Test.ai open sourced an AI classifier for Appium at SeleniumConf last week (setup article). This post will show you how to build the classifier yourself, customize them for your application, and add it to Appium.

With one API call, you can add the power of AI to your mobile test automation. The team at test.ai has teamed up with Jonathan Lipps, the lead contributor of Appium and founder of Cloud Grey, to add a bit of AI to Appium. The AI finds common elements in mobile apps such as search text boxes, login buttons, etc., so test developers don’t have to worry about all those magic IDs, CSS, or XPaths. Just tell the AI what you want it to find and it will find it for you on the page — even if the element changes color, text, location, or position in the DOM. With AI, tests will be a little quicker to create and will break a little less often. Welcome to the world of automation powered by AI!

It is that time of year again where people are rushing to get the best deals on Black Friday. The difference this year? Shoppers are not camping out in the parking lot as much as years past — they are grabbing their phone, launching their favorite shopping app, and hoping for a quick and easy experience to do all their holiday shopping.

So, which are the best apps for Black Friday shopping? I’m going to compare Amazon, Target and Walmart apps across core workflows that most shopping apps have: finding deals, finding gifts and purchasing.

Have you noticed that software these days is a bit more delicate than you’d like it to be? More delicate than it used to be? Do you feel the urge to close all open apps or restart your phone? Why does my 6-year old know how to force-quit apps like a gunslinger? The reason is that testers don’t test anymore.

Software Testers fixate on the difference between the best and the real. The most obsessed testers focus on the difference between the best and the ideal. Regression test cases are the tests that make sure the application behaves according to specification and hasn’t changed since the last time it was checked. I’ve spent my life chasing the ideal regression test case — the ideal that can be run by anyone, on any app, and people care whether it passes or fails.

Software testing, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), is undergoing a transition similar to cars (manual driving to fully autonomous). It is useful for the testing profession to adopt similar autonomy level definitions. These level definitions will help categorize different engineering efforts and put them in context of the ultimate goal of full testing autonomy.

Test.ai CEO Jason Arbon’s book, App Quality: Secrets for Agile App Teams, is now available to read for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

“App Quality” gives agile and lean app teams an edge in building well-received apps, and accelerates them on the way to 5-stars. The book is written for app developers, testers and product managers. The book uses real world examples and data-driven techniques that any app team can apply to their designs, code, agile sprints, and product planning. “App Quality” gives your app team access to the best practices and hard-earned lessons from analyzing hundreds of millions of app store reviews, thousands of app testers testing hundreds of top apps, and conversations with top app teams.

The book is also available for purchase in ebook and paperback formats.