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Jeroline | Posted on | 2 min Read

Appium vs Espresso: The Most Popular Automation Testing Framework

Mobile app automation testing has become essential for ensuring the quality and performance of apps in today’s competitive market. With shorter release cycles and tighter budgets, choosing the right automation testing framework can significantly impact your app’s success. While there are many automation frameworks available, Appium and Espresso have emerged as two of the most widely used frameworks for mobile app testing. 

 

This blog provides a detailed comparison of Appium vs Espresso, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases to help you decide which framework is right for your needs. 

Appium vs Espresso

Mobile app automation testing has evolved as a crucial aspect of the mobile app development process to help deliver better quality solutions, under controlled time cycles and cost schedules. But for delivering bug-free app, choosing the best suitable automation testing framework for your app is very important. There are many automation testing frameworks available in the market with exceptional capacities. This blog is all about Appium vs Espresso and we will analyze which of these two most widely used Automation testing frameworks is preferable for your app testing.  

 

Espresso was not preferred because of its flakiness and instability issues. But, from the time Google has brought Android Test Orchestrator, a Gradle test option, instability and unreliability of Android Espresso tests have vanished. This, in turn, is creating a serious problem for the most popular automation framework Appium.  

 

Let’s find out in this blog if Espresso now comes with a power to kill Appium or Appium can hold its stand in this fiercely competitive market. 

Appium vs espresso1

What is Appium?

Appium is an open-source, cross-platform mobile automation testing framework that supports the testing of native, hybrid, and web apps. It enables testing on real devices, emulators, and simulators, making it a versatile choice for mobile app testing. Appium’s architecture uses the Selenium WebDriver protocol, which allows cross-platform compatibility, enabling the same test scripts to work for both Android and iOS apps. 

Advantages of Using Appium

  1. Facilitates Test Execution Without a Server Machine 
    Appium is built on a Node.js-based runtime, making it lightweight and capable of running on local machines without requiring a dedicated server.

     

  2. No App Code Recompilation Required 

Appium enables testers to run automation tests without modifying or recompiling the app code, making it highly flexible for both native and cross-platform apps.
 

3. Automates Various Types of Mobile Apps 

Whether it’s a web, hybrid, or native app, Appium supports automation across all app types using the same framework. 

 

4. Supports Real Devices, Emulators, and Simulators 

Appium enables testers to run tests on real devices for accurate usability testing while also supporting emulators and simulators for faster test execution. 

 

5. Record and Playback Tool for Quick Test Creation 

Appium’s inspector allows testers to record app behavior and generate scripts in multiple programming languages such as Java, Python, Ruby, and C#. 

 

6. Cross-Platform Compatibility 

Appium enables you to run the same test script on both Android and iOS platforms, reducing the effort required for cross-platform app testing. 

 

7. Supports Multiple Programming Languages 

Appium integrates with WebDriver-compatible languages, including Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, C#, and Objective-C, allowing testers to write scripts in their preferred language. 

Disadvantages of Using Appium

  1. Limited Gesture Support 

Common mobile gestures, such as double-tap, may not be natively supported in Appium’s Java-client libraries, requiring workarounds. 

2. No Support for Concurrent iOS Simulator Testing 

Appium does not allow running multiple test scripts on iOS simulators concurrently, which can slow down large-scale iOS testing. 

3. Limited Image Recognition Capability 

Appium struggles with image-based testing as it cannot recognize images automatically and requires screen coordinates for locating visual elements. 

4. No Support for Older Android Versions 

Appium only supports Android 4.2 and above, making it difficult to test apps targeting older Android APIs. 

What is Espresso?

Espresso is Google’s UI testing framework for Android apps. It provides fast, reliable UI testing by synchronizing test actions with the app’s user interface and ensuring that the app’s activities have completed before the test starts. 

With the introduction of Android Test Orchestrator, Google has addressed common issues like flaky tests and shared states, making Espresso more stable and reliable. 

Advantages of Using Espresso

  1. Integration with Gradle
    Espresso is fully integrated with Android Studio and Gradle, enabling developers to run tests directly from the command line or IDE with minimal setup. 

  2. Android Test Orchestrator for Reliability 

The Android Test Orchestrator runs each test in its own sandboxed environment, ensuring minimal shared state and isolating crashes, leading to more reliable test results. 

3. Less Flakiness 

Espresso’s built-in synchronization mechanism ensures that test actions are executed only when the app’s UI is idle, reducing flakiness caused by asynchronous operations. 

4. Developer-Friendly Test Automation 

Since Espresso is based on Java and JUnit, Android developers can quickly adopt it without additional learning curves or external dependencies. 

