Appium Testing: The Complete Guide

Category: Technology

What is Appium Testing? Appium testing is referred to as automating native, mobile web, and hybrid applications on different operating systems and platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, etc. 1. Native apps are the one, developed using iOS, Android or Windows SDKs. 2. Mobile Web Apps are web applications, operated on mobile devices. 3. Hybrid apps are the one with a native shell around them to enable interaction with the mobile browser embedded in the app. With the increase in the number of devices, browsers and operating systems, it is very difficult to make the application compatible on various platforms. Appium architecture is used to write tests for automating apps on multiple platforms using the same API. Features of Appium Testing 1. With the aid of Appium, there is no need to modify the app individually for each platform. This is done by using vendor-provided frameworks. Vendor provided frameworks used for Appium mobile testing are • Apple’s XCUITEST for iOS 9.3 and above • Apple’s UIAutomation for iOS 9.3 and lower…Learn More 2. The tests can be written and executed in any language as per the tester’s preference. Appium follows the client-server protocol known as JSON wire protocol to run the test written in any programming language. In this client-server architecture, Appium acts as a webserver, that responds to the commands made by the client. Appium has a set of client libraries that can be used to write tests in any language. JSON Wire Protocol This protocol provides a list of commands for communication between Web Development Company and server. These commands can vary based on the driver used. They also provide error files for defining a different kind of errors. 0Installing Appium Appium can be installed either on NPM or by downloading Appium desktop, which has a graphical user interface for running Appium Server…..Learn More Prerequisites for Testing Mobile Web Apps Various prerequisites for testing mobile web apps are given below: Mobile Safari on iOS The automation can be done on real devices or simulators available. For Real Device The web inspector on an iOS device should be turned on. For Simulators The developer mode in the Safari preference should be turned on to open the remote debugger port Chrome on Android For Android also, the automation is possible on both real devices and emulators. • The chrome browser should be installed in the device or emulator used. • Chrome driver should also be installed. Appium does provide a default driver for automating on specific versions of Chrome browser installed on the device or emulator. What Are Desired Capabilities? Desired capabilities are the data provided by the client to the server, to start a new session. This data is encoded in the JSON object….Learn More Again, any programming language can be used for this purpose as ultimately it will be converted into a JSON object. Examples of Capabilities • automationName: To explains the desired automation engine to be used. • platformName: To specify the Mobile OS for the test. • deviceName: To specify the emulator or mobile device to test the application on. • The path of the application is also specified. • browser name: To select the browser the application is desired to be automated on. Many other capabilities can be provided before initiating the testing through Appium architecture. Running Test App with Appium Here is the running test app with Appium: iOS • The first thing to make sure is that the Appium is working on your device. • There must be a local absolute path to the simulator, .app directory…..Continue Reading