Kobiton 4+ latest updates

Kobiton 4.18 Release Notes

January 11, 2025

New OS Support

This release adds support for the following:

  • iOS/iPadOS 18.2

Native XCUITest automation script is not currently supported on iOS/iPadOS 18.2.

Changes to the Auto-Upgrade Settings for Cloud/Hybrid Organizations

In this release, we updated the auto-upgrade settings for all Cloud/Hybrid organizations to Automatic. This change ensures your organization benefits from the latest improvements and optimizations. Key reasons for this update include:

  • Preventing device outages caused by running outdated versions of deviceConnect (two or more major releases behind the latest version).

  • Ensuring compatibility with the newest version of the Cloud Portal.

This update helps maintain consistent performance and reliability across your devices and platforms.

If your organization prefers not to use the auto-upgrade feature for deviceConnect, an admin can switch the auto-upgrade option to Manual from the Device Management page in the Kobiton Portal. We recommend discussing this change with your Kobiton account team to ensure it aligns with your organization’s needs.

Deprecation of passcode support for Android 9 and below

With this release, we are deprecating passcode support for Android 9 and earlier.

If your organization still needs to test Android 9 or earlier devices without a passcode, contact Kobiton Support for assistance disabling the passcode for these devices.

Major improvements to the Network Payload Capture (NPC) setup process for iOS

Previously, setting up Network Payload Capture (NPC) for iOS devices required a manual process to install the NPC certificate on the device. With this release, we’ve introduced significant improvements to simplify and streamline the setup process:

Automatic NPC Certificate Deployment:

  • The NPC certificate can now be automatically deployed to supervised devices, eliminating the need for manual installation.

Faster NPC Session Start:

  • The 10-second wait period after starting an NPC session (previously required to set up the proxy connection) is no longer necessary for iOS devices.

Simplified Setup on Mac Mini Hosts:

  • The following steps are no longer required to enable NPC on Mac Mini hosts:

    • Installing Apple Configurator and automation tools.

    • Generating a trusted SSH connection to 127.0.0.1 and rebooting the Mac Mini.

The setup process for Android devices stays the same.

With these changes, additional requirements must be met:

  • The iOS devices that need NPC must be supervised by a single supervision identity.

  • The supervision identity files (organization.crt and organization.der) must be copied to the folder /usr/local/deviceconnect on the Mac mini hosts.

On a Mac Mini, all iOS devices must be supervised under a single supervision identity. If devices are supervised by multiple identities, you will need to re-supervise them under a single identity for NPC to function properly.

Scriptless Automation and Mobile Test Management Enhancements

  • Enhanced ability to dismiss iOS and Android popups during Scriptless test runs.

  • Improved screen capture capabilities.

  • Upgraded Appium Script generation for Android and iOS Web tests.

  • Improved handling of scroll/swipe actions.

Script-Based Test Automation Enhancements

Updates for Xium:

  • Fixed issue with processArgument capability parameters not displaying for iOS devices.

  • Addressed an issue on some Pixel devices where an element of type ImageButton appeared clickable, but the drawer did not open upon interaction.

  • Added the ability to retrieve slider element values in the inspector.

Updates for basic Appium 2:

  • Added support for running basic Appium 2 on Android devices with MDM.

  • Translated deprecated Appium 1 touch actions to work with Appium 2. The actions are: press, longPress, tap, moveTo, wait, release.

  • Appium 1 scripts often rely on non-vendor-prefixed capabilities such as automationName instead of the proper appium:automationName. To assist with compatibility when running against our basic Appium 2 server, we have:

    • automatically added vendor prefixes to most of the capabilities.

    • updated device automation settings to include vendor prefixes in the Automation Settings in the Device Modal.

APIv2 Improvements

  • Improved detail provided in error messages.

  • Corrected the created by field to show the original uploader for apps uploaded by multiple users.

General Improvements and Fixes

  • Fixed an issue in the Device List modal where Select App from Apps Repo failed to open the App Repo in Automation Settings.

  • Resolved a display issue where some iOS devices did not show IMEI and mobile numbers in the Device List.

  • Fixed navigation issues on iPads in landscape mode when no cleanup policy was set and a new session was started.

  • Enhanced Inspector behavior and results in Manual Sessions and Session Explorer.

  • Improved sorting functionality throughout Mobile Test Management.

  • Enhanced Accessibility validations to clearly distinguish between AA and AAA color contrast validations.

  • Enabled search for elements in the Inspector using special characters during Manual sessions.

  • Added the ability to reactivate a subscription after cancellation without contacting support.

  • Fixed an issue in Session Explorer where application links were not filtering to the appID.

  • Fixed the Uninstall All button under Device Modal → Apps. This button now uninstalls all apps on the device that were installed using the Apps menu under the Device Modal screen.

  • Enhanced handling of a user switching between Portal and virtualUSB UI for the same device interaction.

  • Ensured quick action menus are fully visible, even at the bottom of the screen.

  • Improved behavior when the Automatically Clean-Up After Session option is unchecked during a Manual Session.

  • StepGroup improvements in Session Explorer, including performance when navigating steps, supporting long stepGroup names, and allowing stepGroup name to be blank after having a stepGroup.

  • Addressed issue where an iPad with no cleanup policy is put into landscape mode when a session ends and then the next session cannot navigate properly.