5. Fast Feedback Loop 

Unlike Appium, Espresso runs alongside the app without requiring a server, resulting in faster test execution and immediate feedback. 

6. Simple Test Suite Management 

Espresso allows developers to package their tests as standalone APKs, which can be installed alongside the app and executed easily. 

Disadvantages of Using Espresso 

1.Requires Access to the App’s Source Code 

Espresso requires access to the app’s source code, limiting its use for black-box testing or when working with third-party apps. 

 

2. Narrow Focus (Android-Only) 

Espresso is designed exclusively for Android, so separate frameworks (like XCTest) are required for iOS testing, resulting in increased effort for cross-platform apps. 

 

3. Requires Emulator Experience 

Running Espresso tests requires familiarity with launching and managing Android apps on emulators, which may add complexity for QA teams unfamiliar with Android development. 

 

Appium vs Espresso: Key Differences 

Criteria 

Appium 

Espresso 

Platform Support 

Android and iOS 

Android only 

Source Code Access 

Not required 

Required 

Test Type 

Black-box and white-box testing 

Primarily white-box testing 

Programming Language 

Supports multiple languages (Java, Python, C#, etc.) 

Java and Kotlin (via JUnit) 

Test Execution 

Requires Appium server 

Runs directly in the app process 

Cross-Platform 

Yes 

No 

Test Reliability 

May face flakiness due to external dependencies 

High reliability with built-in synchronization 

Integration 

Requires WebDriver integration for advanced features 

Fully integrated with Android Studio 

When to Use Appium 

    • When you require black-box testing without access to the app’s source code. 
    • When you want to use a familiar WebDriver-based framework with support for multiple languages. 

When to Use Espresso

    • When you are building a native Android app and need fast, reliable UI testing. 
    • When you need a developer-friendly testing framework that integrates seamlessly with Android Studio. 
    • When you prioritize faster feedback loops for CI/CD pipelines. 

Conclusion

Both Appium and Espresso offer powerful capabilities for mobile app testing, but the right choice depends on your app’s requirements. If you need a cross-platform solution that supports both Android and iOS, Appium is the better option. However, if you’re focused solely on Android and need a reliable, fast UI testing framework, Espresso is ideal. 

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Varun Kumar | Posted on | 2 min Read

Run Espresso on pCloudy using pCoudy Utility

Espresso is a testing framework for Android which automatically synchronizes your test actions with the UI of your app. It also lets the test wait until all the background activities have finished.
 
The pCloudy utility uploads your Application APK, test APK and other APK files to pCloudy. It will then acquire a device to run your test on, execute those tests and report back the status and test report.
 
In pCloudy you don’t have to set up the environment. Just follow these simple steps.
 
After the test cases are run you can see the detailed reports. Once automation ends, the device under test will be released automatically so that you or other users can use it later.
 
There are two ways you can execute espresso test cases. Here are the steps for both
 
1. pCloudy UI Dashboard
a. In pCloudy UI there is a section called Automation where you will find multiple automation frameworks integrated to the platform.
b.Select the Espresso automation and to fill in the required details.

 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
c. pCloudy Support two TestRunners.
i. AndroidJUnitRunner (android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner)
ii. AndroidXJUnitRunner (androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner)
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
d. Select your Application and Test Application.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
e. Select the required devices.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
f. Click on Next button and Schedule the automation by clicking on the Schedule button.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
g. You will get a dialog box. Click on Ok.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
Espresso-on-pCloudy
h. You will get the active session details on the Dashboard and you will also be able to see the Live view.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
i. Liveview will help you to see the live execution on your test cases. Click on the Liveview icon
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
2.pCloudy Utility
 
a. Download the espresso starter pack from here and Unzip it
b. You will find two files,
i. pCloudy_Espresso.jar
ii.Config.properties
c. Place the config.properties file and pCloudy_Espresso.js file into the same directory.
d. Update the config.properties file as guided in the comments in the file.
e. In your workspace, run the command by typing the java -jar pCloudy_Espresso.jar
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
f. This will upload the required files which you have mentioned inside the config.properties files.

g. You will get the status of the Automation in pCloudy Dashboard ActiveSession.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
 
h. Even on the pCloudy dashboard, you can use the Liveview by which you can see the running test cases.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
i. Once the test execution is over, You will get a URL of the test execution report on the terminal.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
j. You can open the report from the dashboard Report section also. In the report, all the test details will be there as shown in the screenshots below.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
 
k. You will also get individual device reports. Inside the test case level details, you will find performance details, test case logs, device logs, and video files.
 
Espresso-on-pCloudy
Espresso-on-pCloudy

Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

How to Run Espresso Test on Remote Devices

What is Expresso Framework?

