Mobile apps testing is becoming increasingly important as mobile takes over the world. Appium is a cross-platform solution for automating native and hybrid mobile app testing using the WebDriver protocol. It allows testing the same app submitted to app stores by writing tests in any language using any framework. Appium acts as an HTTP server, starting a test case on the device that handles WebDriver commands, proxying them to the appropriate automation tools for each platform like UIAutomation for iOS and UiAutomator for Android. This enables cross-platform mobile testing with one test across two platforms.

1. Test automation of
Mobile Apps
Ričardas Vaitkus

2. Mobile is taking over the
world. But how do we scale
mobile quality?

3. Native Web Hybrid apps

4. Hybrid apps maker
• PhoneGap

5. Mobile apps testing
• Appium is cross-platform solution for
native and hybrid mobile automation

6. Appium philosophy
• Test the same app you submit to the
market
• Write test in any language, using any
framework
• Use standard automation specification
and API

7. Support platforms
• Real devices
• Simulators
• Native apps
• Hybrid apps
• Mobile web
• Robots?!

8. Appium in space
iOS
Android
• Calabash-ios
• Calabash-android
• Frank
• MonkeyTalk
• UIAutomation
• Robotium
• ios-driver
• UiAutomator
• KeepItFunctional
• Selendroid

9. Selenium WebDriver
• Is standard for browser automation, with
libraries in every* language
• Is used every single day by thousands of
developers familiar with its model
• Is an HTTP API
• POST /session
• POST /session/element
• GET /session/element/:id/:attr
• Is a W3C working draft

10. Languages
• WebDriver compatible
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Java
Objective-C
JavaScript with Node.js
PHP
Python
Ruby
C#
Perl
Clojure

11. Appium architecture
• Appium is an HTTP server that creates
and handles WebDriver sessions
• Appium starts a “test case” on the
device that spawns a server and listens
for proxied commands

12. Appium architecture
• On iOS, appium proxies commands to a
UIAutomation script running in
Istruments

13. Appium architecture
• On Android, appium proxies commands
to a UiAutomator test case running on
device

14. Automation frameworks
• iOS – UIAutomation
• Android >= 4.2 – UiAutomator
• Android < 4.2 & Hybrid – Selendroid
• FireFoxOS – Marionette

15. Gestures
• tap (on screen or on element)
• flick (on screen or on element)
• swipe/drag (on screen or on element)
• scroll to (element)
• slider
• shake
• longTap (element)

16. Appium opens door to cross-platform
mobile testing: one test, two mobile
platforms