iOS 17 and HeadSpin Compatibility

Overview

Recently iOS 17 and the iPhone 15 hit retail markets, and we at headspin know that you want to be on top of that release with your applications ready to go for your customers. For your convenience, we have listed below some of the ways in which you can expect iOS 17 to function on HeadSpin during your testing with this new OS from Apple.

Special Requirements

iOS 17 requires Appium 2/XCUITest 5.x. If you start an Appium session with no explicit headspin:appiumVersion capability and also request iOS 17 for your devices, you will receive a version auto-upgrade to Appium 2. Since this may be a different Appium version from the default version installed on your host system, a warning message will be printed in the Appium log to let you know that your system was implicitly upgraded to Appium 2 in order to handle iOS 17 tests. This log message will also provide some information about the headspin:appiumVersion capability so you can set the version explicitly.

If, when launching a test, you explicitly set Appium 1.x as well as iOS 17 for your test parameters, you will get an instant failure message in your client. The new session will not be attempted and you will receive immediate feedback. To preserve backwards compatibility, tests targeting older iOS versions that do not specifically designate an headspin:appiumVersion will continue to get the default Appium version on the host (typically 1.22).

Functionality

While we are working diligently to get full HeadSpin/iOS 17 functionality and support, there are a few features that are still in development. Listed below are the features we have tested so far and their compatibility status with iOS 17 as of October 2023; if a feature you are interested in is not listed, please contact your HeadSpin administrator for more information. This list will be updated as progress is made.

*NOTE: With regards to Appium drivers, while HeadSpin is designed to work with most Appium drivers, now that Appium has moved to a more developer-independent model with individuals creating and releasing drivers themselves we cannot guarantee the functionality or iOS 17 compatibility for all independently made Appium drivers.

Please note that if your system is on-prem, air-gapped or otherwise, we are working vigilantly to get you fully up to speed with support for this new iOS version.

If you have any questions about the above list, please reach out to your HeadSpin administrator.