Espresso is a testing framework used to write UI test cases. It automatically tests your actions with the UI of your application. The framework also ensures that your activity is started before the test run. It can be used to test across multiple applications. If used for testing outside application, you can perform only black box testing. as you cannot the classes inside the application.
 

Espresso has three components:

ViewMatchers: Allows to find the view in the current view library.
ViewActions: Allows to perform actions on the view
ViewAssertions: Allows to assert state of the view
 

Why Espresso?

It's fast: It is really important to run test cases at a fast pace as there can be many tests. UI test takes time and is costly and it is possible that you might not be able to run all the tests.
 
It's easy to setup: Setup process on local machines is easy and Android developers feel comfortable in the mobile SDK language which they use every day.
 
It's less flaky: Automated DevOps process required fast and reliable feedback. Test written in native tools is much less flaky. It gives more control over the application: It is white box testing, Espresso is inside the application, it has access to and knows how to use the code that actually runs the application for more thorough testing of each element.
 
You can use Espresso cheat sheet for quick reference as it contains most available instances of Matcher, ViewAction, and ViewAssertion.
 
espresso-cheatsheet

Source: https://developer.android.com/training/testing/espresso/cheat-sheet

 

Steps for running your Test scripts in Espresso using pCloudy:

Login over https://device.pcloudy.com with your registered Email ID & Password.
To schedule "Espresso" over pCloudy, follow the following steps-

  • Go to the "Automation" page.
  • Select the Automation tool as "Espresso".
  • Select "Instrumentation Type" based on the Test Scripts you've written.

    •  
    espresso 1
    Note: pCloudy provides support for Instrumentation Type(InstrumentationTestRunner, AndroidJUnitRunner, and AndroidXJUnitRunner) for Android.
     

  • Select the Application APK and Test APK that you must have uploaded in the MY APP/DATA section.
  • Select the single device execution time and assign a name to your test cycle.
  • In the next step, Click on "ADD" to add the device for testing and click on " Next".
  • Now you can select the devices by clicking on the "ADD" button. You can also use the device filter to make it easier to search for a device. Click on next once the devices are selected.

    •  
    E2

  • Click on "Schedule" to start the test.

    •  
    E3

  • Go to your email inbox and open pCloudy Automation Alert mail. Click on the given link “Click to view Report”.

    •  
    E4-

  • Now you have the result of your scheduled test automation.

 
E-5
 

Take a look at this GIF to understand the flow of actions taken to run the test cycle.
Webp.net-gifmaker (2)
Software developers tend to make mistakes as app development is a very complex process. This means that the app will contain bugs. Espresso helps us detect errors that may have been made in the development, ensuring the reliability of the client and his satisfaction with the application.

 
Related Articles:

  • Automated Testing Using Espresso
  • Run Espresso in pCloudy Using Gradle
  • Appium vs Espresso: The Most Popular Automation Testing Framework in 2019
  • Espresso with pCloudy.com
  • Basics of Appium Mobile Testing

    • Avinash Tiwari | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Year in Review

    pCloudy 2016 at a Glance

     

    I hope you had an amazing year, so we hope you are enjoying the festive time with your family and friends. We would like to take a moment to thank you for supporting us through out the year, which has been a great year for pCloudy. We achieved several milestones in the year 2016. Here is summing up the year. Thanks again and wishing you happy holidays.

    Summing Up the Year

    Geography

    pCloudy extended its device cloud operations to US and Philippines. Our customers are now able to test their Apps on local devices and local networks of India, US and Philippines.

    world-template

    Device Cloud Growth

    We grew rapidly this year becoming one of the largest device cloud provider from India.

    2016-achievements

    Industry Recognition

    pCloudy got recognition from top Industry Analysts from across the globe.

    Gartner_logo ET Telecom tech-portal

    Presence in Global Events

    pCloudy was part of all major global testing conferences. Support of audience was phenomenal.

    Jenkins World 2016

    jenkinsjenkins-world-2016

    Software Testing 2016

    stc-event-pcloudystc-logo

    Start East Testing 2016

    star-east-pcloudystareast

    New and Improved UI for Device Access

    Based on feedbacks from users, we came up with new UI for device access page. Now it’s easier and faster to test Apps on devices. We received many thumbs up from the users.

    new-ui

    Launch of in-built Automation Engine (OpKey Integration with pCloudy)

    pCloudy becomes the only device cloud to have a record and playback engine in-built. This allows customers to quickly create automated scripts without writing a single line of code.

    opkey-spy-mode

    Robotic Integration for IOT App Testing

    The future of app testing in IoT lies in integrating app interaction with external hardware triggers. pCloudy released it’s first version of pBot for NFC and Payment terminal testing.

    roboticintegration

    Advance Features

    We implemented many new features to ensure that our users gets full range of Test capabilities for their Mobile Apps.

