Connecting Emulators and Real Android Devices with Airtest for Seamless Mobile Automation

Introduction

Hello, I am the IT sharing host known as Pipi. In the previous articles we covered Airtest installation and IDE widget details; this article demonstrates how to use the Airtest emulator to connect a phone for mobile automation testing.

Preface

Some may think capturing mobile data packets or automating a phone is difficult, but the Airtest automation tool handles everything—just keep it running and it will perform all operations on your device automatically.

Connect Devices

1. Connect Emulator Phone with Airtest

Open the Airtest emulator, go to "About Tablet" and enable the developer options by tapping the version number repeatedly. Then enable USB debugging.

After enabling USB debugging, use Airtest to connect remotely to the emulator. The remote port number depends on the emulator model; the correspondence table is shown below.

Choose the appropriate host address and port, then click connect to establish the connection.

If the screen appears black, ensure the screen capture program yosemite.apk is installed in the emulator and drag it into the emulator before reconnecting.

use javacap: #解决IDE中手机画面黑屏的问题
use ADB orientation: #解决IDE中屏幕旋转的问题
use ADB touch: #解决IDE中屏幕无法点击的问题

2. Connect Windows Desktop Application

Airtest can also attach to already opened or unopened desktop applications. Select the target window (e.g., 360 Browser) and load it into Airtest. The original desktop window will disappear while Airtest controls it; disconnecting the device restores the window.

3. Android Real Device Connection

1) Enable Developer Options

Connect the phone via USB, enable Developer Options and USB debugging, then set the default USB configuration to MIDI .

2) Install Phone Drivers

Download the appropriate driver package for your device brand. Example driver links:

三星: http://www.samsung.com/cn/support/downloads
华为: http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/HiSuite_cn/
小米: http://bigota.d.miui.com/tools/xiaomi_usb_driver.rar
Vivo: http://zs.vivo.com.cn/download.php
魅族: http://care.meizu.com/
一加: http://service.oneplus.cn/
华硕: http://www.asus.com.cn/support/
联想: http://www.lenovocare.com.cn/default.aspx
LG: http://www.lg.com/us/support/software-firmware-drivers
索尼: https://developer.sony.com/develop/drivers/
摩托罗拉: http://mobilesupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solution/MS88481
HTC: http://www.htc.com/us/software/htc-sync-manager/
谷歌: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb.html
黑莓: https://swdownloads.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=4EE0932F46276313B51570F46266A608
戴尔: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Products?app=drivers&lwp=rt
宏基: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

3) Configure Input Method and Mock Location

Install the yosemite input method (automatically downloaded after driver installation) and set it as the default input method.

Enable mock location in Developer Options if mouse clicks are inaccurate.

4) Connect the Device

In Airtest, check Use Javacap and click Connect to establish the connection.

5) Wireless Connection to Android Device

Find the device's IP address (shown in the phone settings) and use it in Airtest. The default port is 5555; you can open other ports with the command below. adb tcpip 666 #开启666端口 Both the phone and the IDE must be on the same Wi‑Fi network.

6) Connect via Script

Create a script file in the editor and use the following code to connect:

connect_device('Android://127.0.0.1:5037/手机IP地址:5555') #前面是本机号和端口后面就是你手机的IP地址了

Again, ensure the phone and IDE share the same Wi‑Fi network.

Conclusion

The Airtest automation tool is straightforward to use, though its installation can be cumbersome for beginners. This article covered device connection methods, driver setup, input configuration, and sample scripts to help you get started with mobile automation.