def set_appium_timeout(self, seconds):
        """Sets the timeout in seconds used by various keywords.

        There are several `Wait ...` keywords that take timeout as an
        argument. All of these timeout arguments are optional. The timeout
        used by all of them can be set globally using this keyword.

        The previous timeout value is returned by this keyword and can
        be used to set the old value back later. The default timeout
        is 5 seconds, but it can be altered in `importing`.

        Example:
        | ${orig timeout} = | Set Appium Timeout | 15 seconds |
        | Open page that loads slowly |
        | Set Appium Timeout | ${orig timeout} |
        """
        old_timeout = self.get_appium_timeout()
        self._timeout_in_secs = robot.utils.timestr_to_secs(seconds)
        return old_timeout