Getting Started With Playwright Testing on iOS Real Devices

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Playwright test automation on real iOS devices is now supported on TestMu AI across Node.js, Java, C#, and Python. Test on latest iPhone and iPad Safari combinations to catch device-specific issues that mobile emulation may miss. Integrate with your existing CI pipeline, and access logs and debugging artifacts for each test run.

This guide will cover the basics of getting started with Playwright testing on iOS devices on the TestMu AI platform.

Supported Versions

• Playwright versions v1.53.0 and above (until v1.57.0) are supported for iOS real device testing.
• All languages use the stock Playwright packages — no custom forks or client-side changes required.
• Playwright v1.53.2 is currently supported for Playwright C# (for Android & iOS).

Prerequisites

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Set your TestMu AI username and access key in the environment variables. You can get your TestMu AI username and access key from your TestMu AI Profile > Account Settings > Password & Security.

Windows

set LT_USERNAME="YOUR_LAMBDATEST_USERNAME"
set LT_ACCESS_KEY="YOUR_LAMBDATEST_ACCESS_KEY"

macOS/Linux

export LT_USERNAME="YOUR_LAMBDATEST_USERNAME"
export LT_ACCESS_KEY="YOUR_LAMBDATEST_ACCESS_KEY"

Language-Specific Setup

Node.js

Install the Playwright package:

npm install playwright

Python

Install the Playwright package:

pip install playwright

Java

Add the Playwright dependency to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.microsoft.playwright</groupId>
    <artifactId>playwright</artifactId>
    <version>1.54.0</version>
</dependency>

C#

Add the Playwright NuGet package:

dotnet add package Microsoft.Playwright

Run Your First Test

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Node.js

playwright-ios-test.js

const { webkit } = require("playwright");

(async () => {
  const capabilities = {
    "LT:Options": {
      "platformName": "ios",
      "deviceName": "iPhone 16",
      "platformVersion": "18",
      "isRealMobile": true,
      "build": "Playwright iOS Build",
      "name": "Playwright iOS Test",
      "user": process.env.LT_USERNAME,
      "accessKey": process.env.LT_ACCESS_KEY,
      "network": true,
      "video": true,
      "console": true,
    },
  };

  const browser = await webkit.connect(
    `wss://cdp.lambdatest.com/playwright?capabilities=${encodeURIComponent(
      JSON.stringify(capabilities)
    )}`
  );

  const context = await browser.newContext();
  const page = await context.newPage();

  await page.goto("https://duckduckgo.com", { timeout: 30000 });
  await page.locator('[name="q"]').fill("LambdaTest");
  await page.locator('[name="q"]').press("Enter");
  await page.waitForTimeout(3000);

  const title = await page.title();
  console.log("Page title:", title);

  try {
    if (title.includes("LambdaTest")) {
      await page.evaluate(
        (_) => {},
        `lambdatest_action: ${JSON.stringify({
          action: "setTestStatus",
          arguments: { status: "passed", remark: "Title verified" },
        })}`
      );
    }
  } catch (e) {
    await page.evaluate(
      (_) => {},
      `lambdatest_action: ${JSON.stringify({
        action: "setTestStatus",
        arguments: { status: "failed", remark: e.message },
      })}`
    );
  }

  await page.close();
  await context.close();
  await browser.close();
})();

Run the test:

node playwright-ios-test.js

Python

playwright_ios_test.py

import os, json, urllib.parse
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

def main():
    capabilities = {
        "LT:Options": {
            "platformName": "ios",
            "deviceName": "iPhone 16",
            "platformVersion": "18",
            "isRealMobile": True,
            "build": "Playwright iOS Build",
            "name": "Playwright iOS Test",
            "user": os.environ["LT_USERNAME"],
            "accessKey": os.environ["LT_ACCESS_KEY"],
            "network": True,
            "video": True,
            "console": True,
        }
    }

    ws_endpoint = (
        f"wss://cdp.lambdatest.com/playwright?capabilities="
        f"{urllib.parse.quote(json.dumps(capabilities))}"
    )

    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.webkit.connect(ws_endpoint)
        context = browser.new_context()
        page = context.new_page()

        page.goto("https://duckduckgo.com", timeout=30000)
        page.locator('[name="q"]').fill("LambdaTest")
        page.locator('[name="q"]').press("Enter")
        page.wait_for_timeout(3000)

        title = page.title()
        print(f"Page title: {title}")

        try:
            if "LambdaTest" in title:
                page.evaluate(
                    "_ => {}",
                    'lambdatest_action: {"action": "setTestStatus", "arguments": {"status": "passed", "remark": "Title verified"}}',
                )
        except Exception as e:
            page.evaluate(
                "_ => {}",
                f'lambdatest_action: {json.dumps({"action": "setTestStatus", "arguments": {"status": "failed", "remark": str(e)}})}',
            )

