I’ve been testing an iOS app via the ipa file on Appium 1.5.3 via tethered iPhones (running iOS 9.3). I have Xcoce 7.3 on the Macbook that I test on. I need to start testing on iOS Simulators (iOS version 9.x is fine for now) and I’m having a problem getting the app to launch. What I’ve done:
Extracted the .ipa file to get the “.app” file. The ipa file came from the Developers who built the app with Xcode 8.2 and has a Dev’s signature. Again, this ipa file works fine in Appium via a tethered iPhone running iOS 9.3.
Changed Appium Server config (and Eclipse Java code) to point to the “app” file, setup the simulator (and code) name/version to the simulator configuration.
When I launch the Inspector or a TestNG test via Eclipse, the Simulator boots up, installs the app, the app opens but then closes immediately. This opening/closing of the app happens about 8 times in succession. The Appium Server log shows:
[debug] [Instruments] Instruments is at: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/instruments
[debug] [Instruments] Attempting to launch instruments, this is try #1
[Instruments] Launching instruments
[debug] [Instruments] Attempting to run app on iPhone 6s Plus (9.3) [
[Instruments] On xcode 7.0+, instruments-without-delay does not work, skipping instruments-without-delay
[debug] [Instruments] Found Insruments-Without-Delay: /Applications/Appium.app/Contents/Resources/node_modules/appium/node_modules/appium-ios-driver/node_modules/appium-instruments/thirdparty/iwd7
[debug] [Instruments] Spawning instruments with command: ‘/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/instruments -t /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Instruments.app/Contents/PlugIns/AutomationInstrument.xrplugin/Contents/Resources/Automation.tracetemplate -D /var/folders/hv/z0cp2_j10xv5369mc3h7j1br3gw1kr/T/appium-instruments/instrumentscli0.trace -w “iPhone 6s Plus (9.3) [” /Users/appium/ipa/CompanyQA.app -e UIASCRIPT “/Users/leppo/Library/Application Support/appium/bootstrap/bootstrap-830a1e8114b80f74.js” -e UIARESULTSPATH /var/folders/hv/z0cp2_j10xv5369mc3h7j1br3gw1kr/T/appium-instruments’
[debug] [Instruments] And launch timeouts (in ms): {“global”:90000}
[debug] [Instruments] [INST STDERR] Instruments Trace Error : Target failed to run: The operation couldn’t be completed. (FBSOpenApplicationErrorDomain error 1.) : Failed to launch process with bundle identifier ‘com.company.mobile.inhouse.qa’
[debug] [Instruments] Instruments exited with code 253
[Instruments] Error launching instruments: Instruments crashed on startup
[debug] [iOSSim] Killing all iOS Simulators
Does anybody know what could be wrong? Should I be able to extract the “app” file from the ipa file and use it in a Simulator, or does the app file need to be built separately? From what I understand about Appium 1.6x/iOS 10x, if I would upgrade Xcode to 8.x on the Mac that I test on, my scripts won’t work anymore using Appium 1.5.3. I know I need to eventually upgrade Appium to 1.6x and test on iOS 10, but for now I’m just trying to run my current test on a Simulator running iOS 9.x instead of on an iPhone running 9.3.
I’m not sure if I know what that means. I was given an ipa file (Dev signed) to test on tethered devices, and that works fine. From this ipa file I used the Mac’s Archive Utility to extract the contents of this file. From the extracted contents, I grabbed the “app” file. Are you saying that I need an “app”-specific file that was generated via Xcode to specifically run on a Simulator? If so, then I guess the app file I’m using was not made specifically for a Simulator.
iOS devices use an ARM processor, but OS X run on an x386 type of processor. Since the Simulator is running on x386, you need to compile the app for that style of processor. Ask your Developer to create a Simulator compiled version of the app. Here is a tutorial on making a Simulator build (from the command line) for your perusal:
Hello @leppo i’m facing the same issue , but i partly solved it by trying different pc, here’s my the specifications :
The Issue still on :
iMac : Intel Core i5 , 8 GB , 1536 MB
And its working on this :
MacBook Pro : Intel Core i7 , 16 GB , 1536 MB
And the simulator takes long time to launch every time (on iMac) are you facing the same issues ?
I only have one test machine, a MacBook Pro 16GB. The simulator takes about a minute to boot up, then the app opens quickly, but then I get the open/close behavior. I’ll try the suggestion from wreed above since it sounds like the app file I’m using may not be compatible with a simulator.
Thanks for the tip @wreed . A developer followed those instructions and I was able to use the resulting app file to load up the app in a simulator via the Appium Inspector. Unfortunately, when I try to run a TestNG test from my code, I get the below error:
[Support] Error: Plist file doesn’t exist: ‘/Applications/Appium.app/Contents/Resources/node_modules/com.company.mobile.inhouse.qa/Info.plist’
at Object.wrappedLogger.errorAndThrow (lib/logger.js:60:13)
at parsePlistFile$ (lib/plist.js:22:11)
at tryCatch (/Applications/Appium.app/Contents/Resources/node_modules/appium/node_modules/babel-runtime/regenerator/runtime.js:67:40)
at GeneratorFunctionPrototype.invoke [as _invoke] (/Applications/Appium.app/Contents/Resources/node_modules/appium/node_modules/babel-runtime/regenerator/runtime.js:315:22)
I’ve modified the capabilities in my code to use the same iOS Simulator that works with the Inspector. Is there something else I need to do in my code to find the ‘plist’?
I stumbled across a solution for the above problem. If I uncheck the “BundleID” check box in the Appium Server UI, then my TestNG tests run. Thanks for the help!
Are you sure that the Launcher Activity/ Bundle id specified is correct? maybe you should look out for the proper launcher activity for your app because the app will launch and close if the activity is incorrect.
Hi- It’s been over a year since I had that problem, but I believe that the problem was that the app file was either not properly signed as a Development build, and/or the ‘app’ file was not configured correctly for the simulator I was using. I sent the above link (“How to create Simulator Build and run on Simulator”) to my iOS Developer and he created an ‘app’ file that worked.