Mobile Testing with Appium – All you need to know

Smartphones have become the latest buzz in the town when it comes to communicating around. Regardless of whether you are sitting idle, stuck in traffic or travelling, mobile phones are capable of offering the best ever services. It comes with a wide assortment of applications, which range from utility to entertainment. With the increase of tech-consumerism, the demand for different mobile applications has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. The total count of mobile applications is enhancing manifolds at present.

Once the industry is gearing to cater to the needs of different software applications, the global mobile application’s revenue is known to be projected to almost USD 400 million. Mobile applications have become the need of the hour for those modern-day consumers who are looking for different extensive features, at the click release, which is known to be available to them, regardless of wherever they are going.

Hence, it is a prerequisite to have a software testing process in hand that comes with comprehensive and faster coverage for successfully accomplishing different needs. Automation testing is worth mentioning in this regard as it plays an integral role in accomplishing such needs. If you are willing to keep up with the customer’s growing needs, you require mobile apps which are high performing.

Besides this, you should ensure that such apps have high compatibility with a bunch of devices. Owing to this, business enterprises opt for the best ever measures to assure cross-platform compatibility. Appium contributes to being the open-source automation framework that is useful in making mobile application testing more effective. It provides flexibility and scalability and comes with its own set of extensive features.

The ultimate objective is to provide Appium’s detailed overview that is known to cover the benefits and prerequisite knowledge. It is useful in leveraging the amazing automation testing framework for different mobile applications.

So, what is Appium?

Appium contributes to being the open-source framework that provides the prerequisite choice to perform the mobile application’s automation testing on various platforms, such as Apple, Android, and Windows. It is capable of automating the testing for mobile web applications, native mobile applications and hybrid mobile applications.

It is possible to get access to different mobile web applications with the use of different mobile phone browsers, like Chrome, Safari and ready-made browser apps for various android devices. Appium also offers the opportunity to perform automation testing for those native mobile apps which are written with the aid of Android, Apple and Windows SDKs. Appium testing is useful for automation testing of different hybrid mobile apps that come with native wrapper, present around the web view.

Appium contributes to being the cross-platform and flexible testing framework that provides the opportunity to write the specific code, against different platforms, like Windows, Apple, and Android, with the aid of a similar API. It indicates that it is possible to use the similar code for Apple, as it was written for the Android platform. Companies offering mobile app testing Services use Appium which is useful in saving your extensive efforts and an ample amount of time. Appium provides the opportunity to write the specific test script in various programming languages, like JavaScript, Java, Python, Ruby, PHP, C#.

Appium Framework Architecture

Appium is recognized as the HTTP server known to be written on the Node.js platform. It is the representation of REST API, thereby implementing the Selenium WebDriver. It is known to work on the server and client architecture. It provides the suitable choice to use the specific WebDriver client to fire different tests. The REST API is capable of performing different actions such as receiving the connection from the specific client-side, execution of command on the specific mobile device, listening to the command, responding to the command execution status to the client as the HTTP response.

With Appium, it is possible to perform automation with regards to the session. Here, the client will be initiating the session, according to the client library, which ends up as the client tries to send the specific POST /session request to the server, with JSON object’s aid, referred to as the desired capabilities object. After this, the server will begin the automation session. It will respond with the session ID, which is beneficial in sending different commands related to the specific session.

Working principle of Appium

Appium provides the suitable opportunity for interacting with the application automatically. It allows you to leverage the different component’s behaviors, which are available in the application’s user interface. You can reuse it for writing and performing different tests repeatedly against the specific application at different sessions.

Appium on Apple and Android devices

Appium makes the best use of JSON wire protocol for different Apple devices. It makes use of the UIAutomation API of apple for interacting with different user interface elements for the automation of applications on Apple Devices. Here, the specific bootstrap.js file will work as the TCP server, which will be sending the specific test command that acts on the Apple device, with the aid of the UIAutomation API framework of Apple.

Appium makes the best use of the UI Automator framework, which indicates testing the UI of Android for the automation of apps on different Android devices. Here, the bootstrap.jar file will work as the TCP server, which will send the specific testing command that acts on the specific Android device with the aid of the Selendroid framework or UIAutomator.

Summary

Speaking of mobile testing, irrespective of whether the specific mobile app is hybrid, native or mobile web in nature or the device platform is Apple, Android or Windows, Windows is the primary choice to perform automation testing on different mobile applications.

Appium is equipped with the ready-made UIAutomator, which generated a detailed information log. It comes with a detailed reporting structure which makes test results analysis better. It is useful in improving debugging. It provides the flexibility to write the test code in various languages. With Appium, you will be capable of taking complete control of different back-end APIs and databases with test code aid.