10 Best ways to test browser compatibility of your websites in 2022
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While developing a website, you have to consider various factors to ensure the fluid functioning of the web application. For instance one of the most important factors is to ensure that your website is accessible to a large user base. For this factor, your website performance should not depend on factors such as browser version, operating system or device type. Browser compatibility ensures that your website performs flawlessly on not only every browser type but also on older versions of the same browser as well. There are various factors that the developers must consider to ensure a proper testing mechanism for browser compatibility.
In this article, we are going to discuss all the basic information about this testing style and the best ways to perform browser compatibility testing. Moreover, we will also try to determine the best tool to perform browser compatibility testing.
The Basics of Browser Compatibility Testing
Browser compatibility testing is also popularly known as cross-browser testing. The main intention of this testing process is to ensure that the website functions on various browsers as intended. Using this testing mechanism, the developers can also verify the functioning of the web application on Legacy browsers such as Internet Explorer. Cross-browser testing comes under the category of non-functional testing. A website can pass this testing process only if all of its basic features are available on the major browsers. The developers can also use this testing mechanism to verify the functioning of the web application on different combinations of browsers, operating systems and devices.
It is almost impossible to test the compatibility of a website on every single browser combination. So, to increase your testing range you have to shortlist the major browsers that have the highest user base. As of the data released in 2021, Google Chrome has the highest market share in the browser industry. It is then followed by Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge respectively.
Best Ways to Perform Browser Compatibility testing in 2022
Cross-browser testing can become a Complex procedure if it is not conducted properly. However, in this modern Software Development Industry, there are various types of tools that can help the developers in the testing process. Selecting the right tool plays a vital role in increasing the efficiency of your web testing environment. To make the correct decision, you must consider the project requirements and the preferences of the developers. Now, let’s take a look at some of the best tools to perform cross-browser compatibility testing of web applications:
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LambdaTest
LambdaTest is one of the most popular names in the software and website testing industry. Using this platform, you can perform various types of tests on your website. LambdaTest allows the developers to perform live interactive browser testing on web applications. This means that the developers have the liberty to perform compatibility testing on multiple browsers at the same time. The cloud-based platform of LambdaTest also allows you to perform testing on the latest versions of mobile and desktop Browsers. The integrated debugging tools allow you to remove all the errors that you might encounter during the live testing sessions. LambdaTest also allows you to test the functionality of your locally hosted web applications. The Geo-Location tracking features and faster screenshot abilities provide a detailed final test report.
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TestComplete
Similar to LambdaTest, TestComplete allows you to automate the browser compatibility testing on various Browsers and device configurations. It is a UI test functional automation tool. Using this tool, you can create automated test scripts and run them on your web applications. TestComplete allows you to run parallel testing on more than 2000 testing environments. For this process, you will not require any form of setup process or device configuration. Lastly, it has a device cloud to simplify the testing procedure. Using the cloud, developers can access all the latest resolutions, devices, browser versions and operating systems.
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QA Wolf
QA Wolf is one of the new additions to the world of browser compatibility testing tools. Since it is developed in the modern generation, it provides various innovative features to perform cross-browser testing of web applications. Although it hasn’t gained a proper reputation, it has managed to collect more than 2700 stars on GitHub. One of the most unique features of QA Wolf is that it prioritizes the simplification of the testing process. This means that with QA Wolf the process of end-to-end test creation is powerful, simple and fast. The code generation engine of this tool has managed to earn a reputation for itself. It will automatically generate the code as you browse through various websites. Then, you can use these clean JavaScript codes to store and run your cross-browser compatibility testing processes.
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CrossBrowserTesting.Com
CrossBrowserTesting.com allows you to test the compatibility of your website on more than 2050 real desktop and mobile browsers. It has various interactive features like the ability to view the website on multiple browsers simultaneously, debugging on live remote devices and many more. Using crossbrowsertesting.com, you can also run automated tests with frameworks like Selenium or Appium. It also provides features to increase the testing ability of Agile teams. For instance, this tool allows you to perform parallel testing and integration with CI tools like Jenkins. Lastly, it maintains an interactive activity log to store all your final test reports.
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Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is probably the most popular alternative to Selenium and Appium testing. Its interactive cross-browser testing abilities has gained the trust of more than 850000 testers and developers. You can also use this tool to perform scalable mobile, API, web and desktop testing. This tool is compatible with the latest versions of the major browsers like Chrome, Safari and Firefox. It provides faster feedback on performance-critical runs with the help of headless browser execution support. The flexible test migration allows you to seamlessly migrate all your test cycles from other frameworks like Selenium. The page-object modern pattern ensures that you have to perform minimum maintenance on the website. The self-healing mechanism can automatically adjust to all the code and UI changes.
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Turbo Browser Sandbox
The Turbo Browser Sandbox is one of the most efficient tools used to perform cross-browser testing on all major browsers. This is because it does not require you to physically download and install any of the browsers on your system. Thus, it saves a lot of time in the testing process of the web development life cycle. So, you can run all the popular browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Opera from the web itself. During the initial years, it was free to use the tool. However, recently it has become a paid service as the company has increased the number of supported browsers. The charges are very minimal. It is easily justified by loads of features offered by this tool.
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Browsershots
Like most of the tools in this list, Browsershots allow you to test the compatibility of a website on various browsers and operating systems. It is one of the most famous tools in this segment due to its unique features and various customization options. Using this tool, you can customize all the minor details in the entire testing life cycle. For instance, you can classify those tests depending on factors like colour depth, screen size, type of operating system, JavaScript status and availability of flash settings. You can simply select the URL of your website, select the parameters and submit the testing request. However, you must remember to repeat all the steps for every test.
Browsershots comes under the category of tools that are completely free to use. It currently supports more than 200 different browser versions. You can take screenshots on various browsers to keep track of the testing processes.
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IE Tester
Various tools can help you to test the compatibility of a web application on different versions of Internet Explorer. IE tester is one of those tools that can help you to test the functionality of your web application on various versions of Internet Explorer. Using this single application, you can test the compatibility of the web application on versions starting from 5.5 and going up to version 11. It is also one of the few tools that still support web application testing on Windows XP and Vista. So, it is the best tool to perform browser compatibility testing on combinations of legacy Browsers and operating systems.
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IE NetRenderer
This is yet another free to use tool to perform browser compatibility testing. However, the most unique feature of IE NetRenderer is that its sole purpose is to test the functioning of the web application on all versions of Internet Explorer. It is a very simple process to test the functioning of the web application with this tool. You only have to select the version of Internet Explorer and then paste your website URL. It allows you to verify the screenshot of the page under the test tab. Many developers will be shocked to see the number of users who still use internet explorer. So, you have to pay proper attention to the functioning of the website on this browser.
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Browsera
This is the best tool to test the layout of the cross-browser compatible website and also all the scripting errors that might arise during the process. It is a tool to perform automated browser compatibility testing on your web application. Using this tool, you can test the compatibility of a website on multiple browsers at the same time. This tool also allows you to test the compatibility of every individual web page on the website. The dynamic page testing feature allows you to test all the security elements of the web application.
Conclusion
So, we can conclude that browser compatibility testing is one of the most essential forms of web application testing. This test ensures that your website remains accessible to a wider range of users. During the testing process, the developers must remember that the latest version of a browser should never act as a benchmark for the test. This is because a recent survey suggests that more than 50% of users do not update their browsers frequently. In this competitive industry, developers cannot afford to alienate any segment of the user base due to unsupported browser versions.
The developers should also remember the major role played by the tools in the browser compatibility testing process. Various platforms like LambdaTest ensure that developers can utilize the full potential of the testing environment.