AndroidDriver Class

If you are starting with mobile automation testing using Appium, one of the most important classes you will use is AndroidDriver. In this tutorial, you will learn what AndroidDriver is, why it is used, and how to use it with simple examples.

What is AndroidDriver?

AndroidDriver is a class provided by Appium that is used to automate Android applications. AndroidDriver belongs to the Appium Java client library and extends the AppiumDriver class. It is specially designed for Android platform automation.

It allows your test scripts to:

• Launch Android apps
• Click buttons
• Enter text
• Scroll the screen
• Verify elements

AndroidDriver works with:

• Real Android devices
• Android emulators

 

Using AndroidDriver

Before writing your first AndroidDriver script, you need:

• Java installed
• Appium Server installed
• Android SDK installed
• An emulator or real Android device
• A testing framework like TestNG or JUnit (optional but recommended)

Import AndroidDriver

First, you need to import AndroidDriver in your Java class:

import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidDriver;
import io.appium.java_client.remote.MobileCapabilityType;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;

Create an AndroidDriver Object

To use AndroidDriver, you must:

1. Set Desired Capabilities
2. Start Appium Server
3. Create AndroidDriver object

Step-by-Step Example

import java.net.URL;
import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;

public class FirstTest {

 public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

 // Step 1: Set Desired Capabilities
 DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
 caps.setCapability("platformName", "Android");
 caps.setCapability("deviceName", "Android Emulator");
 caps.setCapability("appPackage", "com.android.settings");
 caps.setCapability("appActivity", ".Settings");

 // Step 2: Create AndroidDriver
 AndroidDriver driver = new AndroidDriver(
 new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723/wd/hub"), caps);

 // Step 3: Close the session
 driver.quit();
 }
}

This example launches the Android Settings app and then closes it.

Perform Basic Actions

Click an Element

driver.findElementByXPath("//android.widget.TextView[@text='Network & Internet']").click();

Send Text

driver.findElementById("com.example:id/username").sendKeys("Admin");

Close the App

driver.quit();

Important Methods of AndroidDriver

Method	Description
findElement()	Finds a single element
findElements()	Finds multiple elements
quit()	Ends the session
getPageSource()	Returns current screen XML

AppiumDriver and AndroidDriver

AppiumDriver is a generic driver for mobile automation. AndroidDriver is specifically designed for Android platform and provides Android-specific methods.

AndroidDriver is the core class used for automating Android apps with Appium.

In this tutorial, you learned:

• What AndroidDriver is
• How to create it
• How to perform basic actions
• Important methods

Once you understand AndroidDriver, you are ready to build complete mobile automation frameworks.