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Author: Suyash Dubey

Suyash is a content strategist at pCloudy. He is a frequent contributor to the world's leading mobile technology blogs and tech forums. In his spare time, you will find him reading detective novels, watching a documentary or exploring a new destination.

Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

What’s New in pCloudy 5.4

We are glad to announce the release of pCloudy 5.4 with exciting new features to make app testing simpler than ever. There is a possibility that you might be familiar with pCloudy, but for those who are new, pCloudy is a cloud-based mobile app testing platform. We have achieved many milestones in a short period of time because we resolve issues immediately and bring in new features on a regular basis. Case in point: This new version of pCloudy, where we have addressed the concerns of our users and added new features to optimize testing. Let’s have a look at all the features added in pCloudy 5.4.

 

CTRL + V

To test your app on a pCloudy device you need to login to device.pcloudy.com and then book a device by clicking on the devices tab. Just click on the available button next to the chosen device which will take you to the device interaction page. Earlier in the device window, you would have to use the virtual extended keyboard to enter text in the device. Although now you can just copy any text from your system and paste it in the device directly. So now instead of using an extended keyboard just use two buttons to enter the string in the device. This will save time and effort when working with multiple devices where you need to enter long text many times.
 

FollowMe new UI

To use the FollowMe feature you will have to instrument the app you want to perform the test on. Under devices section, click on the FollowMe tab then in the next screen choose the app, select the duration and devices on which you will perform the test. In the next screen, you will see the devices which you selected and two options (Softkeys and Screenshots) at the top right corner of the window. Now when you perform any action in the master device, that action gets replicated on the secondary device too. If you enter text, tap on a button, swipe, etc. in the master device then that will happen simultaneously in the secondary device.
 
pCloudy 5.4 New UI
For more information, refer to this link:-

https://www.pcloudy.com/mobile-application-testing-documentation/manual-app-testing/follow-me-app-testing.html
 

Appium on Pre Installed Apps

In pCloudy, you can run Appium tests on multiple devices in parallel. To perform a test using Appium, you need to feed in the capabilities. Some users want to test their apps more than once to perform different types of tests on the same app. To do that earlier the users had to install the app again and again. But now we have released an update through which you can perform different types of testing using Appium on the preinstalled apps. This will save you time and make the process easier.
 
Appium on Pre Installed Apps
So if you have already installed the app in the device and you want to perform a test on the same app then you don’t need to pass the Application Name capability.
 
For more information, refer to this link:-

https://www.pcloudy.com/mobile-application-testing-documentation/automation-testing/inspect-element-using-appium-desktop.html#running-appium-scripts
 

GitHub Integration

pCloudy is integrated with the most popular tools and frameworks to make testing convenient. A lot of users also requested to integrate Github repository and so we did it. Now you can directly upload your tasks and raise defects in the GitHub repository from pCloudy. Again this feature is added to make it convenient for our users to test and manage the tasks through pCloudy.
 
GitHub Integration
 
To make use of GitHub just login to device.pcloudy.com and click on the user name at the top right corner of the window. In the dropdown list click on settings and in the settings window click on GitHub tab and enter the URL and access key to register. Now in the device session screen, you can click on Collaborate and then select Log a bug in GitHub. A new window will open where you will be able to see the list of repositories, enter the issue type, enter the title, add the description and then click on the click on the Log A Bug In GitHub button. Then you can go to the GitHub to check all the issues raised whenever you want.
 

Summary

We are working on some more new features and very soon we will come up with the new version of pCloudy. This is a constant process and we always try to address the users issues and provide them updates on a regular basis. This is why we are achieving new heights and we will keep on working hard to provide the best service.

 
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Transforming DevOps

    DevOps helps enterprises to build software at a fast pace and with minimal issues. The time to market is accelerated and the bugs are fixed faster in continuous deployment with the help of automated tools. AI is much in line with DevOps as the main focus is on automating the process and with AI the system can identify patterns, anticipate issues and provide solutions. The proactive approach improves the overall efficiency of the software development life cycle. So let’s have a look at how AI is transforming DevOps.

     

    Feedback Loop and Correlate Data

    The main role of DevOps is to take continuous feedback at every stage of the process. often people use performance monitoring tools to get feedback on running applications. These tools gather much information in the form of log files, data sheets, performance matrix, and other types. The monitoring tools use machine learning to identify the issues early and make suggestions. The DevOps teams use these suggestions to make the necessary improvements to the application. Many times teams use two or more tools to monitor the health of the app and the data from all the platforms can be correlated by the help of machine learning to get a more deep understanding of the app functioning.
     
