u/WeakAd3213

I've been dealing with this problem internally for one of my projects:

• provisioning Android emulators on Linux
• keeping Appium running reliably
• dealing with Chrome/Chromedriver compatibility
• recovering devices when they get stuck
• running multiple devices in parallel
• collecting recordings, screenshots, and logs
• keeping the whole thing stable enough for automation

It made me wonder how many developers or QA teams are dealing with the same operational headache.

I'm currently exploring the idea of a lightweight managed Android automation service where you could basically: submit a test → get an available Android device → run it → receive logs/screenshots/video/results

I'm still in the discovery stage, so I'm more interested in understanding the problem than pitching anything.

For people running Android/Appium automation today:
What does your current setup look like, and what part of it gives you the most pain?

Would especially love to hear from anyone maintaining their own emulator fleets or avoiding BrowserStack/Sauce Labs because of cost or complexity.

We're currently exploring a problem around mobile test automation and I'm curious how other QA engineers and developers are handling it.

If you're running Appium-based test, I'd love to understand your setup.

• Are you using Sauce Labs, Test Grid, or something self-hosted?
• How many Android devices or emulators do you maintain?
• What's the most frustrating part of your current workflow?
• Is it emulator management, device availability, CI/CD integration, or something else?
• Have you ever tried building your own device farm?

We're still in the discovery phase, so I'm not promoting a product.

I'm simply trying to learn from teams that have already experienced these problems.

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.