Tapster describes itself as “a robot that automates mobile applications on a smartphone.” What that means in this case is that it uses a stylus device to imitate a human’s finger to automatically press a phone’s virtual buttons. This is accomplished with a delta robot setup, and, as shown in the video below playing the game 2048, can run at an impressive speed.
These robots are available to purchase for $750, though if you really want to make one for yourself, the design is open source and 3D printable. For that matter, I suppose that one could program a 3D printer or CNC router to do the same thing, but when it comes to automatically manipulating several-hundred-dollar phones, perhaps purchasing something built for the task is a good idea.
This device is designed by Selenium creator Jason Huggins, which is a tool to automate web browser tasks, either for testing or general automation. This seems like a natural hardware extension of that tool, and appears to work quite well. With a huge number of smartphone and tablet models in the wild, this type of automated testing is a good idea for any app that wants to ensure the best user experience across all devices. Or you can just use it to rack up a huge score on Candy Crush Saga.
