Create First Appium Test for Android App

 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to create your first Appium test for an Android device using Eclipse IDE on Windows, including how to write the script in Java and run it on a real or emulator device.

Pre-Requisites

Tool	Purpose
Java (JDK 11+)	Required for running Appium + Java
Eclipse IDE	IDE for Java development
Android Studio	For Android Emulator + SDKs
Appium Desktop or Server	To run Appium
Node.js	Required by Appium
Appium Java Client Library	Added to Eclipse project
Appium Inspector (Optional)	For element locator help
Android device/emulator	To run the test

1. Install Required Tools

• Install Java JDK: Download JDK

• Install Eclipse IDE: Download Eclipse

• Install Android Studio: Download Android Studio

• Install Node.js: Download Node.js

• Install Appium Desktop: Download Appium

2. Setup Java Project in Eclipse

• Open Eclipse → Create a New Java Project → example: AppiumAndroidTest
• Create a new package → example: com.appium.test
• Create a new class → example: FirstTest
• Add Appium Client Library:

• Right click on project → Build Path → Add External JARs

• Add:

• java-client-8.x.x.jar

• Selenium jars (like selenium-server-4.x.x.jar)

3. Setup Android Device/Emulator

• Enable Developer Options and USB Debugging on your real device
• Connect it via USB or launch emulator from Android Studio
• Check device using:

adb devices

4. Sample App

You can use any .apk file. Example: ApiDemos-debug.apk

Put this APK file in your project folder (example: src/resources/ApiDemos-debug.apk)

5. Write First Appium Test in Java

package com.appium.test;

import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.time.Duration;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidDriver;
import io.appium.java_client.MobileElement;

public class FirstTest {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws MalformedURLException {
        
        // Desired Capabilities
        DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
        caps.setCapability("platformName", "Android");
        caps.setCapability("deviceName", "Android Emulator"); // or "Android Device"
        caps.setCapability("automationName", "UiAutomator2");
        caps.setCapability("app", System.getProperty("user.dir") + "/src/resources/ApiDemos-debug.apk");
        caps.setCapability("appPackage", "io.appium.android.apis");
        caps.setCapability("appActivity", "io.appium.android.apis.ApiDemos");

        // Initialize Driver
        AndroidDriver<MobileElement> driver = new AndroidDriver<>(
            new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723/wd/hub"), caps);

        // Small Wait
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

        // Example: Click on “Accessibility”
        MobileElement acc = driver.findElementByAccessibilityId("Accessibility");
        acc.click();

        // Close session
        driver.quit();
    }
}

6. Run the Test

     -    Start Appium Server (Appium Desktop or CLI):

appium

     -   Run the FirstTest.java in Eclipse as Java Application.

     -   Observe actions on emulator/device.

Important Points:

- Use Appium Inspector or UIAutomatorViewer (bundled with Android SDK) to inspect element locators.

- Ensure Appium server is running before test execution.

- For real devices, replace "Android Emulator" with actual device name from adb devices.