6 min read Integrations

Jira + Mobile App Testing: Bidirectional Issue Sync for QA Teams

Jira is the default project management tool for thousands of mobile development teams. Sprint boards, backlogs, epics, and custom workflows – it is where development work lives. Your developers track every feature, bug, and improvement there.

But mobile app testing creates a gap that Jira alone cannot fill. A tester installs a build, discovers a crash on a specific device, and needs to report it. They can file a Jira issue manually — typing out the reproduction steps, attaching screenshots, and setting the priority. Then the developer fixes it and moves the Jira issue to "Done". Now someone has to go back to the testing tool to update the status there. Or worse, no one does, and the two systems drift apart.

For teams shipping mobile apps on a weekly or biweekly cadence, this manual sync between Jira and your testing workflow becomes a serious drag on velocity. Missed status updates. Duplicate issues. Bug reports filed in the wrong place. Testers are waiting for developers to update a ticket; developers are assuming the tester already verified.

TestApp.io integrates directly with Jira through Atlassian's OAuth 2.0 to provide real-time, bidirectional sync between your testing tasks and Jira issues. Here is how it works and why it matters for teams shipping mobile apps.

The Problem: Two Systems, One Truth

Every mobile release involves two distinct workflows running in parallel:

  1. The development workflow is tracked in Jira. Features are planned, developed, code-reviewed, and merged. Bugs are triaged, assigned, and resolved.
  2. The testing workflow — tracked in your testing tool. Builds are distributed, installed on real devices, tested, and feedback is collected.

The problem is not that you use two tools. The problem is that both tools need to reflect the same state, and keeping them in sync manually is unreliable.

Consider what happens during a typical QA cycle:

  1. A new build is uploaded and distributed to testers
  2. Tester A finds a layout issue on Android 14 — files a task in the testing tool
  3. Tester B finds a crash on iPhone 12 — files another task
  4. Someone manually creates matching Jira issues for both
  5. The developer fixes the layout issue and moves the Jira issue to "In Review"
  6. Nobody updates the testing tool — the tester still sees it as "Open".
  7. The crash fix ships in the next build — developer closes the Jira issue
  8. Tester B re-tests and confirms the fix but cannot close the loop because the task in the testing tool still shows the old status

By the end of the sprint, the Jira board says one thing and the testing tool says another. The team loses confidence in both.

How the Integration Works

The TestApp.io Jira integration connects the two workflows so that changes in either system propagate automatically. No copying, no pasting, no manual bridging.

Connecting via OAuth

The setup uses Atlassian's OAuth 2.0 for secure authorisation:

  1. In TestApp.io, go to Team Settings → Integrations → Jira
  2. Click 'Connect' — you will be redirected to Atlassian
  3. Log in, review the permissions, and click Accept
  4. Select the Jira project to sync with
  5. Save your selection

The entire process takes under five minutes. TestApp.io requests only the permissions it needs to read and write issues in your selected project — it does not ask for admin access to your Atlassian organisation.

Field Mappings: Translating Between Tools

Jira and TestApp.io use different schemas for statuses and priorities. Field mappings define the translation layer so data moves correctly between both systems.

Status mapping connects each TestApp.io status to its Jira equivalent:

  • Open (TestApp.io) → To Do (Jira)
  • In Progress (TestApp.io) → In Progress (Jira)
  • Resolved (TestApp.io) → Done (Jira)

Priority mapping aligns severity levels so a critical issue in one tool has the same urgency in the other. TestApp.io priorities (Blocker, Critical, High, Normal, and Low) map to Jira priorities (Highest, High, Medium, Low, and Lowest) based on your team's definitions.

Both mappings are fully customisable. If your Jira project uses custom statuses or a modified workflow, you can map every status individually. The same applies to priority levels.

Bidirectional Sync via Webhooks

Once connected and mapped, sync happens automatically via webhooks in near real time:

  • TestApp.io → Jira: Create a task during testing, and a Jira issue appears. Update the status or priority, and Jira reflects it within seconds.
  • Jira → TestApp.io: A developer changes a Jira issue's status, priority, or assignee, and the corresponding TestApp.io task updates automatically.

