fix(ios): use WebDriver Clear API for dynamic input fields (#1403) (#1568)

* fix(ios): use WebDriver Clear API for dynamic input fields

## Problem
The previous clearInput implementation used tripleTap on element coordinates,
which failed with dynamic input fields (e.g., eBay search box that shows a
new input overlay when clicked). The stale coordinates caused the tap to hit
the wrong element, breaking focus on the dynamic input field.

## Solution
Replaced tripleTap-based clearing with WebDriver's standard Clear API:
- Get the currently focused element using /element/active endpoint
- Clear it using /element/{id}/clear endpoint
- Works reliably regardless of element position changes
- Doesn't trigger unwanted web page events

## Changes
- Added getActiveElement(), clearElement(), clearActiveElement() methods to IOSWebDriverClient
- Updated clearInput() in IOSDevice to use WebDriver Clear API
- Updated ebay.test.ts to reflect the fix

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)



* test(ebay): unify search action descriptions across platforms

Standardize the search action description across all platforms from
"hit Enter" to "click search button" for consistency.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)



---------

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: quanru

packages/android/tests/ai/ebay.test.ts

@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ describe('Test todo list', () => {
     'search headphones',
     async () => {
       // 👀 type keywords, perform a search
-      await agent.aiAction('type "Headphones" in search box, hit Enter');
+      await agent.aiAction(
+        'type "Headphones" in search box, click search button',
+      );
 
       // 👀 wait for the loading
       await agent.aiWaitFor('there is at least one headphone item on page');

packages/cli/tests/multi_yaml_android_scripts/search-headphone-on-ebay.yaml

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ tasks:
   - name: search headphones
     flow:
       - aiAction: open browser and navigate to ebay.com
-      - aiAction: type 'Headphones' in ebay search box, hit Enter
+      - aiAction: type 'Headphones' in ebay search box, click the search button
       - sleep: 5000
       - aiAction: scroll down the page for 800px
 

packages/cli/tests/multi_yaml_ios_scripts/search-headphone-on-ebay.yaml

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ tasks:
   - name: search headphones
     flow:
       - aiAction: open browser and navigate to ebay.com
-      - aiAction: type 'Headphones' in ebay search box, hit Enter
+      - aiAction: type 'Headphones' in ebay search box, click the search button
       - sleep: 5000
       - aiAction: scroll down the page for 800px
 

packages/ios/src/device.ts

@@ -402,24 +402,17 @@ ScreenSize: ${size.width}x${size.height} (DPR: ${size.scale})
     await this.tap(element.center[0], element.center[1]);
     await sleep(100);
 
-    // For iOS, we need to use different methods to clear text
-    try {
-      // Method 1: Triple tap to select all, then delete
-      await this.tripleTap(element.center[0], element.center[1]);
-      await sleep(200); // Wait for selection to appear
-
-      // Type empty string to replace selected text
-      await this.wdaBackend.typeText(BackspaceChar);
-    } catch (error2) {
-      debugDevice(`Method 1 failed, trying method 2: ${error2}`);
-      try {
-        // Method 2: Send multiple backspace characters
-        const backspaces = Array(100).fill(BackspaceChar).join(''); // Unicode backspace
-        await this.wdaBackend.typeText(backspaces);
-      } catch (error3) {
-        debugDevice(`All clear methods failed: ${error3}`);
-        // Continue anyway, maybe there was no text to clear
-      }
+    // For iOS, use WebDriver's standard clear API
+    // This gets the currently focused element and clears it using the /element/{id}/clear endpoint
+    // Works reliably with dynamic input fields and doesn't trigger unwanted events
+    debugDevice('Attempting to clear input with WebDriver Clear API');
+    const cleared = await this.wdaBackend.clearActiveElement();
+    if (cleared) {
+      debugDevice('Successfully cleared input with WebDriver Clear API');
+    } else {
+      debugDevice(
+        'WebDriver Clear API returned false (no active element or clear failed)',
+      );
     }
   }
 

packages/ios/src/ios-webdriver-client.ts

@@ -199,6 +199,82 @@ export class IOSWebDriverClient extends WebDriverClient {
     throw new Error(`Key "${key}" is not supported on iOS platform`);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get the currently focused element's WebDriver ID
+   * @returns WebDriver element ID or null if no element is focused
+   */
+  async getActiveElement(): Promise<string | null> {
+    this.ensureSession();
+    debugIOS('Getting active element');
+
+    try {
+      const response = await this.makeRequest(
+        'GET',
+        `/session/${this.sessionId}/element/active`,
+      );
+
+      // WebDriver can return element ID in two formats:
+      // - Legacy format: response.ELEMENT or response.value.ELEMENT
+      // - W3C format: response['element-6066-11e4-a52e-4f735466cecf']
+      const elementId =
+        response.value?.ELEMENT ||
+        response.value?.['element-6066-11e4-a52e-4f735466cecf'] ||
+        response.ELEMENT ||
+        response['element-6066-11e4-a52e-4f735466cecf'];
+
+      if (elementId) {
+        debugIOS(`Got active element ID: ${elementId}`);
+        return elementId;
+      }
+
+      debugIOS('No active element found');
+      return null;
+    } catch (error) {
+      debugIOS(`Failed to get active element: ${error}`);
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Clear an element using WebDriver's clear endpoint
+   * @param elementId WebDriver element ID
+   */
+  async clearElement(elementId: string): Promise<void> {
+    this.ensureSession();
+    debugIOS(`Clearing element: ${elementId}`);
+
+    try {
+      await this.makeRequest(
+        'POST',
+        `/session/${this.sessionId}/element/${elementId}/clear`,
+      );
+      debugIOS('Element cleared successfully');
+    } catch (error) {
+      debugIOS(`Failed to clear element: ${error}`);
+      throw new Error(`Failed to clear element: ${error}`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Clear the currently focused input field using WebDriver Clear API
+   * @returns true if successful, false otherwise
+   */
+  async clearActiveElement(): Promise<boolean> {
+    try {
+      const elementId = await this.getActiveElement();
+      if (!elementId) {
+        debugIOS('No active element to clear');
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      await this.clearElement(elementId);
+      return true;
+    } catch (error) {
+      debugIOS(`Failed to clear active element: ${error}`);
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
   private normalizeKeyName(key: string): string {
     // Convert to proper case for mapping (first letter uppercase, rest lowercase)
     return key.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + key.slice(1).toLowerCase();

packages/ios/tests/ai/ebay.test.ts

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe('Test eBay search', () => {
 
       // 👀 type keywords, perform a search
       await agent.aiAction(
-        'type "Headphones" in search box, tap search button',
+        'type "Headphones" in search box, click search button',
       );
 
       // 👀 wait for the loading