What a session records
Video, network traffic and device logs — what you get from a mobile session, and what you have to ask for.
A mobile session can keep four things for you.
| What it is | You get it | |
|---|---|---|
| Video | An MP4 of the device screen for the whole session | Only if you ask: recording: true |
| Network | A real HAR file of every request the device made | Only if you ask: network: true |
| Device log | The phone's own system log for your session | Always |
| Appium log | Every command your test sent and what came back | Always |
The two logs are always kept, so you can debug a failed run even if you asked for nothing.
Video and network cost time and disk space, so you have to ask for those.
"testkase:options": {
recording: true,
network: true,
}Video
One MP4 for the whole session.
Name your tests and each one also gets its own clip. You can then jump straight to the test that failed.
Network
Mobile gives you a real HAR file, the format Chrome DevTools and Charles both open. Desktop browsers do not.
It is captured on the device, which is why it does not cover every case.
The detail, including what a HAR will not show you, is on Network capture.
What mobile does not have
No browser console. An app has no console to read.
A mobile web session has one, but no phone lets us reach it. So neither kind of session produces one.
No crash reports on iOS. If your app dies mid-test you still get the video and the device log. You do not get the crash file.
Everything we did collect is on the session page afterwards — see Sessions & Artifacts.