Device access window

When opening a device remotely from the lab, you can interact with the device using the actions and features available in the device access window. You can also perform exploratory testing sessions on a device. These sessions can be recorded.

Open a device remotely

You can access a device remotely either from the Lab console, or using one of the testing tools that integrates with Digital Lab.

To open a device remotely:

Digital Lab console

Hover over a device in card view and click , or select a device and click Open device remotely in the toolbar in List view. Click the List and Card view buttons in the upper right corner to toggle between the views.

When you open a device remotely from the mobile lab, you can also record an exploratory testing session, perform accessibility testing, and examine the live log. For more details, see Manual Testing.

Testing tools

With tools that integrate with Digital Lab such as UFT One, Sprinter, and TruClient, access a device by beginning your record or replay session.

Interact with the device using the actions in the toolbar next to the device, and the options in the panels on the left and right-hand side of the device access window. You can collapse the panels, change the order of the tabs at the top of the panel, and drag and drop tabs from one panel to another.

Secure connection only (HTTPS): When using the default self-signed certificate, the browser displays a warning or error when you first try to access a device through a connector with a secure connection. For web browsers to trust the certificate, the SSL certificate must be issued by a recognized Certificate Authority (CA). The connector's self-signed certificate still encrypts data, however the warning is to inform you that the SSL certificate was self-signed and is not signed by a CA. To view the device, navigate to the URL of the connector and trust the self-signed SSL certificate.

Note: Depending on the tool that you are using and the testing state (idle, capturing, or running), certain options may not be available.

Device actions & simulations

Use the toolbar next to the device to interact with the device during the capture or replay session, or when idle. The simulation options enable you to perform common event simulations. Note that some simulations are not available when conducting exploratory testing from the Lab console, and are only available when accessing the device remotely with a supported testing tool.

	Take screenshot. Saves a screenshot of the current screen as a <step_number>.png file to your default download folder. (Not supported when accessing the Digital Lab console through a Safari browser.) Note: For UFT One, for native steps, Digital Lab takes the screenshot before executing the step. For Web steps (including hybrid, Digital Lab Browser, and native browser), it takes the screenshot after executing the step. For TruClient and Sprinter, Digital Lab always takes the screenshot before executing the step, for both native and Web steps.
	Download device logs. Downloads the device logs as a text file to your default download folder . For iOS devices, the time zone on the device must match the time zone on the connector machine. Note: Not supported when accessing the Digital Lab console through a Safari browser
	Send text to device. Send text for inputting to active field on the device. In the Send text to device window, enter the text you want to copy to an active input field on the device, and click Send.
	Device audio. Hear audio from a remote device on your local machine. In the device audio dialog, click the play button to start playing audio from the device. This option is enabled only on iOS 13.2 and later, and on Android 10 and later. Note: iOS: Phone calls received on the device may impact audio streaming. Phone call audio is blocked by Apple due to privacy concerns and is not supported for audio streaming. When starting or stopping audio streaming, the Screen Broadcast pop-up is displayed. There is no need to interact with the pop-up. Audio streaming starts or stops automatically within a few seconds. Android: Tech preview. Supported only on Pixel devices. When starting audio streaming, the Start recording or casting with Digital Lab Agent pop-up is displayed. The Agent has access to all visible information on the device screen, or played from the device during casting. This includes passwords, payment details, and messages. Click Start now to begin audio streaming. Enable Do not Disturb to prevent unexpected notifications. Audio streaming is supported for media apps but not when streaming audio from a web page using the Chrome browser. Making and receiving phone calls during tests is currently not supported on Android devices and may cause the device to disconnect.
	Simulate incoming call. In the dialog box that opens, indicate the number calling, and how to handle the call.
	Simulate incoming SMS. In the dialog box that opens, indicate the number sending the message and the message text. Note: SMS simulations are not supported for Android 6 and above.
	Simulate sending app to background. In the dialog box that opens, indicate the duration for which the app should be sent to the background.
	Simulate photo. Enables you to replace the photo taken by the device's camera. In the dialog box that opens, specify an image file. For details, see Photo and video simulation. Note: Supported only for packaged apps.
	Simulate video. Enables you to replace the video taken by the device's camera. In the dialog box that opens, specify a video file. For details, see Photo and video simulation. Note: Supported only for packaged apps.
	QR code or barcode scan. Enables you to replace a scan of a QR code or barcode with an image. For details, see QR code and barcode simulation. Note: Supported only for packaged apps.
	Simulate GPS relocation. In the dialog box that opens, specify the latitude and longitude for the simulation. Note: For iOS, GPS simulation is only supported for packaged apps. For Android 6.0 and higher, you need to set the mock location app as follows: Developer options > Select mock location app and select Digital Lab Agent.
	Simulate authentication. Enables you to simulate Fingerprint or Face ID authentication on mobile devices. Authentication Simulation is active by default on packaged apps that require fingerprint or face ID authentication. Navigate to the screen in the app that uses authentication. When prompted, select an authentication result. For details, see Fingerprint and Face ID simulation. Note: Supported for packaged apps only.
	Network Virtualization. Simulate network conditions to test how various mobile networks affect your application's performance on different mobile devices. For details, see the Network Virtualization Help Center. (Disabled for Genymotion or AWS devices)
	Change orientation. Toggles the orientation of the device between portrait and landscape orientation (also available when idle, when you are not capturing or replaying a test).
	Home. Returns to the home page of the device.
	Back. (Android only) Opens the previous screen.
	Recent apps. (Android only) Switches back to previously used apps.

