How to Use UIScope

Installation

Windows (recommended — Microsoft Store)

The easiest way to install UIScope on Windows is the Microsoft Store. Updates are automatic.

Get UIScope on Microsoft Store

Windows (direct download)

1. Download the .exe installer from GitHub Releases
2. Double-click the installer — no admin rights required (per-user install)
3. UIScope appears in the Start menu and system tray

Enterprise / silent install options: .msi via msiexec /i UIScope.msi /qn, or .msix for WinGet / sideload.

Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

sudo dpkg -i uiscope_*.deb

Or download the .AppImage for a portable, no-install option:

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

macOS

Build from source — see the GitHub repository for instructions.

First Launch & Onboarding

The first time you open UIScope you will see the Onboarding screen, which checks your environment:

Android Inspector

Connect via USB

Connect wirelessly (Android 11+)

1. On the device: Developer options → Wireless Debugging → enable it → tap Pair device with pairing code
2. In UIScope: click Pair wirelessly and enter the 6-digit code and port shown on the device
3. After pairing succeeds, the device appears in the list — select it to connect

Connect wirelessly (pre-Android 11)

1. Connect via USB first, then run adb tcpip 5555 in a terminal
2. Unplug the USB cable
3. In UIScope: click Connect via IP and enter the device's IP address

Navigating the inspector

The Android inspector has three panels:

• Element Tree (left) — the full UIAutomator accessibility tree, virtualised for performance on large screens. Expand and collapse nodes. Use Ctrl+F to search.
• Device Canvas (centre) — live screenshot, zoomable and pannable. Click any area to select the node under that point.
• Properties (right) — all properties of the selected node: resource ID, text, content description, class, package, bounds, and boolean flags. Click the copy icon next to any field to copy its value.

Bidirectional selection: click a node in the tree → it highlights on the canvas; click the canvas → the corresponding node is selected in the tree.

PC Inspector

PC Inspector works on Windows (UIAutomation), macOS (AX API), and Linux (AT-SPI2). No additional software is required — UIScope uses the OS accessibility APIs directly via JNA.

Using Pick Mode

Code Generation

With any node selected in the tree, open the Code tab in the Properties panel to see ready-to-paste automation code.

Supported frameworks

Framework	Platform	Language
AutoHotKey v2	Windows PC	AHK
pywinauto	Windows PC	Python
FlaUI	Windows PC	C#
PowerShell UIAutomation	Windows PC	PowerShell
uiautomator2	Android	Python
UIAutomator2	Android	Kotlin / Java
Appium	Android	Java & Python
Maestro	Android	YAML
XPath	Android & PC	XPath expression

Fragile selector warnings

UIScope analyses each generated selector and shows a yellow "Fragile" badge if the selector is likely to break. Common fragility signals include:

• Obfuscated resource IDs (e.g. com.example:id/a1b2)
• No resource ID — selector falls back to text or index
• Raw coordinate-based bounds that may differ across screen sizes
• Deeply nested XPath that will break with minor layout changes

The badge includes an explanation of why the selector is fragile and a suggestion for how to make it more stable.

Diff Mode

Diff Mode compares two saved inspection sessions and shows exactly what changed between them.

Watch Mode

Watch Mode monitors a connected Android device continuously and fires a notification when a condition you define is met.

Creating a watch rule

1. Open Watch Mode from the Launcher
2. Select your connected Android device
3. Click Add Rule and choose a condition type:
   • Element appears — fires when a node matching a selector appears in the tree
   • Element disappears — fires when a matching node is no longer present
   • Text matches — fires when a node's text equals or contains a given string
   • Text changes — fires whenever a node's text value changes
4. Set the selector (resource ID, text, XPath, or class name)
5. Click Start Watching

When the condition is met, UIScope shows a desktop notification and logs the event in the Watch log panel. You can run multiple rules simultaneously.

Export & Sessions

Exporting the element tree

With an inspection open, click the Export button (or File → Export) and choose a format:

Format	Best for
JSON	Scripts, diffing with external tools, machine processing
XML	UIAutomator-compatible output; works with Appium, other tools
Outline	Human-readable indented tree — great for bug reports and documentation

You can export the entire tree or just the currently selected subtree.

Session history

All sessions are stored automatically in ~/.uiscope/uiscope.db. Open the History screen to:

• Browse all past sessions by date and device
• Search sessions by app name, package, or node content
• Re-open any session without reconnecting the device
• Delete sessions you no longer need

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tips & Tricks

• Multi-window: Use Ctrl+Shift+N to open a second UIScope window and compare two apps or two sessions side-by-side.
• Bookmarks: Pin frequently referenced nodes with the bookmark icon (⭐) in the properties panel. Access all bookmarks from the sidebar.
• Copy any field: Every property in the Properties panel has a small copy icon. Click it to copy that field's value directly to the clipboard — useful for quickly grabbing resource IDs.
• XPath from breadcrumb: The breadcrumb bar above the canvas shows the full path from root to the selected node. Click Copy XPath at the right of the breadcrumb to get a working XPath expression in one click.
• Wireless ADB tip: On Android 11+ both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If pairing fails, try toggling Wireless Debugging off and on again on the device.
• Large trees: UIScope virtualises the tree view, so even screens with 2 000+ nodes scroll smoothly. Use Ctrl+F to search instead of scrolling for specific nodes.
• Export for bug reports: The Outline export format produces a clean indented text tree that pastes beautifully into Jira, GitHub Issues, or any text field.
• Settings: Visit Settings (gear icon) to adjust ADB path, screenshot quality, refresh interval, theme, startup mode, and the auto-update check.