Pritesh Patel

Posted on May 6

Appium Inspector Was Slowing Me Down - So I Built LocatorLens!

#appium #chromeextension #locatorlens #appiuminspector

If you have worked with Appium for mobile automation, you probably know this loop:

Start Appium Server
Open Appium Inspector.
Configure capabilities for Android or iOS.
Start a session.
Wait for inspector to appear
Inspect one screen.
Switch app or platform.
Update capabilities again.
Repeat.

Appium Inspector is powerful, but after doing this again and again, I realized something:

I was not spending most of my time writing tests.
I was spending too much time preparing to inspect the elements.

That felt wrong.

I wanted a simpler flow:

Open the app ➔ Click the desired element ➔ Copy the best locator ➔ Continue writing tests.

That thought eventually became LocatorLens.

The Biggest Gap: Platform Switching Was Too Slow

One of the most painful parts was working across both Android and iOS.

In the projects I've worked on, I often needed to get the locators for Android and iOS both, inspect both apps, check element attributes, and create platform-specific locators.

But the workflow was not smooth.

I had to switch sessions, update capabilities, restart inspection, and mentally keep track of what changed between platforms.

So I built LocatorLens Chrome extension to inspect Android and iOS side by side without additional configuration.

Inspect elements on Android and iOS simultaneously from Chrome tabs.

No repeated setup.
No setting up separate inspector sessions for platforms.
No losing context while switching platforms.

Biggest Gap is filled with this!

The Next Gap: Inspection Felt Too Heavy

Most of the time, the app was already open on my device or simulator.

But to inspect it, I still had to go through the usual setup flow: start Appium, configure capabilities, create a session, and wait.

So I asked myself:

What if Appium inspection could feel more like opening DevTools?

That is why LocatorLens runs as a Chrome extension.

You connect your devices, open the apps, and inspect what is already in front of you -- No more hassle for configurations!!

The Next Gap: I Needed to See the App Live

Static screenshots were never enough.

Screens change.
Lists scroll.
Popups appear.
Elements move.

So In LocatorLens, I've added a live screen mirror, making inspection feel closer to the real app experience.

You can see the running app in the browser, click elements directly, and inspect them instantly.

The Next Gap: One Locator Was Not Enough

Getting a locator is easy.
Getting a stable locator is harder.

Sometimes XPath works, but it is fragile.
Sometimes Resource ID matches the multiple elements.
Sometimes accessibility ID is perfect.
Sometimes you need UIAutomator2, iOS Class Chain, or NSPredicate.

So LocatorLens generates multiple locator strategies and ranks them by usefulness.

It also validates whether a locator is unique before you copy it.

That means fewer surprises later when the test actually runs.

The Final Gap: I Needed Logs at one place

Many times while I was debugging something for Android or iOS, going through hundreds on lines of Logs and making sense in terminal was nightmare, at least for me and That too separately for both of the platforms

So, I've combined them at one screen where if you only wanted to see Errors - Just filter it and NO more going through Hundreds of lines just to check errors!

Each feature came from a real moment of friction while writing mobile tests.

What LocatorLens Became

The Idea for LocatorLens started with a simple frustration:

Appium Inspector was slowing down my automation writing flow.

But as I kept solving each gap, it became a faster inspection workflow while writing automation with Appium.

Now the flow feels much simpler:

Open Android and iOS apps in device or simulators.
Inspect both side by side.
Click an element.
View the XML.
Generate locators.
Validate uniqueness.
Copy the best locator.
Continue writing tests.

LocatorLens is heavily inspired by Appium Inspector but its reduces the hurdle which I faced in Appium Inspector.

It is trying to make the inspection part lighter, faster, and closer to the way automation engineers need it to be.

If you feel (like I do) that this tool will help you reduce your time and effort, then welcome to the Club. Install LocatorLens Chrome extension Right now and Give it a try!

You can check out more info here: https://locatorlens.com

Let me know how you feel about this extension!