appium

AppiumLibrary Skill for Robot Framework

Quick Reference

AppiumLibrary enables mobile app testing on iOS and Android using Appium automation.

Installation

# Install the library
pip install robotframework-appiumlibrary

# Install Appium server (requires Node.js)
npm install -g appium

# Install platform drivers
appium driver install uiautomator2    # Android
appium driver install xcuitest        # iOS

Appium Server

Appium server must be running before tests:

appium                    # Start with defaults
appium server             # Alternative
appium --port 4724        # Custom port

Default URL: http://127.0.0.1:4723

Library Import

*** Settings ***
Library    AppiumLibrary

Android Quick Start

Open Android App

Open Application    http://127.0.0.1:4723
...    platformName=Android
...    platformVersion=13
...    deviceName=emulator-5554
...    automationName=UiAutomator2
...    app=${CURDIR}/app.apk

Android Locators (Priority Order)

# 1. accessibility_id (RECOMMENDED - stable)
Click Element    accessibility_id=login_button

# 2. id (resource-id)
Click Element    id=com.example:id/login_button
Click Element    id=login_button                    # Short form if unique

# 3. xpath
Click Element    xpath=//android.widget.Button[@text='Login']

# 4. android UIAutomator2 selector
Click Element    android=new UiSelector().text("Login")

# 5. class name
Click Element    class=android.widget.Button

iOS Quick Start

Open iOS App

Open Application    http://127.0.0.1:4723
...    platformName=iOS
...    platformVersion=17.0
...    deviceName=iPhone 15
...    automationName=XCUITest
...    app=${CURDIR}/MyApp.app
...    udid=auto                                    # For real devices

iOS Locators (Priority Order)

# 1. accessibility_id (RECOMMENDED - stable)
Click Element    accessibility_id=loginButton

# 2. name
Click Element    name=Login

# 3. ios predicate string
Click Element    ios=type == 'XCUIElementTypeButton' AND name == 'Login'

# 4. ios class chain (fast) - NOTE: use chain= prefix for class chains
Click Element    chain=**/XCUIElementTypeButton[`name == 'Login'`]

# 5. xpath
Click Element    xpath=//XCUIElementTypeButton[@name='Login']

# 6. class name
Click Element    class=XCUIElementTypeButton

Essential Keywords

Element Interaction

Click Element           locator
Click Text              visible_text
Input Text              locator    text_to_enter
Clear Text              locator
Tap                     locator    duration=0:00:01    # Long press (replaces removed Long Press)

Getting Element Content

${text}=    Get Text              locator
${attr}=    Get Element Attribute    locator    attribute_name
${count}=   Get Matching Xpath Count    //android.widget.Button

Waits

Wait Until Element Is Visible       locator    timeout=10s
Wait Until Page Contains            text       timeout=10s
Wait Until Page Contains Element    locator    timeout=10s

Verification

Element Should Be Visible       locator
Element Should Be Enabled       locator
Page Should Contain Text        expected_text
Page Should Contain Element     locator
Element Text Should Be          locator    expected_text

Screenshots

Capture Page Screenshot    filename.png
Capture Page Screenshot    ${OUTPUT_DIR}/screenshots/screen.png

Get Page Source (View Hierarchy)

Useful for finding locators and debugging:

${source}=    Get Source
Log    ${source}

Basic Gestures

# Scroll (locator is the element to scroll to/within)
Scroll Down    locator
Scroll Up      locator

# Swipe (start_x, start_y, end_x, end_y, duration as timedelta)
Swipe    start_x=500    start_y=1500    end_x=500    end_y=500    duration=0:00:01    # Swipe up

# Long press (use Tap with duration; Long Press was removed in v3.2.0)
Tap    locator    duration=0:00:02

# Tap at coordinates
Tap With Positions    500    800

Android Scroll to Element (UIAutomator2)

# Automatically scrolls to find element!
Click Element    android=new UiScrollable(new UiSelector().scrollable(true)).scrollIntoView(new UiSelector().text("Settings"))

Context Switching (Hybrid Apps)

