Use Visual Accessors for Mobile Testing

Last Usingreviewed: September 30, 2026

Use this article when mobile tests need visual matching because a stable DOM, accessibility ID, or native locator is not available.

What changed in this article

• Clarified that visual accessors are a fallback or targeted strategy, not the first locator choice for every mobile step.
• Added reliability checks for device resolution, orientation, theme, image crop, wait timing, and tolerance thresholds.
• Added guidance to prefer stable IDs/accessibility locators when available and to review visual matches after app UI changes.

Validation workflow

1. Try a stable native, accessibility, or DOM locator first when the app exposes one.
2. Use a tightly cropped visual accessor only for the element region that must be matched.
3. Replay on the target device profile and confirm the match survives expected resolution, orientation, and theme variations.

Review note: This page now explains when visual accessors help mobile testing isand new functionality that was in AIQ 4.9.0.

Further updateshow to thereduce functionalityfalse have been made in AIQ 4.9.4. See Visual Accessors for Mobile Testing Enhancements for information on these functional changes.positives.

The ability to use visual accessors has been added to the Mobile Test Designer. Visual accessors allow Mobile Designer to incorporate images into your test scripts. SmartTags Workbench and Mobile Blueprint have been enhanced so that images are defined as SmartTags and can be added to a Mobile Blueprint. This new functionality is available for both Android and iOS mobile devices.

Mobile Designer enables script recording and playback, a simpler approach to mobile test design than traditional mobile scripting. Using visual accessors allows Mobile Designer to incorporate screenshots into scripts.

Visual accessors are available for both Android and iOS mobile applications.

See the attached guides for the specific platforms for information on how the image-matching algorithm works, recommendations for getting the best results when using this feature, as well as information about setting up and configuring this new functionality.

Android Guide

Visual Accessors for Android Guide

iOS Guide

Visual Accessors for iOS Guide