What's new in Digital Lab (UFT Mobile) 2021

The following new features and enhancements are introduced in the Digital Lab 2021 release.

What's new video

Watch the What's New video to learn about the new features included in Digital Lab 2021.

Back to top

Admin dashboard

Version 2021 includes a new dashboard tab for shared space administrators. You can view the overall lab status, device and license usage, and alerts in the new admin dashboard. The dashboard provides a visual summary of the state of the lab, making it easier to verify that everything is up and running and to identify issues.

The dashboard can also assist with decision making. For example, device information is useful when deciding if additional devices of a certain OS version are required in general or for a specific workspace. License usage information can be helpful to determine if the Digital Lab license capacity is sufficient, and if the allocation between workspaces is optimal. For details, see The Digital Lab dashboard.

Back to top

Live log

You can now view the log of one or more apps in real time when conducting a manual test, making debugging easier. Viewing updates to the log as they happen can provide insights as to why an error occurs and helps with troubleshooting. You can limit the log information displayed by applying log-level filters. You can also search for a term in the log, adjust the display preferences, and download the live log. For details, see Interact with the device.

Back to top

Improved iOS Dev Access

This release provides support for Dev Access with multiple connectors simultaneously and over a proxy. For details on using Dev Access to interact with lab devices from within your integrated development environment (IDE), see Dev Access.

Back to top

Device reservation enhancements

The shared space administrator can now configure device reservation settings to improve device utilization and to free up unused reserved devices. This avoids a situation where some users reserve more devices than needed, and others are left with no available devices for testing. These settings include limiting the maximum number of reservations per user and limiting the duration of reservations. For details, see Device reservation settings.

Back to top

Device connection information

You can now identify and solve device connection issues faster and more easily. The reason for a device disconnection is detected automatically and displayed along with steps for solving the issue.

Back to top

Maintenance mode

The shared space administrator can activate maintenance mode to temporarily indicate that a device is in maintenance, for example to upgrade or configure a device. Non shared space admin users are not able to use a device that is in maintenance. The administrator can also easily distinguish between devices disconnected for maintenance purposes and devices with connection issues. For details, see Device management.

Back to top

Collect logs

Shared space administrators can now select which logs to download. Logs can be collected from the server and all connectors, or only from specific machines. There is also an option to download only the latest logs. This is useful because the logs may contain many files. If you are only interested in a particular machine or the most recent logs, collecting specific logs saves you from downloading a large number of unnecessary files, and makes it easier to find the information that you are looking for. For details, see Viewing system information and logs.

Back to top

Appium 1.21

The embedded Appium version was updated to 1.21.

Back to top

Version numbering update

The UFT family of products now uses year-based version numbering, starting with this Digital Lab version 2021.

Back to top

General improvements

Digital Lab 2021 includes the following updates and enhancements:

Appium settings

Updates to Appium settings include:

  • Administration settings include a new setting to enable Appium insecure features by starting the Appium server with the --relaxed-security flag. For details, see Appium options.

  • Appium capabilities now support using Appium Reset Strategies. For details, see Digital Lab Appium Capabilities.

iOS settings New iOS settings in Administration settings provide support for: 
  • Making or receiving phone calls during record and replay (Tech Preview). Supported in iOS version 12 and later.
  • Using the accessibilityId property and value for identifying components of a packaged app instead of the accessibilityLabel.

For details, see iOS options.

PostgreSQL 13 PostgreSQL version 13 is supported when connecting the Digital Lab server to an external database. For details, see Use an external database (Linux) and Use an external database (Windows).
Barcode simulation Barcode simulation is now supported for packaged apps built using the following:
Android: Google ML Kit
iOS:  Vision framework
Flutter Digital Lab 2021 introduces support for:
  • Flutter Version 2
  • Auto iOS packaging support for apps built with the Flutter SDK. For details, see Flutter SDK apps.
Device metrics & alerts Device details now include thermal state for devices on Android 10 and higher. For details, see the More Information section of Device management.

You can also configure a setting to receive alerts when the thermal state of an iOS or Android device requires attention. For details, see Device Health indication.
Device details The language is now included in the device Details tab. The time zone of the device is also displayed for Android devices.
LDAP When using the LDAP sync option, you can add a filter to synchronize specific users. Previously, all users under the Base DN were included in the sync. For details, see LDAP settings.
Installation You can specify the maximum heap size for the Java virtual machine (JVM) when installing, upgrading, or modifying the Digital Lab server.
File storage Upload of apps is blocked if there is insufficient storage space. Total space allocated for file storage is defined by the shared space administrator in the file storage settings. For details, see File storage.
Dalvik Executable format (DEX) Versions 037, 038, and 039 of the DEX format are supported in Digital Lab 2021.

Back to top

Deprecated technologies

Support for Internet Explorer 11 was removed.

Back to top

See also: