Since the field of developing mobile applications is expanding quickly, testing is a necessary step in producing a high-caliber application. Cross-device testing becomes much more challenging when dealing with multiple devices, screen sizes, and operating system versions. This is true, especially for mobile automation testing, where we have a powerful open-source tool such as Appium and a cloud-based solution with real mobile devices – Real Device Testing Cloud.
In this blog, we will give you a thorough Appium tutorial with Real Device Testing Cloud for easing mobile application testing on devices rather than on emulators/simulators. Let’s begin with the basic steps of the setup, and how to integrate it with a Real Device Testing Cloud, also Appium best practices for mobile app testing.
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What is Appium?
It is an open-source tool for testing mobile applications with end-to-end cross-platform compatibility that has support for many languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, C# etc. It needs to be mentioned that testers can use any programming language when writing the tests for native, hybrid and MWAs. Appium can test applications on Android and iOS devices, which makes it an ideal tool in mobile testing.
Appium is given a very good architecture that is flexible, scalable, and cross-platform; that is, no changes to the app code or the dependencies that will be insisted on any platform. The test can be run on both Android and iOS apps, and this has the same code, making it have a single API for execution across the two platforms.
The Importance of Real Device Testing
Emulators and simulators are widely used in the testing of mobile applications, but these tools have many flaws that can influence the test outcomes.
Here’s why real device testing is essential:
- Hardware Interaction: Emulators do not replicate the exact behavior of physical devices. Real devices provide more accurate results when it comes to hardware interactions, such as GPS, cameras, or sensors.
- Performance: Real devices represent a true environment, unlike emulators, which do not depict the real speed and performance of real devices.
- UI and UX Testing: Using real devices also makes the app interface look good and prompts the UI in high screen sizes as compared to the emulators, which may distort a large screen size or high dpi screens.
- Network Conditions: Other metrics mimic real-life situations, such as Wi-Fi versus 3G versus 4G, and this is why it is important to test the app on real devices.
- Operating System Differences: Real devices may have a peculiarity specific to the used OS, which is not reproduced in emulators. With true device testing you are able to see how the app performs under different operating systems.
Given these advantages, testing on real devices is highly recommended, especially when preparing for production releases.
Real Device Testing Cloud
A Real Device Testing Cloud is a mechanism that gives access to numerous real, physical handsets and you can make automated tests with those. Rather than use real devices owned and managed in-house, a cloud service provides access to real devices that are hosted off-site. While there are several Real Device Testing Cloud providers, let’s talk about LambdaTest today.
LambdaTest
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test execution platform that allows you to run manual and automated tests at scale across 3000+ browsers and OS combinations. It helps developers and testers perform testing on mobile devices, as well as across a range of real devices and browsers, ensuring the same user experience across multiple environments.
- Real Device Cloud: Get more than 5000+ real devices and active browsers to test on different OS, screens, and brands of devices.
- Cross-Browser Testing: Perform cross-browser testing during live sessions, interact with multiple test cases, and automate tests on 3000+ browser variants that include Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge.
- Automation Testing: Perform end-to-end testing with different tools,s among which are Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Puppeteer, Appium, etc., on a cloud-based environment.
- Visual Regression Testing: Create full-page screenshots and compare the UI from one pixel to another in order to determine changes in layouts across browsers and devices.
- Integrations: Integrate with more than 120 applications such as Jenkins, Github, Slack, Trello, etc., that help to make testing hassle-free.
- AI-Powered Test Intelligence: To improve the efficiency of the testing processes, it is possible to use AI-based information to maximize coverage and execute tests.
LambdaTest offers a reliable solution that organizations no longer need to spend extra resources on device management from facilities or maintain a costly device lab. As a result, the platform’s scalability and support for a large number of devices can be considered a useful solution for the reliable delivery of high-quality interfaces for users.
Key Benefits of Real Device Testing Cloud
Using a real device testing cloud offers several advantages for software and app development teams. Here are the key benefits:
- Access to a Variety of Devices: Test your apps on a wide variety of real mobile devices, including the latest models, operating systems, and screen sizes.
- Cross-Platform Testing: Run tests on both Android and iOS devices with a single testing setup.
- Parallel Test Execution: Execute tests on multiple devices at once, reducing test execution time significantly.
- Ease of Integration: Real device testing clouds seamlessly integrate with popular testing tools like Appium, making it easy to set up and run tests.
- 24/7 Availability: You can access the devices anytime, regardless of the time zone or location, helping teams in different geographical locations to collaborate.
Setting Up Appium for Real Device Testing
Now that you know why and how Appium facilitates mobile test automation, let’s check step by step how to configure Appium with Real Device Testing Cloud.
Prerequisites
Check whether you have the following requirements in place before proceeding ahead:
- Appium Installed: Install Appium on your local machine. You can use npm (Node Package Manager) for installation:
npm install -g appium
- Programming Language Setup: First, check that you have a programming language environment working. For instance, where you intend to develop in Java ensure you have Java JDK as well as Maven.
- Real Device Testing Cloud Account: Sign up with a Real Device Testing Cloud provider. You will need an API key or access credentials for integration.
- Mobile App: Make sure you have the ultimate version of the mobile application you would wish to test, either in the APK format for Android or IPA for iOS.