    AI Plan Release Debug - DevOps

    Software Testing

    AI is changing DevOps for good by enhancing the software development process and making testing more efficient. Whether it is regression testing, user acceptance testing or functional testing, these all produce a large amount of data. AI can figure out patterns in the data collected in the form of results and identify poor coding practices which produce a lot of errors. This information can be used by the DevOps teams to increase their efficiency.
     

    Anomaly Detection

    DevSecOps is one of the essential aspects of software development as security is the key to any successful software implementation. Distribution denial of service attacks are increasing and the business needs to prepare themselves to protect their security systems from hackers. DevSecOps can be augmented using artificial intelligence to enhance security by central logging architecture to record threats and running machine learning based anomaly detection. This will help businesses proactively attenuate the attack from hackers and DDOS.
     

    Alerts

    DevOps approach might create scenarios where the team receive an overwhelming amount of alerts without any priority tag. This will create ruckus in the teams as it will be very difficult to handle all the alerts in the continuous development environment. AI can help in this scenario by tagging the alerts and prioritizing them so that the urgent ones can be worked upon immediately.
     

    Root Cause Analysis

    To fix an issue permanently, a root cause analysis is necessary. Although it might take time to do it compared to fixing the issue with a patch which will provide the instant solution. In order to find the root cause of an issue, the developers will have to spend time which will delay the release of the product. AI can speed up the process by finding patterns in the data collected and implement to fix the root cause.
     
    The collected data can be used by implementing AI to find a pattern and speeding up the development process. The organized data is more useful and makes prediction possible. The best practice is to use machine learning to automate the tasks which are time-consuming which will ensure the smooth and effective functioning of the DevOps teams.

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    5 Ways AI is Changing Test Automation

    Software testing has evolved a lot since the time when the waterfall model was used. All the work was done in a sequential manner and only after the development phase was complete the testers used to test the product. Testers used to find bugs but a lot of time and energy was wasted in the process to rebuild and code again.

    Now companies are using an Agile model where the main goal is to find the bugs in continuous development, fix them quickly and release the app faster. There is a need to improve the automated testing process to complement the manual testing. More emphasis has been given to CI, CD, and DevOps to make the software development effective.

    There has been a considerable change in the functioning of testing tools and test automation frameworks. The most important change is the introduction of AI in a test automation strategy.

    According to G2Crowd, AI-powered bots are expected to cut business cost by $8 billion by 2022. Testing bots are already empowering automation testing and will play a major role in reducing the time and effort spent in mobile app testing.

    Let’s have a look at how AI is breaking new ground for test automation.

    1. Running automated tests that matter

    It’s not a good strategy to run your entire test suite due to a very small change in your app that you couldn’t trace. You are probably already generating a lot of data from your test runs if you are doing continuous integration. But it will take a lot of time to go through the data and search for common patterns. So you need to know if you make a small change in code then what is the minimum number of test you need to run to figure out if the change is needed or not.

    2. Reducing maintenance and eliminating flaky test

    We can run several automated tests on a daily basis to ensure the functionalities of the app are still stable. Although, if we find out that half of this test failed. In that case, we would need to spend a lot of time to troubleshoot the failures and investigate the cause. Then there is a need to find ways to fix the failures and then work on the changes.

    software maintainance

    Using AI we can avoid issues and start detecting issues in the test before they even occur. So instead of reacting to it, we can proactively fix tests. AI can figure out which tests are stable or flaky based on the number of test runs and it can tell us what test needs to be modified to ensure test runs are stable. AI can also handle test running on different resolutions and can optimize the wait time used in the test to wait for the page to load.

    3. Dependencies on other modules

    Writing a test for systems having dependencies on other modules is also a challenge. AI can help us to mock responses from a database or server. The AI can start recording server responses once we have written the test and have run them for a period of time. So the next time we run the test it will access the stored responses and will continue to run without any obstacles. This will speed up the process as the delay in response is eliminated and the server or physical database is no more needed.

    4. Learning from production data

    Real user data can be used to create an automated test and with the help of AI, we can observe and learn how the customer is using our product. We can identify common actions such as search option, using filters, login/logout, etc and compile them into reusable components. These components can be used for our test as well. Therefore, we have an actual test written by AI based on the real data along with the reusable components.

    5. Easy execution of tests and speeding up the release

    In automation testing, the time and effort it takes to write and execute a test is a major challenge due to the complexity of the test automation tools, app, and programing language used. To mitigate these problems AI-based tools are being used. The use of dynamic locators and reusable components has made it possible to write and execute a test in hours which earlier used to take a week.

    Conclusion

    The DevOps theory says test early, test often, but this puts a lot of responsibility on the testing team. Also, it’s not feasible for testing teams to spend time to do exploratory testing manually for each new release. AI-based tools can perform codeless automation testing which will save us time and resources and give the testers some space to breathe.

