Automation does not do what testers used to do, unless one ignores most things a tester really does. Automated testing is useful for extending the reach of the testers work, not to replace it.
General setup
Before you start with Appium installation, there are a few other steps you need to do and tools to install.
Install:
See Appium requirements for more details.
Environment variables
Set JAVA_HOME and ANDROID_HOME environment variables in your ~/.profile file.
- Open the profile file
- If using zsh:
open ~/.zshrc
- If using zsh:
Type in the following:
export ANDROID_HOME=/Users/
/Library/Android/sdk export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools/ export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/build-tools/ export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin export JAVA_HOME=
/usr/libexec/java_homeexport PATH=${JAVA_HOME}/bin:$PATH export PATH=${PATH}:${JAVA_HOME}
Install Appium
Appium 1.x is no longer maintained. Make sure to run Appium 2.x.
Appium 2.x does not include drivers by default. They have to be installed separately for each platform on which you intend to run the tests.
- Install Appium
npm install -g appium@next
- Install Appium Doctor
npm install -g @appium/doctor
- Install xcuitest (iOS) driver
appium driver install xcuitest
- Install uiautomator2 (Android) driver
appium driver install uiautomator2
- Check dependencies are installed correctly
appium-doctor- The necessary dependencies should have a green check mark
See Appium Pro post for more details.
Desired capabilities (options) explained
capabilities = {
"appium:platformName": "iOS",
"appium:platformVersion": platform_version,
"appium:udid": device_udid,
"appium:app": app_path,
"appium:deviceName": "iPhone",
"appium:xcodeOrgId": your_personal_xcodeOrgId,
"appium:xcodeSigningId": "iPhone Developer",
"appium:automationName": "XCUITest",
"appium:useNewWDA": False,
"appium:autoAcceptAlerts": True,
"appium:noReset": True
}
| Capability | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| platformName | Which mobile platform to use | "Android", "iOS" |
| platformVersion | Mobile OS version | Just the major version, e.g. "13" |
| udid | Unique device identifier (serial number) of the connected physical device | "1R2TV3BD" |
| app | The absolute local path or remote HTTP URL to an .ipa (iOS) or .apk (Android) file | |
| deviceName | The kind of mobile device you're using | Device name for Android, "iPhone" for iOS |
| xcodeOrgId | A unique 10-character string generated by Apple that is assigned to you or your team. | "A1B5C3D5E2" |
| xcodeSigningId | This capability is required if you want to test on real device. There's no need to change it's value. | "iPhone Developer" |
| automationName | Which automation engine to use | "XCUITest" or "UIAutomator2" |
| useNewWDA | If true, forces uninstall of any existing WebDriverAgent app on device. Set it to true if you want to apply different startup options for WebDriverAgent for each session. Although, it is only guaranteed to work stable on Simulator. Real devices require WebDriverAgent client to run for as long as possible without reinstall/restart to avoid issues. | "False" |
| autoAcceptAlerts | Accept all iOS (only!) alerts automatically if they pop up. This includes privacy access permission alerts (e.g., location, contacts, photos). Default is false. | "True" |
| noReset | Don't reset app state before this session. See Reset Strategies for more details. | "True" |
See Appium Desired Capabilities for more details.