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Updated on January 16, 2025
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Writing Your First Test Case with Appium

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Now that you have Appium set up on your local machine, it’s time to dive into writing your first test case. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a simple test case in Java.

Create a New Maven Project

Use your favorite IDE to create a new Maven project. We’re going to be using Eclipse in this setup.

appium-launching-eclipse-ide
Eclipse IDE Launching

Creating A New Project

  • Start a new project by navigating to the top menu and selecting File then New and finally Other...
file-new-other
File > New > Other
  • In the wizard window that appears, scroll down to find the Maven folder. Expand the Maven folder by clicking on the small triangle next to it, and then select Maven Project. Click Next to proceed with the project setup.
choosing-maven-project
Choosing Maven Project
  • In the next step of the wizard, you will see an option to create a simple project. To proceed, click the checkbox labeled Create a simple project (skip archetype selection). Once you have checked this option, click the Next > button to move forward with the project setup.
eclipse-check-the-create-a-simple-project-box
Check The Create A Simple Project Box
  • On the next step of the wizard, you will need to create a group ID and an artifact ID for your project. For this guide, use com.test.app.todo as both the group ID and artifact ID. Enter these values in the respective fields provided. After filling in the details, click the Finish button to continue.
eclipse-create-a-group-id-and-artifact-id-name
Create a Group Id & Artifact Id name

Create a New Test Class

With our Maven project created, the next step is to create a new test class. Navigate to the directory src/test/java/. Inside this directory, create a new package by following this path: com.test.

create-new-package-store-test-files
Create A New Package To Store Your Test Files
setting-com-test-as-a-package-name
Setting 'com.test' As A Package Name

Once the package is created, add a new class within it and name the class FirstAppiumTest.

creating-a-new-class
Creating A New Class
setting-the-class-name-as-firstappiumtest
Set The Class Name As FirstAppiumTest
firstappiumtest-class-created
The FirstAppiumTest Class Is Created

Add Dependencies to pom.xml

Now, navigate to the pom.xml file in your project. This file is essential for managing your project’s dependencies and configurations. Open the pom.xml file, as we will be adding the necessary dependencies to run an Appium test script. Once the file is open, so we can add the xml dependencies below.

pom.xml
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
	<groupId>test-todo-app</groupId>
	<artifactId>test-todo-app</artifactId>
	<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
	<properties>
		<maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
		<maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
	</properties>
	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>io.appium</groupId>
			<artifactId>java-client</artifactId>
			<version>8.3.0</version>
		</dependency>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
			<artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
			<version>4.7.0</version>
		</dependency>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
			<artifactId>selenium-remote-driver</artifactId>
			<version>4.7.0</version>
		</dependency>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
			<artifactId>hamcrest</artifactId>
			<version>2.2</version>
			<scope>test</scope>
		</dependency>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>commons-io</groupId>
			<artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
			<version>2.11.0</version>
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>
	<build>
		<plugins>
			<plugin>
				<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
				<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
				<version>3.0.0-M5</version>
			</plugin>
		</plugins>
	</build>
</project>

Add Your APK To The Project

To add your test APK to your project, begin by creating a new directory within your project’s structure. Navigate to the src/test/resources/ directory. Within this directory, create a new folder named app. This is where you will store your APK file for testing purposes.

create-new-apps-folder
Create A New Folder To Store The Test App
setting-the-directory-as-app
Setting The Directory As 'App'
added-the-test-app-in-the-app-folder
Added The Test App In The 'App' Folder

Write Your First Test Script

Let’s take a look at our test application and discuss the test scenario that we’ll be automating. The test application we’ll be using is a TODO app. If you need access to the APK file, please join our Patreon. Members get access to all the existing frameworks we’ve created and more. You can follow along with this guide or use your own test application and tweak the elements as needed. In this test, our goal is to simply click on the Add Task button to display the Add Task screen.

add-a-task-button
Add A Task Button
viewing-add-task-screen
Viewing Add Task Screen
FirstAppiumTest.java
package com.test;

import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;

import java.io.File;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;

public class FirstAppiumTest {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws MalformedURLException, InterruptedException {

