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It is necessary to check cross-browser compatibility to ensure that the app is working fine on all the web browsers. Sometimes when you open an app on a web browser it might not look or feel convenient and there might be some issues like image/test overlapping, navigation, alignment, etc. These issues degrade the user experience which will eventually lead to low traffic and existing user attrition. This is why cross-browser testing is an integral part of the QA process and should not be avoided.

 

What is Cross Browser Testing?

 

  • Browser compatibility testing can be automated or done manually.
  • In manual cross-browser testing, the testers have to test the app on multiple OS, device and browser combinations. This is why it is a time-consuming process.
  • The main issues are with the UI and the main features are tested on different screen sizes to check if the look and feel are similar to what was expected.
  • In automated cross-browser testing, there is a need to create the test script initially then there is minimal human supervision is required.
  • Efficient automation tools will take much less time to perform the testing.

 

 

Automation for Cross Browser Testing

 

Automation has reduced the time and effort put into cross-browser testing by 80 percent. The only human work goes into writing the initial test script and selecting the tool. Let’s look at the reasons why we should automate cross-browser testing.

 

Run Multiple tests simultaneously: When it comes to regression testing and running multiple tests for an app, automated testing saves the day. So if your app is already in the market and you launch a new version then automated cross-browser testing helps you to deliver faster. When a new feature is to be launched in the app and the build is sent to the testing team, they will take some weeks to perform all types of testing. This time can be reduced to a few hours using Automation testing tools.

 

Improved test accuracy: Even the experienced testers can make an error while testing the app manually. Although in Automation testing the accuracy is very high and the detailed reports are recorded. Testers can review the testing process and create new Automated test with the help of those reports.

 

Save Time and Money: Cross-browser testing require repetitive tests and so it can be a boring and time-consuming process. These repetitive tests can be automated to save time, effort and return on investment. You just need to make sure that everything is included in the test script to avoid gray areas in the app functioning.

 

Better Test Coverage: The time taken to perform any web app testing is dependent on the type of feature or functionality you have to test. The length of the test affects the cross-browser testing process. For example, end to end testing can be difficult if done manually. It will take much time and effort to do so. This why automation testing can be used if you have to run the test on multiple devices with multiple browser-OS combinations.

 

Feasibility of Local Test Environment

There are many types of devices in the market with different screen sizes, OS versions, Browsers, etc. To create the desired test environment, you will have to have all these combinations and you will have to set up a device lab. This will take huge investments and efforts to maintain the lab. Also, there is an issue of geographically distributed teams accessing the devices. Apart from that, you will have minimum flexibility as scaling up or down will be difficult.

 

Advantages of Cloud-Based Cross Browser Testing

There are many Cloud-based cross-browser testing tools in the market which will help you achieve your testing goal without investing a lot. This is one of the reasons why cloud-based cross-browser testing is better than setting up a local test environment. Let’s have a look at some other advantages which will give you a reason to opt for cloud-based option.

 

Multiple Test Environment Support: Heterogeneity in the operating system versions, device screen sizes, browser versions makes it necessary to perform tests on many combinations of device/OS/browser. This means a lot of effort will be put in to test the functions of an app on multiple devices. This could be avoided by testing the app on a cloud-based device platform.

In the cloud-based testing platform, you will be able to select the devices of your choice and perform parallel testing on multiple devices without buying one. This will save you money and effort to put up a device lab. While running the test in parallel on multiple devices with different OS browser combination will save time, it will also increase the accuracy significantly as compared to testing the app feature manually.

 

All time access to resources: The testing team can access the tool at any time by just logging into the tool and selecting the devices according to the market research report on popular devices in the region. Testing can be performed at any time which means there is no foundation and this comes in handy when the deadline is near. Having all time access to the device cloud will contribute to continuous testing and ensure faster deployment.

 

Scalability: While handling multiple projects the team might have needed many devices at times and very few on some occasions. This means that most of the devices in your device lab might rarely be used and sometimes you might have to buy more to add in the environment. This improper management of resources can be avoided by using Cloud-based device platform. Here you can select the devices which you actually need to perform the cross-browser testing and as all the devices are virtual, there is no worry of managing the extra devices.

 

Collaboration: There are tools to communicate and collaborate with the team which impacts on your productivity in a good way. Test reports can be generated which are elaborate and provides all the information about the health of the app. These reports can be shared with the team online to analyze and resolve the issue.

 

Initial time and cost: To set up an actual device lab you will require dedicated cloud/network expertise and suitable infrastructure. On the contrary, if you use cloud-based platform for cross-browser testing then you don’t have to worry about the infrastructure and initial setup cost. Also, you will save a lot on maintenance cost and everything is preconfigured.

 

Comprehensive testing: To perform thorough cross-browser testing, you need a permutation and combination of mobile devices with different screen size, OS, browser, other features relevant to the app function. This will make a big hole in your pocket if you wish to buy that many devices. This is why cloud-based testing platforms are the best option.

