How to Tap Android Buttons by Text from the Command Line¶

The usual command-line way to tap Android is coordinates:

adb shell input tap 540 860

That works, but it is not what you mean.

You mean:

tap "Continue"

A good Android automation script should say that directly. It should find the visible button, tap its center, and fail clearly if the button is missing or ambiguous.

Handsets gives you that command-line workflow.

Quick answer¶

Install Handsets, connect the device, and tap by label:

hs use
hs tap "Continue"

For safer scripts:

hs tap "Continue" --visible --unique --timeout 5s

That taps the visible UI node whose label matches Continue. If more than one visible match exists, --unique makes the command fail instead of guessing.

Why not use coordinates?¶

Coordinate taps are fragile because they describe pixels, not UI.

This command:

adb shell input tap 540 860

does not know whether it is tapping:

A button.
Empty space.
The keyboard.
A list item.
A different control on another device.

If the layout shifts, the script silently does the wrong thing.

Text taps are more stable because they target the user-facing label.

Inspect the current screen¶

Before tapping, you can inspect the current UI:

hs ui

Example output:

fill  EditText  "Email"     #email     540,540
fill  EditText  "Password"  #password  540,640  [password]
tap   Button    "Continue"  #continue  540,860

This output is meant to be readable by both humans and automation. It shows what can be filled, tapped, or waited on.

Tap common labels¶

hs tap "Sign in"
hs tap "Continue"
hs tap "Allow"
hs tap "Done"

When a label is repeated, tighten the selector:

hs tap 'Button:has-text("Continue")' --visible --unique

Or choose a specific occurrence:

hs tap "Continue" --visible --nth 2

Prefer --unique for unattended jobs. Use --nth only when the repeated layout is intentional and stable.

Tap after scrolling¶

For long screens, use a small loop:

for _ in $(seq 1 10); do
  hs tap "Settings" --visible --unique --timeout 500ms && break
  hs swipe up 250
done

The script tries to tap first, then scrolls only if the target is not visible.

Tap and verify¶

The most reliable scripts do not just tap. They tap and wait for the expected result:

hs tap "Continue" --visible --unique
hs wait "Dashboard" --timeout 15s

Or as one action:

hs act --tap "Continue" --until "Dashboard" --timeout 15s

That pattern avoids fixed sleeps and catches failed transitions.

Use from Python or other languages¶

The command-line interface is easy to call from any language:

import subprocess

subprocess.run(
    ["hs", "tap", "Continue", "--visible", "--unique", "--timeout", "5s"],
    check=True,
)

For Python, the first-party package is cleaner:

from handsets import Session

with Session() as d:
    d.tap("Continue", visible=True, unique=True, timeout="5s")

FAQ¶

Can adb tap by text?¶

Raw adb shell input tap cannot tap by text. It taps coordinates. To tap by visible text, use a UI-aware layer such as Handsets, Appium, or uiautomator2.

Does tapping by text require root?¶

No. Handsets taps by text through normal Android debugging access and the shell user. The device does not need to be rooted.

What happens if there are two matching buttons?¶

Use --unique. If multiple visible nodes match, the command fails with an ambiguity error instead of choosing randomly.

Can I tap text inside any app?¶

You can tap normal accessible Android UI. Apps with custom rendering or inaccessible controls may require screenshots or more specific selectors.