10 Best Android App Testing Tools and Frameworks
Tags: app, testing, android, testgrid
Published: 2024-04-03 06:52:12

When we think of a mobile operating system, two major players strike our mind – Android and iPhone. Did you know that Android occupied 69.94% of the total mobile operating system market in 2023, according to Statcounter? In addition, Statista says that Google Play Store has a repository of 2.43 million apps in Dec 2023. These statistics indicate the immense popularity of the Android OS.  

With the market dominated by Android, every software development company strives to deliver apps that support this OS. However, it becomes essential for every app to be operational on Android devices with different OS versions and hardware specifications. This is where the role of Android app testing comes into play. It is a type of testing that evaluates a mobile app’s functionality, performance, security, and compatibility with different Android devices, OS versions, and their combinations. 

In order to facilitate Android app testing, companies widely adopt automation testing tools. In this article, we aim to provide you with a list of handpicked Android automated testing tools with their features and pricing. 

## How to Select the Best Android Testing Tool? Selection Criteria

- Usability: The tool should have an intuitive interface, allowing users to create and run test scripts easily. Plus, it should be easy to set up and configure. 
- Scalability: The Android testing tool should be able to handle large-scale test suits. It should support testing across multiple devices with different OS versions and hardware specifications.  
- Software Integrations: The tool should seamlessly integrate with other development and testing tools, such as bug tracking tools, CI/CD pipelines, and project management tools.  
- Pricing: The most important factor to consider is pricing. You must ensure that the tool provides the desired features at an affordable price. Also, it should cater to the needs of individuals and teams. 
- **Community and Support:** Check if the tool provides valuable assistance through documentation, tutorials, forums, and community support. So, even if you encounter any problem, you can get help from any of these resources. 
- **Security and Compliance:** The tool must comply with the security and compliance requirements. 

## Top 10 Android App Testing Tools and Frameworks 

### 1. TestGrid 

TestGrid is an AI-powered end-to-end testing platform with a secure and scalable test infrastructure that hosts real devices and browsers on the cloud and on-premises. It provides access to 100s of real devices and lets you test on real-world conditions, such as battery life, network strength, etc. TestGrid’s codeless automation capabilities make it easy to create and run automated tests, even if you don’t have any coding experience. This helps you achieve exceptional efficiency and high precision throughout your Android app testing journey.
**Features: **

- Scriptless automation eliminates the need to write test cases manually, which reduces your testing time. 
- Evaluate your Android app’s performance and compatibility across a wide range of Android smartphones and tablets. 
- Perform end-to-end Android app test automation, which improves test efficiency and reduces test maintenance. 
- Test the Android app’s performance across different parameters, such as the network bandwidth usage, maximum concurrent users, data transfer velocity, and processing speed. 
- Upload your app’s APK/IPA files or install your app from Google Play/App Store to start testing instantly.  
- Ensure comprehensive testing coverage, as TestGrid provides a suite of testing features so that your app is tested across a range of devices, OSes, and screen sizes. 
- Seamlessly integrate TestGrid with Appium to automate the testing of your Android app within TestGrid’s testing environment. 

**Pricing:** 
Freemium: Free forever (200 minutes/2 minute sessions)
Manual/Scriptless Automation: $25/mo (5 users, 1 parallel test)
End-to-End Automation: $99/mo (5 users, 1 parallel test)
Private Dedicated: $30/mo (5 users, 1 dedicated device)

Enterprise: Contact sales

### 2. Calabash
Calabash is a free and open-source automated functional testing tool for native Android and iOS devices. It requires you to use the latest version of the Ruby programming language to write test scripts using Cucumber. 

With this Android testing tool, you can effortlessly write and execute automated acceptance tests. It supports different actions, such as swiping, screen rotation, tapping, etc. In addition, it has an easy-to-use syntax, making it easier for even non-technical people to create and execute tests.  

**Features:** 

- It supports more than 80 different natural language commands. 
- You can implement new controllers in Ruby or Java. 
- It supports testing of both native and hybrid Android and iOS apps. 
- All tests are described in Cucumber, an open-source software testing tool that supports behavior-driven development. 
**Pricing:** 
Free to use. 

### 3. Selendroid

Selendroid is an open-source Android app testing tool based on Selenium, a comprehensive platform consisting of tools and libraries for browser automation. This test automation framework makes it easy to interact with and test the user interface of native and hybrid Android applications. The Selenium 2 client API is primarily used for writing test cases.
 
Furthermore, Selendroid provides the flexibility to test your Android app either on emulators or real devices. If you desire scaling and parallel testing, you can integrate Selendroid as a node into Selenium Grid.  

**Features:** 

- Selendroid is compatible with the JSON Wire Protocol/Selenium 3 Ready. 
- It uses the same concept to automate native and hybrid mobile apps. 
- It supports gestures through the Advanced User Interactions API. 
- Selendroid can interact with multiple Android devices simultaneously. 
- It supports hot plugging of hardware devices. 
- The built-in Inspector simplifies the development of test cases. 
**Pricing:** 
Free to use. 

### 4. Espresso

Espresso is yet another open-source Android automation testing tool that tests the user interface of Android applications. Developed by Google, it is a part of the Android Testing Support Library. It is specially designed to make writing reliable UI tests easy. 
Moreover, Espresso supports testing Android native views and hybrid web views. It supports black box testing while allowing QA professionals to test an app’s components during the development cycle. 

**Features:** 

- The user interface is simple and intuitive, making it easy for users to write and maintain UI tests. 
- Espresso supports Java and Kotlin languages for writing tests. 
- It provides different entry points or methods to interact with UI elements, such as buttons, text fields, lists, etc. 
- You get a separate module to test the Android WebView component. 
- It automatically synchronizes your tests and the application. 
**Pricing:** 
Free to use. 