        page.close()
        context.close()
        browser.close()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Run the test:

python playwright_ios_test.py

Java

PlaywrightIosTest.java

package com.lambdatest;

import com.microsoft.playwright.*;
import com.google.gson.Gson;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.util.Map;

public class PlaywrightIosTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, Object> ltOptions = Map.of(
            "platformName", "ios",
            "deviceName", "iPhone 16",
            "platformVersion", "18",
            "isRealMobile", true,
            "build", "Playwright iOS Build",
            "name", "Playwright iOS Test",
            "user", System.getenv("LT_USERNAME"),
            "accessKey", System.getenv("LT_ACCESS_KEY"),
            "network", true,
            "video", true,
            "console", true
        );

        Map<String, Object> capabilities = Map.of("LT:Options", ltOptions);
        String capsJson = new Gson().toJson(capabilities);
        String wsEndpoint = "wss://cdp.lambdatest.com/playwright?capabilities="
            + URLEncoder.encode(capsJson, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);

        try (Playwright playwright = Playwright.create()) {
            Browser browser = playwright.webkit().connect(wsEndpoint);
            BrowserContext context = browser.newContext();
            Page page = context.newPage();

            page.navigate("https://duckduckgo.com",
                new Page.NavigateOptions().setTimeout(30000));
            page.locator("[name=\"q\"]").fill("LambdaTest");
            page.locator("[name=\"q\"]").press("Enter");
            page.waitForTimeout(3000);

            String title = page.title();
            System.out.println("Page title: " + title);

            try {
                if (title.contains("LambdaTest")) {
                    page.evaluate("_ => {}",
                        "lambdatest_action: {\"action\": \"setTestStatus\", \"arguments\": {\"status\": \"passed\", \"remark\": \"Title verified\"}}");
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                page.evaluate("_ => {}",
                    "lambdatest_action: {\"action\": \"setTestStatus\", \"arguments\": {\"status\": \"failed\", \"remark\": \"" + e.getMessage() + "\"}}");
            }

            page.close();
            context.close();
            browser.close();
        }
    }
}

Run the test:

mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.lambdatest.PlaywrightIosTest"

C#

PlaywrightIosTest.cs

using Microsoft.Playwright;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Web;

var capabilities = new Dictionary<string, object>
{
    ["LT:Options"] = new Dictionary<string, object>
    {
        ["platformName"] = "ios",
        ["deviceName"] = "iPhone 16",
        ["platformVersion"] = "18",
        ["isRealMobile"] = true,
        ["build"] = "Playwright iOS Build",
        ["name"] = "Playwright iOS Test",
        ["user"] = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LT_USERNAME")!,
        ["accessKey"] = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LT_ACCESS_KEY")!,
        ["network"] = true,
        ["video"] = true,
        ["console"] = true,
        ["playwrightClientVersion"] = "1.53.2",
    }
};

var capsJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(capabilities);
var wsEndpoint = $"wss://cdp.lambdatest.com/playwright?capabilities={HttpUtility.UrlEncode(capsJson)}";

using var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
var browser = await playwright.Webkit.ConnectAsync(wsEndpoint);
var context = await browser.NewContextAsync();
var page = await context.NewPageAsync();

await page.GotoAsync("https://duckduckgo.com", new PageGotoOptions { Timeout = 30000 });
await page.Locator("[name=\"q\"]").FillAsync("LambdaTest");
await page.Locator("[name=\"q\"]").PressAsync("Enter");
await page.WaitForTimeoutAsync(3000);

var title = await page.TitleAsync();
Console.WriteLine($"Page title: {title}");

try
{
    if (title.Contains("LambdaTest"))
    {
        await page.EvaluateAsync("_ => {}",
            "lambdatest_action: {\"action\": \"setTestStatus\", \"arguments\": {\"status\": \"passed\", \"remark\": \"Title verified\"}}");
    }
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    await page.EvaluateAsync("_ => {}",
        $"lambdatest_action: {{\"action\": \"setTestStatus\", \"arguments\": {{\"status\": \"failed\", \"remark\": \"{e.Message}\"}}}}");
}

await page.CloseAsync();
await context.CloseAsync();
await browser.CloseAsync();

Run the test:

dotnet run

View your Playwright test results

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The TestMu AI Automation Dashboard is where you can see the results of your Playwright iOS tests after running them on the TestMu AI platform.

The below screenshot of TestMu AI Automation Dashboard shows the Playwright build on the left and the build sessions associated with the selected build on the right.

note

• Safari is the supported browser for iOS real device testing. All four languages — Node.js, Java, C#, and Python — are supported using stock Playwright packages.

• Playwright testing on real iOS devices is currently supported on latest iOS versions (iOS 17, iOS 18, and iOS 26) across both iPhones and iPads.