In this tutorial, we are going to learn step by step how to prepare a physical device for testing with TestComplete and how to do USB Driver Installation. If you are working with android virtual machines or android emulators then preparing these devices would have a different set of steps.

To prepare your devices for testing, you should install Android SDK on your computer. Android software development (Android SDK) is the process through which the new applications are developed for devices that execute on the Android operating system. since TestComplete works with Android applications using ADB which stands for Android Debug Bridge and ADB is a part of Android SDK. Here, the main idea is to make ADB recognize your physical Android device to communicate. TestComplete can work with both Wi-Fi connected and USB connected devices. Android SDK can be downloaded from the following link.

The following are the preparatory steps for mobile devices:

Developer Options:

Some developer options have to be enabled on the physical device in order to perform testing on it. To see the developer options on the device, you need to go to the settings, click on about and then tap on build number for 7 times (this is a general method to make the developer options visible, it may vary for different android devices so you will have to check the documentation for your device).

Once the developer options tab is visible, enable USB debugging and Stay awake settings on the device. USB debugging will allow your device to communicate with ADB and hence, TestComplete. Stay awake setting will help your device to stay connected by preventing sleep mode.

USB drivers:

In order to make ADB recognize your physical device on your computer, you need to install USB drivers. For example, to test Google Nexus device, you need to install google USB drivers on your computer which can be downloaded either from a ZIP file available online or through Android SDK package. Here, I am going to list down steps for an OEM USB driver which can be installed on other Android devices. You can find the type of OEM driver needed for your device in the device documentation. For Mac OS or Linux, USB drivers are not needed. Here are the steps to install USB drivers on Windows 10.

• First, Android device should be connected to the computer’s USB port. Use any of the available USB port on your computer where TestComplete set up is installed.
• Go to Windows Explorer and open Computer Management.
• On the left pane of the screen, click on Device Manager.
• On the right pane of the screen, expand either Portable Devices or Other Devices, whatever is visible on your computer.
• When you see your device name, right-click on it, and then select Update Driver Software.
• Now, you will see Hardware Update wizard, select Browse my computer for driver software and click on Next button link.
• Browse and locate the USB driver folder.
• Click Next to install the driver.

Similarly, for other window versions, you can find these steps online in the TestComplete user guide. If you want to be sure that driver is installed properly then go to Control Panel, select Device Manager. You should see your device name listed under Portable devices.

Synchronization software:

Some manufacturers have a synchronization software installed on the device in order to sync data between PC and device. You will need to disable this software since they have a custom version of ADB and that can conflict with your installed version and give you a tough time running your tests.

Android agent:

Install the TestComplete android agent on your device, this will help application testing by simulating keystrokes and simplifies geolocation scenarios. The minimum RAM required to install android agent is 512MB. This can be installed when your device is connected and TestComplete will push the installation link or you can also deploy the package manually. It is an app which will be installed on your device and you can uninstall it when you don’t need it.

Sensitive motion settings:

Some Android devices support settings like Air View or Palm motion (a 3D view created by simply hovering your finger on the device’s screen or pressing an app on phone). If you are going to test the multi-touch scenarios on your device then these settings can interrupt with those gestures. You should disable these settings while testing. Also, there could be some security settings which prevents your device communication with third-party software and can also prevent installing of other software on the device. For example, android agent. You should look at these settings and handle them accordingly while setting up your device for testing.

Next to you:

These were the major 5 steps you need to perform on your device to prepare it for testing. On the other hand, you need to prepare TestComplete for android testing by installing Android SDK, plugins (Mobile support and Android support), enabling USB port, installing USB drivers, setting up the JDK and Android SDK path, and adding “Show Mobile Screen” toolbar. Once both TestComplete computer and your test android device are set up, you can start recording or writing your test scripts. Isn’t it easy to install USB driver and prepare our mobile device for testing using TestComplete? When you will try out these steps you will realize it is very simple and easy to use.

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Happy Testing!!