Implementation:Microsoft Playwright Client Android

Knowledge Sources	Microsoft_Playwright
Domains	Browser Automation, Mobile Testing
Last Updated	2026-02-12 00:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for client-side Android device automation provided by the Playwright library.

Description

The `Android` class and its companion `AndroidDevice` class provide the client-side API for automating Android devices through Playwright. The `Android` class extends `ChannelOwner` and implements the public `api.Android` interface, managing device discovery and timeout settings. `AndroidDevice` provides methods for interacting with Android devices including input gestures (tap, swipe, drag, fling, pinch), taking screenshots, launching browsers, and managing WebViews. Communication with the server is handled through Playwright's channel-based RPC protocol.

Usage

Use these classes when automating Android device interactions from a Playwright client, including device discovery via `android.devices()`, performing touch gestures, launching Chrome browser contexts on the device, and connecting to WebViews for web content automation.

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: Microsoft_Playwright
• File: packages/playwright-core/src/client/android.ts

Signature

export class Android extends ChannelOwner<channels.AndroidChannel> implements api.Android {
  _playwright!: Playwright;
  readonly _timeoutSettings: TimeoutSettings;
  _serverLauncher?: AndroidServerLauncherImpl;

  constructor(parent: ChannelOwner, type: string, guid: string, initializer: channels.AndroidInitializer);
  setDefaultTimeout(timeout: number): void;
  async devices(options?: { port?: number }): Promise<AndroidDevice[]>;
}

export class AndroidDevice extends ChannelOwner<channels.AndroidDeviceChannel> implements api.AndroidDevice {
  constructor(parent: ChannelOwner, type: string, guid: string, initializer: channels.AndroidDeviceInitializer);
  async tap(selector: api.AndroidSelector, options?: types.TimeoutOptions): Promise<void>;
  async swipe(selector: api.AndroidSelector, direction: Direction, percent: number, options?: SpeedOptions & types.TimeoutOptions): Promise<void>;
  async launchBrowser(options?: types.BrowserContextOptions): Promise<BrowserContext>;
  async screenshot(options?: { path?: string }): Promise<Buffer>;
  async close(): Promise<void>;
}

Import

import { Android, AndroidDevice } from './client/android';

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
parent	ChannelOwner	Yes	Parent channel owner in the object hierarchy
type	string	Yes	The type identifier for this channel object
guid	string	Yes	Globally unique identifier for this object
initializer	channels.AndroidInitializer	Yes	Initialization data from the server
options.port	number	No	ADB server port for device discovery

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
devices	AndroidDevice[]	List of discovered Android devices
BrowserContext	BrowserContext	Browser context launched on the Android device
screenshot	Buffer	Screenshot image data from the device

Usage Examples

const { _android: android } = require('playwright');

// Discover devices
const devices = await android.devices();
const device = devices[0];

// Perform gestures
await device.tap({ res: 'com.example:id/button' });
await device.swipe({ res: 'com.example:id/list' }, 'up', 50);

// Launch browser on device
const context = await device.launchBrowser();
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');

// Take screenshot
const screenshot = await device.screenshot({ path: 'device.png' });

await device.close();

Related Pages

• Environment:Microsoft_Playwright_Node_Runtime_Environment