Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Appium Interview Questions for Freshers
2.1.
Q1. What is Appium?
2.2.
Q2. Explain different types of mobile applications.
2.3.
Q3. Mention the prerequisites for Appium.
2.4.
Q4. How is Appium different from Selenium?
2.5.
Q5. Mention some advantages of Appium.
2.6.
Q6. Mention some disadvantages of Appium. 
2.7.
Q7. What are Appium Inspectors?
2.8.
Q8. What is Espresso?
2.9.
Q9. What is implicit and Explicit Wait in Appium?
2.10.
Q10. What is Selendroid?
2.11.
Q11. Explain the Architecture of Appium.
2.12.
Q12. What do you understand by desired capabilities?
2.13.
Q13. How does Appium work under the hood?
2.14.
Q14. What is the default automation engine used by Appium for iOS and Android?
2.15.
Q15. What is the significance of WebDriver in Appium?
2.16.
Q16. How can you check if Appium is installed correctly?
2.17.
Q17. How do you set up an Appium server?
2.18.
Q18. What is the purpose of the Appium driver?
2.19.
Q19. How do you handle pop-ups in Appium?
2.20.
Q20. What are the different types of waits in Appium?
2.21.
Q21. What is the difference between Appium Desktop and Appium CLI?
2.22.
Q22. How do you install Appium on Windows and Mac?
3.
Appium Interview Questions for Experienced
3.1.
Q23. Explain Locators in Appium in detail and mention some of the Locators.
3.2.
Q24. Mention the difference between FindElement and FindElements.
3.3.
Q25. Mention some of the standard exceptions in Appium.
3.4.
Q26. How to debug an Appium test?
3.5.
Q27. Perform Swipe Action Using Appium?
3.6.
Q28.What are the properties of key-value pairs in desired capabilities?
3.7.
Q29. What is Xpath, and how does it help testers to locate Elements?
3.8.
Q30. Mention some common mistakes while writing the Appium Test.
3.9.
Q31. What do you understand by XCUITest?
3.10.
Q32. We have already developed platform-specific tests for our app. How could we migrate to Appium?
3.11.
Q33. Has Automation Testing completely replaced Manual Testing?
3.12.
Q34. What is the difference between an Emulator and a simulator?
3.13.
Q35. Mention Basic Steps to Write an Appium Test.
3.14.
Q36. How do you automate hybrid apps using Appium?
3.15.
Q37. How does Appium handle gestures like swipe, tap, and scroll?
3.16.
Q38. What is Deep Linking in Appium, and how can you test it?
3.17.
Q39. How can you execute Appium tests in parallel?
3.18.
Q40. How do you inspect mobile elements in Appium?
3.19.
Q41. What is the importance of Desired Capabilities in Appium?
3.20.
Q42. How do you handle file uploads in Appium?
3.21.
Q43. What are the limitations of Appium?
3.22.
Q44. How can you debug Appium tests efficiently?
3.23.
Q45. How do you integrate Appium with CI/CD pipelines?
4.
Frequently Asked Questions
4.1.
How do you explain Appium in an interview?
4.2.
What are the most common errors seen in Appium?
4.3.
What is the most difficult scenario to test with Appium?
4.4.
Which language does Appium not support?
5.
Conclusions
Last Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Easy

Appium Interview Questions And Answer

Author Gaurav Joshi
0 upvote
Career growth poll
Do you think IIT Guwahati certified course can help you in your career?

Introduction

No matter in which category you lie, if you are a Beginner, Experienced or Even a  Fresher and are looking for some Top Appium Interview Questions, then you are at the right place. Solving these Appium Interview Questions can get you a lot of opportunities from many reputed companies worldwide. Solving these Appium Interview Questions could help you land a well-paid job in testing. In Today's article, we will examine some of the most asked Appium Interview Questions that could surely help you in cracking your interview & landing you a dream career. So Even if you are fresher or more experienced, you will learn a lot.

appium interview questions

Appium Interview Questions for Freshers

Appium is an open-source mobile application UI testing framework that helps us test native, mobile, and hybrid web applications. With Appium, Developers can test their mobile applications on iOS and Android platforms or using an emulator or simulator. Appium uses the WebDriver protocol for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows applications. Now we will discuss some of the essential Appium Interview questions generally asked in previous interviews of tech giants.

