- Mar 9, 2022
- 531
- 182
We are looking for a developer to set up a web-based system for remotely viewing and controlling multiple physical iPhones connected to a Mac mini.
This is not a research project or a completely new concept. The architecture is already defined, and similar systems have been built using Appium, WebDriverAgent, Node.js, and AI-assisted development tools such as Claude. We need someone experienced who can implement it correctly and quickly.
Main Requirement
The most important person for this project is a mobile or QA automation engineer with strong experience in:
Appium
WebDriverAgent
Physical iOS devices
Xcode signing and provisioning
WDA certificate configuration
Managing multiple simultaneous Appium sessions
Session stability and automatic reconnection
USB-connected iPhone device farms
This represents approximately 70% of the technical work.
The developer must be able to configure WDA on every device, maintain stable Appium sessions, and automatically recover sessions when a device disconnects, WDA crashes, or a connection drops.
Web Interface
We also need a mid-level Node.js or full-stack developer to build the operator interface.
The web interface should include:
A grid displaying the screens of all connected iPhones
Live MJPEG video streams
Click and tap forwarding
Swipe support
Keyboard and text-input forwarding
Operator authentication
Device status indicators
Basic error and reconnection handling
The web-development side is relatively straightforward once the iOS automation stack is stable.
Planned Architecture
1. Physical iPhones and Mac mini
All iPhones will be connected to a Mac mini through powered USB hubs.
The Mac mini is the central machine responsible for communicating with and controlling the iPhones.
2. WebDriverAgent on Each iPhone
WebDriverAgent will be installed and signed through Xcode on every device.
WDA receives automation commands such as:
Taps
Swipes
Text input
App launching
Device navigation
WDA acts as the system’s “hands.”
3. Appium on the Mac mini
Appium will manage the automation sessions between the Mac mini and each iPhone through WDA.
Each device should use its own Appium server instance and dedicated ports.
The setup must support:
Multiple devices simultaneously
Stable long-running sessions
Automatic session recovery
Device reconnection
WDA restart handling
Clear logging and device health monitoring
4. Live Video Streaming
WDA’s MJPEG stream will be used to display each iPhone’s screen.
The Mac mini will collect and expose the streams to the web application.
The streams act as the system’s “eyes.”
5. Node.js Web Server and Nginx
A Node.js application will run on the Mac mini and provide a browser-based control panel.
The operator will see a grid of live iPhone screens.
When the operator clicks on a device screen:
The browser calculates the screen coordinates.
The action is sent to the Node.js server.
The server forwards the command to the correct Appium instance.
Appium sends it to WDA.
WDA performs the tap on the physical iPhone.
Nginx will act as a reverse proxy, allowing the interface and streams to be accessed remotely through one HTTPS address.
Expectations
We are not looking for someone to spend weeks researching whether this is possible.
The system design and tools are already established. Developers are already building similar solutions with the help of Claude and other AI coding tools, so an experienced engineer should be able to move quickly.
We expect:
Fast implementation
Clear communication
Clean and documented setup
Stable multi-device operation
Automatic recovery from common connection failures
A working deployment on the Mac mini
Instructions for adding additional iPhones later
When applying, please provide:
Relevant Appium and iOS automation experience
Examples of physical iPhone automation projects
Experience configuring and signing WebDriverAgent
Experience managing multiple iOS devices
Your estimated delivery time
Your fixed-price quote or hourly rate
This is not a research project or a completely new concept. The architecture is already defined, and similar systems have been built using Appium, WebDriverAgent, Node.js, and AI-assisted development tools such as Claude. We need someone experienced who can implement it correctly and quickly.
Main Requirement
The most important person for this project is a mobile or QA automation engineer with strong experience in:
Appium
WebDriverAgent
Physical iOS devices
Xcode signing and provisioning
WDA certificate configuration
Managing multiple simultaneous Appium sessions
Session stability and automatic reconnection
USB-connected iPhone device farms
This represents approximately 70% of the technical work.
The developer must be able to configure WDA on every device, maintain stable Appium sessions, and automatically recover sessions when a device disconnects, WDA crashes, or a connection drops.
Web Interface
We also need a mid-level Node.js or full-stack developer to build the operator interface.
The web interface should include:
A grid displaying the screens of all connected iPhones
Live MJPEG video streams
Click and tap forwarding
Swipe support
Keyboard and text-input forwarding
Operator authentication
Device status indicators
Basic error and reconnection handling
The web-development side is relatively straightforward once the iOS automation stack is stable.
Planned Architecture
1. Physical iPhones and Mac mini
All iPhones will be connected to a Mac mini through powered USB hubs.
The Mac mini is the central machine responsible for communicating with and controlling the iPhones.
2. WebDriverAgent on Each iPhone
WebDriverAgent will be installed and signed through Xcode on every device.
WDA receives automation commands such as:
Taps
Swipes
Text input
App launching
Device navigation
WDA acts as the system’s “hands.”
3. Appium on the Mac mini
Appium will manage the automation sessions between the Mac mini and each iPhone through WDA.
Each device should use its own Appium server instance and dedicated ports.
The setup must support:
Multiple devices simultaneously
Stable long-running sessions
Automatic session recovery
Device reconnection
WDA restart handling
Clear logging and device health monitoring
4. Live Video Streaming
WDA’s MJPEG stream will be used to display each iPhone’s screen.
The Mac mini will collect and expose the streams to the web application.
The streams act as the system’s “eyes.”
5. Node.js Web Server and Nginx
A Node.js application will run on the Mac mini and provide a browser-based control panel.
The operator will see a grid of live iPhone screens.
When the operator clicks on a device screen:
The browser calculates the screen coordinates.
The action is sent to the Node.js server.
The server forwards the command to the correct Appium instance.
Appium sends it to WDA.
WDA performs the tap on the physical iPhone.
Nginx will act as a reverse proxy, allowing the interface and streams to be accessed remotely through one HTTPS address.
Expectations
We are not looking for someone to spend weeks researching whether this is possible.
The system design and tools are already established. Developers are already building similar solutions with the help of Claude and other AI coding tools, so an experienced engineer should be able to move quickly.
We expect:
Fast implementation
Clear communication
Clean and documented setup
Stable multi-device operation
Automatic recovery from common connection failures
A working deployment on the Mac mini
Instructions for adding additional iPhones later
When applying, please provide:
Relevant Appium and iOS automation experience
Examples of physical iPhone automation projects
Experience configuring and signing WebDriverAgent
Experience managing multiple iOS devices
Your estimated delivery time
Your fixed-price quote or hourly rate
