Error: launchApp: timed out waiting for "com.***.android.***" to be in foreground

[shaikafsar]

Mobilewright version

0.0.39

Operating system

Mac OS

Target platform

Android

Device or simulator

Android Real Device - Google Pixel 10

Minimal reproduction

After upgrading to MobileWright version 0.0.39, I am encountering the following issues:

Visual Studio Code Execution Issue

Error observed while launching the application:

Error: launchApp: timed out waiting for "com..android." to be in foreground
The application launch is timing out, preventing test execution from proceeding.
Android Real Device Issue (Pixel 10)

When attempting to launch the application on a real device (Pixel 10), the following message is displayed:

No apps can perform this action.
As a result, the application cannot be launched successfully on the device.

These issues started occurring immediately after upgrading to MobileWright version 0.0.39. Please investigate and advise on the resolution.

Actual behavior

After upgrading to MobileWright version 0.0.39, I am encountering the following issues:

Visual Studio Code Execution Issue

Error observed while launching the application:

Error: launchApp: timed out waiting for "com.sei.android.uat" to be in foreground
The application launch is timing out, preventing test execution from proceeding.
Android Real Device Issue (Pixel 10)

When attempting to launch the application on a real device (Pixel 10), the following message is displayed:

No apps can perform this action.
As a result, the application cannot be launched successfully on the device.

These issues started occurring immediately after upgrading to MobileWright version 0.0.39. Please investigate and advise on the resolution.

Expected behavior

App should be Launched successfully , below is my sample code.

const appId = 'com.***.android.qa';
await device.launchApp(appId) ;

Additional context

No response

[gmegidish]

Hey @shaikafsar , is it possible to receive this apk (on slack) or to understand how to reproduce this issue? Something specific about this is preventing the run of the app. Maybe it has a flag or misses a main activity. If I can debug this, I can surely release a fix asap.

[shaikafsar]

I have upgraded to version 0.0.41 and below is the popup observed while launching the APP.

Mobile Wright Version 0.0.41
Device - Real Me Pro

[gmegidish]

@shaikafsar is that there's to it? let's debug this together. Can you please use export DEBUG=mw:* before launching the test? we should be able to see more information from debug logs. I dont know why you have this popup or why it's empty. It would be great if we could try this .apk on our own device (we will remove afterwards), do understand why this bug exists. Alternatively, you can look at the debug logs and trace why the 'adb' command causes this popup.

We're here to help :)

[shaikafsar]

@gmegidish - Sorry, I’m unable to share the APK because it is an internal company application and is confidential. Due to company policies, I cannot share it outside the organization.

here is the output for the command suggested.

Command: DEBUG=mw:* npx mobilewright test --grep "CreateOrderForExistingCustomer"

Running 1 test using 1 worker
tests/CreateOrderForExistingCustomer.spec.ts:26:5 › CreateOrderForExistingCustomer
Base screenshot folder created: screenshots/2026-07-02-16_03_26
mw:test:fixtures allocating device (platform=android) +0ms

mw:driver-mobilecli listing devices +0ms
mw:test:fixtures allocated device 69cad1b9c9cf +388ms
mw:test:fixtures connecting to device 69cad1b9c9cf +0ms
mw:driver-mobilecli connecting to ws://localhost:12000/ws +0ms
mw:driver-mobilecli websocket connected +7ms
mw:driver-mobilecli resolved device 69cad1b9c9cf (platform=android, type=real) +0ms
mw:driver-mobilecli running: /Users/Rocky/PROJECTS/Automation/mobilewright-demo-main/MobileWright-1/node_modules/mobilecli/bin/mobilecli-darwin-arm64 agent status --device 69cad1b9c9cf +1ms
mw:driver-mobilecli agent status output: {
"status": "ok",
"data": {
"message": "Agent version 1.2.0 is installed on device",
"agent": {
"version": "1.2.0",
"bundleId": "com.mobilenext.devicekit"
}
}
} +633ms
mw:test:fixtures connected to device 69cad1b9c9cf +642ms
Test screenshot folder created: screenshots/2026-07-02-16_03_26/CreateOrderForExistingCustomer
mw:driver-mobilecli launching com.item.android.uat +2ms
mw:driver-mobilecli launched com.item.android.uat +601ms

Note: So far, I have successfully automated an end-to-end flow using MobileWright functions, and it is working well.
Currently, the application is being launched using ADB, after which all MobileWright functions execute successfully. However, I would like to use MobileWright's native app launch functionality instead of ADB so that the framework remains consistent and I don't run into any issues in the future.

[gmegidish]

Got it.
The commands that mobilecli runs (which mobilewright depends upon) are:

1. adb shell cmd package resolve-activity --brief com.item.android.uat
2. (it parses out pkg/activity)
3. adb shell am start -n /

You can provide the activity to run (as parameter), which bypasses resolve-activity.

Can you please run these commands manually and debug what's causing the problem?
I assume that this is something with your Android device. It doesn't know how to run the app. Though I've never seen an empty list.

[yasminjaborova]

Hi, I also faced with this issue. When I use the real Android device, the app launches successfully and my E2E tests ran. However, when I try to run those tests on Android emulator (using Android Studio), I face with this issue:

Error: launchApp: timed out waiting for "com.eskhata.online.debug" to be in foreground at retryUntil (/Users/yasmin/Downloads/Eskhata_Online_Core_MP/node_modules/@mobilewright/core/src/poll.ts:21:13) at Device.launchApp (/Users/yasmin/Downloads/Eskhata_Online_Core_MP/node_modules/@mobilewright/core/src/device.ts:123:7) at Object.device (/Users/yasmin/Downloads/Eskhata_Online_Core_MP/node_modules/@mobilewright/test/src/fixtures.ts:170:9)

and in emulator the bottom sheet with such error appears: "No apps can perform this action."

In the end, mobilewright fails to launch an app and run my tests. Can you help resolve this issue? @gmegidish

[gmegidish]

@yasminjaborova I missed your message, I am sorry :< is this still relevant in latest mobilewright? can you help me debug this with you?