Q1. What is Appium?

Appium is an open-source testing UI automation framework that helps us test native, mobile, and hybrid web applications. With Appium, Developers can test their mobile applications on iOS and Android platforms or using an emulator or simulator.

Q2. Explain different types of mobile applications.

We have three types of mobile applications Native, Web, and Hybrid Application

  • Native Applications are the ones developed for a particular platform.
     
  • Hybrid Applications are the ones that have both Native and Web components and run as an application.
     
  • Web Applications are built to run on Browsers (Mobile browsers).

Q3. Mention the prerequisites for Appium.

Appium does have some prerequisites both in terms of Software and System hardware.

  1. Hardware must be able to support the installation of Android Studio ( for automating Android and XCUI for iOS automation.
     
  2. NodeJS
     
  3. Languages like Java and JDK/JRE for Runtimes for Appium Client are prerequisites.
     
  4. Desktop applications and Client libraries of Appium are mandatory.
     
  5. A free application like PDANET+ is mandatory for converting Android and iOS mobile into Modem and enables tethering.

Q4. How is Appium different from Selenium?

Appium is used for UI automation, enabling us to test native, mobile, and hybrid web applications running on mobile devices. On the other hand, Selenium is an open-source tool that allows automation for Web applications that run on Browsers. It has now become standard for automation UI testing of browser-based web applications.

Q5. Mention some advantages of Appium.

Significant Advantages of the Appium Automation Testing tool are

  1. Appium is open-source and supported by both iOS and Android.
     
  2. Appium allows us to design an automation script for Android and IOS using the same API.
     
  3. Appium supports multiple languages like Java, Python, Node.js, Ruby, and Robot Framework and is cross-platform.
     
  4. We can also integrate Appium with continuous integration tools.
     
  5. It also avoids Issues like synchronization and uses HTTP protocol based on Selenium.

Q6. Mention some disadvantages of Appium. 

  1. Appium commands are generally translated to the actual device, affecting performance.
     
  2. It doesn't support testing on Android devices with versions lower than 4.2.

Q7. What are Appium Inspectors?

The standard procedure to identify the UI Elements and to find any elements inside an application, or it could also be said an out-of-box utility provided by the Appium Framework that helps us load mobile Applications, is called an Appium Inspector.

Q8. What is Espresso?

Espresso is an Android test automation framework that assists developers in writing test cases for  UI automation. It is a Framework work suitable for black-box testing that uses JUnit4 annotations. The tests in Espresso are written using Java and Kotlin. Appium uses Espresso with Android View Tag.

Q9. What is implicit and Explicit Wait in Appium?

Wait or Delay refers to when some elements do not load up on the application screen at the testing time. For Such Situations, we require a delay or wait for a specific test on the Element in question.

Appium provides us with two different types of Delay or wait:

  • Implicit wait - Delay added for a specific time. Web Driver will make an automation script to wait for a certain fixed period in search of a web element. After this time, If the Element still does not display, it will throw a "No such Element found Exception" error.
     
  • Explicit wait - Delay added for a specific condition. The Web Driver will wait for a particular condition OR will throw the “ElementNotVisibleException” exception after the time for wait exceeds

Q10. What is Selendroid?

Selendroid is a mobile test automation framework for Android-based applications that uses Selenium WebDriver client API. Selendroid uses an inspector to monitor and drive off the current UI status of Android native, hybrid, and mobile web apps.

Q11. Explain the Architecture of Appium.

Appium is an HTTP server implemented in the node.js programming language. It creates a server on the device and waits for proxied commands from the central Appium server. The test scripts are written by the tester and run on the device or emulator. Appium creates and manages several webdriver sessions for platforms such as Android and iOS.

