What Is Appium Inspector and How to Use It

In mobile test automation, identifying and interacting with UI elements can be challenging due to the complexity and variability of app interfaces. Appium Inspector addresses this by providing a visual interface to inspect app elements.

Appium UI Inspector lets you see element properties and generate accurate locators, helping you create and maintain reliable automated test scripts.

What Is Appium Inspector?

Appium Inspector is a GUI tool used in mobile automation testing to view the structure of a running mobile app. It displays the app screen and lists every button, text field, and icon. When an element is selected, it shows specific data such as element name, type, id, and screen position.

You can use Appium Inspector to select the exact element a test must interact with. It provides locator values like accessibility ID or XPath so the test script can tap, type, or verify the correct element. This helps the script act on the right part of the app and reduces test failures.

Why Use Appium Inspector?

Appium Inspector helps explore UI hierarchies, interact with elements, view attributes, and run commands. It also records flows, captures logs/screenshots, and supports cross-platform automation testing efficiently.

• Visual UI Tree/Hierarchy Inspection: You can see the full structure of your app in a tree view. It shows how elements are arranged. You can understand nesting and parent-child relationships clearly.
• Element Interaction: You can tap buttons, enter text, swipe, and scroll directly from Inspector. Your actions happen on the connected device or emulator. This makes testing interactive elements straightforward.
• Locator Details & Attributes: You can view element details like resource ID, class, text, bounds, and accessibility ID. You can use these values to create exact locators for automation scripts.
• Command Execution from Inspector: You can run Appium commands directly from the GUI. You can test actions without writing full scripts. This speeds up testing and prevents errors.
• Recording User Flows & Script Generation: You can record taps, text input, and swipes while using the app. Inspector generates basic code in Java, JavaScript, or Python. This helps you build test scripts faster.
• Logging, Screenshots & Debugging: You can capture logs, screenshots, and snapshots of the screen and element tree. You can check errors and fix test failures efficiently.
• Cross-Platform Support: You can use Inspector with Android, iOS, and Windows devices. This lets you inspect elements while performing mobile app testing on multiple platforms using the same tool.

How to Download and Install Appium Inspector?

You can download Appium Inspector from GitHub Releases or install it via npm plugin, then follow your OS prompts to install and launch it, and connect to your Appium server to start a session.

Plugin Method

You can install the Inspector plugin using the command appium plugin install –source=npm appium-inspector-plugin. Then start Appium Inspector with –use-plugins=inspector –allow-cors and open in your browser.

Desktop App Method

Go to the GitHub Releases page for Appium Inspector and download the correct package for your platform: .exe for Windows and .dmg for macOS.

Installation:

• Windows: Run the .exe file. If Windows blocks it, right-click → Properties → check “Unblock” → Apply → Run the installer.
• macOS: Open the .dmg file and drag the Appium Inspector icon to the Applications folder. If macOS blocks opening the app, run xattr -cr “/Applications/Appium Inspector.app” in Terminal or use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

After installation, open Appium Inspector. Connect it to your Appium server by providing your desired capabilities and start a session to inspect your mobile app.

How to Open Appium Inspector on Windows?

You open Appium Inspector on Windows by double‑clicking the installed .exe, running your Appium server, entering the server URL, port, and base path, setting desired capabilities, and clicking Start Session.

1. Open the App: You start Appium UI Inspector on Windows by double‑clicking the installed .exe file from your desktop or Start menu.
2. Launch Appium 2 Server: Run your Appium server on your machine before opening Inspector, so the tool can connect to it successfully.
3. Enter Connection Details: In Inspector’s Session Builder, set the server URL, port, and base path (defaults: 127.0.0.1, 4723, “/”).
4. Set Desired Capabilities: Provide Appium capabilities like platform name, device name, app path in the Session Builder.
5. Start Your Session: Click the Start Session button after providing details. Inspector will open a live view of the app’s UI hierarchy.
6. Attach to Existing Session (Optional): Use the “Attach to Session” tab to connect Inspector to an already running Appium session.

How to Open Appium Inspector on Mac?

You open Appium UI Inspector on Mac by double‑clicking the app in Applications, bypassing Gatekeeper if needed, clearing security flags via Terminal, setting the server URL and session capabilities, then clicking Start Session.

1. Open the App: In Finder, go to Applications, then double‑click Appium Inspector.app to launch it.
2. Bypass Gatekeeper Security: If macOS blocks the app, Control‑click its icon and choose Open, then confirm Open again.
3. Clear Security Flags via Terminal: Run xattr -cr “/Applications/Appium Inspector.app” in Terminal to remove macOS security restrictions.
4. Configure Server Address: In the Session Builder screen, set your Appium server URL (default: http://127.0.0.1:4723) so Inspector can connect.
5. Enter Session Capabilities: Provide device details like platform name, device name, and app path in the Session Builder.
6. Start the Session: Click Start Session. Inspector will then connect to the server and display the live app UI tree.

