Switching WiFi's in On-Device-Integration-Tests

Hello Developer community,


In our company we are developing a communication framework to talk to devices whether they are locally available or remotely (via a proprietary cloud).

To test this functionality we currently have to run a lot of tests manually because they require joining different WiFi networks.


We really need to automate these tests because it takes a lot of manual effort to run them, but:

  • Running Unit Tests (even on a Phone by using a fake host app) i can't change the current WiFi.
    • NEHotspotHelper requires special permission from apple (via a request form)
    • NEHotspotConfigurationManager requires user interaction every single time that you try to switch the network
  • Starting in XCode 9 it is possible to open the Settings App and switch the connected WiFi programmatically, BUT...
    • this is only possible when running UI tests.
    • we develop a library, not an app
      • If i try to hide my tests inside a UI testing framework then i can't access the API of the library...
      • the library we develop is quite extensive so developing a UI element for every single API method is not feasible.


Is there really nothing that would allow switching WiFis in the context of a test?


I could even live with private APIs considering that their usage is part of the tests, NOT part of the framework that we want to ship.

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Infinite
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First up, you should definitely file an enhancement request for a better solution to this problem. Please post your bug number, just for the record.

I could even live with private APIs …

Private APIs are not an appropriate topic of discussion here on DevForums but, even if they were, I doubt you’d find a solution on that path. There has been so much abuse of the Wi-Fi subsystem’s private APIs that they are now all closely restricted by the iOS sandbox.

I think your best option is to do this via a UI test. You wrote:

we develop a library, not an app

Right. The solution is to implement a simple wrapper app that you can target with UI testing.

the library we develop is quite extensive so developing a UI element for every single API method is not feasible.

Indeed. The idea here would be to implement test running infrastructure within your wrapper app. You don’t need a UI element per test, just a UI element to start the tests and another to indicate that they’re done.

This is clearly less than ideal — you miss out on all the nice features that Xcode provides for unit tests — which is why I started this response with a recommendation that you file an enhancement request. Still, I’m thinking that it should be enough to get you up and testing.

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eskimo
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How do you control the wifi/network state from a UITest? This thread suggests it's possible, but I'm looking at the API of XCUIDevice and XCUIApplication and I don't see anything.

What I want to do: I want to test the code in my app that displays in-app purchase prices. Specifically, this scenario:

  • Device has no internet connection. App starts up and tries to get in-app product info and fails.

  • Device connects to internet.

  • App detects this change, re-requests in-app product info, succeeds, and displays the prices.

So I need a way to turn the wifi and cellular networking off and on from within the UITest. Is it possible?
Posted by
rnikander
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