The tester produces Test scripts sent to the Appium server as requests, which are then executed on the emulator or device. Each vendor follows its technique and methodology for executing these test cases on the device. As a result, the test case runs after the Appium server receives commands. To transmit command requests to the Appium server, Appium uses JSON (Javascript Object Notation) wire protocol. Appium used JSON  to transmit data between the server and the client.

Q12. What do you understand by desired capabilities?

Desired Capabilities in the Appium Testing Framework are pairs of keys and values sent by Appium clients encoded in a JSON object to the server whenever a new automation session is requested. Desired Capabilities tells the Appium drivers all essential things about how the tester wants their test automation to work. The Desired capabilities of Each Appium client to build are specific to the client's language, but no matter what, all of them are sent over to Appium as JSON objects.

Q13. How does Appium work under the hood?

Appium works by creating an HTTP server using Node.js that communicates with mobile devices via WebDriver.

Q14. What is the default automation engine used by Appium for iOS and Android?

For iOS: XCUITest

For Android: UiAutomator2

Q15. What is the significance of WebDriver in Appium?

WebDriver is used as a bridge between the test script and the mobile application, enabling automation.

Q16. How can you check if Appium is installed correctly?

Run appium -v in the terminal to verify if Appium is installed.

Q17. How do you set up an Appium server?

Start the server using the command appium in the terminal or use the Appium Desktop UI.

Q18. What is the purpose of the Appium driver?

The Appium driver interacts with mobile elements and executes commands on the device.

Q19. How do you handle pop-ups in Appium?

Use driver.switchTo().alert().accept() to handle alerts and pop-ups.

Q20. What are the different types of waits in Appium?

Implicit Wait – Waits for a fixed duration before throwing an exception.

Explicit Wait – Waits for a specific condition before proceeding.

Fluent Wait – Checks for an element at regular intervals until a timeout.

Q21. What is the difference between Appium Desktop and Appium CLI?

Appium Desktop provides a UI-based way to start the server and inspect elements.

Appium CLI runs the server using command-line commands.

Q22. How do you install Appium on Windows and Mac?

Windows: Install Node.js, then run npm install -g appium.

Mac: Install Node.js via Homebrew and then install Appium using npm.

Appium Interview Questions for Experienced

Q23. Explain Locators in Appium in detail and mention some of the Locators.

Locators are nothing, but Standard Elements properties specific to the Mobile Applications help to identify them are called Locators.

The following are examples of Locators:

  1. ID
  2. name
  3. className
  4. accessibilityID
  5. XPath

Q24. Mention the difference between FindElement and FindElements.

The primary difference between FindElement and FindElements is that FindElement is used for locating one specific Element in an application UI screen. In contrast, FindElements is used for locating multiple elements. We can use the findElements function to check the availability of elements.

Boolean element_prescense = driver.findElementsByName("App").size() != 0

FindElement throws an exception if no elements are found. On the other hand, FindElements will not throw an exception even though an element is not found. It will return a 0-size array of elements.

Q25. Mention some of the standard exceptions in Appium.

Some of the standard exceptions that Appium generally raises during execution are SessionNotFoundExceptionElementNotFoundExceptionWebDriverException etc. SessionNotFoundException is raised when Appium Connection is disconnected or we cannot establish a connection between sessions. When the Driver is not existent, Appium throws WebDriverException.And Appium throws ElementNotFoundException when we attempt to find an Element, and the Element is not Found. 

Q26. How to debug an Appium test?

To get some essential hints on the error, Appium provides the server logs. We could trace any error during mobile tests from the Appium server-generated logs. We could also debug test scripts with the help of the programming language used in writing these tests. For example, We could use Java Remote debugging to debug the tests.

Q27. Perform Swipe Action Using Appium?

To perform Swipe Action, Appium provides TouchAction API. Look at the example below for a demonstration.

