pick image from photos/gallery using xctest - ios

Question

I am writing a test framework for an ios app that requires importing image from photos/gallery app for validation. I am using XCTest Framework for testing. I have looked over the Internet for some resources but couldn't find any. Can anyone help me how to approach the problem. Again, I have pick the image not from inside the app but from image but from Photos library.

Answer 1

Yes
You can access the photo library but it require XCUITest and the recorder doesn't work inside of Apple's UIRemoteView's like the photo picker. What you have to do is get to the photo picker inside an XCUITest, set a breakpoint, then inspect the view hierarchy to find the elements that are able to be navigated with XCUITest. The example below works with the pictures that come with the simulator.
let app = XCUIApplication()
// get to the photo library
// set a breakpoint, po [[UIWindow keyWindow] recursiveDescription]
let tablesQuery = app.tables
app.sheets.buttons["Choose From Library"].tap()
app.cells["Camera Roll"].tap()
app.cells["Photo, Landscape, March 12, 2011, 7:17 PM"].tap()

Answer 2

let photosApp = XCUIApplication(bundleIdentifier: "com.apple.mobileslideshow")
photosApp.launch()
let continueButton = photosApp.buttons["Continue"]
if continueButton.waitForExistence(timeout: 2) {
continueButton.tap()
}
photosApp.collectionViews["PhotosGridView"].cells.firstMatch.tap()

Answer 3

This works reliably for me, derived from Steve Moser's helpful answer:
/*
LIKE: The left hand expression equals the right-hand expression: ? and * are allowed as wildcard characters, where ? matches 1 character and * matches 0 or more characters.
Resource: https://nshipster.com/nspredicate/
*/
let yellowLeafGreenBackground = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, October 09, 2009, *:09*'")
let waterfallCloseUpOverRocks = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, August 08, 2012, *:29*'")
let treeWithWaterfallBackground = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, August 08, 2012, *:52*'")
let yellowFlowerSucculentBeach = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, March 12, 2011, *:17*'")
let amazingWaterfall = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, August 08, 2012, *:55*'")
// take note with this one, it is an HDR image
let beautyFlowers = NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE 'Photo, March 30, 2018, *:14*'")
func testTappingOnSpecificImage() {
// ... test setup and navigation to get to presented Camera Roll (PHPicker or UIImagePickerController)
// trigger presentation of camera roll
app.buttons["Choose from Photos"].tap()
XCTAssertTrue(app.buttons["Cancel"].waitForExistence(timeout: 3))
let activeQuery = treeWithWaterfallBackground
app.scrollViews.otherElements.images.matching(activeQuery).element.tap()
}
You can see the dates for the individual photos by going into the Photos app on the simulator and tapping into the detail view for a specific image. Like Mikkel Selsøe pointed out, the timestamps are localized for the current time zone.
Available in a gist here: https://gist.github.com/bitops/9182b5ee96c682aba57d9fa16ca6b987

Answer 4

XCTest provides special method just for that case.
let galleryAccessMonitor = addUIInterruptionMonitor(withDescription: "Intercept Gallery Access") { alert -> Bool in
alert.buttons.element(boundBy: 1).tap() /// tap accept
return true /// mark as handled
}
see https://useyourloaf.com/blog/handling-system-alerts-in-ui-tests/

Answer 5

Xcode 14.1 with iOS 16.1 simulator solution:
let app = XCUIApplication()
app.scrollViews.otherElements.images.containing(NSPredicate(format: "label BEGINSWITH 'Photo'")).element(boundBy: 0).tap()

Answer 6

Here's my solution that is independent on the photos being added to the library:
let app = XCUIApplication()
app.launch()
app.buttons["add.photo.button"].tap()
let photosNavBar = app.navigationBars["Photos"]
if photosNavBar.waitForExistence(timeout: 2) {
XCTAssert(app.navigationBars["Photos"].exists)
} else {
XCTFail()
}

Answer 7

If you do not care which image you want to choose then this worked for me:
let image = app.scrollViews.images.matching(NSPredicate(format: "label LIKE '*2012*'")).firstMatch
if image.waitForExistence(timeout: 5) {
image.tap()
}
Note that similar answers which use full name of one of the default photos tend to fail in many cases because for example device/simulator language can be different than english and then image names do not start with "Photo" word, also according to other answers it seems that the time in those names can also be different so that is why I used only year in above code.

Answer 8

You can't interact with an app outside your own app using XCTest. The tests have a reference to your app's bundle identifier, and that is the only app they are able to interact with.
XCTest requires a certain amount of access to the internals of your app in order to give you information about it to allow you to interact with it through XCTest, and this is not something that is available to access in apps that you did not make yourself.