Appium Mobile Testing Tutorial: Complete 2026 Guide

Last updated: June 27, 2026 · 9 min read

This tutorial takes you from zero to running Appium tests on both Android and iOS. You'll learn Appium 2.0 architecture, setup, your first test, locators, gestures, POM, and cloud testing. Pair it with our deeper Appium A to Z Guide and Appium vs Espresso comparison.

Appium is an open-source mobile test automation framework based on the W3C WebDriver protocol. It supports native, hybrid, and mobile-web apps on Android and iOS. Project docs live at appium.io.

• Node.js 18 LTS or 20 LTS
• Java 17+ (for Android)
• Xcode 15+ (for iOS, macOS only)
• Android Studio (for Android SDK and emulator)

npm install -g appium
appium --version  # Should show 2.x

Appium 2.0 uses driver plugins:

# Android (UiAutomator2)
appium driver install uiautomator2

# iOS (XCUITest)
appium driver install xcuitest

# Verify
appium driver list --installed

Use Android Studio's AVD Manager:

1. Create an AVD (Android Virtual Device)
2. Choose Pixel 7 with API 34
3. Boot the emulator once to verify

xcrun simctl list devices available
xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 15"

Create tests/test_login.py:

from appium import webdriver
from appium.options.android import UiAutomator2Options
from appium.webdriver.common.appiumby import AppiumBy
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

options = UiAutomator2Options()
options.device_name = "Pixel_7_API_34"
options.app = "/path/to/app.apk"

driver = webdriver.Remote("http://127.0.0.1:4723", options=options)

try:
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "email").send_keys("admin@example.com")
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "password").send_keys("Sup3rSecret!")
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "submit").click()

    WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(
        EC.presence_of_element_located((AppiumBy.XPATH, "//*[contains(@text, 'Welcome')]"))
    )
    print("Test passed")
finally:
    driver.quit()

Run it with python tests/test_login.py.

from appium import webdriver
from appium.options.ios import XCUITestOptions
from appium.webdriver.common.appiumby import AppiumBy

options = XCUITestOptions()
options.device_name = "iPhone 15"
options.platform_version = "17.0"
options.app = "/path/to/app.app"

driver = webdriver.Remote("http://127.0.0.1:4723", options=options)

try:
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ACCESSIBILITY_ID, "email").send_keys("admin@example.com")
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ACCESSIBILITY_ID, "password").send_keys("Sup3rSecret!")
    driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ACCESSIBILITY_ID, "submit").click()

    welcome = driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ACCESSIBILITY_ID, "welcome")
    assert "Welcome" in welcome.text
    print("Test passed")
finally:
    driver.quit()

Priority order

Android examples

# By resource ID
driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ANDROID_UIAUTOMATOR,
    'new UiSelector().resourceId("com.example:id/submit")').click()

# By text
driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ANDROID_UIAUTOMATOR,
    'new UiSelector().textContains("Submit")').click()

iOS examples

# By label
driver.find_element(AppiumBy.IOS_PREDICATE, 'label == "Submit"').click()

# By type and label
driver.find_element(AppiumBy.IOS_PREDICATE,
    'type == "XCUIElementTypeButton" AND label == "Submit"').click()

# Tap
driver.tap([(540, 1200)])

# Swipe
driver.swipe(540, 1500, 540, 500, 500)

# Long press
from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

element = driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "menu-item")
actions = ActionChains(driver)
actions.click_and_hold(element).pause(1).release().perform()

Run on BrowserStack or Sauce Labs:

options = UiAutomator2Options()
options.device_name = "Google Pixel 7"
options.platform_version = "14.0"
options.app = "bs://<your-app-hash>"
options.set_capability("bstack:options", {
    "userName": "your_username",
    "accessKey": "your_access_key",
})

driver = webdriver.Remote(
    "https://hub-cloud.browserstack.com/wd/hub",
    options=options
)

The same cloud-grid pattern works for browser tests — see our Playwright Cloud Testing guide.

Page Object Model for mobile

class LoginScreen:
    def __init__(self, driver):
        self.driver = driver
        self.email_field = driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "email")
        self.password_field = driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "password")
        self.submit_button = driver.find_element(AppiumBy.ID, "submit")

    def login(self, email, password):
        self.email_field.send_keys(email)
        self.password_field.send_keys(password)
        self.submit_button.click()
        return DashboardScreen(self.driver)

Multi-platform tests

@pytest.mark.parametrize("platform", ["android", "ios"])
def test_login(platform):
    if platform == "android":
        options = UiAutomator2Options()
    else:
        options = XCUITestOptions()

    options.app = f"/path/to/{platform}/app"
    driver = webdriver.Remote("http://127.0.0.1:4723", options=options)
    # ... test logic

Hybrid app testing

# Switch to webview context
contexts = driver.contexts
driver.switch_to.context(contexts[1])

driver.find_element(By.ID, "web-element").click()

# Switch back to native
driver.switch_to.context(contexts[0])

Do

• Set accessibility IDs in app source code
• Use real devices for final validation
• Use emulators for development and CI
• Reset app state between tests
• Adapt the Page Object Model for mobile screens

Don't

• Don't use absolute XPath
• Don't share app state across tests
• Don't run mobile tests on Wi-Fi in CI
• Don't ignore accessibility (legal requirement)

• Appium A to Z Tutorial
• Appium vs Espresso
• Mobile App Testing Services
• Playwright Cloud Testing
• Selenium WebDriver Guide