?? Seamlessly Managing WebView and Native View in Hybrid Apps: iOS and Android with WebdriverIO, Appium, and TypeScript+

What is WebView and Native View?

Native View: User interface elements rendered by the OS itself using native SDKs like UIKit (iOS). Examples: buttons, text fields.

WebView: Embeds web content within native apps, enabling HTML, CSS, JavaScript integration. Common in hybrid apps for seamless web-native experiences.

???? Exploring WebView Differences in Android and iOS ????

Understanding WebView implementations across platforms is key for seamless app development. Let's dissect the variances:

?? iOS:

• An iOS app can have MULTIPLE WebViews for one app, but only one can be active at the same time.
• Retrieving contexts via driver.getContexts() yields an array : Webview in iOS ends with randomNumber.

const contexts = await browser.getContexts();
console.log(contexts); // contexts = ['NATIVE_APP','WEBVIEW-{randomNumber}']        

?? Android:

• Each app typically supports one WebView, but multiple pages within it.
• Retrieving contexts via driver.getContexts() yields an array : Webview in Android ends with app packageName.

const contexts = await browser.getContexts();
console.log(contexts); // contexts = ['NATIVE_APP','WEBVIEW-{packageName}']        

?? Switching Contexts with WebDriverIO: A Concise Guide

1. Identify Contexts: Utilize WebDriverIO's getContexts() method to retrieve available contexts.

const contexts = await browser.getContexts();
console.log(contexts); // Output available contexts.        

2. Switch to WebView: With the context list, switch to a WebView for web content interaction.

// Switch to the first WebView context
await browser.switchContext(contexts.find(context => context.startsWith('WEBVIEW')));        

3. Interact with Web Elements: Within the WebView context, use WebDriverIO's commands for web element interaction.

// Example: Clicking on a button in the WebView
await browser.$('#webview-button').click();        

4. Switch Back to Native View: Return to the Native View context post web element interaction for native feature testing.

// Switch back to Native View
await browser.switchContext(contexts.find(context => context.startsWith('NATIVE_APP')));        

Unlock the potential of hybrid app testing seamlessly with #TestAutomation #WebDriverIO #Appium #TypeScript #MobileTesting #HybridApps #XCUITest #UiAutomator2??