Appvance IQ (AIQ) 5.3.0 Release Notes

We are excited to announce the release of Appvance IQ version 5.3.0, a feature-packed update that delivers new capabilities, performance improvements, and critical fixes across the platform.

This release focuses on:

• Repository and Performance Enhancements – streamlined repository handling, cloud-first design, and faster performance.
• Expanded Platform Support – including full Kubernetes support for scalable deployments and enhanced Azure Active Directory authentication.
• AI Script Generation (AISG) Improvements – “Blueprints” have evolved into Digital Twins, with better coverage mapping, autosave controls, and CI/CD log integration.
• Mobile & API Testing Enhancements – new Appium support, Perfecto Cloud integration, SOAP auto-suggestions, and request body validation.
• AI ASSERT is a no-code validation feature that allows QA teams to validate anything they can describe using natural language, without writing a single line of code or defining locators.
  With AI ASSERT, testers can now verify images, text, layouts, tables, animations, motion graphics, and more — all through simple, human-like assertions.
  • No Code. No Locators. Just Natural Language.
  • Universal Validation: Works across UI elements, media, and visuals.
  • Seamless Integration: Available in Web Designer to start.
  • Empowers Everyone: QA, design, and product teams can now validate UX/UI effortlessly.
• Retired Legacy Components – Web Designer (Classic) and Mobile Designer (Classic) are officially retired in AIQ 5.3.0. All future enhancements will focus on the new Web and Mobile Designer experience.
• Stability and Fixes – Across Scenario Editor, Desktop Designer, Mobile Testing, API Testing, Reporting, and CI/CD pipelines.

Release Details

Build: AIQ-5.3.0-622303
Release Date: 12/17/2025
Build URL: https://aiqbuilds.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/AIQ-5.3.0/622303/AIQ-5.3.0-622303.zip

For additional documentation, see: General Notes 

Windows AMIs

Linux (Ubuntu) AMIs

⚠️ Security Alert – False Positive

During the installation of AIQ 5.3.0, Symantec may flag

ascanrules-release-69.zap
(C:\AIQ\AIQ-5.3.0-615640\aiq_distribution\OWASP\home\plugin\)

as “Hacktool.”

This is a false positive — the file is a legitimate OWASP ZAP plugin required for penetration testing.
👉 Action: Whitelist the OWASP directory in Symantec to prevent deletion. If removed, restore the file to enable app penetration scenario execution.

🚀 New Features & Enhancements

Global Enhancements

• Repositories – Functional and Performance Improvements
  • All changes now push directly to cloud repositories (S3, Git, etc.).
  • Eliminates controller storage bottlenecks.
  • Files now display at the top of folders.
• Azure Active Directory Authentication for SQL databases.
• Direct JSON/XML Editing inside AIQ.
• AWS S3 Region Support for repositories.
• Kubernetes Support for containerized deployments.
• Admin Tools: Ability to force logout stuck user sessions.
• Deprecations:
  • Encrypted DPL → migrate to HashDPL.
  • Web Designer (Classic) retired.
  • Mobile Designer (Classic) retired.

AI Script Generation (AISG)

• Terminology update: “Blueprint” → Digital Twin.
• Disable the Auto-Save option.
• AI Hints highlighted on Coverage Map.
• AISG results are available in CI/CD logs.

Mobile Testing

• Mobile AISG is fully supported.
• Highlight Mode for element discovery during playback.
• Required upgrades: Appium 2.12.1, XCUITest 7.28.3, UIAutomator2 3.8.1.
• Added Perfecto Cloud integration.

API Testing

• Auto-validation of request body syntax.
• SOAP response auto-suggestions enabled.
• “Beautify” formatting button for imported files.
• Enable/disable individual blocks in scripts.

Desktop Testing

• Relative path designator updated to {dds} (previously {mds}).
• Logs aligned with Web Designer logs.
• Updated Windows Appvance Driver.

📌 New Features in AIQ 5.3.0

🌐 React UI

• Remove elements from action lists.
• Enhanced file navigation and repository error messages.
• UX refinements, dark mode option, and accessibility improvements.
• Notifications for long-running tasks and enhanced search across repositories.
• Keyboard shortcuts for navigation.

