Detox

When to Use

• React Native Apps: The gold standard for RN E2E.
• Speed & Stability: Much less flaky than Appium for RN because of synchronization.
• CI/CD: Designed to be fast enough for CI.

Quick Start

describe("Example", () => {
  beforeAll(async () => {
    await device.launchApp();
  });

  it("should show hello screen after tap", async () => {
    await element(by.id("hello_button")).tap();
    await expect(element(by.text("Hello!!!"))).toBeVisible();
  });
});

Core Concepts

Synchronization

sleep()

Matchers

by.id()

by.text()

by.label()

testID

Best Practices (2025)

• Add

  testID

  props: Add them to all interactive elements in your React Native code.
• Use

  device.reloadReactNative()

  : Faster than relaunching the whole app for every test.
• Mock Metro: Mock JS bundles to avoid network flakes in CI.

• Don't run animations: Disable them in the test build for speed and stability.
• Don't combine with Appium: Choose one for your project.

References

• Detox Documentation