Selendroid is currently bundled into the Appium package in order to provide support for Android versions 2.3 through 4.1. Appium automatically switches to Selendroid when users want to run tests for these Android versions.
Selendroid came bundled with Appium v1.2 onwards, and under Appium’s Selendroid mode, it can help test apps on older Android versions, but with a few limitations—such as lacking the ability to locate UI elements like Selendroid, or the ability to use the same script in either modes without modification. These limitations can be overcome by using Selendroid as a standalone tool, separate from Appium. In Selendroid, During tests, devices can be plugged or unplugged without interrupting the test being run, also called “hot plugging.” This in turn is helped by Selendroid’s ability to interact with multiple Android devices at the same time, which includes emulators and hardware devices, saving you a lot of time in the process.
Below are the difference between Appium and Selendroid:
| Point of Distinction | Appium | Selendroid |
|---|---|---|
| iOS Support | XCode 4.5 + with command line tools | No support. You need ios-driver for it mentioned on Selendroid webiste. |
| Android | Android SDK >=16. API >= 17 (Android 4.1 Jellybean and up) | API 10-19 (Android 4.4 Kitkat) |
| User Agent Testing | Yes | No |
| Community Size | Large | Small |
| Real Device Testing | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud Base Testing | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Programming Languages | Yes | Yes |
| Locate UI Elements | Yes | Yes |
| Emulation | Yes | Yes |
| Parallel Test Execution | Yes | Yes |
| Selenium Grid Implementation | Yes | Yes |
| System Requirement | iOS: MacOS X 10.7 Android: MacOS X 10.7+, Windows 7+ Linux | Mac, Windows and Linux |