 

Cross Browser Testing

 

Types of Cross Browser Functional Testing

There are three types of cross-browser functional testing, multi-browser testing, multi-version testing, and concurrent testing. Let’s get familiar with all three of them.

 

Multi-Browser Testing: The application under test is opened on different browsers like Chrome, Safari, Opera, UC Browser, etc to check if the app works consistently across all the browsers. The app feature can be tested on multiple devices of different configurations and browser combinations.

 

Multi-Version Testing: In this type of testing the AUT is tested with different versions of any browser to check if the functioning is smooth. So if your app supports chrome version 40.0.2214, then the app must be tested on all the versions of chrome after 40 to check the functionality. One tester can perform the task and multiple devices will be used to perform the testing.

 

Concurrent Testing: In this, the application under test is checked simultaneously on different web browsers. There are four variations of this testing – single browser distributed concurrent testing, multi-browser distributed concurrent testing, Multi-browser concurrent testing, and single browser and single browser concurrent testing.

 

Conclusion

Cross browser testing combined with cross-platform testing will ensure that the app works smoothly in any type of environment. Especially for web apps, cross-browser testing cannot be avoided. Studies have suggested that people uninstall the app after using it once if the UI is not user-friendly. Even the app ratings on App Store and Play Store are affected by the user experience, leading to a lower number of downloads. Enterprises can save a lot of money and build a good report among the users by proactively testing their app thoroughly.

 

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Cross-browser Tests

 
There has been tremendous growth in the usage of the web in the past years. Internet users rose from 3.5 billion in 2017 to 4.1 billion in the year 2018 as per internet world stats. Also, according to internet live stats, there are around 1.5 billion websites in the World Wide Web network today. The development team puts in a lot of effort in building a website so it is important that the website should work hassle-free on all the browsers, equally. Moreover, almost everyone is dependent on the content that exists on the internet. On top of that, the content is available in more than 3000 different internet-enabled devices which is what is to be focused here. More devices, more ways to view the websites. So, here the real concern is-are all the users using different devices, able to view the website the way it is intended?

What is Cross-Browser Testing?
As the web grows, new technologies, tools to build the websites are also introduced simultaneously. But not all are browser compatible technologies. So, for browser compatibility testing, a developer needs to perform cross browser testing. It is nothing but to perform multiple browser testing for web applications and checking its compatibility with different operating systems, screen resolutions and devices to find out if it meets the developer’s expectations. When it is about web applications, it is an important task to ensure they are fully functional across multi-browser settings and it provides a good experience to the users, irrespective of the device and the browser they use. Browser test is a ‘must-have’ because there are chances that the users might not come back once they face any problem or do not get good site experience.

5 reasons why testing is incomplete without cross-browser tests

Let us understand more deeply as in why Cross Browser Testing is important and what purpose it serves.
1. Every Browser interprets differently:
Every browser is different and carries a unique ability to interpret things differently i.e not all the codes are understood by different browsers in the same way. So, a coder must ensure that all the browsers interpret the commands in a similar way to give the intended user experience through the website. Also, since there are multiple browsers with different versions, it becomes challenging to know if the website works well on all versions. Cross browser testing tools help in testing multiple browser and its different versions.

2. Different Mobile Platforms:

One of the main reasons why Cross browsing Test has become important is because of different mobile platforms available today. Multiple mobile devices are launched every year so it is imperative for a mobile website to open properly on each device correctly. There are different sets of browser combinations preferred by the users so the organizations can focus on those combinations of proper functioning on mobile devices. Testing teams need to test on different mobile browser versions because it becomes challenging to understand which version the user is using. Even the CSS runs differently on each version so cross-browser testing tools can check the same easily.

3. Fewer Bugs:
Cross-Browser testing is one of the rigorous tasks that the QA team has to perform but at the same time, it is a great move to introduce this practice because this would reduce time in testing across different browsers, simultaneously. To make every minute component and feature function properly and to avoid any last-minute complications and bugs, cross-browser testing should be performed to make sure all browsers and its versions are functioning correctly on all platforms. Web traffic data can be helpful to understand what browsers our users use frequently which can be used as information to focus only on important parts of testing.

4.Re-usable tests :
With Cross Browser testing, there’s no need for creating and maintain separate browser tests for each browser platform. The tests can be reused in different supported browsers with the help of different test automation technologies. The cross-browser tests can be created by custom scripts apart from the cases where the custom solution fails.

5. Free tools available:
There are many free tools available to perform web and mobile automation such as Selenium WebDriver and Appium. Most of the cross-browser test automation tools are based on open source automation tool i.e. Selenium which has a great User Interface making it easier to perform cross browser testing on multiple browsers.
There are many widely used web browsers, but not all browsers, and versions of those browsers work the same. A website may not look or function identically on each one, which can lead to lost revenue for an enterprise. We at pCloudy addressed the issue of choosing from the fixed set of browsers previously available. Heeding to the growing demands of our users, we have introduced the Launch and Upload browser feature for our Android users which will give him the freedom to choose the version of the browser that he wants to use. This is going to save their testing time and efforts to a great extent and also give better results for their cross browser test. For more information, visit pCloudy