    Related Articles:

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Run Espresso in pCloudy Using Gradle

    Do you know why Google has selected Gradle as the build system for Android Studio? Many Android developers work in a heterogeneous environment with different technology stacks. Gradle solves some of the hardest problems faced by the developers like how to automate the testing of apps and how to manage dependencies and variations that allow professional developers to develop variations of their app with one click. This is why pCloudy came up with a new update where you can now run Espresso with Gradle on pCloudy devices. Let’s get a brief introduction about Espresso and Gradle before we learn how to run Espresso with Gradle on pCloudy devices.
     
    Espresso is a testing framework for Android which automatically synchronizes your test actions with the UI of your app. It also let the test wait until all the background activities have finished.
     
    Gradle is an open source advanced build tool that allows seamless execution of tasks. It uses domain specific language and it is based on Groovy and Kotlin. It is a plugin based system so if you want to automate the task of building some package from sources then you can write the complete plugging in Java and share it with the world.
     
    Gradle allows efficient and repeatable use of espresso and Test Orchestrator which allows automated yet fine-tuned control of the way you run your test. You can decide which specific test suites to be run to distribute the test cases across different devices. It is preferred by developers as it allows deep unit and functional testing rigs.
     

    Power up your DevOps with Espresso and Gradle on pCloudy

    You would be running Espresso on your machine using Android Studio and Gradle. However, the test would be running on pCloudy device. There is a pCloudy Espresso script that is provided by us and you need to put that espresso script in the workspace of the project. Along with the Gradle script, you will also get a config file. The gradle script will read input parameters from this config file.
     
    Then you run Gradle to invoke the script which will upload your Application APK, test APK and other APK files to pCloudy. It would acquire a device to run your test on, it would execute those tests it will report back the status of what is happening into the Android Studio. After the test cases are run you can see the detailed reports and after that gradle script will release the device for other users to use.
     
    There is a one-time setup that you need to do to place the gradle script in the workspace and you need to fill in the configuration file. So when you run the gradle script it will complete all the task for you and generate the report.
     

    Steps to run Espresso with Gradle on pcloudy

     
    1. Download the espresso starter pack from here and Unzip it
    2. You will find three files,
    a. pCloudy_Espresso.jar
    b. Config.properties
    c. build.gradle.SAMPLE
    (This is a sample build.gradle that shows how to change your build.gradle to add the pCloudy Espresso jar.)
    3. Copy the contents of the file build.gradle.Sample to the build.gradle file of your Android Application to register the new Gradle task and update as appropriate (see the image below)
     
    33

    4. Place the config.properties file in your android workspace in the same directory as your build.gradle file.
     
    sdgef
    5. Update the config.properties file as guided in the comments in the file.

    6. In your Android workspace run the command by typing the name of the gradle task as below.
     
    tttt
    7. Once the test execution is complete you will get a URL of the test execution report. Some fields in the report are empty right now. We will fix them in subsequent phases.
     
    rrr
    The use of gradle has made it easier to run Espresso test on pCloudy devices. We can just use the configuration file and easily run the test scripts on pCloudy devices. This will save time and effort as it further simplifies the app testing process in pCloudy.
     
    You can watch our webinar for more information.

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Appium vs Espresso: The Most Popular Automation Testing Framework in 2019

    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
    Let’s get into the details.
     
    What is Appium?

    It is an open source, cross-platform mobile app automation testing framework. Appium allows native, hybrid and web app testing and supports automation test on physical devices as well as emulators or simulators. The Appium server uses selenium web driver which permits platform independence and allows the user to use the same code for Android or iOS.

     
    Advantages of using Appium

    • Facilitates test execution without server machines

      • Appium is developed using cross-platform runtime environment like NodeJs which enables programmers to write server-side code in javascript. It is designed as an HTTP server and you can run the test without requiring a server machine.

       

    • Does not require app code recompilation

      • Most of the automation testing tools require testers to alter app code. Some of the test automation frameworks require testing professionals to recompile the code according to the targeted mobile platforms. Appium enables testers to evaluate both cross-platform and native apps without recompiling and altering the code that often.

       

    • Automates various types of mobile apps

      • Testers can avoid using different automation tools for different types of apps as Appium can be used for web apps, hybrid, and native apps too. It facilitates the testing of hybrid and mobile web apps as a cross-platform test automation framework. At the same time, it enables testers to test native apps through web driver protocol.

       

    • Testers can use real devices, emulators, and simulators

      • Testers use real devices to evaluate mobile app’s usability and user experience more precisely. Although, to speed up the mobile app testing one needs to use emulators or simulators too. Appium helps testers to produce reliable test results and reduce testing time by supporting real devices, emulators and simulators.

