Let’s face it: We love our instant access to the Internet. Whether it’s finding a table at the hottest new restaurant, getting directions to that concert out of town, or putting a name to the face of the actress in the movie you’re watching, we love the instant gratification smartphones and tablets give us. Users now expect websites to be optimized for their various mobile devices, pushing businesses to deliver on that expectation.

This expectation has direct implications for developers and quality assurance testers. What was once the straightforward task of developing and testing for a single device has now become exponentially more challenging, with the number of web-enabled devices and models growing steadily. Testing mobile sites and apps across these numerous devices is an enormous task; however, there are a number of applications QA testers can use to help with the testing process.

Here are three that we like:

Adobe Shadow

While this is advertised as a great tool for designers and developers, it’s also a great tool for QA testers. This free app and Google Chrome extension allows users to tether their mobile devices to their Chrome desktop browser. Since mobile pages are accessible on Chrome, this is a great tool for people testing multiple mobile devices. The actions you take in Chrome on your desktop are mimicked across all these devices and you can tether your iPad, iPhone, Android Tablet or Droid phone (or all four at once) to this extension. To learn more about Adobe Shadow, click here.

MonkeyTalk

Formerly known as FoneMonkey, MonkeyTalk is the latest testing platform from Gorilla Logic. The MonkeyTalk IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a great tool for creating, recording, and managing testing on actual devices. Using a recording method, MonkeyTalk easily creates test scripts by following the user’s actions. In addition to creating tests via this method, users can also write tests using the MonkeyTalk Command Language. This user-friendly language is keyword-driven and easy to learn. The most beneficial aspect of MonkeyTalk, though, is that the same script works with both iOS and the Android operating system, saving testers valuable time. To learn more about MonkeyTalk, click here.

Perfecto Mobile

Perfecto Mobile is a cloud-based application that gives both developers and testers access to a comprehensive array of mobile devices, negating the need for access to physical devices. Testers simply select any phone or tablet from Perfecto’s long list of devices and are given instant access to it. Testers are able to view a mobile website’s behavior on devices such as the iPhone 4 or the Samsung Galaxy S2 with just a click of a few buttons. And with the HP QuickTest Professional (QTP) plug-in, test automation makes this process even easier. Testers are able to use QTP to write, upload and execute their test scripts to selected Perfecto Mobile devices. This great tool offers access to the variety of mobile devices around the world. To learn more, click here.

These three applications are a great service to the QA testing world, and both Adobe Shadow and MonkeyTalk are free. Perfecto Mobile offers an affordable alternative to either that’s well worth the price. All three improve the QA testing experience.