Build instrumented unit tests

Instrumented unit tests are tests that run on physical devices and emulators, and they can take advantage of the Android framework APIs and supporting APIs, such as AndroidX Test. Instrumented tests provide more fidelity than local unit tests, but they run much more slowly. Therefore, we recommend using instrumented unit tests only in cases where you must test against the behavior of a real device. AndroidX Test provides several libraries that make it easier to write instrumented unit tests when necessary. For example, Android Builder classes make it easier to create Android data objects that would otherwise be difficult to build.

Note: If your tests rely on your own dependencies, either provide your own fakes or mock the dependencies using a mock framework, such as Mockito.

Set up your testing environment

In your Android Studio project, you must store the source files for instrumented tests at module-name/src/androidTest/java/. This directory already exists when you create a new project and contains an example instrumented test.

Before you begin, you should add AndroidX Test APIs, which allow you to quickly build and run instrumented test code for your apps. AndroidX Test includes a JUnit 4 test runner ( AndroidJUnitRunner) and APIs for functional UI tests (Espresso and UI Automator).

You also need to configure the Android testing dependencies for your project to use the test runner and the rules APIs provided by AndroidX Test. To simplify your test development, you should also include the Hamcrest library, which lets you create more flexible assertions using the Hamcrest matcher APIs.

In your app's top-level build.gradle file, you need to specify these libraries as dependencies:

dependencies {
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test:runner:1.1.0'
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test:rules:1.1.0'
    // Optional -- Hamcrest library
    androidTestImplementation 'org.hamcrest:hamcrest-library:1.3'
    // Optional -- UI testing with Espresso
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.1.0'
    // Optional -- UI testing with UI Automator
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.uiautomator:uiautomator:2.2.0'
}

To use JUnit 4 test classes, make sure to specify AndroidJUnitRunner as the default test instrumentation runner in your project by including the following setting in your app's module-level build.gradle file:

android {
    defaultConfig {
        testInstrumentationRunner "androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
    }
}

Create an instrumented unit test class

Your instrumented unit test class should be a JUnit 4 test class that's similar to the class described in the section on how to Create a local unit test class.

To create an instrumented JUnit 4 test class, specify AndroidJUnit4 as your default test runner.

Note: If your test suite depends on a mix of JUnit3 and JUnit4 libraries, add the @RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class) annotation at the beginning of your test class definition.

The following example shows how you might write an instrumented unit test to verify that the Parcelable interface is implemented correctly for the LogHistory class:

Kotlin

import android.os.Parcel
import android.text.TextUtils.writeToParcel
import androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnit4
import com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat
import org.junit.Before
import org.junit.Test
import org.junit.runner.RunWith

const val TEST_STRING = "This is a string"
const val TEST_LONG = 12345678L

// @RunWith is required only if you use a mix of JUnit3 and JUnit4.
@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class)
@SmallTest
class LogHistoryAndroidUnitTest {
    private lateinit var logHistory: LogHistory

    @Before
    fun createLogHistory() {
        logHistory = LogHistory()
    }

    @Test
    fun logHistory_ParcelableWriteRead() {
        val parcel = Parcel.obtain()
        logHistory.apply {
            // Set up the Parcelable object to send and receive.
            addEntry(TEST_STRING, TEST_LONG)

            // Write the data.
            writeToParcel(parcel, describeContents())
        }

        // After you're done with writing, you need to reset the parcel for reading.
        parcel.setDataPosition(0)

        // Read the data.
        val createdFromParcel: LogHistory = LogHistory.CREATOR.createFromParcel(parcel)
        createdFromParcel.getData().also { createdFromParcelData: List<Pair<String, Long>> ->

            // Verify that the received data is correct.
            assertThat(createdFromParcelData.size).isEqualTo(1)
            assertThat(createdFromParcelData[0].first).isEqualTo(TEST_STRING)
            assertThat(createdFromParcelData[0].second).isEqualTo(TEST_LONG)
        }
    }
}

Java

import android.os.Parcel;
import android.util.Pair;
import androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnit4;
import com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
import java.util.List;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

// @RunWith is required only if you use a mix of JUnit3 and JUnit4.
@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4.class)
@SmallTest
public class LogHistoryAndroidUnitTest {

    public static final String TEST_STRING = "This is a string";
    public static final long TEST_LONG = 12345678L;
    private LogHistory mLogHistory;

    @Before
    public void createLogHistory() {
        mLogHistory = new LogHistory();
    }

    @Test
    public void logHistory_ParcelableWriteRead() {
        // Set up the Parcelable object to send and receive.
        mLogHistory.addEntry(TEST_STRING, TEST_LONG);

        // Write the data.
        Parcel parcel = Parcel.obtain();
        mLogHistory.writeToParcel(parcel, mLogHistory.describeContents());

        // After you're done with writing, you need to reset the parcel for reading.
        parcel.setDataPosition(0);

        // Read the data.
        LogHistory createdFromParcel = LogHistory.CREATOR.createFromParcel(parcel);
        List<Pair<String, Long>> createdFromParcelData
                = createdFromParcel.getData();

        // Verify that the received data is correct.
        assertThat(createdFromParcelData.size()).isEqualTo(1);
        assertThat(createdFromParcelData.get(0).first).isEqualTo(TEST_STRING);
        assertThat(createdFromParcelData.get(0).second).isEqaulTo(TEST_LONG);
    }
}

Create a test suite

To organize the execution of your instrumented unit tests, you can group a collection of test classes in a test suite class and run these tests together. Test suites can be nested; your test suite can group other test suites and run all their component test classes together.

