1. Using Selenium to Test Native
Applications
…wait, you can do that?

2. Hi.
I’m JASON CARR. I work at sauce
LABS.

3. @maudineormsby
…it’s a long story.

4. I’m a developer
and contributor to selenium and appium

5. This talk is about…

6. This talk is about…
the problem of ios app automation

7. This talk is about…
lessons learned automating apps

8. This talk is about…
the right approach to testing native apps

9. This talk is about…
the tools available to test your apps today

10. This talk is about…
WHAT HOPE WE HAVE FOR THE FUTURE.

11. the problem of ios app automation

12. “…a bit like being dropped off in a
field somewhere with no map,
tools or supplies and being told
you need to build a house.”
-Alex Vollmer

13. js
js Instruments.app
Instruments.app App

14. js
js Instruments.app
Instruments.app App
client device

15. UI Automation only runs in
Instruments.app

16. Tests have to be in Javascript

17. No realtime interaction with tests

18. Hard to reuse code

19. One test at a time

20. So what have we learned so far?

21. Two attempted approaches to
automation

22. Script/
Script/ App
Screen Capture
Screen Capture
Framework
Framework
client device

23. Hard to abstract

24. Very brittle

25. Hard to use with real devices

26. Hard to use with CI or parallelize

27. script
script Client library
Client library App
client device

28. Requires code modification

29. Real devices are hard

30. New framework and new tests

31. The right way to automate ios

32. Remember the testing pyramid

34. Are you writing unit tests for apps?
It’s not that hard!

35. Test your views appropriately

36. For UIWebViews use iWebDriver

37. Yes, yes, but now what?

38. Code reuse is good.

39. Realtime interaction

40. Integrate with existing automation

41. Parallel tests and real devices

42. That sounds great, but how?

43. Appium

44. Open Source
Can be extended

45. Uses webdriver API
Runs with off-the-shelf client
libraries
Language agnostic

46. Real time
Interact with js interpreter or client

47. Real devices

48. Works in parallel
(architecturally)

49. No code modification

50. test script
test script
App
Appium Server
Appium Server Instruments.app
Instruments.app
client device

51. Easy to get started

52. Clone Appium

53. pip install bottle

54. python server.py /path/to/my.app

55. from selenium import webdriver
command_url = “http://localhost:4723/wd/hub”
iphone = webdriver.DesiredCapabilities.IPHONE
driver = webdriver.Remote(command_url, iphone)
fields = driver.find_elements_by_tag_name('textField’)
fields[0].send_keys(3)
fields[1].send_keys(4)
buttons = driver.find_elements_by_tag_name('button’)
buttons[0].click()

56. demo

57. Doesn’t support execute_script()
…yet. More on this later.

58. 1 Second delay between commands
UI Automation limitation

59. Still uses UIAutomation
‘Accessibility’ is important

60. where do we go from here?

61. Implement more of the API

62. WebKit remote debugging protocol

63. Selenium Grid support

64. Questions?
Thank you!

65. Resources
Appium Github Repo:
http://goo.gl/4E5F0
Dan Cuellar’s talk on Appium:
http://goo.gl/qgLha
François Reynaud on ios-driver:
http://goo.gl/pzn75
Simon Stewart’s blog on mobile
testing:
http://goo.gl/8wl8j