diff --git a/components/spiffs/.build-test-rules.yml b/components/spiffs/.build-test-rules.yml
index eec002ed8a..c6d7af7160 100644
--- a/components/spiffs/.build-test-rules.yml
+++ b/components/spiffs/.build-test-rules.yml
@@ -2,3 +2,8 @@ components/spiffs/host_test:
   enable:
     - if: IDF_TARGET == "linux"
       reason: only test on linux
+
+components/spiffs/test_apps:
+  disable_test:
+    - if: IDF_TARGET not in ["esp32", "esp32c3", "esp32s3"]
+      reason: These chips should be sufficient for test coverage (Xtensa and RISC-V, single and dual core)
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test/CMakeLists.txt b/components/spiffs/test/CMakeLists.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 808cb75ef3..0000000000
--- a/components/spiffs/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-idf_component_register(SRC_DIRS "."
-                    PRIV_INCLUDE_DIRS "."
-                    PRIV_REQUIRES cmock test_utils spiffs vfs)
-target_compile_options(${COMPONENT_LIB} PRIVATE "-Wno-format")
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/CMakeLists.txt b/components/spiffs/test_apps/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b11f543b68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# This is the project CMakeLists.txt file for the test subproject
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+
+# "Trim" the build. Include the minimal set of components, main, and anything it depends on.
+set(COMPONENTS main)
+
+include($ENV{IDF_PATH}/tools/cmake/project.cmake)
+project(test_spiffs)
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/README.md b/components/spiffs/test_apps/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb787eea5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+| Supported Targets | ESP32 | ESP32-C2 | ESP32-C3 | ESP32-S2 | ESP32-S3 |
+| ----------------- | ----- | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |
+
+This is a test app for spiffs component.
+
+# Building
+Several configurations are provided as `sdkconfig.ci.XXX` and serve as a template.
+
+## Example with configuration "release" for target ESP32
+
+```bash
+rm -rf sdkconfig build
+idf.py -DIDF_TARGET=esp32 -DSDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS="sdkconfig.defaults;sdkconfig.ci.release" build
+```
+
+# Running
+
+To run locally:
+
+```bash
+idf.py flash monitor
+```
+
+The tests will be executed and the summary will be printed:
+
+```
+-----------------------
+21 Tests 0 Failures 0 Ignored
+OK
+```
+
+Note, when the Python test script is executed in internal CI, it will test each configuration one by one. When executing this script locally, it will use whichever binary is already built and available in `build` directory.
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/main/CMakeLists.txt b/components/spiffs/test_apps/main/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e01b34ebe7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/main/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+idf_component_register(SRCS test_spiffs.c
+                       PRIV_INCLUDE_DIRS .
+                       PRIV_REQUIRES spiffs unity vfs
+                       WHOLE_ARCHIVE
+                      )
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test/test_spiffs.c b/components/spiffs/test_apps/main/test_spiffs.c
similarity index 93%
rename from components/spiffs/test/test_spiffs.c
rename to components/spiffs/test_apps/main/test_spiffs.c
index c7737f24e7..efe1b9d4b2 100644
--- a/components/spiffs/test/test_spiffs.c
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/main/test_spiffs.c
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/unistd.h>
 #include "unity.h"
-#include "test_utils.h"
 #include "esp_log.h"
 #include "esp_system.h"
 #include "esp_vfs.h"
@@ -26,9 +25,22 @@
 #include "esp_rom_sys.h"
 
 const char* spiffs_test_hello_str = "Hello, World!\n";
-const char* spiffs_test_partition_label = "flash_test";
+const char* spiffs_test_partition_label = "storage";
 
