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Alona Tupchei - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineering manager I - Quality at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Offers valuable features and good integration with other tools and frameworks, but stability and test speed can be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "We develop apps using the React Native framework, and Appium integrates well for testing those apps. The Appium automation framework also has good integration with GitHub Actions and plenty of other tools and frameworks, including BrowserStack."
  • "We previously worked with native applications, and there weren't any good mobile app testing tools. We started working with React Native, which works well with Appium, but it would be good to see better integration; the way elements are displayed can be messy. React Native is very popular nowadays, so it's essential to have that compatibility."

What is our primary use case?

We use Appium to test our native applications for iOS and Android. The solution is deployed locally and integrated into our instance of GitHub Actions for CI/CD functionality, so it's a hybrid deployment. 

How has it helped my organization?

Using Appium with React Native allows us to reuse our tests for both Android and iOS. If we had to use one tool for Android and another for iOS, we would need two repositories, two tests, and a lot more coding for us to do. I think React Native is the only real solution available nowadays for black box testing the way we prefer to do it.

What is most valuable?

We develop apps using the React Native framework, and Appium integrates well for testing those apps. The Appium automation framework also has good integration with GitHub Actions and plenty of other tools and frameworks, including BrowserStack. 

Appium also offers plenty of testing interactions, including swipes and other actions. It provides more interactions compared to other solutions like Selenium HQ, which is another tool we work with.

Appium Inspector is another excellent feature that provides us with a lot of information when dealing with app elements. One of our uses for this is determining which selectors are faster, as we want our apps to be as fast as possible. 

What needs improvement?

We previously worked with native applications, and there weren't any good mobile app testing tools. We started working with React Native, which works well with Appium, but it would be good to see better integration; the way elements are displayed can be messy. React Native is very popular nowadays, so it's essential to have that compatibility.

Appium doesn't recognize IDs placed by our developers on nested elements when we use React Native for iOS; it just sees the whole page and one element. We use coordinates to get around this, but it isn't the best system, and nobody in the community has been able to help us.

iOS is also strict in general when it comes to signatures and developer accounts, which creates additional headaches for iOS testing compared to Android. It would be great to see a more streamlined setup for iOS, but that might be more of an Apple issue than an Appium one. 

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For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for about four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is relatively stable, but sometimes tests can become flaky. This could be because of Appium, or due to a cloud-related issue, it isn't exactly clear. It's more stable than it was four years ago, so the product has improved, but there is still room for better stability. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. Once it's installed on the machines or in the cloud, everyone can run it and I don't think it matters how many staff members use it. We have nine end users in our organization. 

How are customer service and support?

Appium is an open-source solution so there isn't a number to call for technical support. However, there is a large user community, so it's easy to find help for issues. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward; it's just a download with a desktop installation. Setup time depends on your internet, but I would say it takes minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Appium is open source; we can use it for free.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Espresso and XCUITest, which are native testing apps for Android and iOS, respectively, but we can't use those for both in React Native. We carried out a POC for Appium, and there were no viable alternatives. It allows us to use one tool and one repository for both mobile operating systems.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Appium is a great tool, and I recommend it. Working with iOS requires patience, and setup can be somewhat demanding, but there are no such problems with Android. Overall, the solution does what we need it to do.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Venkat Vakiti - PeerSpot reviewer
Mobile Apps and Web Development Technical Lead at Unfoldlabs
Real User
Straightforward and reliable, diversified use cases, with a strong price point
Pros and Cons
  • "The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes."
  • "There is always a concern about the amount of code that is required to enhance the automation process. The idea of having less code or no code is what we would like to see in future updates."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case addresses customer requirements from the healthcare domain, a few from the construction domain, and logistics.

What is most valuable?

The automation part is extremely helpful in streamlining our processes.

What needs improvement?

There is always a concern about the amount of code that is required to enhance the automation process. The idea of having less code or no code is what we would like to see in future updates. Increase performance, battery, load testing, and no-code less, more advanced topics which we can bring to the tool features. If we can make it lightweight and clear to understand and in an easy way, that will make this tool even more worthwhile.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Appium for the past six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Appium is definitely stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Appium is scalable and we plan to increase it in the future.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward and not that complex, There is a little procedure that we need to follow in the setup, and then just go ahead and run it. You may need to write a little bit of scripting here and there to connect with the respective code. But it is all possible and quick.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation in-house. It is just a specific process to get setup and then deploy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is good for people to be able to make a favorable decision for the value.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Appium a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Appium
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Appium. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
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Muzammil Riaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Test Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
This is a stable open source solution to help easily automate apps
Pros and Cons
  • "The latest versions of the solution are stable."
  • "The initial setup is straightforward if you have previous experience with the solution, but it can be complicated for a novice user."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of the solution was to automate a mobile Android app that was related to IP configuration cameras to design their system and to run those cameras using the app.

What is most valuable?

I found the Appium Inspector to be the most valuable feature because it helps to write the scripts down.

What needs improvement?

The solution can be improved by granting more flexibility around integration with app activity ID, which is sometimes not easily available for automation engineers to configure.