       

    • Provides a record and playback tool

      • In Appium, testers can use the inspector to accelerate testing through record and playback functionality. Appium inspector can record the behavior of native apps by inspecting their document object model (DOM). Record and playback tool can produce test scripts in a number of programming languages.

       

    • Testers can automate apps without adding extra components

      • Testers can execute the same test across multiple mobile platforms without putting extra time and efforts or adding extra component. Appium simplifies automation by keeping complexities in Appium server.

       

    • Supports several web driver compatible languages

      • You can integrate Appium with many testing frameworks and WebDriver – compatible languages including PHP, Java, Ruby, Javascript, C# and Objective C. Hence, a tester has the option to write test scripts in his preferred programming language.

     
    Disadvantages of using Appium

    • Common gestures

      • Appium lacks commonly used gestures like double-clicking in java-client libraries. It also does not support Android alert handling directly and the users cannot evaluate alert handling through native API. Testers have to put extra time and effort to test these gestures.

       

    • No script execution on multiple iOS simulators

      • Simulators make it easier for testers to mimic internal behavior of the underlying iOS devices. Although Appium does not allow users to run multiple test scripts on multiple simulators simultaneously.

       

    • Lacks the capability to recognize images

      • Appium cannot locate and recognize images automatically to evaluate games and apps precisely. The testers have to take help of screen coordinates to make Appium locate and recognize images.

       

    • Does not support older versions of android

      • Appium supports only Android 4.2 and later and does not supports older APIs for Android. There are still many people using devices which run on older versions of Android and developers find it difficult to test mobile apps developed targeting older Android API level.

     
    What is Espresso?

    Espresso is a tool developed by Google which is used for testing the UI of Android apps. It automatically synchronizes your test actions with the user interface of the mobile app and ensures that the activity is started before the tests run.

     

    Although when you execute an Espresso test you will have shared state in separate tests and some flakiness. For this Google came up with a solution. Android Test Orchestrator is a Gradle test option that helps in testing and increases the reliability of our automated test suites.

     

    If you use Gradle build tools in any version of Android Studio below 3.0 then you also have to update the dependency setup. Let’s take a look at the advantages of using Android Espresso.

     
    Advantages of using Espresso

    • Integration with Gradle

      • The new Android Espresso now has the power of the Android Studio and Gradle that comes along with it. So now invoking your tests, running it or modifying it is just a matter of calling a Gradle command. This gives the full power of command line to the developer and makes testability much easier.

       

    • Test Orchestrator

      • The new Android Espresso comes with the power of Android Test Orchestrator that allows you to run each of your app’s tests within its own invocation of Instrumentor. It ensures that there is minimum shared state and crashes being isolated. It allows you to filter the tests that you want to run and also distribute tests across devices. This implies that you have finer control over how your tests run.

       

    • Less flakiness

      • The scalability of the test cycle in Android Espresso is high due to the synchronized method of execution. A built-in mechanism in Espresso that validates that the object is actually displayed on the screen. This saves test execution from breaking when confronted with “Objects not detected” and other errors.

       

    • It’s easy to develop Espresso test automation

      • Test automation is based on Java and JUnit which Android developers are familiar with. There is no setup or ramping up to implement quality in the in-cycle stage of the app SDLC.

       

    • Reliable and fast feedback

      • Android Espresso does not need any server to communicate with, instead, it runs side by side with the app and delivers fast results. It gives fast feedback to the code changes so that developers can move to the next bug fix.

       

    • Simple workflow

      • Espresso allows developers to build a test suite as a stand-alone APK that can be installed on the target mobile alongside the app under test and be executed quickly.

     
    Disadvantages of using Espresso

    • It requires access to the application source code

      • Without the source code, you won’t be able to do anything. Also, There is a risk to get used to the in-built test synchronization and UI – then it might be hard to work with WebDriver.

       

    • Narrow focus

      • If UI tests are required for both Android and iOS, it will be necessary to write twice, for two different systems. If tests require to work with Android outside the application (for example, open a received notification with a text message), you’ll have to use additional tools, such as UIAutomator.

       

    • Knowledge of launching Android app on emulators required

      • It is desirable to have at least minimal experience of building and launching Android applications on emulators.

     
    Conclusion

    Appium and Espresso both can be used to perform UI testing on Android app but if you have to choose one of them then you need to decide on the bases of your requirements. What kind of app is it and what kind of testing you want to perform. Developers who want to perform UI testing for their native Android app should go for Android Espresso. Although, if the test needs to support iOS and Android both and you want to test at a functional level then you can use Appium.

     
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    • 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.

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Samsung S10 is Now Available on pCloudy

    Since pCloudy is committed to provide to you with the newest the fastest, here is another one. The newly released device Samsung s10 is now available on pCloudy for you to test your app.

