Automated Input Generator for Android Applications

Android applications have been tested without any knowledge about them using a variety of tools such as Monkey [2], Monkey Runner [3] etc. In this paper, we evaluate existing Android testing techniques by comparing each of these tools and evaluate their efficiency based on a number of factors. Next, we propose requirements of an ideal input generator and present an automated input generator using the Robotium [1] test automation framework to test Android applications while generating valid inputs. The proposed system is targeted to automate the use of Robotium and create a generic test script that tests Android applications with valid inputs without the requirement of their source code. Further, we discuss issues encountered during the development phase of the system and by increasing the complexity of Android applications. We evaluated the system on Android applications with a simple user interface and conclude that the proposed framework using UI testing more efficient as compared to a randomized testing approach. Keywords—Android; Applications; UI Testing