With different options available for web browsers, operating systems, and devices, it is imperative for developers to offer a consistent user experience. Web developers and testers work closely to run test scripts (manually and automatically) on various browsers.
Because different web browsers use different rendering engines, the same website may function differently on each. This underlines the importance of browser testing to ensure an easy, convenient, hassle-free online experience.
Browser testing refers to the process of testing a website/ web app across different combinations of browsers, operating systems, and versions. Hence, a website should be compatible with all browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and across all operating systems like Windows, Mac, Android, etc.
The aim of browser testing is to detect and resolve the errors before real users encounter them. There are two methods to execute browser testing:
There are many different web browsers that are widely used by people, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Every browser has more than 10 versions running on a variety of operating systems, such as Windows, Mac, Android, etc.
Each browser uses a different rendering engine to render web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, such as Chrome running on Blink, Firefox on Gecko, and IE on EdgeHTML and Chakra. Therefore, the same website behaves differently on multiple browsers. In that case, you need cross-browser testing to check how your website performs across all major browsers, browser versions, operating systems, and mobile devices.
However, the main challenge in browser testing is getting access to all the browsers and versions that people use nowadays. Let’s take a look at the recent stats on how much market share each browser occupies.
Furthermore, there are various other browsers that people use to view your website. Combining each browser with different versions makes this process even more challenging. If you fail to provide a smooth performance of your website on any of these browsers, you will be losing customers, conversion opportunities, and money. Therefore, it is important to select the right browsers and versions according to your target audiences, requirements, and features.
Moreover, setting up device labs, emulators/simulators, or manually accessing browsers for browser testing can be a time-consuming and costly process. Also, these browsers are updated frequently, making it difficult to keep the track of latest, running, or outdated browser versions.
Therefore, LambdaTest AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform, is the perfect solution to test your websites and web applications on more than 3000 browsers, browser versions, mobile devices, and OS combinations. With LambdaTest, you can run multiple test cases parallelly and execute in less time compared to other methods. Consequently, this is a preferred testing tool to meet the cross browser needs of many businesses, including start-ups, freelancers, etc.
A non-responsive website with an inadequate UI layout can leave your user frustrated, impacting your services and business. Hence, browser testing is essential to ensure a full-fledged, user-friendly website. Nowadays, QA testers and web developers have made responsive and browser testing a crucial part of website development.
With the right strategy and tools, you will able to execute testing much faster and obtain better results. Here are some of the strategies you can follow to ensure impactful and convenient browser testing with reduced downtime.
LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing tool where you get the virtual environment of different desktops and mobile devices and real device cloud running on various OS. Hence, it is a suitable platform to test a website on a specific web browser configuration without access.
Just log into LambdaTest, enter the URL of the website you want to test and start the session where you can test the website for browser compatibility issues. On this platform, you can perform live browser testing, real device testing, and automation testing.
Let’s take a look at how real-time testing works on LambdaTest.
Start by logging into the main dashboard of LambdaTest through this link www.lambdatest.com/cross-browser-testing. You can access the tool by signing up with your Google account for free.
From the left side menu bar, click on the ‘Real Time’ button. In the Real-time interaction, you get to see the performance of your website on the selected browser, operation system, and devices.
Now, enter the URL of the website you want to test. Select the browser and the operating system you wish to run your website and click on the ‘Start’ button.
It will configure the browser and operating system and present you with a clear profile of the website on the particular configuration.
Examine the website, its features, and services on that browser to see if they work as intended. Also, test all links, buttons, and pages to ensure they are working properly.
When you are satisfied with the performance of your website on that particular website you can switch the browser settings from the left side menu bar.
In addition to testing the website on different browsers and operating systems, you can also assess it on different mobile devices.
In visual UI testing, you can take a maximum of 25 screenshots of the website on different browser versions and devices. These screenshots and bug reports can be accessed by your team via tools like Github, Slack, ASANA, and Trello.
