End-to-end Testing In-App Purchases in React Native Apps: Everything You Need to Know

 
 

✍️ Detox and Appium: The Options You Have

Detox and Appium are both popular testing frameworks that can be used to automate end-to-end tests for mobile applications. Of course, including React Native apps.

Detox is a powerful testing framework that’s specifically designed for React Native apps. It provides a comprehensive set of APIs for writing end-to-end tests that can simulate user interactions and verify app behavior across multiple devices and platforms.

 
 

⚙️ Preparing the App

We will use a very basic app to demonstrate how to test the buying in-app purchases. On the first tab, we will list all items (products and subscriptions). On the second one, we will show the list of available items, i.e. the ones the user has purchased and are currently available. We don’t implement anything specific, but you can follow our repository as a reference.

To fetch and interact with the purchases in the app, we‘re going to use the react-native-iap library. react-native-iap is a library for React Native that provides an easy-to-use interface for in-app purchases (IAP) on both iOS and Android platforms. It allows developers to implement IAP functionality without having to write custom native code for each platform.

In this implementation, we will skip verifying receipts for in-app purchases, since it should be done on the server. But make sure you are doing it in your production app.

 
 

👩‍💻 Testing In-App Purchases Using Appium on iOS

Appium Setup 🎯

First, let’s take a look at how Appium executes tests:

1. Appium Server

   It’s started on a local or remote machine. This server acts as a bridge between the test scripts and the mobile device/emulator.

2. Test Scripts

   Appium provides client libraries for various programming languages such as Java, Python, Ruby, etc. The test scripts are written using these client libraries and the testing framework of your choice (e.g., JUnit, TestNG, etc.).

3. Desired Capabilities

   The test scripts send a request to the Appium server with desired capabilities, which includes information about the device, platform, app package, app activity, etc. The server uses this information to launch the app on the device or emulator.

4. Session Creation

   Once the desired capabilities are sent, a new session is created between the Appium server and the device/emulator.

5. WebDriver Protocol

   Appium uses the WebDriver protocol to interact with the app. The test scripts use the WebDriver API to perform actions on the app, such as tapping a button, swiping, entering text, etc.

6. Appium Drivers

   Appium provides different drivers to interact with different types of apps. For example, there are different drivers for Android, iOS, and Hybrid apps.

7. Element Identification:

   To interact with the app, the test scripts need to identify the elements of the app, such as buttons, text fields, etc. Appium uses different methods to identify elements, such as XPath, ID, class name, accessibility ID, etc.

8. Test Execution

   The test scripts execute the test steps using the Appium drivers and the WebDriver API. Appium records the test results and sends them back to the test scripts.

9. Test Reporting

   The test scripts can use various reporting tools to generate reports on the test results.

💎 Conclusion

In conclusion, testing React Native apps for Android with Detox and React Native for iOS using Appium is an effective way to ensure the quality and reliability of in-app purchases. Detox provides a robust testing framework that allows for seamless end-to-end testing, while Appium offers cross-platform support for iOS and Android testing.

Overall, testing React Native apps with Detox and Appium is a valuable investment for app developers looking to deliver high-quality apps that meet the needs of their users. With thorough testing and quality assurance, developers can build trust with their users and establish a reputation for reliability and excellence in the highly competitive mobile app market.