    	File app = new File("src/test/resources/app/app-debug.apk");

    	 // Set the desired capabilities for your test
        DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
        caps.setCapability("deviceName", "emulator-5554");
        caps.setCapability("platformName", "android");
        caps.setCapability("app",app.getAbsolutePath());

        // Initialize the Appium driver
        AndroidDriver driver = new AndroidDriver (new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4273/wd/hub"), caps);

        // Add test case scenario here

        WebElement addTaskButton = driver.findElement(By.id("ADD_YOUR_ID_HERE"));
        addTaskButton.click();
        // quick debug wait for 1 seconds
        Thread.sleep(1000);
        // Close the driver session
        driver.quit();
    }
}

Launch Appium Desktop & Appium Inspector

Now, we need to find the id associated with the element that we want to click. To locate the id element or other useful selectors, ensure that the emulator or device is booted up. First, launch the Appium Server and Inspector. Open the Appium Desktop Server and click the startServer button. Next, launch the Appium Inspector, making sure that the server port matches the Appium server’s port.

appium-desktop-with-emulator
Appium Desktop with Emulator
appium-server-running
Appium Server Is Running
appium-inspector-setup
Appium Inspector + Setting Up Desired Capabilities
  1. Ensure the Remote Port is set to 4273
  2. Set the Remote Path to /wd/hub
  3. Click the pencil & Copy the Desired Capabilities from below and paste in the JSON Representation box
  4. Click the Save button
  5. Click the Start Session button

Desired Capabilities JSON

DesiredCapabilities.json
{
  "appium:platformName": "Android",
  "appium:platformVersion": "13.0", 
  "appium:deviceName": "emulator-5554",
  "appium:automationName": "UiAutomator2",
  "appium:app": "/Users/{userName}/eclipse-workspace/test-todo-app/src/test/resources/app/app-debug.apk",
  "appium:appWaitForLaunch": true
}

Inspecting The App Elements

With the Appium Inspector now launched, you should see a preview of your application. In the preview window, locate and click on the element for which you want to retrieve attributes. For the purposes of this guide, we will click on the Add Task button. By doing so, the attributes related to this specific element will be displayed, allowing you to inspect and utilize them as needed.

appium-inspector-viewing-elements-propertie
Appium Inspector Viewing The Element's Properties
  1. The accessibility id: value is to Add Task
  2. The id: value is to com.example.todoapp:id/fab
  3. The xpath: value is to //android.widget.ImageButton[@content-desc="Add Task"]

You have the flexibility to use any available selector, but for this guide, we will select the second option, which represents the id attribute with the value com.example.todapp:id/fab. This value will be used in our code. Close the Appium Inspector Session to free up the Appium Server 4273 port.

Copy this id value and navigate to the FirstAppiumTest class in your project. Find the element designated for adding a task and paste the copied id value into the addTaskButton element. This ensures that our test script can correctly interact with the element.

finding-add-task-button-element-by-id
Finding Add Task Button Element By ID
Java
WebElement addTaskButton = driver.findElement(By.id("com.example.todoapp:id/fab"));
addTaskButton.click();
// quick debug wait for 1 seconds
Thread.sleep(1000);
System.out.println("TEST PASSED!");
// Close the driver session
driver.quit();

Run Your Test

Finally, it’s time to run the script. Yay! In the FirstAppiumTest class, right-click to open the context menu. Navigate to Run As and select Java Application. Now, sit back and watch as your script takes off for the first time! If everything goes well, you will see TEST PASSED in the console.

appium-run-as-java-application
Appium Run As Java Application

Analyze the Test Results

After the test execution is complete, review the results to ensure your test case ran successfully. Later in this series, we will learn how to implement TestNG to organize tests based on industry standards. 

appium-test-results-passed
Test Results - Passed
running-test-appium-test-script
Running Appium Test Script

Conclusion

You have now learned how to perform basic UI testing with Appium. This includes finding elements and performing actions. In the next guide, we’ll take a closer look at Organizing Multiple Test Scenarios In Appium with TestNG.

Appium - Previous Setting Up Appium on Local Machine Next - Appium Organizing Multiple Test Scenarios in Appium Using TestNG

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