Moreover, you can also test the website's responsiveness across various devices and screen sizes.
Click the ‘More Tools’ section from the left side menu bar to access the screenshot feature.
Select the number of browsers, versions, and devices you want to take the screenshot.
Click on ‘Capture’ to generate the screenshots of all the selected browser versions and devices.
Click on the screenshot you want to report the bug.
Select the area you want to mark the bug and write the issue in the text box.
You can mark the bug on various tools like Jira, Asana, Trello, Github, Gitlab, etc.
You can add details like Assignee, Issue Type, Summary, and Description and set the priority accordingly.
It allows you to download the PDF and Zip versions of the screenshots. Also, you can share the screenshot via email IDs.
One of the valuable features of the LambaTest testing tool is scheduling the screenshots of websites running on different OS and browsers on a weekly, daily, or monthly basis. It will help you keep track of the performance of your website on different screen sizes using various browsers.
With responsive testing, you can ensure a consistent look and performance of your website with different screen sizes and resolutions. It aims to provide a seamless user experience regardless of the device used, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
Since browsers handle design elements differently, responsive testing is essential to ensure website or application displays accurately across various screen sizes. However, responsive testing with a traditional approach can increase development, support, and maintenance overhead. Thus, LambdaTest testing tools can be beneficial to emulate different devices in real time, saving you time and resources.
Here are the steps to perform responsive testing on LambdaTest.
From the left side navigation menu, select the ‘Responsive’ option.
Write the URL of the website and select the devices on which you want to test the responsiveness of the website.
Now, click on the ‘Generate’ button to check how the website is performing on the selected devices.
Test your website's responsive design, navigation, and functionality as per different device profiles or screen resolutions. It will help you optimize your website layout, enhancing user trust and brand recognition.
The UI comparison feature of the LambdaTest cross browser tool will assist you in comparing two images to identify visual mismatches.
Click on the ‘UI Comparison’ link under the ‘More Tools’ link from the side menu bar. Here, you will get access to the ‘Smart Comparison Testing’ dashboard.
Upload the BaseLine Image from the left side and the Comparison image from the right side. You can compare the particular image by clicking on the Run button or if you want to compare all of the images at once by clicking on the ‘Compare all’ button.
This feature compares the images pixel by pixel to find differences between them. The dissimilarities will be reflected as purple which you can easily find by clicking on the ‘View Issues’ button over the images. You can also compare the images side by side.
If you have performed any real-time browser test, taken screenshots, responsive test, or any other tests, you can store and access them under the ‘Test logs’ sections. This feature will allow you to keep track of your bugs and their status. You can access your test logs with filters like dates, device names, project names, and testing types. Also, you can download the screenshots in the Zip or PDF formats.
Moreover, you can monitor the reported issues with the ‘Issue Tracker’ as per the date and time. All the details reported on the bug will be visible to you, including the assignee, priority, and status of the bug, facilitating a hassle-free experience.
With LambdaTest, you get to integrate your testing project with a variety of tools like bug tracker, analytics, project management, CI/CD, communication, etc. These tools enable you to perform tasks like reporting a bug on Jira, Azure DevOps, Bugherd, Mantis, etc.; manage projects on GitHub, Trello, Asana, etc.; or communicate via Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.
The main aim of browser testing is to ensure a seamless user experience on your websites and web applications. With LambdaTest, you can perform live interacting testing, checking the performance of the website on the selected browser and version. For a quick resolution, you can take up to 25 screenshots and compare them for any compatibility issues. The automation cross-browser testing automates repetitive tasks and allows you to integrate your project with various CI/CD tools, speeding up the process.
Moreover, you get both mobile and web views on Lambda Test, improving the responsiveness of the website even further. Hence, list down all of the browsers and devices that seem important to run browser testing. This way, you can ensure that you have tested the website on all possible operating systems, browsers, and versions, giving you an edge over your competitors.