     

    Samsung s10

     

    Start using now

     
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    • Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Android and iOS: Basics and Comparison

    [xyz-ihs snippet=”quickLinks-mobile-app-testing”]

    The second blog in the series “Start to end guide for mobile app testing”

     

    Basics and Comparison

    In the previous blog in this series, we talked about the evolution of mobile technology. In this blog, you will know more about the two most popular mobile operating systems, Android and iOS. Here you can also learn about the Android architecture, concepts of Android SDK, emulators and iOS architecture and mobile cloud. Let’s start by getting familiar with Android versions.

     

    What is Android?

    Android is a software bunch comprising not just the operating system but also middleware and key applications. It is developed by Google and later by the Open Handset Alliance but it is not limited to only mobiles. In other words, it is a complete set of software required for the development of smart devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks, set-top boxes, TVs, smart watches, etc. Android is a Linux based open source software platform. The application development in Android is done in the Java language.

     

    Versions of Android

    The first version of Android was launched on the HTC Dream mobile in the year 2008. Since then Android has been evolving constantly and now it has the largest user base of around 88% global market share. Android OS versions are released with a name following the alphabetical order, such as Android 1.1, 1.5-Cupcake, 1.6-Donut, 2.0/2.1-Eclair,2.2-Froyo,2.3-Gingerbread,3.X-Honeycomb,4.0-Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.1/4.2/4.3-Jelly Bean, 4.4-KitKat, 5.0-Lollipop, 6.0-Marshmallow, 7.0-Nougat, 8.0-Oreo and 9.0- Pie being the latest of all the versions.

     

    Versions of Android

    Why so buzz about Android?

    Whenever we hear the word Android, we usually think about the ‘smart phones’. This is how Android is placed in our minds. It is one of the most successful mobile operating systems in the market today. Android apps are the most downloaded apps in the app stores. It runs on millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries in the world. Around 1.5 billion apps and games are downloaded from Google play store in a month. It does not fail to impress its users by consistently introducing new features. It is open source, so any android variant can be developed using the source code. It supports wireless communication including 3G, 4G, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Android keeps introducing its new and upgraded versions, often. Due to its popularity, around 1million new Android devices are activated worldwide in a day. Google play is an open marketplace for developers to sell and distribute their mobile apps. It has already entered the field of Artificial Intelligence enabling the apps to be more intuitive and user-friendly.

     

    Android Architecture

    Android is architected in the form of a software stack comprising applications, an operating system, run-time environment, middleware, services, and libraries. The following figure is the visual outline of the elements integrated layer by layer. These all elements are the prerequisites of the mobile app development and to make the app environment ready. Android Architecture is categorized as Linux kernel, native libraries(middleware), Android runtime, Application framework, and applications.

      • Linux Kernel- It exists at the root of the Android architecture. It contains all drivers for hardware components, battery and memory management, resource access and device management. Android only uses the Linux Kernel.

     

      • Libraries – It is the layer above the Linux Kernel, including native libraries such as WebKit, OpenGL, FreeType, SQLite, Media framework, C runtime library(Libc), etc. Webkit library supports the web browsing engine, SQLite is used for sharing and storing application data, Media to play record audio/video, etc. FreeType is for processing fonts, SSL libraries are for internet security, OpenGL and SGL are responsible for rendering 3D,2D graphics, respectively, the Surface manager is responsible for rendering windows and drawing surfaces of apps on the screen. Libraries also contain C++ libraries used by android system components.

     

      • Android Runtime (ART)- these have the core libraries also known as Dalvik Libraries (DVM) which are responsible for running an android application. Android Runtime is built to run apps in a restricted environment where there is limiter power in terms of battery, processing, and memory. ART uses DEX files, a type of byte code designed for Android to manage memory more efficiently.

     

      • Android Framework- On the top of Android runtime is Android Framework. It includes a collection of Android APIs written in Java. Enables and simplifies the reuse of core components and services such as Window, view, Activity, telephony, resources, locations, Content Providers (data) and package managers. It provides access to Android feature set fir developers to build a mobile app for Android OS.

     

    • Applications- Over the Android Framework lies the application layer covering system and other apps that the users can download from the Google Play Store. The core apps like email, SMS, calendar, maps, browser, contacts, etc are pre-packed in the mobile device. This layer uses all other layers for enhancing the performance of these mobile apps.