This is not polling on a schedule. Webhooks trigger on every change, so both systems stay in sync without delay. Failed webhook deliveries are logged in the sync history and can be retried.

Bringing Existing Work into Sync

Most teams starting with the integration already have work in progress in both tools. Two features handle this:

Import Jira Issues

Pull existing Jira issues into TestApp.io with the Pull Tasks feature. Browse your Jira project's issues, select the ones relevant to your current testing cycle, and import them. Each imported issue becomes a synced TestApp.io task — future changes in either direction flow automatically.

A practical approach: import only active issues (those in "To Do" or "In Progress" status). There is no need to import your entire Jira backlog on day one.

Migrate TestApp.io Tasks to Jira

Going the other direction, you can push TestApp.io tasks to Jira using the Migrate Tasks feature. Select the tasks, review the status and priority mappings, and confirm. Each task is created as a new Jira issue and linked for ongoing sync.

This is particularly useful when your QA team has been logging issues in TestApp.io and now wants developers to see them on the Jira board without re-entering everything.

What the Team Workflow Looks Like

With the integration running, here is what a typical testing cycle looks like for a team with developers in Jira and testers in TestApp.io:

  1. Build uploaded: CI/CD pushes a new build to TestApp.io. Testers receive a notification and install it on their devices.
  2. Bug found: A tester discovers a crash on a specific device. They create a task in TestApp.io with screenshots and reproduction steps.
  3. Jira issue created automatically: The task appears in the developer's Jira project within seconds, with the correct priority and all the details.
  4. Developer fixes: The developer picks up the issue, fixes it, and moves the Jira issue to "Done".
  5. TestApp.io updates automatically: The tester sees the task status change to "Resolved" without anyone manually updating it.
  6. Verification: The tester installs the next build, verifies the fix, and closes the task. The Jira issue reflects the closure.

No one manually bridges the gap. Both tools are always in sync. Developers never leave Jira. Testers never leave TestApp.io.

Audit Trail and Sync History

Every sync event — successful or failed — is logged in the integration's sync history. Each entry shows:

  • Direction: Jira → TestApp.io or TestApp.io → Jira
  • Status: Success or failed
  • Timestamp: When the event occurred
  • Error details: For failed events, the specific error message

This matters for two reasons. First, it makes debugging straightforward — if a status is not syncing correctly, the history tells you exactly what happened. Second, it provides accountability for teams that need to track who changed what and when across both systems.

Failed sync events can be retried directly from the history view, handling transient errors like network timeouts without manual intervention.

Beyond Basic Sync

The integration includes several features that make it production-ready for teams at scale:

  • Enable/disable without disconnecting: Pause sync during major Jira reorganisations without losing your configuration, mappings, or history. Resume when ready.
  • Selective sync: Not every task needs to live in both tools. Keep internal QA tasks local to TestApp.io while syncing only the issues developers need to see.
  • Legacy migration: If your team used an older Jira integration, the migration path preserves your existing configuration and linked tasks while upgrading to the new OAuth-based connection.

For the full feature set, see the Integration Power Features guide.

Why This Matters for Mobile Teams

Mobile app releases have a unique challenge that web development does not: the testing environment is fragmented across devices, OS versions, and form factors. A bug might only appear on a specific Android device running a specific OS version. The context around that bug — device info, screenshots, reproduction steps — is critical for the developer to fix it efficiently.

When testers file bugs in TestApp.io during real-device testing, that context is captured at the source. The Jira integration ensures it reaches developers without anyone stripping out details or forgetting to attach the screenshot. The developer gets the full picture in Jira. The tester gets status updates in TestApp.io. Both sides have what they need to do their job.

For teams shipping mobile apps on tight schedules, eliminating the manual overhead of keeping Jira and your testing workflow in sync directly translates to faster release cycles and fewer dropped bugs.

Getting Started

Connect your Jira workspace at portal.testapp.io under Team Settings → Integrations. The setup takes about five minutes.

For the full step-by-step setup guide with screenshots, see the Jira Integration help article. For details on task management features, visit Task Management. And if you are also using Linear, we have a dedicated integration for that too.

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