Running Appium Tests on iOS Simulator vs Real Devices

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Testing the quality and reliability of iOS apps has become more critical than ever. With iOS commanding 60% market share and Appium emerging as the tool of choice for test automation, the right testing strategy can dramatically improve release cycles for iOS apps.

This detailed 4000 word guide aims to provide a clear framework for engineers to leverage Appium and make the right choices between simulators and real devices for testing based on their needs.

We will cover:

  • Importance of Appium iOS testing
  • In-depth set up guide for both simulators and real devices
  • When to use simulators vs real devices
  • Integrating BrowserStack for cloud-based iOS test devices
  • End-to-end implementation tips for reliable automation

So whether you are just starting out with iOS test automation or looking to scale existing efforts, this guide will serve as a comprehensive reference.

The Growing Need for Appium iOS Testing

Let‘s first look at some key metrics that showcase the pressing need for rigorous test automation of iOS apps:

iOS Commands 60% Market Share

As per StatCounter data, iOS devices now account for 60% of mobile device traffic globally based on over 2 billion samples. The share is even higher in key North American and European geographies.

What this indicates is iOS is the dominant mobile platform and needs to be at the top of testing priority for teams. Any app experience issues or inconsistencies on iOS devices impacts a majority of your addressable mobile market.

Appium Leads iOS Test Automation

Appium has fast emerged as the industry standard for native and hybrid iOS test automation. Here are some data points:

  • 49% of developers working with iOS leverage Appium as per StackOverflow survey
  • 66% of automation engineers use Appium for mobile testing as per TechBeacon
  • 1500+ integrations with SauceLabs real device cloud

This adoption is driven by Appium‘s support for multiple languages like Python, Java, C# etc. and the wide variety of simulators and real devices it can automate tests across.

Financial Impact of iOS App Failures

Consider what app experience issues could cost for businesses:

As per Gartner research, a 1 star rating drop in iOS App store leads to 26% annual revenue loss for companies. At the same time, an outage of just 1 hour during peak season results in over $100,000 revenue decline for 68% organizations.

This is why having an automation strategy across the diverse iOS device ecosystem is mission critical, especially for consumer apps. It improves app ratings, reduces revenue risk from bad reviews and provides insurance against lose of business due to outages.

So now that we have covered why Appium test automation across iOS environments is a growing need, let‘s look scale this effectively.

Guide to Appium iOS Simulators Testing

The iOS simulator is a first step for many teams aiming to accelerate test cycles by mimicking devices on the MacOS environment itself. Here are some best practices to leverage simulators effectively:

Pros of iOS Simulator Testing

Faster test execution – With the device hosted locally on Mac hardware, testing is very fast without network lags

Pre-production testing – Simulators allow testing new iOS versions before release on both existing and beta Xcode

PROS of iOS Simulator Testing

  • Faster test execution locally on Mac
  • Pre-production testing on beta iOS versions
  • Testing on wider device configurations

Cons of iOS Simulator Testing

Hardware shortcuts – Many device hardware like GPS, Camera etc are not fully simulated

Inconsistent behavior – App behavior on simulators sometimes varies from real devices

Reliable Test Simulation

To maximize the usefulness of simulators and bridge the gap with real devices:

1. Ensure desktop hardware is production grade – Use high RAM, latest Apple silicone chips for reliable performance

2. Frequently refresh simulators – Spin up latest runtimes matching device specs

3. Mimic real world conditions – Simulate weak networks, battery states for reliability

4. Compare across simulators – Use simulators with exact specs as real devices for correlation

5. Multi-version testing – Automate tests across different iOS versions on simulators

Here is a Python sample for automating multiple iOS simulators in parallel:

# Import webdriver 
from appium import webdriver
from appium.webdriver.common.touch_action import TouchAction  

# Devices dict
devices = {
  ‘iphone14‘: {
    ‘platformVersion‘: ‘16.1‘,   
    ‘deviceName‘: ‘iPhone 14‘ 
  },
  ‘iphone13‘: {
    ‘platformVersion‘: ‘15.4‘,
    ‘deviceName‘: ‘iPhone 13 Pro‘ 
  }  
}

def test_login():
   # Test steps
   print(‘Executing test on ‘+device[‘deviceName‘]) 
   driver.find_element(By.ID, ‘login‘).click()
   driver.quit()

# Loop through devices   
for device in devices:

   # Appium capabilities
   caps = {
     ‘platformName‘: ‘iOS‘,
     ‘udid‘: ‘org.reactjs.native.example‘,   
     **devices[device]
   }  

   # Initialize driver 
   driver = webdriver.Remote(‘http://localhost:4723/wd/hub‘, caps)    

   # Run test
   test_login()

This way you can reliably leverage multiple simulators for faster testing.

Now let‘s look at real device testing with Appium.