A test suite is contained in a test package, similar to the main application package. By convention, the test suite package name usually ends with the .suite suffix (for example, com.example.android.testing.mysample.suite).

To create a test suite for your unit tests, import the JUnit RunWith and Suite classes. In your test suite, add the @RunWith(Suite.class) and the @Suite.SuitClasses() annotations. In the @Suite.SuiteClasses() annotation, list the individual test classes or test suites as arguments.

The following example shows how you might implement a test suite called UnitTestSuite that groups and runs the CalculatorInstrumentationTest and CalculatorAddParameterizedTest test classes together.

Kotlin

import com.example.android.testing.mysample.CalculatorAddParameterizedTest
import com.example.android.testing.mysample.CalculatorInstrumentationTest
import org.junit.runner.RunWith
import org.junit.runners.Suite

// Runs all unit tests.
@RunWith(Suite::class)
@Suite.SuiteClasses(CalculatorInstrumentationTest::class,
        CalculatorAddParameterizedTest::class)
class UnitTestSuite

Java

import com.example.android.testing.mysample.CalculatorAddParameterizedTest;
import com.example.android.testing.mysample.CalculatorInstrumentationTest;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.junit.runners.Suite;

// Runs all unit tests.
@RunWith(Suite.class)
@Suite.SuiteClasses({CalculatorInstrumentationTest.class,
        CalculatorAddParameterizedTest.class})
public class UnitTestSuite {}

Run instrumented unit tests

To run your instrumented tests, follow these steps:

Be sure your project is synchronized with Gradle by clicking Sync Project in the toolbar.
Run your test in one of the following ways:
- To run a single test, open the Project window, and then right-click a test and click Run .
- To test all methods in a class, right-click a class or method in the test file and click Run .
- To run all tests in a directory, right-click on the directory and select Run tests .

The Android Plugin for Gradle compiles the instrumented test code located in the default directory (src/androidTest/java/), builds a test APK and production APK, installs both APKs on the connected device or emulator, and runs the tests. Android Studio then displays the results of the instrumented test execution in the Run window.

Note: While running or debugging instrumented tests, Android Studio does not inject the additional methods required for Instant Run and turns the feature off.

Run your tests with Firebase Test Lab

Using Firebase Test Lab, you can simultaneously test your app on many popular Android devices and device configurations (locale, orientation, screen size, and platform version). These tests run on physical and virtual devices in remote Google data centers. You can deploy apps to Test Lab directly from Android Studio or from the command line. Test results provide test logs and include the details of any app failures.

Before you start using Firebase Test Lab, you need to do the following unless you already have a Google account and a Firebase project:

Create a Google account, if you don't have one already.
In the Firebase console, click Create New Project.
There is no charge to test your app with Test Lab within the free daily quota on the Spark plan.

Configure a test matrix and run a test

Android Studio provides integrated tools that allow you to configure how you want to deploy your tests to Firebase Test Lab. After you have created a Firebase project with Blaze plan billing, you can create a test configuration and run your tests:

Click Run > Edit Configurations from the main menu.
Click Add New Configuration and select Android Tests.
In the Android Test configuration dialog:
1. Enter or select the details of your test, such as the test name, module type, test type, and test class.
2. From the Target drop-down menu under Deployment Target Options, select Firebase Test Lab Device Matrix.
3. If you are not logged in, click Connect to Google Cloud Platform and allow Android Studio access to your account.
4. Next to Cloud Project, click the button and select your Firebase project from the list.
Create and configure a test matrix:
1. Next to the Matrix Configuration drop-down list, click Open Dialog .
2. Click Add New Configuration (+).
3. In the Name field, enter a name for your new configuration.
4. Select the device(s), Android version(s), locale(s) and screen orientation(s) that you want to test your app with. Firebase Test Lab will test your app against every combination of your selections when generating test results.
5. Click OK to save your configuration.
Click OK in the Run/Debug Configurations dialog to exit.
Run your tests by clicking Run .

Figure 1. Creating a test configuration for Firebase Test Lab.

Analyze test results

When Firebase Test Lab completes running your tests, the Run window will open to show the results, as shown in figure 2. You may need to click Show Passed to see all your executed tests.

Figure 2. Viewing the results of instrumented tests using Firebase Test Lab.

You can also analyze your tests on the web by following the link displayed at the beginning of the test execution log in the Run window.

Additional resources

For more information about using Espresso in Android tests, consult the following resources.

Samples

Android ActivityInstrumentation Sample. Shows how to implement instrumented unit tests.
Instrumented Unit Tests Code Samples

Codelabs

Android Testing Codelab

Build instrumented unit tests

Set up your testing environment

Create an instrumented unit test class

Kotlin

Java

Create a test suite

Kotlin

Java

Run instrumented unit tests

Run your tests with Firebase Test Lab

Configure a test matrix and run a test

Analyze test results

Further reading

Additional resources

Samples

Codelabs