AppiumBy Interface

The AppiumBy interface is part of the Appium Java client library and provides a convenient way to locate elements in mobile automation tests using Appium. It extends the By class from Selenium and introduces mobile-specific locator strategies that are not available in standard Selenium.

• Package: io.appium.java_client
• Purpose: Offers static factory methods to create By locators tailored for iOS, Android, and cross-platform mobile automation.
• Replaces deprecated methods: Older locator strategies like By.id(), By.xpath(), etc., still work, but AppiumBy provides explicit, semantic methods for mobile contexts.

📦 Dependency (Maven)

Make sure you’re using a recent version of the Appium Java client (v8+):

<dependency>
 <groupId>io.appium</groupId>
 <artifactId>java-client</artifactId>
 <version>9.2.3</version> <!-- Check for latest version -->
</dependency>

 

Note: As of Appium Java Client v8+, many old locators (like MobileBy) are deprecated in favor of AppiumBy.

✅ Common Locator Strategies in AppiumBy

Method	Description	Example
id(String id)	Finds element by resource-id (Android) or name/accessibility id (iOS)	AppiumBy.id("loginButton")
accessibilityId(String id)	Uses accessibility ID (iOS) or content-desc (Android)	AppiumBy.accessibilityId("Login")
xpath(String xpath)	Standard XPath locator	AppiumBy.xpath("//android.widget.Button[@text='Submit']")
className(String className)	Locates by UI element class	AppiumBy.className("android.widget.EditText")
androidUIAutomator(String uiautomatorText)	Android-only: Uses UIAutomator selector	AppiumBy.androidUIAutomator("new UiSelector().text(\"OK\")")
iOSNsPredicateString(String predicate)	iOS-only: Uses NSPredicate	AppiumBy.iOSNsPredicateString("label == 'Cancel'")
iOSClassChain(String classChain)	iOS-only: Uses class chain (for XCUITest)	AppiumBy.iOSClassChain("**/XCUIElementTypeButton[`label == \"Save\"`]")
image(String b64Image)	Locates element by image (requires image comparison enabled)	AppiumBy.image(encodedImageString)
custom(String selector, String args)	For custom locator plugins	AppiumBy.custom("plugin-name", "args")

💡 Example Usage

import io.appium.java_client.AppiumBy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;

// Find by accessibility ID (works on both platforms)
WebElement loginBtn = driver.findElement(AppiumBy.accessibilityId("Login"));

// Android-specific: UIAutomator
WebElement okButton = driver.findElement(
 AppiumBy.androidUIAutomator("new UiSelector().text(\"OK\")")
);

// iOS-specific: NSPredicate
WebElement cancelButton = driver.findElement(
 AppiumBy.iOSNsPredicateString("label == 'Cancel'")
);