testing of varied applications.
The present-day IOS testing frameworks are automated and do not require the developers to carry out manual testing. It saves time and cost of the company with focus diverted towards removing bugs and providing quality apps to the users. One can hire IOS developer from the reputed agency who possesses knowledge of different testing frameworks. Let us now look at some of the quality IOS testing framework platforms:

1. Calabash Testing Framework: This IOS testing framework synchronizes seamlessly with the Hybrid IOS Applications in which the tests are done using the tool namely "Cucumber." It is easy to use and understand by the beginners who are not specifically involved with the QA process. This automated tool conveys the test operations results to the testers in an understandable format. Moreover, its scripting language is available in an easily readable format of the English language. Along with this automated tool, it uses BDD to state about the test scenarios.

2. Appium: Most of the iPhone app development companies use this popular framework. A trending Quora answer states that over 9.4% of the World's population uses the IOS devices. Therefore, it is important for the testers to use the agile testing framework. Appium is an "open-source" tool used for testing Hybrid Applications on IOS platform, Mobile Web, and Automated native platforms. Sauce Labs developed this framework where the Appium testing was performed across the simulators, real devices, and the emulators. It mainly involves:

• It has cross-platform support in which the test scenarios can be used across the web channels and the mobile devices
• It is fully open-source
• Involves the usage of the underpinned framework as XCTest for the unit testing
• Developers can use "web-driver" compatible language like Objective-C, JavaScript, and Java

3. XCTest Framework: This testing framework is used for User Interface testing. This testing program was created with the support of the Apple Incorporation. It can be easily integrated into the development environment to write and run the tests. Even the 'TDD Workflow' can also be performed here flawlessly. The XCTest follows the changes carried out in the Xcode. It is fully compatible with the languages like Swift and Objective-C. Moreover, this testing framework system conducts the performance and the User Interface tests. The functions like the playback and recording assist the testers to write the tests with the utmost accuracy.

4. OCMock Testing Framework: OCMock testing framework for IOS applications supports in the creation of the stub objects in the IOS apps. The companies can hire IOS developer who can efficiently use this framework for the testing purpose. It consists of two testing options:

• Using "Static Library" for the IOS development
• Uses the "Framework" for the OS X development

For TDD, the Mock objects are necessary as they assist the testers to create the unit tests. They remove the complexities and any kind of occurrence of the complications. Although, there is no involvement of Xcode in this testing framework but still Mock Objects are excellent to use. Therefore, using OCMock is great, since it is a special library that offers various methods to deploy the Mock Objects and supports the use of Objective-C.

5. Jest IOS Testing Framework: The iPhone app development companies use this automated testing framework widely. While working with this framework, the testers can take the snapshots of the User Interface and compare with the existing images of the test scenarios. The operational principles used under Jest testing framework does not make the UI to change unexpectedly. Here the testers need to focus that while working with Jest they must concentrate on the results of the systematic testing that is performed on the similar components. The developers must keep a check that result must remain consistent in between the iterations because the non-coincidence of the final results will lead to failure of the application testing. It is also advisable for the testers to keep a check on the updates arising in this framework.

Final Verdict

The iPhone sales hike every year after the latest model and IOS versions are launched. According to Statista, Apple generated the revenue of nearly 29.91 billion USD with the iPhone sales in 2018. Hence, businesses have to upgrade their application to offer seamless experience to the users. For this, the testers can use any of these testing frameworks but they must be abreast with the programming language required for that particular framework.