appium supports finding by content description.
React test ID is currently propagated into view content description.
react-native/ReactAndroid/src/androidTest/java/com/facebook/react/testing/ReactTestHelper.java at a99c5160eeeedec0d08afca1a7cda235418765f4 · facebook/react-native · GitHub
See find by accessibility id.
driver.findElementByAccessibilityId(“play-button”);
http://sauceio.com/index.php/2015/06/appium-sauce-labs-bootcamp-chapter-1-language-bindings/