-void test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(const char* name, const char* text)
+void app_main(void)
+{
+    unity_run_menu();
+}
+
+static const esp_partition_t *get_partition(void)
+{
+    const esp_partition_t *result = esp_partition_find_first(ESP_PARTITION_TYPE_DATA,
+            ESP_PARTITION_SUBTYPE_DATA_SPIFFS, spiffs_test_partition_label);
+    TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL_MESSAGE(result, "partition table not set correctly");
+    return result;
+}
+
+static void test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(const char* name, const char* text)
 {
     FILE* f = fopen(name, "wb");
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(f);
@@ -36,7 +48,7 @@ void test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(const char* name, const char* text)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(f));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_overwrite_append(const char* filename)
+static void test_spiffs_overwrite_append(const char* filename)
 {
     /* Create new file with 'aaaa' */
     test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(filename, "aaaa");
@@ -71,7 +83,7 @@ void test_spiffs_overwrite_append(const char* filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(f_r));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_read_file(const char* filename)
+static void test_spiffs_read_file(const char* filename)
 {
     FILE* f = fopen(filename, "r");
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(f);
@@ -82,7 +94,7 @@ void test_spiffs_read_file(const char* filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(f));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_open_max_files(const char* filename_prefix, size_t files_count)
+static void test_spiffs_open_max_files(const char* filename_prefix, size_t files_count)
 {
     FILE** files = calloc(files_count, sizeof(FILE*));
     for (size_t i = 0; i < files_count; ++i) {
@@ -98,7 +110,7 @@ void test_spiffs_open_max_files(const char* filename_prefix, size_t files_count)
     free(files);
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_lseek(const char* filename)
+static void test_spiffs_lseek(const char* filename)
 {
     FILE* f = fopen(filename, "wb+");
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(f);
@@ -123,7 +135,7 @@ void test_spiffs_lseek(const char* filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(f));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_stat(const char* filename)
+static void test_spiffs_stat(const char* filename)
 {
     test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(filename, "foo\n");
     struct stat st;
@@ -132,7 +144,7 @@ void test_spiffs_stat(const char* filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_FALSE(st.st_mode & S_IFDIR);
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_unlink(const char* filename)
+static void test_spiffs_unlink(const char* filename)
 {
     test_spiffs_create_file_with_text(filename, "unlink\n");
 
@@ -141,7 +153,7 @@ void test_spiffs_unlink(const char* filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_NULL(fopen(filename, "r"));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_rename(const char* filename_prefix)
+static void test_spiffs_rename(const char* filename_prefix)
 {
     char name_dst[64];
     char name_src[64];
@@ -167,7 +179,7 @@ void test_spiffs_rename(const char* filename_prefix)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(fdst));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_truncate(const char *filename)
+static void test_spiffs_truncate(const char *filename)
 {
     int read = 0;
     int truncated_len = 0;
@@ -217,7 +229,7 @@ void test_spiffs_truncate(const char *filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, fclose(f));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_ftruncate(const char *filename)
+static void test_spiffs_ftruncate(const char *filename)
 {
     int truncated_len = 0;
 
@@ -272,7 +284,7 @@ void test_spiffs_ftruncate(const char *filename)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, close(fd));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_can_opendir(const char* path)
+static void test_spiffs_can_opendir(const char* path)
 {
     char name_dir_file[64];
     const char * file_name = "test_opd.txt";
@@ -297,7 +309,7 @@ void test_spiffs_can_opendir(const char* path)
     unlink(name_dir_file);
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_opendir_readdir_rewinddir(const char* dir_prefix)
+static void test_spiffs_opendir_readdir_rewinddir(const char* dir_prefix)
 {
     char name_dir_inner_file[64];
     char name_dir_inner[64];
@@ -375,7 +387,7 @@ void test_spiffs_opendir_readdir_rewinddir(const char* dir_prefix)
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, closedir(dir));
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_readdir_many_files(const char* dir_prefix)
+static void test_spiffs_readdir_many_files(const char* dir_prefix)
 {
     const int n_files = 40;
     const int n_folders = 4;
@@ -467,15 +479,15 @@ static void read_write_task(void* param)
         if (args->write) {
             int cnt = fwrite(&val, sizeof(val), 1, f);
             if (cnt != 1) {
-                esp_rom_printf("E(w): i=%d, cnt=%d val=%d\n\n", i, cnt, val);
+                printf("E(w): i=%d, cnt=%d val=0x%" PRIx32 "\n\n", i, cnt, val);
                 args->result = ESP_FAIL;
                 goto close;
             }
         } else {
             uint32_t rval;
             int cnt = fread(&rval, sizeof(rval), 1, f);
-            if (cnt != 1) {
-                esp_rom_printf("E(r): i=%d, cnt=%d rval=%d\n\n", i, cnt, rval);
+            if (cnt != 1 || rval != val) {
+                esp_rom_printf("E(r): i=%d, cnt=%d val=0x%" PRIx32 " rval=0x%" PRIx32 "\n\n", i, cnt, rval);
                 args->result = ESP_FAIL;
                 goto close;
             }
@@ -492,7 +504,7 @@ done:
     vTaskDelete(NULL);
 }
 
-void test_spiffs_concurrent(const char* filename_prefix)
+static void test_spiffs_concurrent(const char* filename_prefix)
 {
     char names[4][64];
     for (size_t i = 0; i < 4; ++i) {
@@ -569,7 +581,7 @@ static void test_teardown(void)
 
