Published on December 1st, 2020 | by Bibhuranjan

How we deal with a cross-browser software testing with the use of BrowserStack

BrowserStack is an app and website for testing software that is best known for its seamless user experience and amazing features. It is trusted by our company, HeadChannel, and more than 25000 customers worldwide. One of the major stages of web software development or mobile app development is the testing phase.

BrowserStack is a great cross-browser software tool because it allows you to execute automated tests by integrating with Selenium or Appium. BrowserStack records a video of the test execution and publishes test details on the logs. It does not need complex setups as well. All this makes cross-browser testing very easy for everyone, resulting in an easy user experience. The best thing is that BrowserStack has a free trial. The paid plans are also very in-budget. At HeadChannel we use it for a few months now and trusts it to test our bespoke software throughout the project lifecycle.

About cross-browser testing

Cross-browser testing includes comparing and analysing the behaviour of your website in different browser environments. It is a process of executing the same test cases multiple times on different browsers, versions of browsers, systems, or devices to ensure the system looks and works the same way, regardless of the browser or device used.

Cross-browsing testing is an important part to analyse the functionality and UI designs across multiple browsers and devices.

With such a wide range of browsers, devices, and operating systems accessible today, cross-browser testing is a significant part of developing software. The mission of cross-browser testing is to provide consistent behaviour and experience across all browsers, devices, and platforms so that your users can access all content and perform all of the basic functions on your website without any major problems or sacrifices.

If you don’t do cross-browser testing then many times clients will point out the things that might occur because you have tested only in the Chome browser and they are testing in the Safari browser and at that time you will get to know the mistakes. So, it is always better to be alert and test the application in every browser and report to the developers at an early stage otherwise the client will be pointing out the mistakes.

The challenge

A frequently occurring problem that many people face is that every year more and more new phone models are created as well as systems and browsers. It is not possible to have all modern desktops and mobile devices in the company. Our QA team sometimes has a problem reproducing the issue found during user acceptance testing by the end-user. This error often occurs only on a specific device or browser. Besides, in times of pandemic, teams work from home and have difficulty exchanging equipment between members of the team.

Solution

The best solution to this problem is to use BrowserStack. You don’t even have to set up a virtual machine or device. BrowserStack allows you to cheque the system on many such combinations. BrowserStack helps reproduce the error from the client on the specific device and browser configuration. This even includes different browser versions, including the beta versions as well. For example, our QA and developers team can test a mobile app on the newest iOS 14 to cheque if the functionalities still work properly after updating the system to ios 14. Our team completely trusts BrowserStack because it has generated our desired results multiple times. Now, we always use it to test our bespoke software.

Pros and Cons of BrowserStack

Some of the pros and cons of BrowserStack are listed below:

Pros of BrowserStack

It needs zero setups and zero maintenance to speed up releases. You can instantly start testing in the real device cloud.
It covers 2000+ real devices and browsers.
Secure and private network.
You can automate tests for the web and the mobile system, thanks to the integration with Appium and Selenium.
It saves costs by eliminating the need to invest in computers and mobile devices.
It has comprehensive coverage. It gives instant access to more than 2000 browsers and real android and ios devices.
It has uncompromising security. Pristine browsers and devices are available for everyone, anytime.

Cons of BrowserStack

You can’t test real user gestures on mobile applications.
BrowserStack sometimes works very slowly which can be very frustrating.
You can’t change some settings of the devices.
You can’t test the sound and camera.

Conclusion

After going over the pros and cons, it can be concluded that BrowserStack is one of the best options for cross-browser testing as it provides all the services that are essential in the cross-browser checking process. It helped our team with pinpointing browser-specific compatibility faults so you can debug them quickly. Other than that it is very secure, user friendly, and time-saving. We have used it since July and can rely on it.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Tags: BrowserStack, software development, software development company, Software testing

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.