# What changed in appium-uiautomator2-driver

> 11 changes in appium-uiautomator2-driver 6 to 8 from its official release notes, upgrade guides and advisories: 5 breaking, 1 deprecations, 4 new APIs and options. Each one cited. Sources checked 2026-10-18. HTML: https://unstale.sh/npm/appium-uiautomator2-driver/

To see which of these apply to a repository, run `npx @unstale/cli init` in it.

## appium-uiautomator2-driver 8

### Breaking changes

- The minimum required appium-uiautomator2-server version was raised, affecting which server versions developers can use with this driver. (8.3.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.4.0), [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.3.0)
- The package now publishes as ESM only; CommonJS consumers must migrate from require to ESM import. (8.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.0.0)

### Deprecations

- BaseDriver.getSession is marked deprecated. (8.6.1) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.6.1)

### New APIs and options

- Adds a command to translate web element rects to native coordinates. (8.6.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.6.0)
- Adds API plumbing for declaredOrientation, allowing it to be used with the driver. (8.5.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.5.0)
- The driver now supports chromedriverGrantPermissions through its Android driver update. (8.1.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.1.0)

### Behavior and default changes

- Exposes the webview on-screen rect via mobile: getContexts. (8.7.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v8.7.0)

## appium-uiautomator2-driver 7

### Breaking changes

- Obsolete sessions are automatically terminated using the device ID to be claimed by the current session. (7.6.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v7.6.0)
- The mobile:listApps response format now follows the XCUITest driver format, which may require updating consumers. (7.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v7.0.0)

### New APIs and options

- Adds the mobile: setStylusHandwriting command, available behind a security flag. (7.1.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v7.1.0)

## appium-uiautomator2-driver 6

### Breaking changes

- Reverts the change that modified the listApps format to follow the xcuitest format. (6.9.3) — [release notes](https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver/releases/tag/v6.9.3)