Best Tips to Boost Cross-Browser Testing in the Easiest Way

With such a large number of websites being developed each day, checking them on different browsers becomes difficult. The more important fact is that many cannot stand the test of time. The reason for the failure of the majority of the websites is because of cross-browser compatibility problems that cause unexpected crashes and unresponsiveness, among other different issues. This proves how important the role of cross-browser testing is in the development of an efficient web app. It guarantees that the website is compatible with different browsers, devices, and OS. The cross-browser compatibility testing strategy must be strong and make the QA efforts simple, regardless of the browser selection. From the Web DNA Report 2020, it was observed that the most significant trouble faced by developers during web development is the challenge of writing and test execution.

Adding new updates and functionalities to browsers frequently to improve the consumer experience can be a massive project. The browser and its variations, operating systems, devices, and software updates change once. How is a website anticipated to carry out well without cross-browser compatibility testing with common modifications? Additionally, the QA team’s changing dynamics are a severe mission, making it tough to deal with the adjustments within strict deadlines. A reliable solution is testing the website to pass cross-browser compatibility. However, cross-browser testing will no longer be of much help without a proper plan and strategy, and achieving the desired effects may be even more challenging. So, to ensure that everything is correct, the cross-browser testing should be strategized by a step-by-step procedure of crucial aspects.

Cross Browser Testing Tips

This article will re-assess all the cross-browser testing tools, and methods presently used to enhance and make the process faster, more convenient, and qualitative. Some of the essential elements of cross-browser testing are mentioned below.

Starting the research on time

Any plans or strategies targeted towards enhancing the prevailing cross-browser testing method should always be followed by extensive preliminary research. All necessities should be prioritized nicely in advance.

The testing process has to be minimum at the beginning and should then increase step by step. The time for testing should be slowly raised to search for the most challenging bugs. After identifying the bugs inside the product, the testing group needs to resolve them using the most accurate testing methods. Errors frequently shoot up from the areas not examined in the development phase or from the set of unfamiliar browsers. Bug-free web apps can be developed using this thorough testing procedure. After the apps have been checked throughout specific browser combinations, the website functionalities should be condensed for a more focused test as per the desired target.

Prioritization

Commercial enterprises with rich features create websites to offer an excellent experience to their customers effortlessly. But if so many features are not examined well, they could no longer be able to serve the purpose. The web pages and their components should be prioritized to save such cross-browser compatibility testing troubles and enhance the testing method. You can save time by constantly checking comparable pages or avoiding unnecessary sections. This means repeated testing is unnecessary on every occasion, like sharing templates with known factors—for instance, testing the home page having transferred functions like menus, navigation, footers, etc. They can be tested only once for all of the pages wherein they will be used. This approach will reduce time and prevent needless delays in releases, further lowering cross-browser compatibility troubles.

Making the correct choice

Several famous browsers, however, the developers should pick out those that matter to the app or website. The selection of the perfect combination of devices, browsers, gadgets, and operating systems should be primarily based on thorough analysis to gain deeper insight into the choices of the consumer base. Change is inevitable; hence consumer preference and behavior, device and browser variations, and enterprise goals turn the competition even more difficult each day. It is thus essential to check all the updates and suit their tempo. Analytics tools can be utilized to gain insights and user information. Cross-browsertesting checklists can be employed to discover and fix problems before there are no possibilities for amendments.

Read more: 5 Advantages Of Indulging In Browser Testing Systems For The Organisations

Choosing the perfect testing tools

A random choice cannot be made from the variety of available tools. Before choosing which device would work best in the required case, many elements need to be considered.

• The tool that the developers choose should have the ability to test all the features and components that the website includes.
• It should be simple and allow the QA team to conduct tests across different browsers, devices, and operating systems without any obstructions.
• The tool should be adaptable across custom device resolutions.
• It must test website responsiveness properly and speed up the debugging system.
• An interactive platform for crew collaboration is necessary.
• Features like saving and recording the test session and taking screenshots for further evaluation are also important.

