Windows 11 desktop tests using Studio

Miscellaneous
1

Windows 11 desktop tests using Studio and how to record such tests?

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2

You can use WinAppDriver and a 9.x Katalon Studio.

Though if it isn’t a supported platform that WinAppDriver supports it won’t work.
Windows Platform (UWP) , Windows Forms (WinForms) , Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) , and Classic Windows (Win32) apps on Windows 10 PCs .

FYI: It works on 11 too since 11 is built on 10.

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But I’ve recently read several articles that WinnappDriver is no longer supported by Microsoft for a long time. So, I think it’s a dead end

4

Yes, you’re right. The last update for WinAppDriver was on July 1, 2021, according to Releases · microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub. You can use Appium as an alternative, but in my opinion, using the latest version of WinAppDriver is still more than sufficient for supporting desktop automation in 2024. I’ve been working on desktop automation since early 2024.

5

Yeah; we plan on building our own winappdriver alternative in 2025. For now 10.x doesn’t support desktop testing.

We will continue to support 9.x until at least July 2025 while we build the alternative. If we have to extend that date, then I’ll extend the date.

6

What are you using for Desktop testing in appium? Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought appium used winappdriver under the hood as well?

7

Yes, you’re right.

I agree that Appium also requires WinAppDriver. I recommend continuing to use WinAppDriver and Selenium 3 with Katalon version 8.6.9. However, if you stick with Katalon and the older version of WinAppDriver, many updates and improvements will be missed. Therefore, let’s wait for the Katalon team to develop their own desktop driver.

Thanks

8

Why not use 9.7.2? Winappdriver still works in it.

9

I prefer using version 8.6.9 because my project still uses the Keywords folder, which has been disabled in version 9.x.x

10

Ah, you’re on the free version. If we bring back Windows testing it will likely be an enterprise only feature.

One big deciding factor is if we end up using AI for object recognition. Reasoning being that I’ll need to recoup the cost of leveraging the AI.

We run some deals at times to lower our price for small businesses, what would it take for you to be interested in using an (officially) supported version of Studio?

11

Yeah, I heard about the Katalon team bringing back the Keywords folder for the free version starting with the 10.x.x version. However, I’m sure that even if the Keywords feature returns in the free version, there will be more limitations.

My company used to buy the Katalon Enterprise Edition about two years ago, but now we believe that the free version of Katalon is more than enough to accomplish our automation testing goals.

We’ve finished scaling our desktop app automation to over 60%, and it has been very useful during our regression testing. Big thanks to Katalon!

12

No new limitations are being added in 10.0.0, outside of Desktop testing not being available (for all users) due to the breaking changes in Selenium 4 and WinAppDriver.

When we rebuild features we may not put them in free (Like if we use AI when we rebuild Desktop testing). It’ll be decided on a feature by feature basis.

13

Okay, we will wait until the 10.0.0 version is officially released.

14

Well, note 10.0.0 free won’t work for you since Desktop is removed :slight_smile:

9.7.x is still supported but would require a subscription to use Custom Keywords again. We’re still patching it monthly - and you can use Desktop there. Note we did make performance improvements in Desktop in the 9.7 series.

15

Hi there, and thanks for posting in the Katalon community! :hugs:

To help you faster, please review our guide on Custom Keyword here: Introduction to custom keywords in Katalon Studio | Katalon Docs. Double-checking the steps and configurations might resolve the issue.

If the doc doesn’t help, feel free to provide more details, and a community member will assist you soon. Thanks for being a part of our community!

Best,
Albert Le

16

Hi there,
I have some question for clarification. :slight_smile:

I just downloaded the free version (v9.7.2 build 223) and just wanted to try out what Katalon can do.
Im using Windows 11 Pro, 64bit

I followed the integrated tutorial steps.

  1. Activate dev mode
  2. Install WinAppDrivers

If I try to do this twice there is the information, that the driver is already installed.

  1. Click on Windows Recorder
  2. Select a random .exe file, i.e. notepad
  3. Click Start-Button

Than an error message occurs.

java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: Connection refused: no further information
Build info: version: '3.141.59', revision: 'unknown', time: 'unknown'
System info: host: '<my-pc>', ip: '<my-ip>', os.name: 'Windows 11', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '10.0', java.version: '17.0.7'

I read some other threads, i.e. this one … but I could not fix my problem.

So, now my question for clarification. :slight_smile:
Does my system meet the system requirements or am I simply doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance.

PS:
I would like to understand how the software works before I download a trial version because then I’m stuck in the 30-day time constraint.

17

You installed WinAppDriver but did you start WinAppDriver and keep the terminal window open?