Set custom device dates in XCUITest tests

Set custom dates on a real iOS device from your XCUITest tests on BrowserStack App Automate.

You can set custom dates on BrowserStack real iOS devices to test date-dependent app behavior, such as scheduled banners, trial or subscription expiry, and calendar-based flows. To change the date, call changeDate from the BrowserStackTestHelper framework in your test.

Prerequisites

• Your build runs on real iOS devices with iOS 16 or later.
• You have the BrowserStackTestHelper.framework file. To get the framework, contact BrowserStack support.

Set custom device dates in your tests

Complete the following steps to add the framework to your test suite and set custom device dates in your XCUITest tests:

How the 21-day limit works

You can set a custom device date up to 21 days from the current date. The following rules apply when you set custom dates:

• The 21-day limit applies to the whole build, not to each test.
• The device keeps a custom date for the rest of the build.
• If you set another custom date in a later test in the same build, BrowserStack calculates the 21-day limit from the current date, not from the device date. For an example, see Example scenario.
• You can’t set a date in the past.
• BrowserStack resets the device date only after the build ends.

If a custom date is more than 21 days from the current date, the changeDate call fails with the error message You can change date only upto 21 days in the future.

Example scenario

If the current date is October 1 and your build runs three tests that each set a custom date, BrowserStack counts the days from October 1 to each custom date:

1. In the first test, you set the custom date to October 6. The count is 5 days.
2. In the second test, you set the custom date to October 20, which is 14 days from the device date of October 6. The count is 19 days.
3. In the third test, you set the custom date to October 27, which is 7 days from the device date of October 20. The count is 26 days, so the changeDate call fails.

Each test sets a date fewer than 21 days from the device date, but the count goes past 21 days in the third test. Plan the custom dates in a build so that no custom date is more than 21 days from the current date.