Kobiton 4.11 release notes

Mar 9, 2024

New OS support

Kobiton 4.11 adds support for the following:

  • iOS/iPadOS 17.3.1

  • Xcode 15.3

  • Mac OS Sonoma 14.3 & 14.4

  • At this time, we recommend hosting iOS 17+ devices via Standard mode deployments for improved stability.

  • For iOS/iPadOS 17.3.1, recent apps are not closed during the cleanup process.

Script-based Automation: video and mixed session for Basic Appium 2 (Beta)

Session videos are now available for Basic Appium 2 sessions:

  • iOS: Supported in both Standard Mode and Lightning Mode with NixOS and Ubuntu GEM.

  • Android: Supported in both Standard Mode and Lightning Mode, but only with Ubuntu GEM deployment.

This release also provides the ability to perform a mixed session - which means you can view the automation test being performed via a manual session. You can view the session, but cannot perform manual actions on the device via the manual session for Basic Appium 2 mixed sessions.

Our Beta basic Appium 2 server currently has the following limitations:

  • Android testing: Only available for deployments using the Ubuntu GEM or Standard mode. (iOS testing is supported for Ubuntu GEM, nixOS GEM, and Standard mode.)

  • Limited session exhaust: Sessions will not include screenshots, device logs, Appium logs, or system metrics. Only Session Overview is available; Session Explorer is not accessible.

  • AI features: Scriptless automation, Appium script generation, validations, and flexCorrect are not supported as they rely on session exhaust.

  • Mixed sessions: Manual interactions are not supported.

Script-based Automation: install and use Appium Gesture plugin for Basic Appium 2 (Beta)

This release enables the installation of the Appium Gesture plugin on the Mac mini host, allowing scripts that utilize the Appium Gesture plugin to run on devices hosted by the Mac mini.

See this guide to install the plugin for Customer-hosted and Standalone deployments.

  • Available for Mac mini hosts running deviceConnect 4.9 and later.

  • Each Mac mini host must have the Appium Gesture plugin installed.

  • Not available for Public devices.

  • For private and local devices hosted by Kobiton, submit a support ticket to request the plugin.

Introducing the exit session step

With this release, the screenshot of the device at the moment the session ends is now included in Session Explorer. In Session Explorer, this screenshot is displayed under a new kind of step called exit session.

  • Manual and automation sessions only. Exit session step is not shown in Test Cases, Scriptless revisit, and Mixed sessions.

  • For automation sessions, the exit session step does not have HTTP header.

  • The exit session step may require a refresh to show up after a session ends.

Download last mile speed test in Session Overview

Last mile speed is the rate of data transfer from the internet service provider’s network to the user’s device, representing the final segment - or last mile - of the network connection. It directly impacts activities such as web browsing and streaming. For Kobiton, the last mile impacts the speed of launching the device as well as actions performed in lightning mode / standard mode.

This release introduces the ability to download last mile speed test logs from Session Overview to assist in diagnosing and addressing latency experienced by testers.

The last mile speed test is captured periodically throughout the session. See below for the frequency of capturing:

  • Every 5 minutes during the first 15 minutes of a manual session.

  • After 15 minutes, the frequency of the speed test is reduced: every 15 minutes from minute 15 to 60, then every 30 minutes from minute 60 to 120… and so on.

Included in the last mile speed test logs are:

  • Start time

  • Jitter

  • Upload speed

  • Latency

  • Download speed

The last mile speed result can be downloaded from the Log section of Session Overview.

The last mile speed test does not measure the network speed from the user to the Kobiton server.

Minor improvements and bug fixes

This release includes several enhancements and bug fixes to improve your day-to-day testing.

  • Ability to hide the Public Device tab from view if it is not included in the org subscription. Submit a ticket to our support team to request the tab to be hidden.

  • Addressed the following Script-based test automation and Device Inspector items:

    • Enlarge arrow element is shown in Gigafox Inspector, but not Kobiton Inspector.

    • The message Analyse Responses Times is available by upgrading your plan no longer displays in Session Overview whenever an automation or mixed session is running.

  • Improved the following items in Scriptless automation:

    • Revisit passed although the tap action was performed on the wrong element in Ipad Pro 11-inch.

    • Revisit execution blocked due to the utilization of a delayed screen.

    • Unusually long execution time for Scriptless process.

  • Others items addressed:

    • Android device’s current location constantly switches back and forth between mock and real location.

    • Failed to launch device due to exception Too many open files in system thrown from device health screen service.

    • Failed to parse .apk file uploaded to Kobiton store due to segmentation fault when running the aapt dump command.

    • Cannot set passcode on iPads when it is placed in Landscape mode.