    ADB Bridge – Developers can use this feature for real time debugging of their Apps

    adbconnect

    Network Simulation – Now Apps can be tested on variety of Network conditions

    network_simulation_ui

    Automation Live view – While users could run their tests on multiple devices, now they can see it as well

    automationliveview

    Support for new tools

    pCloudy now supports most of the popular open source tools used by Dev and Test community. We added Espresso, Monkey Test

    espresso-new monkey-test

    Many New Integrations

    While we had a great working platform in by the end of 2015, there were still several integrations required. We wanted to give far more to our customers – Jenkins, Android Studio Plug-in, Eclipse Plug-in.

    jenkins android-studio eclipse

    A Lot of Fun

    fun-activities

    Final Words

    We are very happy about all of our achievements in 2016, but even more so, we wish you many new exciting starts and remarkable successes in 2017. Our team will continue to exert every effort to improve our products and make your Mobile App triumph with pCloudy platform.

    Have a Happy Holiday and New Year.

    Avinash Tiwari | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Automated Testing Using Espresso

    Automation Testing With Espresso

     

    Now you can run your Espresso Scripts on hundreds of Mobile devices over pCloudy.com.

    Espresso is a testing framework for Android apps. The platform allows you to write concise and reliable Android UI tests. pCloudy.com provides you the platform to run these scripts on multiple mobile devices of your choice.

    Here are the steps for running your Test Scripts on multiple Android Devices:

    • Login over www.pcloudy.com with your registered Email ID & Password.
    • Choose Instrumentation Type based on your Test Scripts you’ve written. pCloudy provides support for Instrumentation Type
    • (InstrumentationTestRunner, AndroidJUnitRunner) for Android. For more information, see Instrumentation in the Testing Fundamentals section of the Android Developer Tools documentation.
    • Go to the Automator Page
    • Select Android OS version & Manufacturer
    • Choose Espresso (to run Espresso Scripts)
    • Select Instrumentation Type (TestInstrumentationRunner/AndroidJUnitRunner).
    • Select Application .apk file (the App to be tested)
    • Select Test Script .apk file (the Test Script developed for testing)
    • Enter Single Device execution Time (Time required for the entire script to be executed on single device)
    • Enter Name of your Test Cycle (this name will represent your Test Cycle)
    • Click on Schedule Test Cycle

    test-automator

    In the next step, you need to confirm schedule of test automation. Here, you can see your selected application, test script, device etc.

    confirm-test-cycle

    Further, you get a pop up message of test automation schedule confirmation.

    Click on OK to proceed.

    test-cycle-scheduling-successful

    Go to your mailbox and open pCloudy Automation Alert mail.
    Click on the given link “Click to view Report”.

    simplest-online-device-cloud

    Finally, you get result of your scheduled test automation.

    cloud-automator-report

    Avinash Tiwari | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Espresso with pCloudy.com

    Espresso with pCloudy

     
    Now, run your Espresso Scripts on hundreds of Mobile devices and build quality apps faster than ever.

    Several Mobile Automation Frameworks like Robotium, Calabash, Appium , KIF & uiautomator have been developed in recent years. Among a few popular ones, Espresso is one of them.

    You probably know, Espresso is a testing framework for Android apps. It is predominantly used by developers and testers for testing user interactions (UI) to ensure that users do not encounter crashes or unexpected results while using an app.

    There are several benefits of using Espresso, the primary ones are:

    • It automatically synchronises test actions with the UI of the app being tested. Meaning? To improve the reliability of tests, it detects when the main thread is idle and runs the test commands at the appropriate time.
    • This capability also relieves you from having to add any timing workarounds, such as a sleep period in your test code.
    • Espresso has an API that is small, easy to learn and built on top of the Android instrumentation framework.
    • It also supports testing activities outside the app like camera, browser and dialer etc which Appium does not support.

    However, when you have limited time and money it is a challenge to take full advantage of your Espresso scripts in improving the quality of your apps. Luckily, there are ways to overcome this.

    Conventionally, you would spend a huge amount of money to purchase several Android devices, and spend endless hours running your scripts independently on each device. Today, thankfully you don’t have to do this anymore, there is good news. With the help of a cloud-based testing platform like pCloudy.com, you can run your scripts on hundreds on real mobile devices in parallel.

    Yes, using pCloudy.com you can test your apps on any device of your choice and pay a just minimum price for the time you’ve used the device. You can not only save money, but you can also save your time by running your test scripts on multiple devices in parallel and get a detailed execution report.
     

    Here’s how you can use Espresso on pCloudy devices: