Android test-only permissions with gradle

Question

I run ./gradlew connectedAndroidTest and I need my test APK to have a permission which should not be in any non-testing APK (debug, release). I have created a manifest with permission:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      package="com.mypackage">
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SET_ANIMATION_SCALE"/>
</manifest>

Then I have copied this manifest to src/androidTest directory, as release notes from gradle android plugin suggest:

0.13.0 (2014/09/18) Requires Gradle 2.1 It is now possible to provide a manifest for test apps (src/androidTest/AndroidManifest.xml)

However, the permission is not applied during my connected tests.

If I create a src/debug directory and move this manifest there -- the permission is applied correctly during connected tests (but also during regular debug builds, which is undesirable).

Am I doing something wrong or is there a bug?

Answer 1

The problem stems from my misunderstanding of how connectedAndroidTest gradle task works. It creates and deploys 2 android applications - a testable (your project) and a tester (an app which simulates a user who interacts with the testable app). My intent was to add the permission to the testable app. However, adding a manifest to src/androidTest resulted in adding the permission to the tester app. Here's how I figured that out:

If I execute

adb shell pm list packages -f -3

(-3 means to list only third-party packages) I can see something like this

package:/data/app/SmokeTestApp.apk=com.android.smoketest package:/data/app/GestureBuilder.apk=com.android.gesture.builder package:/data/app/com.mycompany.myapp-2.apk=com.mycompany.myapp package:/data/app/SoftKeyboard.apk=com.example.android.softkeyboard package:/data/app/org.libsdl.app-2.apk=org.libsdl.app package:/data/app/SmokeTest.apk=com.android.smoketest.tests package:/data/app/com.mycompany.myapp.test-1.apk=com.mycompany.myapp.test

The app with test-1 suffix is the tester app, another one is my testable app. Checking their permission gives:

root@generic_x86:/ # aapt d permissions /data/app/com.mycompany.myapp-2.apk

package: com.spredfast.android
uses-permission: android.permission.INTERNET
uses-permission: android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

root@generic_x86:/ # aapt d permissions /data/app/com.mycompany.myapp.test-1.apk

package: com.spredfast.android
uses-permission: android.permission.SET_ANIMATION_SCALE

So the permission, SET_ANIMATION_SCALE, which I was intending to put into my testable app is put into the tester app. No wonder that moving the manifest from src/androidTest to src/debug would put the permission into the testable app (correct, but too broad).

---

Here's how I solved the original problem - putting the permission into the application only in case of the application being run inside connectedAndroidTest task.

1. I have created an empty build flavor to be used with integration tests:

   productFlavors {
       /**
        * This flavor is to be run only using connectedAndroidTestAnimcontrol
        */
       animcontrol {}
   
       regular {}
   }
   

2. Moved src/androidTest/AndroidManifest.xml with the single permission into src/animcontrol/AndroidManifest.xml

3. Executed connected tests as

   ./gradlew connectedAnimcontrolDebugAndroidTest
   

That did the trick, now I have AndroidManifest.xml which will be merged with main app's manifest only when being run as connectedAndroidTest.

Hope this helps someone.