     

    Android Architecture

    Source: https://developer.android.com/guide/platform/images/android-stack_2x.png
     

    Concepts of Android SDK and .apk file and emulators

    Android SDK is a Software Development Kit which allows the developers to develop an application for the Android platform. The Android SDK comprises of software programs with the sample source codes, developer tools, documentation, tutorials, an emulator and essential libraries to build, test and debug mobile apps for Android. Apps are written in Java language and are run on Dalvik(DVM) that runs on Linux Kernel.
    APK stands for Android Application Package. It is a package file format used by Android OS for distribution and installation of mobile apps and middleware. For installing any mobile app/games, we require APK files with an extension .apk. These can be downloaded from the play store. Apk files are just like .exe files for windows. Apk file is in zip format and contains all necessary files required for app installation. The Apk archive usually contains META-INF directory:
    MANIFEST.MF: the Manifest file
    CERT.RSA: The certificate of the application.
    CERT.SF

    Android Emulators-

    Android emulator or Android Virtual Device (AVD) is a device that is a functional replica of an Android device that can be used to run and test the Android applications on the PC even before they are published in the market for final use. Android emulator comes as part of the Android SDK. It is a virtual device that lets the developer develop the apps without using a physical device. Android emulator requires JRE –Java Runtime Environment and Android SDK to function. The applications can be either downloaded or installed directly on the device from the Google play store or if the application is available in ‘.apk’ format, it can be installed using the “add” command.

     

    iOS and its versions

    iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. It was originated in 2007 for iPhone and later extended its support to other Apple devices like iPad and iPod touch. It is the second most popular mobile device in the world after Android. The iOS mobile apps can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store. The App store contains more than 2 million iOS apps today. The iOS apps are programmed in Objective C, C, and C++ languages. Version updates for iOS are released through iTunes software until the introduction of iOS 5 in 2011. Now, the software updates and data sync can happen wirelessly through Apple iCloud service. iOS has expanded its market by introducing new products powered by Apple like iWatch and AppleTV.
    It was formerly known as iPhone OS and the name was used for its other 3 subsequent versions until 2010 when Apple released iOS4. In 2011, iOS5 was released providing access to around 500000 iOS apps and some additional features. iOS 6, 7, 9 were released in the succeeding years with more advanced features and performance. The latest versions iOS 10,11 and 12 are released in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

    iOS Architecture

    iOS Architecture is also a layered one. Each layer is built with a variety of frameworks which can be assimilated in the iOS apps. The layers communicate with the hardware with the help of clearly described system interfaces that make it easy for the developer to build the app that is ready for different devices. Let us discuss each layer below:

    • Core OS- This layer is the foundation layer of the OS on which other layers are dependent. This layer is responsible for managing memory, system and OS tasks, networking and also interacts directly with the hardware. This layer comprises of frameworks like accelerate, external accessory, core Bluetooth, security and local authentication.
    • Core Services Layer- It consists of technologies that provide certain services to the app but are not directly related to the UI of the app. It contains high-level features like iCloud storage. The core services include address book framework(provides access to contacts and user database), CloudKit (medium of transferring the data between app and cloud), Core Data (to manage the data model of a model view controller app), Core Foundation( Technologies to provide Data management services to IOS), Core Location(gives location info to apps),Core Motion(ton access motion-based info on the device),Foundation(Using Objective C), Healthkit (handles health-related info of the user),Homekit(controlling connected devices of the user at home),Social( to access user’s social media accounts) and Storekit Framework( supports in making in-app purchases from iOS apps).
    • Media Layer- Media layer in iOS architecture enables the Graphics, Audio, Video technologies. Graphic Technologies like UIKit Graphics, Core Graphics framework, Core Animation, Core Images, OpenGl ES which handles 2D vector and animating views and 2D and 3D figures, GLKit and Metal. Audio Framework supports rich Audio experience and includes- Media Player Framework, AV Foundation, OpenAL.
      Video Framework includes AV Kit, AV Foundation, Core Media, Also the iOS support
      for the playback of movie files with the .mov, .mp4, .m4v. and .3gp filename
      extensions. 
    • Cocoa Touch Layer – The layer defines the basic application and support for key technologies such as multitasking, touch-based input, push notifications, and many high-level system services. It includes EventKit, GameKit, iAd, MapKit, PushKit, Twitter and UIKit frameworks.

      iOS Architecture

      Source: https://dotnettricksweb.blob.core.windows.net/img/xamarin/ios-architecture.png

     

    Concepts of .ipa file and simulators

    IPA stands for iOS App Store Package. Any file with .ipa extension is an iOS application. It is an archive like ZIP that contains software sets used to develop the iOS app. Each .ipk file can be opened with Apple’s iTunes program. An IPA file has a binary for ARM architecture and can only be installed on an iOS device. IPA files cannot be installed on the iPhone Simulator. To run applications on the simulator, original project files which can be opened using the Xcode SDK are required.