Step 1: Integrating Appium with Real Device Testing Cloud
Here’s how you can configure Appium to run tests on real devices hosted on a cloud platform:
1.1 Setup Capabilities for Real Devices
When configuring Appium, users are supposed to set up the desired capabilities for the real devices that are going to be tested. These capabilities define the app under test, the system where it will run and other parameters more relevant to the real device context.
Here’s an example of setting capabilities for Android:
let caps = {
“deviceName”: “Samsung Galaxy S20”,
“osVersion”: “10.0”,
“projectName”: “Appium Tutorial”,
“buildName”: “Build 1”,
“sessionName”: “Android Testing on Real Device”,
“app”: “<app-id>”,
“platformName”: “Android”,
“platformVersion”: “10”,
“deviceName”: “Samsung Galaxy S20”
};
For iOS, you can configure capabilities similarly:
let caps = {
“deviceName”: “iPhone 12”,
“osVersion”: “14.0”,
“projectName”: “Appium Tutorial”,
“buildName”: “Build 1”,
“sessionName”: “iOS Testing on Real Device”,
“app”: “<app-id>”,
“platformName”: “iOS”,
“platformVersion”: “14.0”,
“deviceName”: “iPhone 12”
};
These capabilities will connect your Appium tests to the real devices available on the Real Device Testing Cloud platform.
1.2 Appium Server Configuration
Next, you need to configure the Appium server to connect to the Real Device Testing Cloud. You can start the Appium server by using the following command:
appium –use-plugins element-wait
This starts the Appium server, and it will listen for incoming requests from the client.
1.3 Cloud Integration Setup
Each Real Device Testing Cloud provider has its integration method. Most of them use a WebDriver-based protocol and provide an API key or access credentials. For example, you can integrate with Appium by setting up your username and access key:
let cloudUser = “YOUR_CLOUD_USERNAME”;
let cloudKey = “YOUR_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY”;
Ensure you replace the placeholders with your actual credentials. The WebDriver instance will use these credentials to connect to the cloud platform.
Step 2: Writing Test Scripts
With the setup complete, you can start writing test scripts in your preferred language (Java, JavaScript, Python, etc.). Here’s a simple JavaScript test script using Mocha to run a test on a real device:
const wdio = require(‘webdriverio’);
const assert = require(‘assert’);
describe(‘Real Device Testing with Appium’, function() {
let driver;
before(async function() {
const options = {
protocol: ‘https’,
hostname: ‘hub-cloud.example.com’,
port: 443,
path: ‘/wd/hub’,
capabilities: caps
};
driver = await wdio.remote(options);
});
it(‘should open the app and verify text’, async function() {
const el = await driver.$(‘~sample-text-element’);
const text = await el.getText();
assert.strictEqual(text, ‘Hello, Appium!’);
});
after(async function() {
await driver.deleteSession();
});
});
In this script, we start the WebDriver session with the capabilities defined earlier and run a simple test that verifies the text of an element within the mobile application.
Step 3: Running Tests
Once your test scripts are written, execute them using a test runner (like Mocha or JUnit). The tests will be executed on the real device connected through the Real Device Testing Cloud, and results will be provided via logs and screenshots.
Step 4: Analyzing Results
After running your tests, the cloud provider will give you detailed logs, screenshots, and videos of the test execution. This will help you identify any issues and debug them effectively.
Best Practices for Real Device Testing with Appium
The following best practices should be considered when using real device testing with Appium:
- Use Parallel Testing: Utilize the strength of the cloud platform on which you can run tests on several devices at the same time, which, in return, saves a lot of time. Ensure your test framework supports parallel execution effectively to maximize efficiency.
- Test Across Multiple Devices: When designing for screens, test your app on different devices so that the same app can work effectively on different screens, resolutions, or even operating systems of different versions. Include testing on both high-end and low-end devices to account for performance variations.
- Use Continuous Integration (CI): Test your Appium tests along with the CI pipeline to automate the flow and fix issues as early as possible. Integrate test reporting tools to get detailed feedback from your CI environment.
- Focus on Critical Flows: It is advised to perform testing on the vital paths of the application most often because the user interface of an application must be impeccable. Prioritize user flows that generate the highest business value or impact.
- Monitor Device Logs: Pay attention to device logs to catch any device-specific issues that might not be immediately visible in the test execution. Leverage log analysis tools to simplify identifying errors and warnings in the logs.
Conclusion
If your business is in the mobile application development industry and has realized the importance of your products being tested on real devices, then you’re right to have done so. Applying Appium with a real device testing cloud is an effective, reliable and cost-saving tool to overcome the challenges of modern mobile application testing.
This approach leverages the flexibility of using Appium for cross-platform automation with the ease of using cloud-based real devices to address the challenges in software development and get high-quality and bug-free applications. When Appium is used in combination with a real device testing cloud, design and development teams can easily centralize their testing mechanisms and minimize time-to-market while guaranteeing excellent user experiences on a variety of different device and platform combinations.
Whether you are a developer, tester, or included in a QA team, it’s high time you incorporate this mightily beneficial Update and Performance Testing combination into your mobile application testing approach to reach new levels of effectiveness. Start today, and get an overview of a simple, fast, and effective method of real device testing!
