How Zhihu’s Open‑Source Appium HarmonyOS Driver Boosts Mobile Test Automation

In the wave of mobile internet, automated testing has become a core part of ensuring software quality, and it is indispensable for the development of the open‑source HarmonyOS ecosystem.

To promote this ecosystem, Zhihu’s R&D team developed and open‑sourced an Appium HarmonyOS driver in collaboration with Huawei, providing companies with the ability to perform side‑car automation testing on HarmonyOS using the Appium framework.

Facing the rapid growth of HarmonyOS, Zhihu’s community testing team tackled the challenge of automating tests on this platform. Working closely with Huawei’s HarmonyOS task force, they integrated HarmonyOS automation infrastructure, case recording, and AI features into Zhihu’s QT testing platform within two months, unifying testing assets across iOS, Android, and HarmonyOS.

The collaboration revealed that the standard Appium framework lacked native support for HarmonyOS devices, creating a barrier for many companies.

Zhihu’s solution was to create the Appium HarmonyOS driver, release it to the open‑source community, and enable efficient side‑car automation testing on HarmonyOS, encouraging more enterprises to join the ecosystem.

By open‑sourcing the driver, Zhihu not only solved its own testing challenges and achieved asset reuse across three platforms, but also offered the mobile industry a mature, efficient solution.

Zhihu believes openness and sharing drive technology forward and hopes the driver helps developers and companies embrace HarmonyOS more smoothly.

Open‑source repository: github.com/zhihu/appium-harmonyos-driver and gitee.com/zhihu/appium-harmonyos-driver