Example: 

TouchAction mydefinedAction = new TouchAction((MobileDriver)driver); Dimension size = driver.manage().window().getSize();
int startY = (int) (size.height * 0.75);
int endY = (int) (size.width * 0.07); 
int coordX = (int) (size.width * 0.50); mydefinedAction.press(coordX,startY).waitAction(3000).moveTo(coordX,endY).release().perform();


Q28.What are the properties of key-value pairs in desired capabilities?

Properties present in the Key Value Pair of Desired Capabilities are few below:

  • automationName: Property like automationName helps us provide the name of the automation engine it will use. Appium engine is used by default, Espresso, UIAutomator1 & 2 are used for Android, whereas XCUITest is used for iOS.
     
  • platformName: Property like platformName helps us understand the OS platform being used, for example, iOS, Android or FirefoxOS etc.
     
  • platformVersion: Determines the Version of the mobile Operating System, such as 7.1, 4.4, etc.
     
  • deviceName: It tells the Mobile device or emulator type – iPhone Simulator, Android Emulator, etc.

Q29. What is Xpath, and how does it help testers to locate Elements?

XPATH helps in navigating testers through the XML structure of any document, and we can use it on both HTML and XML documents.XPATH follows a specific syntax to reach any element. This is a String-based identifier for any element. Appium does provide a 'FindBy' function where it can pass an XPATH string, and the Element is returned.

Q30. Mention some common mistakes while writing the Appium Test.

Mentioned below are some of the General mistakes that occur while writing Appium tests. To avoid these errors, we need to follow the points taken into consideration:

  • We need to avoid excessive use of XPath as a locator.
     
  • We must Use an accessibility ID locator for testing iOS and Android mobile devices.
     
  • Querying for visibility of elements should only be restricted to essential elements.

Q31. What do you understand by XCUITest?

XCUITest is a test automation framework developed for iOS. XCUITest framework is used for testing native mobile applications only that are built using swift or objectives C. We cannot write tests for multiple platforms in XCUITest. For automating iOS applications, Appium Uses the XCUITest driver. 

Q32. We have already developed platform-specific tests for our app. How could we migrate to Appium?

How hard it may sound, there is, unfortunately, no such magic formula that could translate our tests into Selenium tests. Suppose the user has already developed a test framework working on different layers and observed sound programming principles. In that case, the user needs to act on some test components to migrate their suites to Appium. 

We could easily migrate our current tests if we already use an automation framework or something close to a command-based interaction. So in simple words, a user would probably need to write their tests from the beginning. What they can do is reuse their existing components.

Q33. Has Automation Testing completely replaced Manual Testing?

We could not replace Manual testing completely with Automation testing since little human intervention is needed. Even Proper Automation Testing requires as little intervention since the tools built to run tests are set up once. As a convenient replacement sounds, it should not be a complete replacement for manual testing. We could only replace Automation testing for some repetitive tasks like load testing, where thousands of virtual users are needed. Engineers should never automate things like test scripts, nor should they automate code reviews or bug testing for new software builds. These tests might require some human interaction to detect issues. So We can conclude that large-scale, repetitive tasks are a better fit for automation.

Q34. What is the difference between an Emulator and a simulator?

  • A simulator helps us simulate an environment with all the software variables and configurations in the actual production of the application's environment. Simulators don't replicate the hardware that will run the application. They could be written in high-level programming languages. 
     
  • An emulator tries to replicate all of a real-world environment's hardware and software aspects. Emulators are developed in assembly language. Emulators might thus occupy a middle ground between simulators and real-world gadgets.
     
  • The primary difference between the two is that Emulators replicate both hardware and software features, whereas simulators solely replicate only environment features that may be adjusted or created using the software. Emulators are not a replacement for real-device testing since they are not always excellent for simulating the hardware and software of a production system. Emulators allow us to create an environment similar to an actual device.
     
  • Simulators are Faster than emulators as emulators need to detect the movement of the hardware devices to convert it into a digital signal.

Q35. Mention Basic Steps to Write an Appium Test.