# Check current context
${context}=    Get Current Context
Log    Current: ${context}

# List all contexts
@{contexts}=    Get Contexts
Log Many    @{contexts}

# Switch to webview
Switch To Context    WEBVIEW_com.example.app

# Switch back to native
Switch To Context    NATIVE_APP

Mobile Browser Testing

Android Chrome

Open Application    http://127.0.0.1:4723
...    platformName=Android
...    deviceName=emulator-5554
...    automationName=UiAutomator2
...    browserName=Chrome

Go To Url    https://example.com
Input Text    id=username    admin
Click Element    css=button[type='submit']

iOS Safari

Open Application    http://127.0.0.1:4723
...    platformName=iOS
...    deviceName=iPhone 15
...    automationName=XCUITest
...    browserName=Safari

Go To Url    https://example.com

Session Management

# Close app and end session
Close Application

# Background/foreground
Background Application    5    # Background for 5 seconds

# NOTE: Quit Application was removed in v3.0.0 - use Close Application instead
# NOTE: Reset Application was removed in v3.2.0 - use Close Application + Open Application instead

W3C Capabilities Format (Appium 2.x)

Appium 2.x uses W3C capabilities with the appium: vendor prefix for non-standard capabilities:

Open Application    http://127.0.0.1:4723
...    platformName=Android
...    appium:automationName=UiAutomator2
...    appium:app=/path/to/app.apk
...    appium:deviceName=emulator-5554
...    appium:autoGrantPermissions=true

Only platformName is standard W3C. All other Appium-specific capabilities need the appium: prefix. AppiumLibrary will typically add the prefix automatically, but explicitly using it is recommended for clarity.

Cloud Testing (BrowserStack / Sauce Labs)

BrowserStack

Open Application    http://hub-cloud.browserstack.com/wd/hub
...    platformName=Android
...    appium:deviceName=Google Pixel 7
...    appium:platformVersion=13.0
...    appium:app=bs://your_app_hash
...    bstack:options={"userName": "${BS_USERNAME}", "accessKey": "${BS_ACCESS_KEY}"}

Sauce Labs

Open Application    https://ondemand.us-west-1.saucelabs.com:443/wd/hub
...    platformName=iOS
...    appium:deviceName=iPhone 14
...    appium:platformVersion=16
...    appium:app=storage:filename=MyApp.ipa
...    sauce:options={"username": "${SAUCE_USERNAME}", "accessKey": "${SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY}"}

Removed Keywords and Alternatives

Several keywords were removed in AppiumLibrary v3.x:

Removed Keyword	Version Removed	Alternative
Long Press	v3.2.0	Tap locator duration=0:00:01
Click A Point	v3.0.0	Tap With Positions x y
Zoom	v3.2.0	Use W3C Actions via Execute Script
Pinch	v3.0.0	Use W3C Actions via Execute Script
Reset Application	v3.2.0	Close Application then Open Application
Quit Application	v3.0.0	Close Application
Background App	v3.0.0	Background Application
Get Window Size	N/A	Get Window Width / Get Window Height

W3C Actions for Zoom/Pinch

Zoom and Pinch gestures require W3C Actions in AppiumLibrary v3.x. These can be performed using multi-touch sequences via the Appium driver directly if needed:

# Example: Use Execute Script to perform pinch/zoom via driver
Execute Script    mobile: pinchOpen    {"elementId": "${element_id}", "percent": 0.75}

When to Load Additional References

Reference files for deeper guidance (planned):

Need	Reference File
Android locator strategies	references/locators-android.md
iOS locator strategies	references/locators-ios.md
Device capabilities setup	references/device-capabilities.md
Gestures and scrolling	references/gestures-touch.md
iOS-specific features	references/ios-specific.md
Android-specific features	references/android-specific.md
Complete keyword list	references/keywords-reference.md
Common issues and solutions	references/troubleshooting.md

Companion Skills

Need	Skill
Generate user keywords	keyword-builder
Generate test cases	testcase-builder
Design resource file layout	resource-architect
Search for keywords across libraries	libdoc-search
Explain keyword arguments in detail	libdoc-explain
Parse test results from output.xml	results