Mobile Testing Framework

Appium-based framework for testing iOS and Android apps

I built this to automate mobile app testing across both iOS and Android. Mobile testing has its own challenges (gestures, device differences, slower execution), so I focused on making the framework handle those gracefully.

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What's Different About Mobile Testing?

Mobile isn't just "small screen web testing." There are unique challenges:

Gestures matter - Swipe, pinch, long-press are first-class interactions Slower execution - Devices/simulators are slower than browsers Platform differences - iOS and Android work differently Device fragmentation - Many screen sizes, OS versions App state - Apps can be backgrounded, killed, or interrupted

This framework handles these realities.

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

You'll need:

• Python 3.8+
• Appium Server - npm install -g appium
• Platform-specific tools:
  • Android: Android SDK, ADB
  • iOS: Xcode (Mac only)

Install

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/JasonTeixeira/Mobile-Testing-Framework.git
cd Mobile-Testing-Framework

# Virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

Start Appium Server

# In a separate terminal
appium

# Should see: "Appium REST http interface listener started on 0.0.0.0:4723"

Run Tests

# Make sure your app path is set in config/capabilities.yaml
pytest tests/

# Or specific platform
pytest tests/android/
pytest tests/ios/

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How It Works

Driver Manager

Handles the differences between iOS and Android:

from framework.core.driver_manager import DriverManager

# Create Android driver
manager = DriverManager()
driver = manager.create_android_driver(
    app_path="/path/to/app.apk",
    device_name="Pixel 6"
)

# Or iOS
driver = manager.create_ios_driver(
    app_path="/path/to/app.app",
    device_name="iPhone 14"
)

The manager reads capabilities from config/capabilities.yaml so you're not hardcoding settings.

Base Page with Gestures

Mobile interactions are different from web. The BasePage class handles mobile-specific stuff:

from framework.core.base_page import BasePage

page = BasePage(driver)

# Mobile gestures
page.swipe_up()              # Scroll down
page.swipe_left()            # Navigate carousel
page.scroll_to_element(...)  # Scroll until element visible
page.long_press(...)         # Context menu

# App management  
page.background_app(5)       # Send to background for 5 seconds
page.hide_keyboard()         # Dismiss keyboard

# Normal stuff still works
page.tap(locator)
page.send_keys(locator, "text")
page.get_text(locator)

---

Project Structure

Mobile-Testing-Framework/
├── framework/
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── driver_manager.py   # iOS/Android driver setup
│   │   └── base_page.py        # Mobile interactions & gestures
│   ├── pages/                  # Page objects
│   └── utils/                  # Helper utilities
│
├── tests/
│   ├── android/                # Android-specific tests
│   ├── ios/                    # iOS-specific tests
│   └── conftest.py            # Pytest fixtures
│
├── config/
│   └── capabilities.yaml       # Device/app configuration
│
├── screenshots/                # Failure screenshots
├── logs/                      # Test logs
└── requirements.txt           # Dependencies

---

Configuration

Edit config/capabilities.yaml for your app:

android:
  app: /path/to/your/app.apk
  deviceName: Android Emulator
  platformVersion: "13.0"
  
  # Or test installed app
  appPackage: com.your.app
  appActivity: .MainActivity

ios:
  app: /path/to/your/app.app
  deviceName: iPhone 14
  platformVersion: "16.0"
  
  # Or test installed app
  bundleId: com.your.app

---

Writing Tests

Page Object Pattern

Keep tests clean by using page objects:

# framework/pages/login_page.py
from framework.core.base_page import BasePage
from appium.webdriver.common.appiumby import AppiumBy

class LoginPage(BasePage):
    # Locators
    USERNAME = (AppiumBy.ID, "com.app:id/username")
    PASSWORD = (AppiumBy.ID, "com.app:id/password")
    LOGIN_BTN = (AppiumBy.ID, "com.app:id/login")
    
    def login(self, username, password):
        self.send_keys(self.USERNAME, username)
        self.send_keys(self.PASSWORD, password)
        self.hide_keyboard()  # Mobile-specific!
        self.tap(self.LOGIN_BTN)

Tests

# tests/android/test_login.py
import pytest
from framework.pages.login_page import LoginPage

def test_login(android_driver):
    login_page = LoginPage(android_driver)
    login_page.login("user@test.com", "password")
    
    # Assert something
    assert login_page.is_element_present(...)

---

Common Challenges & Solutions

"Element not found"

Mobile elements can be tricky:

• Use Appium Inspector to find correct locators
• Elements might be off-screen - try scrolling to them
• Wait for elements with wait_for_element_visible()

"Tests are slow"

Yes, mobile tests are slower than web:

• Real devices are faster than emulators
• Run tests in parallel: pytest -n 4
• Use noReset: true to avoid reinstalling app each time

"Different behavior on iOS vs Android"

That's reality. You might need platform-specific tests:

@pytest.mark.android
def test_android_specific():
    ...

@pytest.mark.ios  
def test_ios_specific():
    ...

"Flaky tests"

Mobile tests can be flaky:

• Use explicit waits (not fixed sleep)
• Handle unexpected alerts/popups
• Screenshot on failure to debug
• Use pytest-rerunfailures to auto-retry

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Tips

Do:

✅ Use explicit waits everywhere ✅ Test on real devices when possible ✅ Handle both portrait and landscape ✅ Test with poor network conditions ✅ Clean up test data between runs

Don't:

❌ Use time.sleep() - use WebDriverWait instead ❌ Hardcode element coordinates ❌ Test only on latest OS version ❌ Ignore platform differences ❌ Run tests on your only device (get a test device!)

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Setup Guides

Android Setup

1. Install Android Studio
2. Setup Android SDK
3. Enable developer options on device/emulator
4. Verify: adb devices shows your device

iOS Setup (Mac only)

1. Install Xcode
2. Install Xcode Command Line Tools
3. For real devices: Register device UDID with Apple
4. Verify: xcrun simctl list shows simulators

Appium Doctor

Check your setup:

npm install -g appium-doctor
appium-doctor --android
appium-doctor --ios

Fix any red ❌ items it finds.

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What I Learned

Building this taught me:

About Mobile Testing:

• Mobile gestures are more complex than they seem
• iOS and Android locators work differently
• Real devices behave differently than emulators
• App lifecycle (background, foreground, killed) matters

About Appium:

• It's slower than Selenium (that's normal)
• Element location strategies differ by platform
• XPath is slow on mobile - use IDs when possible
• Session management is tricky with multiple devices

About Test Design:

• Parallel execution saves time but needs isolated tests
• Screenshots are critical for debugging failures
• Test data cleanup matters more on mobile
• Network conditions affect behavior significantly

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Troubleshooting

"Could not start a new session"

• Is Appium server running? (appium in terminal)
• Check logs at ~/.appium/logs

"App not installed"

• Verify app path in capabilities.yaml
• For Android: Check if app is signed
• For iOS: Check provisioning profile

"Session not created"

• Device might be locked
• Wrong platform version specified
• USB debugging not enabled (Android)

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Contributing

Found bugs or improvements? Open an issue or PR!

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Author

Jason Teixeira

• GitHub: @JasonTeixeira
• Email: sage@sageideas.org

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License

MIT License - use however you want.

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Why Appium?

I chose Appium because:

• Cross-platform - One framework for iOS and Android
• Open source - No licensing costs
• Standard WebDriver - If you know Selenium, you know Appium
• Active community - Lots of support and documentation

It's not perfect (slower than native tools), but the cross-platform benefit is huge.