Abstract

Although mobile context instrumentation frameworks have simplified the development of mobile context-aware applications, it remains challenging to test such applications. In this paper, we present TestAWARE that enables developers to systematically test context-aware applications in laboratory settings. To achieve this, TestAWARE is able to download, replay and emulate contextual data on either physical devices or emulators. To support both white -box and black-box testing, TestAWARE has been implemented as a novel structure with a mobile client and code library. In blackbox testing scenarios, developers can manage data replay through the mobile client, without writing testing scripts or modifying the source code of the targeted application. In white-box testing scenarios, developers can manage data replay and test functional/non-functional properties of the targeted application by writing testing scripts using the code library. We evaluated TestAWARE by quantifying its maximal data replay speed, and by conducting a user study with 13 developers. We show that TestAWARE can overcome data synchronisation challenges, and found that PC-based emulators can replay data significantly faster than physical smartphones and tablets. The user study highlights the usefulness of TestAWARE in the systematic testing of mobile context-aware applications in laboratory settings.