Follow the steps to Write any basic Appium Test for a Mobile Application

  1. Decide on which programming languages your Appium Client library supports.
     
  2. Decide on the Testing framework for the Underlying development language, Like TestNG for Java.
     
  3. Now, import the Appium Client library.
     
  4. After importing the Client Library, initialize the Driver by passing the Desired Capabilities. 
     
  5. Now, locate the UI elements in the Mobile application. 
     
  6. We need to use the Appium Inspector to get the location beforehand.
     
  7. After Location Inspect, execute the automation command on the Element.
     
  8. Quit the initialized Driver.

Q36. How do you automate hybrid apps using Appium?

Switch to the WebView context using driver.context("WEBVIEW_1") before interacting with web elements.

Q37. How does Appium handle gestures like swipe, tap, and scroll?

Use the TouchAction API for gestures like swipe, tap, and scroll.

Q38. What is Deep Linking in Appium, and how can you test it?

Deep linking allows direct navigation to a specific screen in an app using a URL, tested with driver.get("app://deeplink/path").

Q39. How can you execute Appium tests in parallel?

Use TestNG parallel execution or a cloud-based service like Sauce Labs or BrowserStack.

Q40. How do you inspect mobile elements in Appium?

Use Appium Inspector for iOS/Android or Chrome DevTools for WebViews.

Q41. What is the importance of Desired Capabilities in Appium?

Desired Capabilities define key properties like platformName, deviceName, and automationName to configure Appium sessions.

Q42. How do you handle file uploads in Appium?

Use sendKeys("<file_path>") on the file input field.

Q43. What are the limitations of Appium?

Does not support parallel execution on multiple iOS devices.

Limited support for advanced gestures without additional libraries.

Q44. How can you debug Appium tests efficiently?

Use Appium logs for debugging errors.

Leverage driver.getPageSource() to inspect the current UI structure.

Q45. How do you integrate Appium with CI/CD pipelines?

Configure Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI to execute Appium scripts in a CI/CD workflow.

You must have gone through these Top Appium Interview Questions if you reached here. This article's primary purpose is to acknowledge you for previously asked Appium Interview Questions. Further, you can go through any past assignments with the subject and make sure to speak confidently on them. For any fresher, the interviewer generally does not expect clear-cut answers to complex questions; instead, you must make your basic concepts very strong. If you understand the article, then Appium Interview Questions must have taken care of that. If not, revise these Appium Interview Questions again and again.

Second, it doesn't matter much if you could not answer a few questions, but it matters that whatever you answered, you must have answered with confidence. So feel confident during your interview. Don't forget to revise these Appium Interview Questions from Time to Time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you explain Appium in an interview?

Appium is an open-source, cross-platform mobile automation framework that allows developers to test native, hybrid, and mobile web apps on iOS and Android devices. It uses the WebDriver protocol to communicate with mobile devices and supports a variety of programming languages, including Java, Python, and JavaScript.

What are the most common errors seen in Appium?

Some common errors encountered in Appium include issues related to the device connection, desired capabilities, element locating strategies, and handling of native/hybrid contexts. Other common issues include problems with app installation and launching, appium server setup, and configuring the environment variables. 

What is the most difficult scenario to test with Appium?

The most difficult scenario to test with Appium would depend on the specific application being tested and its complexity. However, some common challenges include testing applications that involve complex gestures or animations, applications that use web views or hybrid components, and applications with frequent UI changes or dynamic content.

Which language does Appium not support?

Appium supports a wide range of programming languages, including Java, Python, Ruby, JavaScript, PHP, and C#. However, it does not support some languages, such as Swift or Objective-C for iOS testing and Kotlin or Java for Android testing. Instead, it provides support for using Java-based testing frameworks like TestNG or JUnit for these platforms.

Conclusions

In this article, we have explored the Most Asked Appium Interview Questions. Also, we have divided the entire article into three sections: Easy, Hard, and Intermediate.

Recommended Readings:

Live masterclass