Automation and Parallel testing

For robust cross-browser compatibility testing, strong browser test automation support is necessary. Testers continuously carry out tests, sometimes manually, sometimes with the help of browser testing automation tools, emulators, and virtual machines. These are sufficient for most of the assessments; however, not all of them. Testers carry out one test to validate more than one platform, conducted repetitively, which is time-consuming. Using browser testing automation enables the tester to write scripts and record scenarios quicker. Although automation allows casting off repetitive obligations, early detection, and removal of bugs, this is not a replacement for manually guided intervention. You can enhance test execution time and crew productivity by automating the Selenium tests and parallel testing.

For instance, there are five devices and five browsers available. If the preliminary test is executed in ten minutes, all of the tests will take 100 minutes for execution. However, the whole task would be completed with parallel testing in 10 minutes. Hence, the highest test optimization tiers can be reaped using browser testing automation and parallel testing.

Using Real Devices

The mobile device emulators and VMs are only replications of real devices. Although they can serve as an option for compatibility testing in the case of businesses with restrained budgets, they are not the best choice due to the differences between real-world implications and actual user behavior.

To figure out how people would be using an app, the developers need to perform cross-browser testing on real gadgets and multiple types of devices like phones, iPads, and many others. With the global device infrastructure offered by HeadSpin, this can be achieved with a massive range of real, local devices without the use of mobile device emulators. This can provide real-world insights about various features to create a flawless app experience for customers.

Testing on Mobile Platforms

Nowadays, all businesses are mobile, and those who are not are re-establishing themselves to be on mobiles at the earliest. So, the layout responsiveness and cross-platform compatibility are the novel cross-browser compatibility issues. The mobile browser testing compatibility problems can be overcome by acquiring the own sample gadgets for a test group.

For instance, buying iOS gadgets is less complicated than shopping for Android because Apple only handles the iOS market. Still, there may be several latest devices launches at any point in the Android market. So, managing the Android OS is relatively complex. So, the developers need to choose a few new, very antique, mid-age device screens from various devices to check how the mobile websites behave in each form of device ambiance. The browser testing automation tools like Espresso and Appium can be used to perform mobile application responsive testing.

AI-based testing tools

The use of superior technology like Artificial Intelligence, DevOps, and Continuous Integration by businesses can help attain the predicted consequences sooner. AI and Machine Learning render the cross-browser compatibility testing technique efficient by presenting intelligent scriptless or codeless solutions. This can be highly effective for any QA crew – it will reduce their effort and time highly and provide brand new horizons to resolving any issues regarding website cross-browser compatibility.

Using Cloud-based Solutions

The testing platforms that are primarily cloud-based have expanded the testing efforts for many organizations. It reduces the time, money, effort, and money by providing the enterprise with the choice of many device options to test from their labs, together with security and assurance. It additionally simplifies the process by putting no restrictions on the geographical locations of workstations and by offering teams 24×7 access to the interactive platforms. Often, the whole setup can be controlled on-premise with extra safety and restrictive management for preserving clients’ data privacy. These platforms also benefit the agency by permitting customization, imparting multi-environment testing and multi-platform support, supporting parallel testings and AI/ML-based testing, etc.

Conclusion

Cross-browser testing is vital to develop efficient websites delivering superior performance. However, without adequate planning and assessments, the knowledge of users’ needs is impossible. Hence, the efforts of the developers might go in vain.

Inconsistency in browser standards leads to the reading and processing of codes differently by each browser. A customized cross-browser tool is essential for delivering applications with smooth performance. An efficient testing strategy can offer a seamless browsing experience to users on all platforms, keeping in mind the several possibilities of OS-Browser-Device combinations. Cross-browser testing automation can solve issues regarding compatibility, but still, the manual system has its essential benefits.

Check out: Top 10 Best Browsers for Faster Web Development