Live Mobile App Testing
Take control over our real devices with your mouse and keyboard, straight from your own browser, without having to install any plugin or program.
Simply upload your iOS or Android app to TestingBot, pick the device you want to test on, and TestingBot will give you a live session with the real device.
Uploading a mobile App
You can upload your mobile app either through the TestingBot UI or via an API call.
Upload via the UI
To upload a mobile app through the TestingBot UI, simply go to the member dashboard and:
- Click Live App Testing
- Under Select Source click Uploaded Apps
- Either drag your mobile application on the page, or click Upload App to browser for the file
Currently we accept these file formats:
-
.aab
,.apk
for Android -
.ipa
,.zip
for iOS
Deleting a mobile App
To delete a mobile app, you can use the TestingBot UI or use our REST API.
Delete via the UI
To upload a mobile app through the TestingBot UI, simply go to the member dashboard and:
- Click Live App Testing
- Under Select Source click Uploaded Apps
- Click the trash icon in the bottom right corner of the list
- Select one or more apps you wish to delete
- Click Delete Apps
Selecting a Mobile Device
Once you've selected a mobile app, you will need to select the device you want to run tests on. You can choose to select a Virtual Device or a Real Device by using the navigation tabs on the page.
Real Devices
To use a Real Device, click the Real Device Testing tab.
- Click an available device from the devices list
- Make sure to select an iOS device if you've selected an iOS app (
.ipa
), or an Android device if you've selected an Android app (.apk
) - Click the Start button
Virtual Devices
To use a Virtual Device, click the Emulator & Simulator Testing tab.
- Select an app you've uploaded, or the sample Android/iOS TestingBot app.
- Click the Android or iOS tab in the virtual device list
- Select an iOS simulator if you've selected an iOS app (
.ipa
), or an Android emulator if you've selected an Android app (.apk
) - Click the Start button
Time Limits and Timeouts for Live App Testing
- Live tests will last a maximum of 5 minutes at a time for trial users.
- Live tests for paid users will timeout after 15 minutes of inactivity
Live Test Interface
Below is some more information on the various functions that the TestingBot Live App Testing UI provides.
Icon | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Switch Device |
Change to a different device. This will start a new session, you will lose the session with the current device. |
|
Zoom |
Zoom in or out. This will make the device's screen appear larger or smaller. This only affects the view in your browser, it does not change anything on the device itself. |
|
Rotate |
Rotates the device. Either from PORTRAIT to LANDSCAPE or vice-versa. |
|
Screenshot |
Takes a screenshot from the device. A screenshot editor will appear, allowing you to annotate the image. Download the screenshot with the download button. |
|
Copy/Paste |
Copy or paste from or to the device. If you've selected the copy/paste permission in your browser, TestingBot will automatically keep your local and remote clipboard in sync. |
|
DevTools |
This will open the developer tools for the device. Retrieve realtime logs from the device. Use the Inspector functionality to drill down in the view hierarchy to copy element locators (such as XPath). |
|
GPS Location |
Set a (new) mock location for the GPS of the device. If your app uses GPS functionality, it will receive this mock location |
|
Locale |
Set a new locale for the entire device. Useful if your app is multilingual. Test your app in different languages. |
|
Device Settings |
Change various device settings. Switch between light and dark mode instantly. |
|
Stop Session |
Stops the current session. Logs and a video of the test will be available in the TestingBot member area. |
Audio
Audio is available during manual mobile app testing, for certain devices.
Virtual Devices
Audio is available for all Android emulators and iOS Simulators. TestingBot will stream the audio generated by the virtual device to your webbrowser.
Physical Devices
Android devices with Android version 12 and higher will stream the audio to your browser, you will all the audio generated on the device.
For iOS devices with iOS version 14 and higher, you will hear the audio from the device in realtime.
Older physical devices do not have the audio streaming capabilities. These will only stream a live video view of the device.
Device Logs
TestingBot provides a real-time stream of the device logs during the manual live session.
You can switch between these device log levels:
-
VERBOSE
(default) -
DEBUG
-
INFO
-
WARNING
-
ERROR
You can use the search input bar to search between the generated logs.
Icon | Functionality |
---|---|
The download icon allows you to download the entire device logs generated thus far, without any filtering. | |
The trash icon will clear the history of the logs. Only new log entries will be added to the realtime view. |
Testing Local Websites/Apps
With our TestingBot Tunnel you can easily and securily connect your local computer/network with TestingBot's Real Devices.
Known Limitations
-
Localhost testing does not work on iOS.
Due to an iOS Restriction, it is currently not possible to run tests against
http(s)://localhost
with TestingBot Tunnel.A possible workaround would be to change the hosts file on the machine running TestingBot Tunnel, and add a custom hostname (for example
mylocalwebsite
and the IP address127.0.0.1
).
Then configure your tests to usehttp(s)://mylocalwebsite/...
instead of localhost.