Complex gestures

Complex gestures such as curves or patterns are currently only supported for manual testing.

iOS: If you a draw a curved line with very slight fluctuations and mouse movements, it may be automatically corrected to a straight line in the remote device display. To prevent this automatic correction, hold the CTRL key on your keyboard while performing the gesture.

Device info

You can view device properties including the device type, name, and operating system (OS) details. To view device information, click the Device info button in the panel on the side of the device access window.

The device properties such as the device type, name, device ID, operating system (OS), and OS version are displayed at the top of the panel. The panel also includes the following:

Zoom

The current zoom level. Use the plus and minus signs to zoom in and out.

Image quality

When you first open a device remotely, the image quality is set to a default value defined by your administrator. You can adjust the resolution of the remote device display image, to scale up or scale down the image quality. Scaling down an image lowers its quality, but improves the performance of your tests and other interactions with the device. If your administrator has set a maximum limit for image quality, you are not able to increase the image quality beyond the maximum value.

Your scaling preference is preserved per browser and machine. However, if the administrator updated the default value for image quality in the administration settings, the updated default value will be used when you open a device remotely.

Latency

The latency between the client and the connector to which the device is connected. The latency level is indicated as follows:

Color	Rating	Value
Green	Good	Less than 100 ms
Yellow	Mediocre	From 100 - 200 ms
Red	Poor	From 200 - 300 ms
Gray	Bad	Exceeding 300 ms

More info

To learn more about the device and its reservations, or to perform an action on the device (such as Restart or Reconnect) click More info.

Device metrics

Device metrics are only available when accessing a device using a testing tool, not when interacting with a device from the lab console.

Note: For iOS devices, device metrics are supported for packaged apps only.

This section lets you view the device metrics collected during the test. You can only select which metrics to collect via your testing tool's options.

CPU. CPU usage during the test run.
Memory. The amount of memory used during the test run.
Note: Not supported for Android 10 and later.
Free Memory. The amount of free memory on the device, during the test run.
WiFi State. Enables both WiFi state (connected or disconnected) and signal strength (scale of 1-5)*.
Disk space. Includes space in use, and total space available*.
Thermal state. Supported on iOS and on Android 10 and later*.
For more details on the thermal states for iOS device, see the Apple Developer documentation. For more details on the thermal states for Android devices, see the Android open source documentation.

* Available only when using UFT One 15.0.2 and later.

App interactions

You can interact with apps uploaded to Digital Lab (lab apps) , that may already be installed on the device, or other apps installed on the device. To interact with apps, click the App interactions button in the panel on the side of the device access window. You can tab between lab apps, and apps installed on the device.

Lab apps

Lab apps are displayed with their version and build numbers. To view the upload versions available, click the dropdown next to the version number.

You can reinstall an app that is installed on the device, or install an app that was uploaded to the lab but is not installed on the device. When reinstalling or installing an app, you can choose whether to use the packaged version of the app, and if the app should be uninstalled when the device session ends. If the app you want to install is not shown, you can upload it by clicking the Uploadbutton in the app interactions toolbar.

Interaction options

Select an app and click the More button for the following app interactions:

Launch	Start an app that is already installed on your device.
Force stop	End all processes related to an app.
Uninstall	Uninstall the selected upload version of the app.
Manage	Opens the More info window of the app, where you can view app details or delete an application upload.

Note: