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March 10, 2020

A Guide to Appium Releases: Latest Version

Eran Kinsbruner
Eran Kinsbruner

Appium releases frequently. It's the leading open-source framework for native mobile test automation. Here we cover what's in different Appium versions, including the latest Appium version.

Table of Contents

  1. Why Appium Releases Frequently
  2. Compare Appium Releases With Appium Latest Version
  3. Highlights of the Latest Appium Version (1.16.0)
  4. Miscellaneous Changes in Appium Latest Version
  5. What Else You Can Do With Appium Latest Version?
  6. Pair the Appium Latest Version With Perfecto
  7. Related Content
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Why Appium Releases Frequently

Change is a good thing. Mobile testing with Appium offers an engaged community of users and support for multiple programming languages. It also provides strong support for end-to-end testing.

NEW! The 2021 State of Test Automation >> 

See how Appium has advanced with each new release. Take a look at the changes in Appium version by version over the past few years, all the way to the latest Appium release.
 

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Compare Appium Releases With Appium Latest Version

In the table below, we compare Appium versions from different releases, including the latest Appium version.

Appium Releases
Appium VersionAppium Release DateKey Features
Appium 1.7.2January 2017
  • Support for MacOS 10.1.3.
  • Memory leak fixes.
  • Ability to take elements screenshots.
  • Bug fixes.
Appium 1.8April 2017
  • Full support for W3C WebDriver Spec.
  • Ability to get full device screenshots.
  • iOS record screen.
  • Support for Android P.
  • Support Android Deep Linking.
Appium 1.8.1May 2017
  • Performance improvements for iOS (XCUITest) getPageSource.
  • Return current Android connection state.
  • Other bug fixes and enhancements.
Appium 1.9August 2018
  • Beta release for Espresso Driver (“automationName: Espresso”).
  • Driver for Samsung Tizen devices added.
  • Support for Xcode 10 Beta 5 iOS12 Beta 5.
  • Add iOS faceid, fingerprint support (iOS simulator).
  • Bug fixes.
Appium 1.9.1September 2018
  • Patch release with support for XCode 10 and iOS12.
  • Fix for iPhone X simulator screen recording.
  • Fix W3C format handling issues.
Appium 1.10.1November 2018
  • Minor patch release.
  • Espresso driver GA.
  • Discontinued support for Xcode 8.
  • Enhance biometrics method support (Face/Fingerprint).
  • Android video recording enhanced.
  • More bug fixes.
Appium 1.11.0March 2019
  • Minor release that added support for German language localization testing.
  • Perfecto cloud provider support added to Appium Desktop.
  • Some bug fixes.
Appium 1.12.1April 2019
  • Bug fixes and performance Improvements.
  • New cloud providers (pCloudy) added to Appium desktop.
  • New supported languages (Japanese, Russian, Chinese).
  • Ability to copy located elements to clipboard.
Appium 1.13.0May 2019
  • Appium version updated to 13.0.
  • Bug fixes.
Appium 1.14.0October 2019
  • Appium version updated to 14.0.
  • Intelligently resize screenshot and source tree widths.
  • Make configurable "Get Running Sessions".
Appium 1.15.1October 2019
  • Support for iOS 13.
  • Updated Appium version to 15.0.
  • Bug fixes.
Appium 1.16.0 (Latest Version)January 2020
  • Beta support for Flutter.
  • iOS simulator geolocation setting for testing.
  • Safari web logs capabilities.
Appium 1.17.0 (Pre-Release)
  • March 2020

 

As you can see, each Appium version has brought new features, functions, and updates for users. And one can expect each future Appium version to include even more.

Already Using Appium?

Try Appium with Perfecto. You can use the Appium Perfecto integration to test real mobile devices in the Perfecto lab using your Appium version.

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Highlights of the Latest Appium Version (1.16.0)

The Appium community recently released the latest Appium version 1.16.0 for Android and iOS. This Appium version is a minor release that upgrades 1.15.0.

Here are the Appium latest version's most important features.

Beta Support for Flutter

Appium 1.16.0 supports a new framework from Google called Flutter. Flutter offers developers a more unique and high-performing rendering UI engine to design, draw, and create more appealing apps.

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Many apps today use the end user location. You should test geolocation on a virtual device earlier in the development lifecycle. As you move toward the integration phase and release of the location based features within your app, you should test on real devices. With Perfecto, it is fully possible on top of Appium to set through a simple command a real device location for your test automation.

Test Automation Strategy For Beginners >> 

Here's an example. To set a device location like “1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA”, users would configure this command within their test code.

https://mycloudlab.perfectomobile.com/services/executions/[email protected]_controller_16-11-09_11_30_56_337?operation=command&securityToken=<your_token>&command=location&subcommand=set&param.deviceId=9A72917FF7B5109B54FD96C4C56A6C128E23F018&param.address=1600%20Amphitheatre%20Parkway,%20Mountain%20View,%20CA
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Miscellaneous Changes in Appium Latest Version

As in each Appium release, Appium 1.16.0 offers a large amount of memory and performance improvements and functional defect resolutions that enhance the overall performance and stability of your test execution.
Also included in this Appium release are a few new capabilities for Appium/XCUITest driver around the Safari web logs collection. 

 

As with any open source implementation, the community collaborates, shares feedback, reports issues, and seeks advice. It is our recommendation to scan through top discussions and issues on the community portal. You might find an answer to one of your burning questions there.

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What Else You Can Do With Appium Latest Version?

Perfecto fully embraces open source. Appium is one of the top test automation frameworks that we support. View all supported frameworks >>

At Perfecto, we are always thinking about test scenarios that are either too complicated to implement using Appium or that are not supported at all. 

Appium Tutorial: From Beginners to Advanced >>

One example for such a use case is image injection. This is a common scenario for customers scanning checks in banking apps. When trying to automate an image scanning scenario in Java with Appium across platforms, injecting an image to the camera and quickly validating it can be very useful. It also saves time.

Please refer to this document and learn how to add this ability to your Appium code when working in Perfecto.

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Pair the Appium Latest Version With Perfecto

Appium and Perfecto are seamlessly integrated for testing on iOS and Android. And Perfecto supports the latest versions of Appium, too.

With Perfecto and Appium for mobile app testing, you’ll be able to:

  • Scale your existing testing on multiple platforms.
  • Ensure security for the enterprise.
  • Support advanced automation scenarios (image injection, biometrics, audio validation, etc.).
  • Find and fix bugs faster through advanced reporting.
  • Integrate test automation into your CI/CD stack.

See for yourself why you should use Appium and Perfecto for testing. Try Perfecto free for 14 days.

Start Trial

 

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