webdriverio / webdriverio/desktop-mobile

Re-enable prebuilt WDA (usePreinstalledWDA) for iOS once the iOS-26 :8100 wall is fixed upstream

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#548 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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area:ci os:macos scope:flutter scope:react-native
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
13
Forks
6
Avg merge
2d 3h
Merged PRs (30d)
33

Description

Context

On the macos-26 runner (iOS 26 / Xcode 26 / iPhone 17), appium:usePreinstalledWDA + prebuiltWDAPath deterministically fails: the preinstalled WebDriverAgent launches but its :8100 server never comes up, so session-create times out (120 s) on all iOS legs — even with the correct WDA 15.1.3, on the original run and a retry. Same class as appium/WebDriverAgent#1147 (real-device variant).

Workaround (shipped in the fix PR)

Disabled usePreinstalledWDA for iOS — appium-xcuitest builds WDA in-session instead. Verified green (6 passed, 6 total, real sessions). Dropped the now-unused WDA pre-build + DerivedData cache steps.

  • Net wall-time is ~equal: the in-session build lands inside the ~14-min E2E instead of a separate ~5-min pre-build.
  • The prebuilt path was originally added to dodge the in-session-build socket-drop (UND_ERR_SOCKET); the in-session fallback absorbs it via the longer wdaLaunchTimeout / connectionRetryTimeout the config already sets when the WDA dir is unset.

TODO — re-enable when upstream lands

Re-introduce the pre-build + usePreinstalledWDA once the preinstalled-WDA path works on iOS 26 upstream (appium-webdriveragent / appium-xcuitest-driver). It's a speed optimisation, not a correctness need — no rush.

Supersedes

Closes out #545 (WDA version-select fix): with usePreinstalledWDA off, the prebuilt WDA isn't used, so selecting the matching copy is moot. The version-select bug was real but only affects the prebuilt path we're removing.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Monitor appium-webdriveragent and appium-xcuitest-driver for the iOS 26 preinstalled-WDA fix, then inspect the iOS CI configuration where the WDA pre-build, DerivedData cache, usePreinstalledWDA, and prebuiltWDAPath were removed. Restore that path only after :8100 works upstream, and verify the real-session run reports 6 passed, 6 total.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
ios, typescript
Domain
mobile, testing-qa
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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