### 5. Detox

Detox is an open-source gray box end-to-end testing and automation framework for React Native applications. The primary objective of this testing tool is to enable the assessment of any end-to-end flow in the application while ensuring maximum velocity and zero flakiness. It supports testing on both real devices and simulators by simulating a user’s real-world interactions.
This testing tool leverages the synchronization mechanism that starts executing test scripts only when the app’s UI is ready. This significantly reduces the likelihood of flaky tests. 
**Features:** 

- Detox supports testing Android and iOS applications.
- It requires you to write tests in JavaScript. 
- It lets you monitor asynchronous operations in the app and stop flakiness. 
- This tool supports the execution of E2E tests on CI platforms like Travis CI, Circle CI, or Jenkins. 
- It seamlessly integrates with Jest, a JavaScript testing framework. 
- It records text execution and provides the details of test failures. 
- Parallel test execution facilitates the testing process. 
**Pricing:** 
Free to use. 

### 6. Monkey Runner

Monkey Runner is yet another open-source testing tool created by Google. It provides an API that allows you to write programs to control an Android device or emulator from outside of Android code. This tool tests applications at the functional level and is ideal for executing unit test suites. Additionally, it lets you write a Python program to install an Android app or test package. 
**Features:** 

- With the monkeyrunner API, you can execute one or more test suites against multiple Android devices or emulators.
- It can run an Android app’s automated start-to-finish test. 
- You can evaluate your app’s stability by comparing the output screenshots with a set of correct screenshots. 
**Pricing:** 
Free to use. 

### 7. TestFairy

TestFairy is a cloud-based mobile app testing tool that supports testing Android and iOS applications. It assists development teams in streamlining their mobile development process and managing their beta testing, app distribution, in-app feedback, and customer support.

Being a part of Sauce Labs, TestFairy provides access to 2000+ Android and iOS devices. Teams can deploy apps directly from TestFairy to Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud. Sauce Labs offers both public and private Real Device Cloud, which is ideal for teams seeking to accelerate live and automated testing. In addition, you gain access to new devices and operating systems upon their releases, allowing you to stay updated with ever-evolving mobile platforms. 

**Features:** 

- TestFairy supports testing native and hybrid Android and iOS apps across a broad spectrum of devices, including iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, and Nexus.
- It seamlessly integrates with your existing CI/CD pipelines. 
- It lets you run a large volume of real device tests with extremely low error rates and high availability. 
- Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud reduces operational burden by eliminating the need to maintain an internal device lab. 
**Pricing:** 
TestFairy offers both free and paid plans.

### 8. Appium

Appium is an open-source automation testing tool for testing native and hybrid Android, iOS, and Windows applications. Also, it supports testing mobile web apps using browsers such as Safari, Chrome, etc. Being a cross-platform automation framework, it requires you to write test cases in a single language and run them on multiple platforms. 

The Appium Inspector provides a user-friendly interface to inspect and interact with the elements across Android and iOS. As a result, testing the app across multiple platforms becomes easy. 
More interestingly, Appium does not have a dependency on the mobile app OS. It has a framework that converts [Selenium Webdriver](https://testgrid.io/blog/selenium-webdriver/) commands to UIAutomator and UIAutomation commands for Android and iOS, respectively.

**Features:** 

- Appium supports testing apps on real devices as well as emulators. 
- You can write test scripts in multiple programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, PHP, and C#. 
- The tool supports executing test scripts parallely. 
- It supports running the same test cases on multiple platforms. 
- It has a strong and active community. 
Pricing: 
Free to use.

### 9. testRigor

testRigor is a generative AI-powered test automation tool for mobile, desktop, and web applications. AI algorithms make the testing process faster and more efficient as they analyze and prioritize test execution. The feature that makes it stand out from others is it allows you to use free-flowing plain English to write test scripts. 

Furthermore, testRigor executes all tests parallely, significantly reducing testing time. As the tool does not require any setup, it shortens the development cycle. It comes with a Chrome extension that accelerates the test creation process.
 
**Features:** 

- TestRigor ensures 90% or more test coverage.
- It reduces test maintenance by 99.5%. 
- You can perform a complete retest in under 15 minutes. 
- The tool generates tests that reflect how real users interact with your application. 
- Even a non-technical QA can build and maintain test automation without failing.
  
**Pricing**: 

- Free Public: Free forever
- Private: Starts from $900/mo
- Enterprise: Custom pricing

### 10. UI Automator

The last on our list of the best Android app testing tools is UI Automator. As the name indicates, It is an open-source UI testing framework. Developed by Google, it is a part of the Android Testing Support Library. It comes with APIs that let you interact with visible elements on the screen and write test cases that simulate real users’ actions. 

This testing framework is an instrumentation-based API and works seamlessly with AndroidJUnitRunner, a test runner. You can use this framework for box-style automated tests, where the test code does not depend on internal implementation details.  

**Features:** 

- UI Automator has an API to retrieve state information and perform operations on the target device. 
- It also has APIs that support cross-app UI testing. 
- Image validation enables developers to assess their app’s appearance against a specific set of UI designs. 
- It seamlessly integrates with Android Studio for easy test creation and execution. 
- It supports both black-box and white-box testing
. 
**Pricing: **
Free to use. 

## Conclusion 

This concludes our overview of the top Android app testing tools. Thorough Android app testing is crucial in mobile app development, ensuring your app’s functionality, usability, and overall quality across various devices and Android versions. By automating repetitive tasks, the right testing tools help you streamline your processes and deliver apps that meet user expectations.
This blog is originally published at [Testgrid](https://testgrid.io/blog/android-app-testing-tools-and-frameworks/)