[BUG] the tool should use name or label instead of content-desc on iOS

[kavithamahesh]

Description

Tests are working very fast compared to Maestro locally, and I managed to establish a connection with Saucelabs real devices for iOS as well as Android.
My flow file is working fine for Android on Saucelabs, but the same is not working for iOS as the runner is failing to find the element.

Steps to Reproduce

maestro-runner
--driver appium
--platform android
--appium-url "correct url"
--caps caps-android-sauce.json
test playmaker.yaml

Expected Behavior

Element should be identified correctly as same as Android

Actual Behavior

Element is not identified correctly as same as Android [ The second field input didn't happen]

Environment

• OS: [e.g., macOS 14.0, Ubuntu 22.04]
• Go version: [e.g., 1.21.0]
• maestro-runner version: [e.g., v0.1.3]
• Executor: [e.g., Appium 2.x, Native]
• Device/ [e.g.,iOS: 18 and 26 OS version devices , Android - 15 and 16 version devices]

Flow File

My simple flow file

• launchApp:
  appId: com.test.app
• waitForAnimationToEnd
• tapOn:
  id: email-field
• inputText: aaa@aaa.com

- hideKeyboard

- pressKey: Tab

• tapOn:
  id: password-field
• inputText: password

- hideKeyboard

- pressKey: Tab

• runFlow:
  when:
  visible:
  id: login-button
  commands:
  - tapOn:
  id: login-button

Error Output

✓ launchApp (2.9s)
✓ tapOn (3.1s)
✓ inputText (719ms)
✓ tapOn (2.0s)
✓ inputText (520ms)
✓ runFlow (3.0s)
  ✓ tapOn (1.7s)

Additional Context

The run result shows that the runner executed the command, but it actually not happend

[omnarayan]

@kavithamahesh Thanks for trying this out and reporting the issue!

Quick question — when you say "local," do you mean local Appium or local native?

Also, if the logs don't contain any sensitive data, would you be able to share the Appium log from SauceLabs? That would really help with debugging.

[omnarayan]

@kavithamahesh this is a really helpful feedback "the tool should use name or label instead of content-desc on iOS"

[kavithamahesh]

appium.log

[omnarayan]

Apologies — I should have been more careful before jumping in with that question. I think we also need to check the page source. It seems like we might be identifying the wrong element — there could be other elements on the page with the same text.

[kavithamahesh]

when you say "local," do you mean local Appium or local native?
Its local native.

[omnarayan]

@kavithamahesh

Update: We've added support for using name or label instead of content-desc on iOS for element identification.

Regarding the tapping issue: We'd need the following to investigate further:

• Screenshot
• Page source

This will help us see what the page looked like at that point and understand why the tool reports a successful tap and type, but the action didn't actually go through.

Could you share those when you get a chance?

[kavithamahesh]

Can I share that information in a personal email?

[omnarayan]

@kavithamahesh sure , do you have my email id ?

[kavithamahesh]

No. Can you share your email id pls?

[omnarayan]

@kavithamahesh - This issue has been resolved

Release notes: https://github.com/devicelab-dev/maestro-runner/releases/tag/v1.0.4

To upgrade, run:

curl -fsSL https://open.devicelab.dev/install/maestro-runner | bash

Let me know if the issue persists.

[kavithamahesh]

Tested on the latest build, and the issue is resolved now. Thanks for fixing this quickly :)
I will continue to report if I find any other issues