Introduction
The spread of mobile apps across diverse countries and age groups indicates that the world is transitioning to a tech-savvy era. Today’s apps have been effectively changed to make more significant web browsers and technology use. The launch of mobile apps necessitates extensive testing using a variety of frameworks and technologies.
Recent trends show that building an app is done using an Agile approach, which includes test automation followed by developers and testing teams. It will be best if you rely on capable tools that have been around for a long time and have a strong reputation in the industry for mobile testing automation.
Appium is widely recognised as the most reliant mobile app test automation platform. Before I begin, let’s first talk about Appium and then the benefits of Appium in mobile app automation testing.
What is mobile automation testing?
The use of automation technologies to test new mobile applications before they are approved for usage is referred to as mobile automation testing. This form of testing is used to see if mobile applications run smoothly on different operating systems and devices.
Automation in testing improves testing speed and accuracy. It’s an excellent technique to make sure new mobile apps are free of bugs.
This testing includes usability, security, performance, quality, and functionality. It also assesses a new app’s capability to interact with other apps.
What is the Appium tool?
Appium tool is a popular mobile automation testing tool that can test mobile browsers and apps. It tests mobile browsers and applications for compatibility, usability, and response speed on various mobile devices.
This software has only been used to test mobile applications, emphasizing iOS, Firefox OS, and Android. Appium test automation supports several programming languages. Python, PHP, Java, and Perl are among them.
The Appium tool allows you to execute automation tests on mobile devices, simulators, and emulators.
Now, you must be thinking about what’s a simulator and emulator. So, a simulator represents an application’s state and operation. On the other hand, an emulator is a software or hardware that enables a computer system (host) to run applications created for a different system (guest).
Appium mobile automation testing is independent of the mobile device’s operating system (OS). This is due to its framework’s ability to interpret driver commands into Android or iOS commands separate from the OS type. These commands are instead dependent on the type of mobile device.
Mobile testing Appium methods can be used to test the following sorts of mobile apps:
- Native apps:Â Platform-specific apps built and run using the Android, iOS, or Windows SDKs. Web browser navigation is not available in these apps.
- Hybrid apps: These applications operate well on all platforms and offer web browser navigation features.
- Web apps: These applications are accessed through built-in browsers on mobile devices.
What makes Appium such an important mobile automation tool?
Appium, as previously said, is a cross-platform tool that allows you to build tests for several platforms, including Windows, iOS, and Android, using the same APIs. Appium lets you run automated tests on real-world devices like phones and tablets.
Appium is popular among mobile app testing companies because it makes regression testing of mobile apps more accessible. This is particularly important for large mobile apps that are often updated with new features and functions.
Key points that make Appium the most reliable tool for mobile automation:
- Free of Cost
The first and foremost reason that makes Appium the best mobile automation testing tool on the device cloud is that it’s a free, open-source programme that is simple to install. Installing anything else on the device is not required. Appium also provides considerable community support.
- Cross-Platform Flexibility
Appium is the best cross-platform mobile app test automation solution because it can test on both Android and iOS devices. Appium automates iOS programs using Apple’s frameworks and an application called Instruments. Appium employs the JSON wire standard to interface with Android and iOS using Selenium WebDriver.
- Continuous integration
Appium can be used directly with Continuous Integration (CI) platforms like Jenkin and Bamboo, yet another significant advantage of using it for Appium mobile testing. Since Appium is just a code library that can be imported into any language, it’s simple to integrate it with CI servers to improve QA testing results. This makes testing not only faster but also more productive and efficient.
- Recording and Playback
Appium tool, like other automation tools, includes a record and playback feature. It inspects the DOM to capture the native app’s actions (Document Object Model). Inspectors can speed up testing by using Appium’s record and playback features.
- Fast and Reliable
Appium tool works with the majority of mobile programming languages. Appium supports JavaScript, Ruby, Java, PHP, Node.js, C#, Python, and other programming languages. When developing and testing mobile applications, the Appium tool provides flexibility, reliability, and variety.
Although Appium is the best mobile automation testing tool out there, I would like to highlight a few cons of using this mobile automation testing tool which come hand in hand with the pros mentioned above.
- Appium only partially supports hybrid app testing. Hence, testing the action that allows you to switch between native and online apps and vice versa won’t be possible.
- The Appium tool inspector is not supported on Microsoft Windows.
Takeaway
This article taught us why Appium is the best mobile automation testing tool on the device cloud.
To sum-up:
- We learned the basics of mobile automated testing.
- We covered a brief overview of the Appium tool
- We understood what makes Appium such an essential tool for mobile automation.
- Finally, a few disadvantages of using the Appium mobile automation testing tool.