How to Use Appium UI Inspector?

You use Appium UI Inspector by starting a session with your Appium server and device capabilities. It loads your app’s UI, lets you select elements, view attributes, build locators, interact with the app, capture screenshots, debug, generate code snippets, and save session profiles for future use.

1. Start a Session: Open Inspector and provide your Appium server details and device capabilities so it can connect to your mobile app.
2. Connect and Load App: Click “Start Session.” Inspector connects, launches your app, and shows the live UI screenshot plus its full hierarchy.
3. Select UI Elements: Click an element on the screenshot or tree. Inspector highlights it and lists details like id, text, class, and bounds.
4. Build Locators: Examine attributes such as resource ID, class, accessibility ID, or XPath and copy them into your test code.
5. Test Locator Accuracy: Find element to validate whether a locator picks exactly the element you selected.
6. Interact with the App: Tap, swipe, scroll, or send keys via the Inspector interface to simulate real user actions.
7. Log Actions & Capture Screens: Take screenshots or snapshots of the UI tree while testing, helping document states or debug later.
8. Debug with Locators: Inspect elements that don’t behave as expected, using different Appium locators strategies to handle dynamic or changing UI.
9. Generate Script Snippets: Copy code snippets (Java, Python, JavaScript) for selected elements, which saves time while writing automation tests.
10. Save Session Profiles: Store server and capability configurations inside Inspector for reuse in future testing sessions.

How to Use Appium Inspector for App Testing With LambdaTest?

Appium also supports inspection on remote grids. There are a number of testing platforms available that provide a real device cloud for inspecting UI elements while testing mobile apps.

LambdaTest is one such cloud-based Appium mobile testing platform that allows you to test and debug mobile apps using Appium Inspector on 10,000+ real Android and iOS devices.

To get started, check out this guide on Appium Inspector integration with LambdaTest.

Features:

• App Uploads: Upload .apk, .aab, .ipa files or install apps directly from Play Store, App Store, Firebase, or TestFlight for instant testing on cloud devices.
• Parallel Test Execution: Run multiple Appium tests simultaneously across different devices and OS combinations, reducing execution time and accelerating feedback cycles for faster development and release.
• Gesture Automation: Automate natural gestures like tap, swipe, scroll, zoom, and long-press on mobile devices, enabling full functional testing of interactive app behaviors.
• Debugging Tools: Access session logs, screenshots, video recordings, and network logs for effective troubleshooting, performance monitoring, and identifying issues during Appium test runs.
• Supported Appium Plugins: Use Appium plugins such as images for image comparison, gestures, and element-wait to extend test capabilities and simplify mobile automation.
• Test Analytics & History: Track execution history, trends, flaky tests, and pass/fail results for better insights into app stability and continuous improvement of automation suites.
• CI/CD Integration: Seamlessly integrate Appium tests with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and other CI/CD pipelines for automated, continuous testing during development cycles.

Tips and Tricks to Use Appium Inspector Effectively

You can follow these tips and tricks to use Appium UI Inspector effectively because they help you locate elements accurately, validate UI behavior, debug efficiently, and create reliable, reusable test scripts faster.

• Navigating the UI Tree & Selecting Elements: Browse the UI hierarchy by expanding or collapsing nodes. Locate elements visually or via the tree view, selecting items to inspect their properties and attributes.
• Generating Locators: Generate reliable locators using Inspector, including XPath, accessibility ID, class name, or resource ID. Use Inspector’s suggested values and validate them for uniqueness.
• Real-Time Interactions & Validations: Perform live actions on the app such as tap, type, swipe, scroll, or long-press. Validate UI behavior to ensure interactions work as expected.
• Capturing Screenshots/Snapshots: Capture the current screen and UI tree to save snapshots. Use them for debugging, documentation, or sharing element details with teammates.
• Recording & Exporting Scripts: Record user flows in Inspector. Export the recorded session as code snippets or full test scripts in your preferred language for Appium automation.

If you are using the latest Appium 3, the Appium server requires you to upgrade Inspector to version 2025.3.1 or later to use the “Attach to Session” feature.

Conclusion

Appium Inspector lets you view and interact with mobile app elements directly. You can download and install it on Windows or Mac, then open it to inspect apps in real time. It highlights element properties, helps generate selectors, and supports debugging.

You can use it with LambdaTest to run remote tests. Applying simple tips improves element detection, speeds up test script creation, and ensures automated tests run accurately and reliably.

Citations

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