diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 9046f2648..b1a2a46ca 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ dependencies {
     compile 'commons-io:commons-io:2.4'
     compile 'com.nineoldandroids:library:2.4.0'
     compile project(':submodules:dslv:library')
+
+    compile 'com.jayway.android.robotium:robotium-solo:5.0.1'
 }
 
 android {
diff --git a/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/MainActivityTest.java b/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/MainActivityTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5dc119a88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/MainActivityTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package instrumentationTest.de.test.antennapod.ui;
+
+import android.test.ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2;
+import com.robotium.solo.Solo;
+import de.danoeh.antennapod.activity.MainActivity;
+
+/**
+ * User interface tests for MainActivity
+ */
+public class MainActivityTest extends ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2<MainActivity> {
+
+    private Solo solo;
+
+    public MainActivityTest(Class<MainActivity> activityClass) {
+        super(activityClass);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void setUp() throws Exception {
+        solo = new Solo(getInstrumentation(), getActivity());
+    }
+
+
+}
diff --git a/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/UITestUtils.java b/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/UITestUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9fd5c4d77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/instrumentationTest/de/test/antennapod/ui/UITestUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package instrumentationTest.de.test.antennapod.ui;
+
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.graphics.Bitmap;
+import de.danoeh.antennapod.feed.Feed;
+import de.danoeh.antennapod.feed.FeedImage;
+import de.danoeh.antennapod.feed.FeedItem;
+import de.danoeh.antennapod.feed.FeedMedia;
+import instrumentationTest.de.test.antennapod.util.service.download.HTTPBin;
+import instrumentationTest.de.test.antennapod.util.syndication.feedgenerator.RSS2Generator;
+import junit.framework.Assert;
+import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Utility methods for UI tests
+ */
+public class UITestUtils {
+
+    private static final String DATA_FOLDER = "test/UITestUtils";
+
+    public static final int NUM_FEEDS = 10;
+    public static final int NUM_ITEMS_PER_FEED = 20;
+
+
+    private Context context;
+    private HTTPBin server;
+    private File destDir;
+    private File hostedFeedDir;
+
+    public UITestUtils(Context context) {
+        this.context = context;
+    }
+
+
+    public void setup() throws IOException {
+        destDir = context.getExternalFilesDir(DATA_FOLDER);
+        destDir.mkdir();
+        hostedFeedDir = new File(destDir, "hostedFeeds");
+        hostedFeedDir.mkdir();
+        Assert.assertTrue(destDir.exists());
+        Assert.assertTrue(hostedFeedDir.exists());
+        server.start();
+    }
+
+    public void tearDown() throws IOException {
+        FileUtils.deleteDirectory(destDir);
+        server.stop();
+    }
+
+    private String hostFeed(Feed feed) throws IOException {
+        File feedFile = new File(hostedFeedDir, feed.getTitle());
+        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(feedFile);
+        RSS2Generator generator = new RSS2Generator();
+        generator.writeFeed(feed, out, "UTF-8", 0);
+        out.close();
+        int id = server.serveFile(feedFile);
+        Assert.assertTrue(id != -1);
+        return String.format("http://127.0.0.1/files/%d", id);
+    }
+
+    private File newBitmapFile(String name) throws IOException {
+        File imgFile = new File(destDir, name);
+        Bitmap bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(128, 128, Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
+        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(imgFile);
+        bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, 1, out);
+        out.close();
+        return imgFile;
+    }
+
+    public void addFeedData() throws IOException {
+        for (int i = 0; i < NUM_FEEDS; i++) {
+            FeedImage image = new FeedImage(0, "image " + i, newBitmapFile("image" + i).getAbsolutePath(), "http://example.com/feed" + i + "/image", true);
+            Feed feed = new Feed(0, new Date(), "Title " + i, "http://example.com/" + i, "Description of feed " + i,
+                    "http://example.com/pay/feed" + i, "author " + i, "en", Feed.TYPE_RSS2, "feed" + i, image, null,
+                    "http://example.com/feed/src/" + i, false);
+            feed.setDownload_url(hostFeed(feed));
+
+            // create items
+            List<FeedItem> items = new ArrayList<FeedItem>();
+            for (int j = 0; j < NUM_ITEMS_PER_FEED; j++) {
+                FeedItem item = new FeedItem(0, "item" + j, "item" + j, "http://example.com/feed" + i + "/item/" + j, new Date(), true, feed);
+                items.add(item);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}