    iOS Simulators – These are again programs to test and run the iOS applications without having any physical or the ‘real’ device. The iOS Simulator allows you to rapidly prototype and test builds of your app during the development process. Installed as part of the Xcode tools along with the iOS SDK, iOS Simulator runs on Mac and behaves like a standard Mac app while simulating an iPhone or the iPad environment. iOS simulators require MAC Environment and Xcode to function. To start the iOS simulator, firstly launch the Xcode and then do one of the following:
    1. Choose Xcode > Open Developer Tool > iOS Simulator.
    2. Control-click the Xcode icon in the Dock, and choose Open Developer Tool > iOS

     

    Conclusion

    Operating systems are being revamped using AI and connectivity to the Internet of Things. These technologies are still evolving and both Android community and Apple are trying to lead the way by enhancing the user experience. Android had an upper hand in the past as it has a very active open community to support the development. Although, Apple in the recent past has taken a new approach in getting ahead with technology for e.g. Air Pods and their own coding language Swift. We can be sure that both Android and iOS will be more convenient and interactive as both Google and Apple are the torch bearers of the future.

    In the next blog, we will talk about the types of mobile applications.

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Migrating to AndroidX

    What is AndroidX?

    AndroidX is an improved version of the android support libraries that the android team uses to develop, test, package, version and release libraries within the jetpack. AndroidX fully replaces the support library by providing feature parity and new libraries. In addition, AndroidX includes the following features:

    • All packages in AndroidX are in consistent namespace starting with the string AndroidX. The support library packages have been mapped into androidx.* packages. For a full mapping of all the old classes and built artifacts to the new ones.
    • Unlike the support libraries, AndroidX packages are separately maintained and updated. The AndroidX uses strict semantic versioning.
    • All new android development will occur in the AndroidX library. This includes maintenance of the original support library artifacts and introduction of new jetpack components.

    Android Jetpack
    Android jetpack is a set of components and tools along with architecture guidance designed to help you accelerate your android development. It gives a template to write production ready android code. Jetpack is made up of components in four categories, foundation architecture behaviour and UI. Each component is individually adaptable and build to maintain backwards compatibility. Android architecture components are very modular, so we are allowed to choose what feature sets we want that are compatible to our app.

    Espresso is now a part of the AndroidX family
    Espresso is a testing framework designed to provide a fluent API for writing concise and reliable UI test. Writing reliable UI test is difficult as user interfaces are asynchronous driven by events, transitions and data loaded from background threats. Coding around that without any help from UI testing framework would require a lot of boilerplate. Espresso takes care of any UI events, so that in most cases you don’t have to worry about any view state transition and implementation details. The basic UI test flow when using Espresso includes:

    • View Matchers: To find view in the current view hierarchy for e.g. to find UI elements like buttons, textbox etc.
    • View Action: To perform action on the view, e.g. to click on a button, double click, scrolling etc.
    • View Assertions: Allows to assert state of a view.

    Application of Espresso test recorder

    • Allows us to create effective UI test cases with user interactions.
    • We can capture assertions and interactions without accessing app structure directly which increases execution speed and optimizes test case.
    • Saves time searching for locators and then writing the test cases.
    • It supports multiple assertions making more reliable test cases.

    Pcloudy supports androidX instrumentation with Espresso
    Now you can write test cases in espresso and test the APIs in pCloudy using androidX Junit instrumentation. Here are the steps for running your Test scripts on multiple android devices:

    • Login over https://device.pcloudy.com with your registered Email ID & Password.
    • To schedule “Espresso” over pCloudy, follow the below mentioned steps-
    • Go to the “Automation” page.
    • Select the Automation tool as “Espresso”.
    • Select “Instrumentation Type” based on your Test Scripts you’ve written.

      • Androidx Espresso Test pCloudy_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”.
    • Click on “Schedule” to start the test.

      • Espresso Test pCloudy_2

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

      • Espresso Test pCloudy_3

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

      • Espresso Test pCloudy_4

    How to migrate to AndroidX?

    To migrate from support libraries to AndroidX the Google has provided a refractor tool in Android Studio. Projects can be migrated to AndroidX by clicking on ‘Refractor’ in the menu bar and then clicking on ‘Refactor to AndroidX’. Then it will search for the usage and show the result. To refactor click ‘Do Refactor’.

    pCloudy is leading the way in the field of automated mobile testing solutions.

    Try our device cloud

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    Android App Bundle: Get started

    What is Android App Bundle?

    It is a new publishing format by Google which is a more efficient way to develop and release app. App bundle helps to reduce your app size and deliver features on demand. Earlier, android operating system used android packaging kit (APK) to distribute and install applications on a device. These applications are downloaded by users across the world on various devices. These devices have different configurations and language inputs. To meet all the users demands, the application becomes bulky as all the features are to be downloaded.