There is room for improvement with the scalability of the Appium server interaction.

I would like a feature to allow for iOS automation without having to use Apple Xcode.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used the solution on multiple occasions throughout the years. The last time I used the solution was around nine months ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The latest versions of the solution are stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward if you have previous experience with the solution, but it can be complicated for a novice user.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is open source.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution eight out of ten.

There are a lot of helpful documents available online if you require support with the solution.

When it comes to mobile automation, I recommend this solution because of its performance, and scalability over the competition.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Eko Kristianto - PeerSpot reviewer
IT consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable, scalable, and detects and inspects elements faster
Pros and Cons
  • "The best feature of Appium is that it allows you to inspect the element. With the Appium Inspector, you don't have to install another application to do the inspection. I also like that Appium has Android device connectivity. Currently, most people use Appium as automation software, and I haven't found any other tool that's more powerful than Appium."
  • "I rarely use Appium nowadays because I'm now at the managerial level, but the last time I used it, whenever I selected and clicked on an element, Appium was very slow. I tried to debug it, but I still couldn't find the problem, so this is an area for improvement in the solution. Another area for improvement lies with the connector and server. For example, the effort to get into the local machine sometimes causes the emulator to become slow, which then leads to failure in testing, and this is the usual issue I've encountered from Appium. An additional feature I'd like added to Appium in its next release is being able to do automation in iOS without using XPath and the name of the element. In Xcode, you can use previous UI tests for detecting elements, but in Appium, you have to use Xpath and the element name instead of being able to directly put the X-UiPath, which is what you can do in Xcode. In iOS as well, sometimes the element doesn't have a name or a path. Sometimes, there's also no element."

What is our primary use case?

I'm using Appium for the automation of applications on Android and iOS.

How has it helped my organization?

Appium has improved my company because it makes it easier to connect devices to automation scripts because the library is easy to use. You can also detect mobile elements faster in both Android and iOS.

What is most valuable?

The best feature of Appium is that it allows you to inspect the element. With the Appium Inspector, you don't have to install another application to do the inspection. I also like that Appium has Android device connectivity. Currently, most people use Appium as automation software, and I haven't found any other tool that's more powerful than Appium.

What needs improvement?

I rarely use Appium nowadays because I'm now at the managerial level, but the last time I used it, whenever I selected and clicked on an element, Appium was very slow. I tried to debug it, but I still couldn't find the problem, so this is an area for improvement in the solution.

Another area for improvement lies with the connector and server. For example, the effort to get into the local machine sometimes causes the emulator to become slow, which then leads to failure in testing, and this is the usual issue I've encountered from Appium.

An additional feature I'd like added to Appium in its next release is being able to do automation in iOS without using XPath and the name of the element. In Xcode, you can use previous UI tests for detecting elements, but in Appium, you have to use Xpath and the element name instead of being able to directly put the X-UiPath, which is what you can do in Xcode. In iOS as well, sometimes the element doesn't have a name or a path. Sometimes, there's also no element.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Appium for more than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Appium is a solution that's quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Appium is a scalable solution. A lot of devices are connected to Appium, and the solution runs every day for integration testing, with new test cases added daily. Appium keeps growing, and it's scalable.

How are customer service and support?

A separate team works with the Appium technical support team whenever there's an issue, so I have no experience contacting support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've only used Appium, and I haven't found a solution that's as good as Appium.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Appium is quite easy because a lot of documentation can be found on the internet. From setup to deployment, it only takes less than one hour if there's no problem, but usually, the problem is on the environment side, not in Appium itself. Sometimes the emulator doesn't connect to Appium, and sometimes there's a broken dependency, for example, Node.js isn't supported, or a certain percentage of Node.js must be used.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As far as I know, Appium is a free solution. It's not for commercial use.

What other advice do I have?

I'm using the latest version of Appium.

My current company has a lot of programmers, so I don't have the exact figure on how many people use Appium, but in my previous company, two people deployed the solution on the cloud server.

The only time maintenance is required in Appium is when there's a new update, and my team would first ask about how stable the new version is, then that's the time the team upgrades the version of Appium.

In the AP department, seventy to eighty people use the solution. The users only create the automation path and then test it on the local machines with Appium, then deploy it on the cloud server. The AP users aren't in charge of maintaining Appium.

I'd recommend the solution to other users. Most of the companies here in Indonesia use Appium, and on a scale of one to ten, my rating for Appium is nine out of ten.

My company is a customer of Appium.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Vignesh Venkatesan - PeerSpot reviewer
SDET at Trimble Inc
Real User
Top 10
Good for for automation testing of mobile apps and open source but it breaks down/stability issues
Pros and Cons
  • "It can be used with different programming languages."
  • "It breaks down."

What is our primary use case?

It's for automating mobile testing. It's related to the engineering side. It's a tool used by engineers for automating apps in the mobile world, for testing, like doing manual testing and automation testing. So, it's an okay customer thing.

What is most valuable?

It's an open-source tool. You can handle the application stuff with different programming languages. With those, we can use it anywhere for automating mobile apps.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in stability. It breaks down.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for three to four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It breaks down. It's open-source, and it will have bugs. I rate it, like, three out of five.

