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Mobile developers: is there a need for this? Are automated testing tools for emulators not good enough? Fascinated by this, but a bit confused about how pract

Mobile developers: is there a need for this? Are automated testing tools for emulators not good enough? Fascinated by this, but a bit confused about how practical its uses are. Very cool in any case.

hugs 12y ago
A robot (combined with a video camera) lets you test things on real devices that current software-only tools don't handle: - Testing interactions between apps and the actual sensors on real devices. (Accelerators, cameras, GPS, making phone calls, receiving and handling SMS messages etc.) - Testing perceived latency of video playback or UI transition animations. - Testing interactions with the real environment -- an app that controls a light, completes a point-of-sale payment, or opens your car door, for example. - Automating apps that you don't own or didn't write. Automation APIs on iOS are pretty locked down so you can't automate apps that you don't own. Classic example is if you want to automate an interaction with the built-in phone, messaging, or email app. For this use-case, for automating on a real device, you'd need a robot. (This is less of a problem on Android, though.) Also, phone manufacturers and network providers use robots to certify the devices themselves. Just last week, T-Mobile sued Huawei, alleging corporate spying of their phone-testing robot design. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/t-mobile-accuses-huawei-of-theft-from-laboratory.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/t-mobile-accuses-...
fidotron 12y ago
Indeed. For Android you have the random event: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkey.html http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkey.html And the scriptable: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkeyrunner_concepts.html http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkeyrunner_concept... Both of which can run on actual devices, though you are going to be ignoring the parts which depend on actual users (touch screen latency being the main thing there). That random event one has an amazing ability to crash almost anything.

Mobile developers: is there a need for this? Are automated testing tools for emulators not good enough? Fascinated by this, but a bit confused about how practical its uses are. Very cool in any case.

hugs 12y ago

A robot (combined with a video camera) lets you test things on real devices that current software-only tools don't handle: - Testing interactions between apps and the actual sensors on real devices. (Accelerators, cameras, GPS, making phone calls, receiving and handling SMS messages etc.) - Testing perceived latency of video playback or UI transition animations. - Testing interactions with the real environment -- an app that controls a light, completes a point-of-sale payment, or opens your car door, for example. - Automating apps that you don't own or didn't write. Automation APIs on iOS are pretty locked down so you can't automate apps that you don't own. Classic example is if you want to automate an interaction with the built-in phone, messaging, or email app. For this use-case, for automating on a real device, you'd need a robot. (This is less of a problem on Android, though.) Also, phone manufacturers and network providers use robots to certify the devices themselves. Just last week, T-Mobile sued Huawei, alleging corporate spying of their phone-testing robot design. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/t-mobile-accuses-huawei-of-theft-from-laboratory.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/t-mobile-accuses-...

fidotron 12y ago

Indeed. For Android you have the random event: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkey.html http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkey.html And the scriptable: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkeyrunner_concepts.html http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkeyrunner_concept... Both of which can run on actual devices, though you are going to be ignoring the parts which depend on actual users (touch screen latency being the main thing there). That random event one has an amazing ability to crash almost anything.