    Android App Bundle is a zip archive with .aab extension. It contains codes and resources for all the devices that the app supports. Google Play handles signing and generation, once it is uploaded for publishing. In app bundle, dynamic delivery is used to generate an optimized APK for users, based on their device configuration.

    Benefits of .aab
    The key benefit of android app bundle is that it the developers need to write less code to push the app in Play store. The users save space in their device by saving a small size APK. App bundles can use uncompressed native libraries in android 6.0 and up, that are stored in the APK instead of the users device. This lowers the download size and the size on disk. It serves users with functions they need on demand, instead of installing all the functions at one go. We don’t need to build and publish multiple APKs, therefore, app bundle also simplify the built and release management.

    How Android App Bundle works
    Android delivers APKs with the required resources using split APK mechanism. Google Play uses this mechanism to split large apps into smaller APKs, as per the device requirements.

    According the Google, there are 3 types of APKs:
    a) Base APK: This is the first mandatory APK to be installed. It contains the basic requirements for the application. This APK contains codes and resources that other split APKs can provide. Only the base APK’s contains full declaration of your app’s services, permissions, platform version providers and dependencies of system features. It is important that all codes and resources included in this module are included in the base APK.

    b) Configuration APK: It contains specific data, based on the device requirements. Configuration APK is generated by Google Play from the app bundle that is uploaded to the store. Each of these APKs includes native libraries and resources for a specific screen density, CPU architecture or language. When a user downloads the app, their device downloads only the specific APKs for that device. You don’t create separate module for configuration APKs. If you use standard practices to organize alternative, configuration specific resources for your base and dynamic modules, Google Play automatically generates configuration APKs for you.

    c) Dynamic Feature APK: These are the optional features installed required by the user. Each of these APKs contains code and resources for a feature of your app that is not needed when your app is first installed. Using the play core library, dynamic APKs may be installed on demand after the base APK is installed on the device to provide additional functionality.

    Android Application Bundle Format
    An Android App Bundle is a file with .aab extension which you can upload to Google Play to support dynamic delivery. App bundles are signed binaries that organize your apps resources into modules. Each of these modules may be generated as separate APKs. Google Play uses the app bundles to generate various APKs that are served to users.

    Android-App-Bundle-pCloudy_blog

    Image Source: https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle/


    App Bundle’s files and directories:
    Base/, feature 1/ and feature 2/: Top level folders that contain different modules of your app. The base directory contains base module of the app. The directory for dynamic feature module is given the name specified by the split attribute in the module’s manifest.

    Bundle-Metadata: Metadata files include complete list of the app’s DEX files and Proguard Mappings. Files in this directory are not packed into the app’s APKs.

    Module Protocol Buffer files (*.pb): Provides metadata that describe the content of each module to the play store. For example, native.pb and resource.pb describe the code and resources in each module, which is used when Google Play optimizes APKs for different device configurations.

    Manifest/,DEX/: Unlike APKs, app bundles stores the androidmanifest.xml and DEX files for each module in a separate directory.

    res/, libs/and assets/: These directories are used in the same ways as APK, except that for an app bundle, they are used by Google Play to package only the files that satisfy the target device configuration.

    root/: This directory stores files that are later relocated to the root of any APK including corresponding module.

    How to deploy App Bundle
    Unlike APKs, App Bundles cannot be installed on a device. It is an uploaded format which contains compiled code and resources in a single build framework. Once we upload out signed app bundle, Google Play builds and signs the apps APKs and serve them to users through dynamic delivery.

    Testing your app bundle with Google Play Internal Test Track
    You need to generate signed in app bundle before you can upload your app bundle to the play console. Proceed with these steps to generate a signed app bundle.

    • Select Build then select Generate Signed Bundle/APK from the menu bar. In the Generate Signed Bundle/APK dialogue, select Android app bundle and click on Next.
    • In the Module dropdown menu, select the base module for the app you want to generate app bundle for.
    • Provide information for an existing key and keystore, or create a new. This is the same type of key and keystore information you provide when building a signed APK.
    • I you want Android Studio to also save your signing key as an encrypted file, check the box next to Export encrypted key. To be able to upload your app bundle and take advantage of dynamic delivery, you need to upload this encrypted file to the play console and enrol in app signing by Google Play.
    • Click Next and provide a Destination Folder for your app bundle. Select the Build Type and flavours that you want to generate app bundles for.
    • Click Finish.

    Now you have generated a signed bundle, you can upload your app bundle to the play console.

    Testing your .aab file on pCloudy
    pCloudy supports .aab format and the user can upload the App Bundle instead of “.apk” to test their app on the device cloud.

    Conclusion
    Android Application Bundles is a big step forward in the area of application publishing and uploading. It has reduced the size of APK of your application which leads to more download of the application.