Running Tests

Preparing your app for test (iOS)

Test apps run on the simulator have to be compiled specifically for the simulator, for example by executing the following command in the Xcode project (you can use xcodebuild -showsdks to see the list of available SDKs):

> xcodebuild -sdk iphonesimulator6.0

This creates a build/Release-iphonesimulator directory in your Xcode project that contains the .app package that you'll need to communicate with the Appium server.

If you want, you can zip up the .app directory into a .zip file! Appium will unpack it for you. Nice if you're not using Appium locally.

Preparing your app for test (Android)

Nothing in particular needs to be done to run your .apk using Appium. If you want to zip it up, you can.

Preparing your app for test (Windows)

Nothing in particular needs to be done to run your test.

Running your test app with Appium (iOS)

The best way to see what to do currently is to look at the example tests:

Node.js | Python | PHP | Ruby | Java

Basically, first make sure Appium is running:

node .

Then script your WebDriver test, sending in the following desired capabilities:

// javascript
{
    platformName: 'iOS',
    platformVersion: '7.1',
    deviceName: 'iPhone Simulator',
    app: myApp
}

# python
{
    'platformName': 'iOS',
    'platformVersion': '7.1',
    'deviceName': 'iPhone Simulator',
    'app': myApp
}

// php
public static $browsers = array(
    array(
        'desiredCapabilities' => array(
            'platformName' => 'iOS',
            'platformVersion' => '7.1',
            'deviceName' => 'iPhone Simulator',
            'app' => $myApp
        )
    )
);

// java
DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_NAME, "iOS");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_VERSION, "7.1");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.DEVICE_NAME, "iPhone Simulator");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.APP, myApp);

In this set of capabilities, myApp must be either:

Using your WebDriver library of choice, set the remote session to use these capabilities and connect to the server running at port 4723 of localhost (or whatever host and port you specified when you started Appium). You should be all set now!

Running your test app with Appium (Android)

First, make sure you have one and only one Android emulator or device connected. If you run adb devices, for example, you should see one device connected. This is the device Appium will use for tests. Of course, to have a device connected, you'll need to have made an Android AVD (see system setup (Windows, Mac, or Linux) for more information). If the Android SDK tools are on your path, you can simply run:

emulator -avd <MyAvdName>

And wait for the android emulator to finish launching. Sometimes, for various reasons, adb gets stuck. If it's not showing any connected devices or otherwise failing, you can restart it by running:

adb kill-server && adb devices

Now, make sure Appium is running:

node .

There are several ways to start an Appium application (it works exactly the same as when the application is started via adb):

Activities may be specified in the following way:

If the 'appWaitPackage' and 'appWaitActivity' caps are specified, Appium automatically spins until those activities are launched. You may specify multiple wait activities for instance:

If you are not sure what activity are configured in your apk, you can proceed in one of the following ways:

Then script your WebDriver test, sending in the following desired capabilities:

// javascript
{
    platformName: 'Android',
    platformVersion: '4.4',
    deviceName: 'Android Emulator',
    app: myApp
}

# python
{
    'platformName': 'Android',
    'platformVersion': '4.4',
    'deviceName': 'Android Emulator',
    'app': myApp
}

// php
public static $browsers = array(
    array(
        'desiredCapabilities' => array(
            'platformName' => 'Android',
            'platformVersion' => '4.4',
            'deviceName' => 'Android Emulator',
            'app' => $myApp
        )
    )
);

// java
DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_NAME, "Android");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_VERSION, "4.4");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.DEVICE_NAME, "Android Emulator");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.APP, myApp);

In this set of capabilities, myApp must be either:

Using your WebDriver library of choice, set the remote session to use these capabilities and connect to the server running at port 4723 of localhost (or whatever host and port you specified when you started Appium). You should be all set now!

Running your test app with Appium (Android devices < 4.2, and hybrid tests)

Android devices before version 4.2 (API Level 17) do not have Google's UiAutomator framework installed. This is what Appium uses to perform the automation behaviors on the device. For earlier devices or tests of hybrid (webview-based) apps, Appium comes bundled with another automation backend called [Selendroid] (http://selendroid.io/).

To use Selendroid, all that is required is to slightly change the set of desired capabilities mentioned above, by adding the automationName capability and specifying the Selendroid automation backend. It is usually the case that you also need to use a . before your activity name (e.g., .MainActivity instead of MainActivity for your appActivity capability).

// javascript
{
    automationName: 'Selendroid',
    platformName: 'Android',
    platformVersion: '2.3',
    deviceName: 'Android Emulator',
    app: myApp,
    appPackage: 'com.mycompany.package',
    appActivity: '.MainActivity'
}

# python
{
    'automationName': 'Selendroid',
    'platformName': 'Android',
    'platformVersion': '2.3',
    'deviceName': 'Android Emulator',
    'app': myApp,
    'appPackage': 'com.mycompany.package',
    'appActivity': '.MainActivity'
}

// php
public static $browsers = array(
    array(
        'desiredCapabilities' => array(
            'automationName' => 'Selendroid',
            'platformName' => 'Android',
            'platformVersion' => '2.3',
            'deviceName' => 'Android Emulator',
            'app' => $myApp,
            'appPackage' => 'com.mycompany.package',
            'appActivity'=> '.MainActivity'
        )
    )
);

// java
DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.AUTOMATION_NAME, "Selendroid");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_NAME, "Android");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.PLATFORM_VERSION, "2.3");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.DEVICE_NAME, "Android Emulator");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.APP, myApp);
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.APP_PACKAGE: "com.mycompany.package");
capabilities.setCapability(MobileCapabilityType.APP_ACTIVITY: ".MainActivity");

Now Appium will start up a Selendroid test session instead of the default test session. One of the downsides to using Selendroid is that its API differs sometimes significantly with Appium's. Therefore we recommend you thoroughly read Selendroid's documentation before writing your scripts for older devices or hybrid apps.

Running your test app with Appium (Windows)

Simply ensure that Appium is listening, and run your test with your test runner of choice.

See our samples for details.