AWS Device Farm FAQs

AWS Device Farm allows developers to increase application quality, time to market, and customer satisfaction by testing and interacting with real Android and iOS devices in the AWS Cloud. Developers can upload their app and test scripts and run automated tests in parallel across 100s of real devices, getting results, screenshots, video, and performance data in minutes. They can also debug and reproduce customer issues by swiping, gesturing, and interacting with a device through their web browser.

AWS Device Farm is designed for developers, QA teams, and customer support representatives who are building, testing, and supporting mobile apps to increase the quality of their apps. Application quality is increasingly important, and also getting complex due to the number of device models, variations in firmware and OS versions, carrier and manufacturer customizations, and dependencies on remote services and other apps. AWS Device Farm accelerates the development process by executing tests on multiple devices, giving developers, QA and support professionals the ability to perform automated tests and manual tasks like reproducing customer issues, exploratory testing of new functionality, and executing manual test plans. AWS Device Farm also offers significant savings by eliminating the need for internal device labs, lab managers, and automation infrastructure development.

AWS Device Farm supports native and hybrid Android, iOS, and web apps, and cross-platform apps including those created with PhoneGap, Titanium, Xamarin, Unity, and other frameworks.

AWS Device Farm tests are run on real devices. The devices are a mixture of OEM and carrier-branded devices.

Please see our getting started guide.

AWS Device Farm works on Internet Explorer 9 or later and the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Your web applications will be tested in Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS.

AWS Device Farm supports files up to 4 GB.

No instrumentation or source code is required to use the built-in tests. Android apps can be submitted as is. iOS apps should be built with “iOS Device” as the target instead of a simulator.

Apps and test packages are automatically removed after 30 days. Logs, video recordings, and other artifacts are stored for 400 days. You can also choose to delete files and results at any time through the AWS Device Farm console or API.

After test execution completes, we perform a series of cleanup tasks on each device, including uninstallation of your app. If we cannot verify uninstallation of your app or any of the other cleanup steps, the device will be removed and will no longer be available.

While we continue to add additional cleanup steps and improve the cleanup process, it is possible for data to persist between sessions in some cases, especially if you make use of the device system outside the context of your app. For this reason, and because AWS Device Farm captures video and logs of activity taking place during your use of each device, it is recommended that you avoid providing or entering sensitive information such as account info (E.g., Google Account, Apple ID), personal information, and other security-sensitive details during your automated test and remote access sessions.

On iOS, we replace the embedded provisioning profile with a wildcard profile and resign the app. If you provide it, we will add auxiliary data to the application package before installation so the data will be present in your app’s sandbox. Resigning the iOS app results in the removal of certain entitlements. This includes App Group, Associated Domains, Game Center, HealthKit, HomeKit, Wireless Accessory Configuration, In-App Purchase, Inter-App Audio, Apple Pay, Push Notifications, and VPN Configuration & Control.

On Android, we resign the app. This may break functionality that depends on the app signature, such as the Google Maps Android API. It may also trigger anti-piracy and anti-tamper detection available from products such as DexGuard. For built-in tests, we may modify the manifest to include permissions required to capture and save screenshots.

AWS Device Farm has a large (and growing) selection of Android, iOS, and Fire OS devices. We add popular new devices as they are released by manufacturers. We also add new devices as new OS versions are released. See the list of available devices.

We currently have international devices from India. We use market data and customer feedback to continuously update the fleet. If you would like to see a device that isn’t in our fleet, please let us know.

For Automated Testing, devices are selected through a collection called a device pool. Some curated device pools are provided automatically, but you can create your own pools, too. During execution, tests will be run against all devices in the specified pool that are compatible with your application and tests. For Remote Access, you select the desired device based on make, model, carrier variant, and operating system version. You can then optionally upload apps and other data as well as configure other device settings. Device Farm then locates an available device matching your request and displays the device’s display in your browser. You can then interact with the device and capture screenshots and video.

Yes, test devices will have a number of apps pre-installed by the device manufacturer or carrier.