📝 Scenario Editor

• New modular action blocks, validation blocks, and scenario templates.
• Support for conditional workflows, grouped actions, nested loops, and reusable steps.
• Auto-complete for variable references and real-time validation checks.
• Drag-and-drop improvements and better variable scoping.
• Support for execution pause/resume and user-defined macros.
• Performance optimizations for large scenarios.

🤖 AI Script Generation (AISG)

• Disable autosave for Digital Twins saved in GitLab.
• Results are displayed in CI/CD logs with filtering options.
• Enhanced Coverage Map navigation and Digital Twin metadata.
• Support for Digital Twin versioning and cleanup of old twins.
• Runtime execution statistics, hint prioritization, and auto-retry for failed scans.
• Optimized creation speed and general performance improvements.

📱 Mobile Testing

• Custom scaling for Highlight actions and OCR highlight support.
• Expanded locator strategy support.
• Support for custom app permissions and biometric authentication testing.
• Enhanced Appium integration and error handling during test runs.
• Parallel device testing support.

🔌 API Designer

• Enable/disable SOAP requests individually.
• Block reuse, request chaining, and data-driven API blocks.
• Syntax highlighting for JSON/XML bodies.
• Block-level comments and more auto-complete options.
• Import/export of test collections and REST response reuse across scripts.

☁️ Cloud Config

• Improvements to EC2/S3 integration and provisioning logging.
• Support for multiple VPCs and region-specific defaults.
• Enhanced error handling for AWS configurations.
• Validation for S3 bucket access.

📊 Reporting

• Enhanced iteration summary export options (CSV/Excel, PDF).
• Filtering and per-user filtering improvements.
• Charting options and trend capabilities.
• Enhanced XML reporting format.

🔄 CI/CD

• Enhanced AISG compatibility and coverage summaries.
• Retry logic for reporting sync and failed executions.
• Webhook notifications.

🖥️ Desktop Designer

• Updated driver logs, new driver APIs, and compatibility expansions.
• Improved installer and IDE shortcuts.
• Enhanced logging configuration and context menu options.

🔒 Security

• Migration support from EncryptedDPL → HashDPL (with fallback).
• Additional audit logs for user actions.
• SSL authentication support in the SQL client.

🛠️ Improvements

🌐 Web & Scenario Testing

• Resolved validation errors when “All Available Machines” was selected in Scenario Editor.
• Corrected SQL process file execution issues.
• Eliminated duplicate Scenario paths during execution.
• Restored SmartTags icon visibility after AISG execution.
• Addressed issues with deleting repository folders containing AISG files.
• Corrected child state display for clicked Action elements.

☁️ Cloud Config / Infrastructure

• Corrected EC2 startup validation errors (“Please fill all config text fields”).
• Improved handling of region-specific EC2/S3 configurations.
• Resolved repository configuration failures caused by long usernames.
• Enabled SSL authentication in SQL Client.
• Restored proper OpenSearch integration.

🖥️ Desktop Designer

• Corrected inconsistent step numbering and skipped indices in logs.
• Eliminated duplicate log entries in the Log Viewer.
• Resolved duplicate “Loop started” messages per iteration.
• Corrected context menu truncation when adding “Open in Editor”.
• Addressed flickering issues in the Scenario Editor UI.

📱 Mobile Testing

• Improved Preview screen stability (maximization and assertions).
• Resolved script recording failures in Mobile Designer.
• Corrected playback and element assertion issues.
• Improved reliability when running tests across multiple devices.
• Enhanced error handling in Highlight Mode and OCR scanning.

🔌 API Testing

• Addressed runtime errors in email validation scripts.
• Corrected failures when verifying PDF document contents.
• Restored execution for “For Each” blocks with XML input.
• Corrected SOAP responses collapsing into single-line XML.
• Resolved crashes when opening large XML files.
• Improved parsing of array objects in XML API responses.

📊 Reporting & CI/CD

• Addressed scrolling issue in the Iteration Summary HTML report.
• Corrected filters not persisting in location-based reporting.
• Restored XLSX export availability for failed API files.
• Improved iteration summary filters for large test runs.
• Corrected CI/CD dashboard synchronization from S3-hosted clients.

⚙️ General / Platform

• Resolved server timezone detection issues.
• Corrected user upload problems in the Admin module.
• Restored Modified Time Stamp display in downloaded file paths.
• Addressed UI flickering when switching tabs during save.
• Improved Chrome/Firefox compatibility for Visual Accessors and AISG.