Mobile apps, which provide a variety of advantages, are saturating the market as smartphone use is constantly rising. This has made creating and testing these apps more difficult. In the very competitive market that exists today, organizations must ensure that their apps operate properly. To get better outcomes in less time, testing must be automated. One of the most popular technologies for mobile automation that does this is Appium.
It is a free, open-source, cross-platform solution for automating mobile web, hybrid, and native apps. On actual devices as well as simulators and emulators, Appium automation supports testing on Android and iOS. Selenium WebDriver is also compatible with it. Using Appium as a wrapper, selenium instructions are converted into iOS and Android commands.
What Is Appium?
On Android and iOS devices, you may test native and hybrid apps using the Appium mobile automation testing tool. It is a strong choice for automating mobile app testing since it makes use of the Selenium WebDriver API to manage devices and interact with applications. The Selenium WebDriver API is used by Appium, an open-source solution for automating the testing of mobile apps. It is simple to learn and use since it allows you to develop tests for mobile applications using the same foundation and language as your web tests.
Popular mobile automation frameworks like Calabash and Espresso are supported by Appium as well. Additionally, major mobile platforms like Android and iOS support Appium, so you can include it into your current CI/CD process.
Why Should You Choose Appium?
Following are some facts that will convince you to choose Selenium.
- Free: It is readily available for download and is both open-source and free. Support for Appium on a device does not need any further installation. It has strong community support.
- Flexible: The majority of programming languages, including Java, Python, C#, etc., are supported by Appium. This makes it simple for the user to choose their preferred programming language.
- Simple to understand: Appium has access to all Selenium functionalities since it is compatible with Selenium WebDriver. The Appium framework is simple to use and comprehend if you are familiar with selenium fundamentals.
- Cross-Platform Support: Without modifying the code, an Appium test can run on both iOS and Android. We can simultaneously perform several tests across various platforms. Any device or OS version may execute the exact same test.
- Record and Playback: Appium offers a record and playback feature, much as other automation solutions. Inspectors may leverage Appium’s record and playback features to speed up testing operations. By looking at the DOM, it captures the native app’s behavior (Document Object Model).
- Integration with CI tools: To allow automatic test triggering during release cycles, Appium may be linked with the majority of CI technologies (such as Bamboo, Jenkins, etc.).
Appium’s Architecture
When you download Appium, the Appium server is also downloaded. The server uses Selenium WebDriver and is developed in Node.js. A client-server architecture is used. The JSON Wire protocol is used by WebDriver Script to connect to Appium Server.
The Appium server generates an automation session and makes a request to either UIAutomator for Android or UIAutomation for iOS depending on the required capabilities set. The actions are then carried out by bootstrap.jar, which is running on an Android mobile device or emulator, once UIAutomator has spoken with it. On the other side, UIAutomation interacts with bootstrap.js, which is used to carry out the actions on iOS mobile devices or an emulator. Following execution, it sends a message back to the Appium server, which then reports the execution results.
Why Is Appium Becoming So Popular?
Appium continues to be the top option for app automation testing when it comes to mobile apps, regardless of whether the application is native, hybrid, or mobile web and is operating on Android, iOS, or Windows. Its popularity is caused by a variety of characteristics:
- It functions as a server and is always on.
- It can sync with the TestNG testing framework, which offers a greater selection of functionalities.
- Appium can provide rich information logs thanks to an integrated UIAutomator, and it includes a sophisticated reporting structure for better analysis of test results and enhanced debugging.
- It allows for the reuse of the same code across many operating systems, including iOS, Android, and Windows. This helps you save a ton of time and work.
- The ability to perform the same tests across other systems thanks to its cross-platform compatibility broadens the coverage.
- It allows you to create test code in a variety of languages, including JavaScript, PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, as well as C#.
- Appium gives QAs complete access to the databases and back-end APIs via the test code. This helps in evaluating flaws that are caused by back-end APIs or databases.
- Since Appium leverages the same automation APIs across all platforms, testers do not need to change or recompile the app being tested in any way. They are not required to have access to the application’s source code.
- Mobile application testing is supported, giving users the freedom to choose their testing environment and device from a variety of emulators, simulators, and actual devices. However, keep in mind that final-stage testing does not lend itself well to emulators and simulators. It is vital to optimize the program for inappropriate circumstances, but they are unable to mimic many device aspects, such as a low battery or an inconsistent network. Only thorough device testing can provide reliable, conclusive data and prepare an app for usage by actual users.
- With the aid of UIAutomator, UIAutomation, or Xcode9, Appium enables the concurrent execution of test automation scripts on several Android or iOS sessions. This expedites testing and guarantees scalability.
- It provides real-time test monitoring, strengthening the execution of tests.
- Appium is the greatest automated testing framework for mobile application testing since it has so many incredible features.
How To Avoid Common Mistakes While Using Appium?