So it has some issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a very scalable product. It can be used with different programming languages.

And we can use it for multiple devices, like thousands of devices.

How are customer service and support?

It's like open-source, like, a kind of community support.

There is no, like, it's an open-source application. There's no, like, designated support team. Anyone from the community will help.

How was the initial setup?

We need to have some experience to set it up. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's open source, so it's completely free.

What other advice do I have?

It's for automation testing of mobile apps. If you want an open-source tool, you can go for it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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reviewer2026422 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Test Consultant at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Helps to convert manual test cases into automated test cases
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution helps with test automation. We focus mostly on Java."
  • "One area where I think Appium could improve is in addressing security concerns for our data. Currently, we're unable to use cloud solutions like CloudForm due to security restrictions on our servers. We also face challenges in updating packages for the same reason. It would be beneficial if the solution could provide better support for auto-reporting and easier connections to mobile device farms."

What is our primary use case?

We use Appium mainly for mobile test automation, while Selenium doesn't support mobile testing. In my personal use of the tool, I primarily convert manual test cases into automated test cases. We also link our test cases between Selenium and Appium with cases from Jira

What is most valuable?

The solution helps with test automation. We focus mostly on Java.   

What needs improvement?

One area where I think Appium could improve is in addressing security concerns for our data. Currently, we're unable to use cloud solutions like CloudForm due to security restrictions on our servers. We also face challenges in updating packages for the same reason. It would be beneficial if the solution could provide better support for auto-reporting and easier connections to mobile device farms.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the product for six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the product's stability as six out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the solution's scalability a four out of ten. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution's deployment is not simple.  

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is open-source. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Appium a seven out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Prakash-G - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Automation Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to set up, simple to connect, and is reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "We get a list that shows all devices that are connected to the system."
  • "Support-wise, it could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for UI validation of mobile applications. It's a mobile development platform. We have an application where we have to test the front end and how it is cloning.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to connect the product. Within a single command, we can easily connect to the device. The connectivity is just that easy.

We get a list that shows all devices that are connected to the system.

It is a very easy initial setup.

What needs improvement?

Support-wise, it could be better. Whenever we get some issues, it may take some time. I'd like them to be more responsive. 

There's not too much public documentation or information. If we Google information or something else regarding the Appium, there won't be much compared to Selenium. Selenium is also open-source. Appium details are limited.

It is difficult to understand. Recently, there were major changes in Appium. Understanding those changes, was a bit difficult. There just wasn't enough transparency.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for one and a half years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is pretty stable. That said, either from the application side or the Appium side, sometimes, I get some error that is not correct. Even if the application is open, sometimes it throws some error, however, maybe it is from the emulator side. I'm not sure. 

If I run the same test case, and in the same execution, I don't see that error again. It's random, yet may be from our side. I don't think it's from Appium. However, I'm not sure. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. The capacity is very good. 

We have three QAs using the product.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is not as responsive as we would like them to be. They often are late to reply. Sometimes to topic diverts towards something else. It's open-source, which means support is always a bit of an issue. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We also have used Selenium, which has more information available. Selenium is also open-source. Both are pretty similar. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution is very easy to set up. It's not an issue at all. It took one or two days to connect the emulators. It was pretty simple and straightforward. 

I'd rate the initial setup at a five out of five in terms of ease of deployment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is an open-source tool.

What other advice do I have?

We are end-users. We tend to use the solution on a weekly basis.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Nandini Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Innominds
Real User
Useful in-built functions, quick installation, and trial version available
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Appium are the in-built functionality, which we can use in our code. For example, move back, move front, navigate one page before, and navigate one page ahead. You can do this by using the in-built functions from Appium."
  • "Appium can improve when the case fails, there should be a feature where you can generate the report from Appium. Once you're on a test case, automatically the screenshot should be captured which would avoid manual intervention. These features would be beneficial to migrate to Appium."

What is our primary use case?

We need Appium to do our end-to-end functionality testing. Our company works with mobile automation.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Appium are the in-built functionality, which we can use in our code. For example, move back, move front, navigate one page before, and navigate one page ahead. You can do this by using the in-built functions from Appium.

What needs improvement?

Appium can improve when the case fails, there should be a feature where you can generate the report from Appium. Once you're on a test case, automatically the screenshot should be captured which would avoid manual intervention. These features would be beneficial to migrate to Appium.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Appium for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Appium is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Appium is good. 

We have a team of 15 using the solution and approximately 60 other people. Most of the people using the solution are test automation engineers

How are customer service and support?

I rate the support I received a five out of five. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Appium is very easy. The process took approximately 15 minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We found out that we could explore features of the solution for 30 days trial. We can switch to a permanent license later if we want.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others is they should have Java installed on their system initially, then later Node should be set up. They will possibly need iOS or maybe Windows installed, but this depends on their use case. The Appium license should be given by your team member for the tool on your system.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Appium a ten out of ten.

This is the best test automation tool for any mobile test automation engineer.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
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Updated: January 2025
Buyer's Guide
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