 TEST_CASE("can initialize SPIFFS in erased partition", "[spiffs]")
 {
-    const esp_partition_t* part = get_test_data_partition();
+    const esp_partition_t* part = get_partition();
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(part);
     TEST_ESP_OK(esp_partition_erase_range(part, 0, part->size));
     test_setup();
@@ -583,7 +595,7 @@ TEST_CASE("can initialize SPIFFS in erased partition", "[spiffs]")
 TEST_CASE("can format mounted partition", "[spiffs]")
 {
     // Mount SPIFFS, create file, format, check that the file does not exist.
-    const esp_partition_t* part = get_test_data_partition();
+    const esp_partition_t* part = get_partition();
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(part);
     test_setup();
     const char* filename = "/spiffs/hello.txt";
@@ -598,7 +610,7 @@ TEST_CASE("can format unmounted partition", "[spiffs]")
 {
     // Mount SPIFFS, create file, unmount. Format. Mount again, check that
     // the file does not exist.
-    const esp_partition_t* part = get_test_data_partition();
+    const esp_partition_t* part = get_partition();
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(part);
     test_setup();
     const char* filename = "/spiffs/hello.txt";
@@ -866,7 +878,7 @@ static void test_spiffs_rw_speed(const char* filename, void* buf, size_t buf_siz
 TEST_CASE("write/read speed test", "[spiffs][timeout=60]")
 {
     /* Erase partition before running the test to get consistent results */
-    const esp_partition_t* part = get_test_data_partition();
+    const esp_partition_t* part = get_partition();
     esp_partition_erase_range(part, 0, part->size);
 
     test_setup();
@@ -874,8 +886,8 @@ TEST_CASE("write/read speed test", "[spiffs][timeout=60]")
     const size_t buf_size = 16 * 1024;
     uint32_t* buf = (uint32_t*) calloc(1, buf_size);
     esp_fill_random(buf, buf_size);
-    const size_t file_size = 256 * 1024;
-    const char* file = "/spiffs/256k.bin";
+    const size_t file_size = part->size / 2;
+    const char* file = "/spiffs/speedtest.bin";
 
     test_spiffs_rw_speed(file, buf, 4 * 1024, file_size, true);
     TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(0, unlink(file));
@@ -908,7 +920,7 @@ TEST_CASE("SPIFFS garbage-collect", "[spiffs][timeout=60]")
     TEST_ESP_OK(esp_spiffs_gc(spiffs_test_partition_label, 4096));
 
     // shouldn't be possible to reclaim more than the partition size
-    const esp_partition_t* part = get_test_data_partition();
+    const esp_partition_t* part = get_partition();
     TEST_ESP_ERR(ESP_ERR_NOT_FINISHED, esp_spiffs_gc(spiffs_test_partition_label, part->size * 2));
 
