Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — completely free, forever. UIScope is open source under the MIT License. There are no in-app purchases, no premium tier, no subscription, and no ads.

No. UIScope is 100% offline. There is no sign-in, no account, and no cloud sync. The only optional network activity is a single version-check request to the GitHub Releases API at startup — this can be disabled in Settings → General → Check for updates on startup.

Pre-built installers are available for:

• Windows 10 / 11 (x64) — EXE, MSI, MSIX, or Microsoft Store
• Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian (x64) — DEB or AppImage

macOS is supported but requires building from source. See the GitHub repository for build instructions.

No. UIScope collects no personal data, no usage statistics, and no telemetry of any kind. Everything stays on your machine. See the Privacy Policy for full details.

All session data, bookmarks, and settings are stored in a single SQLite database at ~/.uiscope/uiscope.db. You can back it up, move it, or delete it at any time.

No. UIScope is configured as a per-user install on Windows. Neither the EXE nor the MSI requires administrator privileges. The Microsoft Store version also installs per-user.

• EXE — NSIS installer; the simplest option for most users. Double-click to install.
• MSI — Windows Installer package; preferred for enterprise deployment via Group Policy, Intune, or SCCM. Supports silent install with msiexec /i UIScope.msi /qn.
• MSIX — Modern Windows package. Sideloadable and also available through the Microsoft Store. Supports WinGet.

Yes, it is safe. SmartScreen warnings appear for newly published executables that haven't yet accumulated enough downloads to build a reputation. UIScope is open source — you can review the full source code at github.com/TITANICBHAI/UIScope-jvm. To bypass the warning, click More info → Run anyway. To avoid the warning entirely, install from the Microsoft Store.

Download the .AppImage file, make it executable, and run it:

chmod +x UIScope-*.AppImage && ./UIScope-*.AppImage

For desktop integration (right-click menu, file associations), install AppImageLauncher.

Check these in order:

• Enable Developer Options: Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7 times
• Enable USB Debugging: Settings → Developer Options → USB Debugging
• Accept the "Allow USB Debugging?" dialog on the device after plugging in
• Run adb devices in a terminal — the device should appear as "device" not "unauthorized"
• Try a different USB cable or port
• On some devices, change the USB mode to "File Transfer" (MTP) rather than "Charging only"

No. UIScope uses adb exec-out uiautomator dump which is a built-in ADB command — no APK, no agent, and no root is required on the device.

ADB is only required for Android inspection. If ADB is not found in your PATH, UIScope will offer to download the minimal Android Platform Tools (~10 MB) automatically during onboarding. PC inspection works without ADB.

Yes. Android emulators (Android Studio AVD, Genymotion, etc.) appear in the device list just like physical devices because they are exposed via ADB. No extra setup is required.

• Both the PC and Android device must be on the same Wi-Fi network
• Make sure you are using the pairing code (6 digits) and port from Wireless Debugging → Pair device with pairing code — this is different from the IP and port shown on the main Wireless Debugging screen
• The pairing code expires quickly — generate a fresh code if the connection fails
• Toggle Wireless Debugging off and on to reset the session
• Some corporate or guest Wi-Fi networks block device-to-device communication — try a personal hotspot

Many apps use code obfuscation (ProGuard/R8) which renames resource IDs, or they use dynamic views without explicit IDs. UIScope flags these nodes with a Fragile selector warning and suggests alternatives like text-based or XPath selectors. This is a limitation of how the target app was built, not UIScope.

UIScope can inspect any app that exposes a Windows UIAutomation accessibility tree — which includes Win32, WPF, WinForms, UWP, Electron, Qt, and most modern frameworks. Apps that deliberately suppress the accessibility tree (rare) cannot be inspected. Games using custom rendering engines typically have minimal or no accessibility trees.

Another application may have claimed the Alt+Shift+P shortcut. Common conflicts include IME input method switchers and some remote desktop clients. You can temporarily disable the conflicting app's shortcut or use the Pick Mode button inside UIScope instead of the hotkey.

UIScope uses the macOS AX API (Accessibility API) to read the element tree of other apps. macOS requires explicit user permission for this — it's the same permission used by assistive tools like VoiceOver. UIScope will guide you to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility to grant this permission. UIScope does not use this permission for any purpose other than reading UI element trees of apps you explicitly inspect.

UIScope analyses generated selectors and warns you if a selector is likely to break in future app versions. Common causes: obfuscated resource IDs, no resource ID (falls back to positional index), deeply nested XPath, or raw screen coordinates. The warning badge shows the reason and suggests a more stable alternative.

Playwright and Selenium are web automation frameworks and operate on browser DOM elements — not native accessibility trees. UIScope targets native app automation (desktop and Android). For web apps, use the browser's built-in DevTools.

Generated code is a starting point — it uses the selector that UIScope can see at the time of capture. Possible reasons it might not match: the app state changed between capture and test execution; the selector is fragile (check the badge); or you may need to adjust the desired capabilities in your Appium setup. Look for the "Fragile" warning badge on the generated snippet for hints.

The most common cause on Linux is a missing OpenGL context (e.g., in headless or VNC environments). UIScope forces the software renderer with -Dskiko.renderApi=SOFTWARE when run via the provided launcher script, which avoids this. If you built from source, ensure you include this JVM flag. Also check that libfuse2 is installed if using the AppImage.

Delete (or rename) the database file at ~/.uiscope/uiscope.db. UIScope will recreate it with defaults on the next launch. This also clears all session history and bookmarks, so back it up first if you want to keep that data.

Please open an issue on GitHub at github.com/TITANICBHAI/UIScope-jvm/issues. Include your OS version, UIScope version, and steps to reproduce the bug.

Yes! Feature requests are welcome on the GitHub Issues page. Check existing issues first to see if it has already been requested, and add a 👍 reaction to upvote it.