DevOps build pipeline for Xamarin.iOS, Do I need to create a release build for UI Testing?

Question

I'm trying to setup some Xamarin UI testing, initially for our iOS project. I've run into a lot of issues trying to setup a DevOps pipeline and I've learned a lot in the process.

However, I found this video on the subject by James Montemagno, where at times 24.31 and 23.47 he mentions that you need to create a debug ipa which runs the Xamarin.TestCloud.Agent .

This is an additional build task after a release build, purely to run the build agent.

At the moment I'm only concered with running UI Tests not creating a release artefact.

I'm wondering if I actually need to run the release build task / drop at all?

It's just so time consuming making small adjustments and waiting for the process to complete each time.

Answer 1

Do I need to create a release build for UI Testing?

No, you don't. If you only need to do unit tests in the Debug build, the Release build is not required.

As you are only concerned with UI Tests, you just need to run Debug build, publish the build artifacts, and then test with Visual Studio App Center.