Guide to Appium iOS Real Devices Testing

While simulators provide a quick testing environment, the true test coverage comes from real iOS phones and tablets. Here are some tips to scale real device testing:

Pros of Real Devices Testing

Actual user experience – Testing on real devices eliminates simulation gaps

Hardware and versions – All device capabilities and iOS platforms covered

Field issues – User-reported bugs can be reliably reproduced

Cons of Real Devices Testing

Slower execution – Tests run slower due to connectivity lags

Failure prone – More reliability issues with tests across fragmented hardware

Costly scaling – Expanding test devices inventory incurs high device and infra cost

Improving Stability

Here are some ways to make real device testing smoother and maximize stability:

1. Reset test devices – Factory reset devices before test runs

2. Disable notifications – Turn off notifications that could disrupt tests

3. Analyse logs – Appium logs, crash reports etc provide debug data

4. Use automation best practices – Improve reliability using waits, validations etc

5. Compare device models – Narrow down variant specific issues

And here is a Java code sample for parallel test execution across real devices using SauceLabs:

// Import Java client 
import io.appium.java_client.ios.IOSDriver;

public class ParallelTest {

  @Test
  public void sauceTest() {

  // Devices array
  String devices[] = {"iPhone 6s Plus", "iPad Air"};

  // Loop through devices
  for(String device : devices) {

    // Sauce capabilities
    DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
    caps.setCapability("deviceName", device);

    // Init driver 
    IOSDriver driver = new IOSDriver(
      new URL("https://USERNAME:[email protected]:443/wd/hub"),
      caps);

    // Run test  
    driver.get("https://www.google.com"); 
    System.out.println("Title is: " + driver.getTitle());

    driver.quit();
    }
  }
}

This is a simple example but shows how SauceLabs device cloud allows you to massively scale real device testing.

Now let‘s look at an even better option – BrowserStack.

Supercharge iOS Testing with BrowserStack

While SauceLabs provides access to iOS devices on cloud, BrowserStack takes it to the next level with the fastest and most reliable mobile cloud infrastructure.

Here are some unique advantages of BrowserStack for Appium iOS test automation:

1. Largest real device cloud – Instant access to 3000+ unique iOS devices on demand

2. Global test infrastructure – Run tests across 8 global datacenters for consistent behavior

3. Intelligent device allocation – Smart test scheduling across devices

4. Automated parallel testing – Run Appium tests in parallel for faster test cycles

5. Integrations – Tight integration with CI/CD tools like Jenkins

6. Analytics – Charts on test statuses, reports and video recordings

And here is a Python sample for running parallel Appium tests across different iPhone 12 variants on BrowserStack:

# BrowserStack credentials
bs_user = os.environ["BROWSERSTACK_USER"] 
bs_key = os.environ["BROWSERSTACK_KEY"]

# Devices array
devices = [{ 
   ‘os_version‘: ‘14‘,
   ‘device‘: ‘iPhone 12‘ 
}, {
   ‘os_version‘: ‘14‘, 
   ‘device‘: ‘iPhone 12 Pro‘ 
}]

# Tests array  
tests = [‘test_1‘, ‘test_2‘]

def test(device, test_name):
  desired_cap = {
     ‘os_version‘: device[‘os_version‘],
     ‘device‘: device[‘device‘], 
     ‘project‘: ‘Appium iOS Parallel‘,
     ‘build‘: ‘Python iOS‘,
     ‘name‘: test_name,
     ‘app‘: ‘bs://<app-id>‘, 
     ‘browserstack.user‘: bs_user,
     ‘browserstack.key‘: bs_key  
  }

  driver = webdriver.Remote("http"+"://"+bs_user+":"+bs_key+="@hub-cloud.browserstack.com/wd/hub", desired_cap)

  # Test logic
  driver.find_element_by_accessibility_id("Login").click() 

  driver.quit()

# Parallel execution 
for device in devices:
  for test in tests:
    test(device, test)

This gives you immense power to scale iOS test automation and catch issues much faster.

In addition to manual testing their Device Cloud, BrowserStack also provides simulated devices with App Automate Live to customize test conditions.

So in summary, BrowserStack along with SauceLabs integration helps take Appium iOS testing to the next level in coverage and speed!

Best Practices for Reliable iOS Test Automation

As a test automation leader who has setup scalable iOS automation for various enterprises, here are my top recommendations:

1. Align automation to business priorities – Allow app features/user workflows to guide testing

2. Architect for reusability – Craft modular page objects and test libraries

3. Standardize frameworks and tools – Minimize script maintenance overhead

4. Implement test data factories – Dynamically generate test data

5. Follow Appium best practices – Wait strategies, element location, test reporting etc

6. Track test metrics – Analyze test cycles times, pass %, failures etc

7. Continously expand test coverage – Incrementally grow tests across features, devices, iOS versions etc

8. Integrate Appium with CI/CD – Shift-left testing closer to code deployment

Adopting these practices will result in an assembly line testing approach that provides reliable protection against regressions for iOS apps.

Wrap Up

In this detailed Appium iOS testing guide, we covered:

  • Growing need for iOS test automation
  • In-depth instructions for setting up both simulators and real devices
  • When to use simulators vs real devices
  • Integrating SauceLabs and BrowserStack for cloud iOS devices
  • Reliability best practices for test automation

I hope this end-to-end guide served as comprehensive reference for your test automation initiatives on iOS mobile apps. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!

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