     test_teardown();
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/partitions.csv b/components/spiffs/test_apps/partitions.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8cbcb7ebc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/partitions.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Name,     Type, SubType, Offset,   Size, Flags
+factory,    0,    0,        0x10000, 1M
+storage,    data, spiffs,   ,        256k
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/pytest_spiffs.py b/components/spiffs/test_apps/pytest_spiffs.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33e5253937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/pytest_spiffs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) CO LTD
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
+
+import pytest
+from pytest_embedded import Dut
+
+
+@pytest.mark.esp32
+@pytest.mark.esp32c3
+@pytest.mark.generic
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('config', [
+    'default',
+    'release',
+], indirect=True)
+def test_spiffs_generic(dut: Dut) -> None:
+    dut.expect_exact('Press ENTER to see the list of tests')
+    dut.write('')
+    dut.expect_exact('Enter test for running.')
+    dut.write('*')
+    dut.expect_unity_test_output(timeout=120)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.esp32s3
+@pytest.mark.quad_psram
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('config', [
+    'psram',
+], indirect=True)
+def test_spiffs_psram(dut: Dut) -> None:
+    dut.expect_exact('Press ENTER to see the list of tests')
+    dut.write('')
+    dut.expect_exact('Enter test for running.')
+    dut.write('*')
+    dut.expect_unity_test_output(timeout=120)
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.default b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.default
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.psram b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.psram
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db575808cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.psram
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+CONFIG_SPIRAM=y
+CONFIG_SPIRAM_MALLOC_ALWAYSINTERNAL=0
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.release b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.release
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4983b4dfe3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.ci.release
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_SIZE=y
diff --git a/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.defaults b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.defaults
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3a25e0021
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/spiffs/test_apps/sdkconfig.defaults
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# General options for additional checks
+CONFIG_HEAP_POISONING_COMPREHENSIVE=y
+CONFIG_COMPILER_WARN_WRITE_STRINGS=y
+CONFIG_FREERTOS_WATCHPOINT_END_OF_STACK=y
+CONFIG_COMPILER_STACK_CHECK_MODE_STRONG=y
+CONFIG_COMPILER_STACK_CHECK=y
+
+# Disable the task watchdog since this app uses an interactive menu
+CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_INIT=n
+
+# Custom partition table for this test app
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM=y
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM_FILENAME="partitions.csv"
+
+# SPIFFS-specific settings
+CONFIG_SPIFFS_USE_MTIME=y
+
+# Set sufficient number of GC runs for SPIFFS:
+# size of the storage partition divided by flash sector size.
+# See esp_spiffs_gc description for more info.
+CONFIG_SPIFFS_GC_MAX_RUNS=64
diff --git a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c2 b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c2
index 2b2cc8c20e..e103131ecd 100644
--- a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c2
+++ b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c2
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This config is split between targets since different component needs to be included
 CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="esp32c2"
-TEST_COMPONENTS=app_trace efuse esp_common esp_eth esp_event esp_hid esp_netif esp_phy esp_wifi espcoredump hal lwip mdns mqtt newlib nvs_flash partition_table sdmmc spiffs
+TEST_COMPONENTS=app_trace efuse esp_common esp_eth esp_event esp_hid esp_netif esp_phy esp_wifi espcoredump hal lwip mdns mqtt newlib nvs_flash partition_table sdmmc
diff --git a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c3 b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c3
index 00c6c1f926..fe1fb57093 100644
--- a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c3
+++ b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_2_c3
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This config is split between targets since different component needs to be excluded
 CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="esp32c3"
-TEST_EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS=bt app_update esp_pm freertos esp_hw_support esp_ipc esp_system esp_timer driver soc spi_flash vfs lwip spiffs experimental_cpp_component perfmon test_utils
+TEST_EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS=bt app_update esp_pm freertos esp_hw_support esp_ipc esp_system esp_timer driver soc spi_flash vfs lwip experimental_cpp_component perfmon test_utils
diff --git a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c2 b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c2
index 7658b217ad..7f7435be46 100644
--- a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c2
+++ b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c2
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This config is split between targets since different component needs to be included
 CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="esp32c2"
-TEST_EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS=app_trace efuse esp_common esp_eth esp_event esp_hid esp_netif esp_phy esp_ringbuf esp_wifi espcoredump hal lwip mdns mqtt newlib nvs_flash partition_table sdmmc spiffs freertos esp_hw_support esp_ipc esp_system esp_timer driver soc spi_flash vfs
+TEST_EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS=app_trace efuse esp_common esp_eth esp_event esp_hid esp_netif esp_phy esp_ringbuf esp_wifi espcoredump hal lwip mdns mqtt newlib nvs_flash partition_table sdmmc freertos esp_hw_support esp_ipc esp_system esp_timer driver soc spi_flash vfs
diff --git a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c3 b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c3
index cf6dc39ae3..9f1b010c92 100644
--- a/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c3
+++ b/tools/unit-test-app/configs/default_3_c3
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This config is split between targets since different component needs to be included
 CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="esp32c3"
-TEST_COMPONENTS=soc spi_flash vfs lwip spiffs
+TEST_COMPONENTS=soc spi_flash vfs lwip
diff --git a/tools/unit-test-app/sdkconfig.defaults b/tools/unit-test-app/sdkconfig.defaults
index 74cb32ef75..0e32c97821 100644
--- a/tools/unit-test-app/sdkconfig.defaults
+++ b/tools/unit-test-app/sdkconfig.defaults
@@ -25,8 +25,4 @@ CONFIG_SPIRAM_BANKSWITCH_ENABLE=n
 CONFIG_UNITY_ENABLE_BACKTRACE_ON_FAIL=y
 CONFIG_FREERTOS_TIMER_TASK_STACK_DEPTH=3000
 CONFIG_MQTT_TEST_BROKER_URI="mqtt://${EXAMPLE_MQTT_BROKER_TCP}"
-# Set sufficient number of GC runs for SPIFFS:
-# size of the storage partition divided by flash sector size.
-# See esp_spiffs_gc description for more info.
-CONFIG_SPIFFS_GC_MAX_RUNS=132
 CONFIG_NVS_ASSERT_ERROR_CHECK=y