Mobile device automation architecture

Mobile device automation involves a three-layer architecture comprising Studio and activities, Appium servers, and the target device itself.

Studio & Activities

The foundation of mobile device automation begins in Studio.
You start by establishing a connection between the target device and the application you wish to automate, using Mobile Device Manager.
This connection is facilitated through an Appium server running on the target device.
Then you can use the activities available in the MobileAutomation and UIAutomation packages.

Appium is a key element for performing testing and simulating the connection between your device and the application. The Mobile Device Manager acts as a bridge between your mobile device and the Appium server, interpreting and executing automation commands.
UiPath®'s mobile automation relies on Appium as the driver for iOS and Android, by initializing drivers, configuring testing environment parameters (like app file and device details), and accommodating both native and hybrid app testing.
You have the flexibility to set up an Appium server on your local machine or leverage a cloud Appium server from an external cloud device farm. Check out the cloud device farms that you can integrate with while using UiPath®'s mobile automation solution:

Cloud device farms
Sauce Labs
Perfecto Mobile
Experitest

Regardless of whether your target device is a physical device or a simulator/emulator, local or cloud, it needs to run Appium for testing.
In addition to Appium, you must install automation frameworks specific to iOS or Android devices. These frameworks are essential for building and executing UI tests. Check out the supported automation frameworks below:

Android iOS
UIAutomator2 XCUITest
Espresso UI Automation