Using the Appium Mobile Test Automation Tool, users often make the following errors:
- Unrestricted use of the X Path:
Although excessive X Path use has been seen in the Selenium world as well, it has more absurd repercussions in the Appium world since X Path is a more dynamic technique to uncover the components. The largest obstacle in this situation, however, is the high-performance cost, which makes the area illusive.
This is due to the fact that XPath and XML related queries are not provided by Google and Apple in the manner that we would want. All of this results in an uncontrollable cost when utilizing X Path to locate the components. Undoubtedly, X Path is the most reliable option, but there are a number of alternative superior locator techniques that may be utilized in this situation, such as “Accessibility IDs.”
- Failing to create a tested app
Before creating a single line of code, developers should have a strategy in place for how they will create their app, keeping automation in mind. To make the app more testable, they may do this by remembering the hooks and the distinct IDs for the components. An automated mobile app test would be an effective for the reason that this strategic strategy was used.
Before even beginning the Appium development process, there should be an emphasis on the various testing scenarios to avoid the possibility of overlap. There would be fewer worries about test automation reliability if there was an open discussion forum with the development teams to debate the creation of appropriate accessible IDs, labels, or Unique IDs for the application’s parts.
- Use of accessibility IDs is neglected.
To read an individual identification for a UI element, the accessibility ID locator approach was developed. The easiest way to acquire an element on iOS or Android is to use its accessibility ID. The main reason it is better is because it is faster. Semantically accessible IDs are distinct from Web IDs, it should be emphasized. The two shouldn’t be coupled, however. Even though the accessibility IDs have a bigger function, they are often just utilized for testing. Therefore, it is important to understand the larger goal of the accessibility IDs in order to avoid compromising the apps’ accessibility for the sole purpose of testing.
The accessibility of the app rises if the accessible IDs are put up on the components to make the applications testable, provided that the accessibility labels are understandable to the users. Making the application testable from the start is the main need for avoiding automation failure.
- Ignoring the application view states
Not setting up the application is one of the difficulties with mobile test automation. The majority of developers don’t configure their applications to quickly access certain views and user states.
There may be ten distinct tests for an app’s shopping cart functionality, and 90% of those tests may include checking in and looking for products to add to the cart, which is a major waste of time.
Therefore, your team should be able to configure an app’s state and immediately begin the test in that appropriate state. This is made clear in the Appium scenario since mobile simulators and emulators are sluggish and require longer than normal to position themselves correctly throughout the test.
- Checking for each element’s visibility
Another option to shorten the run-time of the Appium test scripts is to avoid inquiring for each element’s visibility. As a result, Appium experiences an increased volume of calls and wait times throughout each action of fetching an element. By just querying the element characteristics that matter from the viewpoint of the test code, the latency may be decreased.
- Native testing tools: Are they always preferable?
Some developers claim that using native testing tools is the best approach to generating mobile tests that are error-free. For instance, Espresso for Android and XCUITest for iOS. This is bad advice since neither Apple nor Google will introduce any new automation technology. When stability is in doubt, coding stability should be preferred above technology, and in this case, Appium is the best option!
As an exception, if the development team constructs the development environments and is most at ease utilizing the mobile SDK language and Google and Apple suppliers Additionally, Appium may not be very useful when the constrained test-app or test code-app code integration is required. The most valuable aspect of Appium is the WebDriver layer it offers on top of the technology, allowing code to be written in any language and serving as a reliable interface to that particular automation platform. Appium is a cross-platform solution that also makes it possible to save a significant amount of code and architecture when testing both iOS and Android devices.
- The speed of Appium
In certain situations, Appium could be slower, and there are places in the Appium code where it doesn’t appear effective. Appium is built on technologies that are slower than it, and its curators purposefully choose to use slower techniques in certain situations. For instance, using XPath will definitely make Appium slower. The way the tool is utilized will determine how effective it is. Appium is appreciated more for its stability than for its speed.
- Not Making Use of the Appium Documentation
The previous Appium documentation lacked a lot of usabilities. They weren’t used as often as they could have been as a consequence, but the new Appium papers have been entirely updated and restructured. The upgraded version includes documentation for the Appium API reference, supported drivers, client libraries, Appium commands, and code examples that weren’t previously available. Given its novelty, it merits a second look and can be found at Appium.io.
Conclusion
Appium mobile testing is essential to meet the expectations of quick and accurate testing that covers a range of platforms, devices, and versions. In comparison to alternative testing techniques, the widely used Appium provides more practicality, flexibility, and cost-friendliness, enabling teams to produce excellent user experiences while using the continuous delivery methodology.
With the help of the LambdaTest cloud, you can perform Appium automation testing of your web and hybrid applications on actual iOS and Android mobile browsers and devices. By replacing your internal device laboratories with LambdaTest’s online device cloud, you can provide your developers and testers access to actual devices at any time and from any location. Run several simultaneous tests on the Appium mobile device cloud. Reduce the time it takes for tests to run overall by more than 10 times by running tests at scale across numerous devices at once.
HSSLIVE 