Automating test scripts for Android UI testing

Abstract

The Espresso capture/replay testing tool for Android applications creates tests that are prone to test fragility, in that when small changes occur to the user interface, tests break and are unable to be re-run. To reduce the fragility and its impact inherent in Espresso tests, we take a modeldriven development approach to test generation. Using interaction sequence models as the basis for generation, we are able to create test scripts that can be run in Android Studio identically to manually recorded tests. This process simplifies scripts when compared with those generated by recording and reduces the time required by developers to create and maintain the test suite, resulting in higher quality testing and validation of Android user interfaces.