Browsers battle for market share in today’s world. It is our responsibility to provide an end-user experience that is consistently great across a wide range of browsers and devices. Cross-browser testing is the life raft that helps us identify the errors, bugs, and other issues when our web application is rendered onto different browsers, devices, operating systems, and resolutions.
The main idea behind performing manual and automated testing across different browsers is that the end-user could be using any combination of the above-said specification in their device. Our responsibility is that if they are our target users, they should have no problem exploring our application on their device. The word “target user” is important to observe in the above sentence.
Honestly, it is impossible to cover every combination through the web application. This is not the fault of testing techniques but the way our web technologies have grown with time. Something as important as CSS Grids won’t work in Mozilla Firefox 51. If we start to test for every combination, we might not be left with anything at the end of our web application. Hence, a target audience (For example, above Chrome 60, Firefox 60, Android Lollipop, etc.) is essential to be defined, and cross browser testing serves this target audience’s needs.
Cross Browser Testing with LambdaTest
A new listener who discovers cross browser testing for the first time may think that the best way is to install all the browsers in each operating system and resolutions and just hit the URL. As straightforward as it may sound, this method is not practical. Maybe for someone who is targeting a couple of operating systems with a handful of browser versions. But in general, this system will collapse very soon.
The above solution was an old-school solution when two browsers and two operating systems ruled this world. The update, too, used to be in a year or so. But modern problems need modern solutions. Something efficient, time-saving, best in performance and solve all our issues. This brings us to online cross browser testing. Online cross browser testing is a process of performing cross browser testing and online cloud-based tools that have been developed specifically for this purpose. Since they provide us with the service, we don’t need to care about updating the browsers every fifteen days and maintaining a complicated infrastructure. We just need to assign a URL, and the website is rendered like a real device.
One such online cross browser testing tool is LambdaTest. LambdaTest helps in achieving manual as well as automated cross browser testing. Since the tool is loaded with many features in both the segments, covering both the methods would not be possible in a single post. This post will focus on the manual testing powers of LambdaTest, and we will understand how we can perform manual cross browser testing with LambdaTest.
Real-Time Testing With LambdaTest
Real-time testing is the method of testing the website in real-time, i.e., interacting live as if you are on a real device. In real-time testing, the user can perform the live interactive testing on 3000+ browsers, browser versions, and, operating systems. The cloud infrastructure of LambdaTest, equipped with virtual machines, helps you achieve this process. Let’s see a quick example to visualize this testing method.
To perform real-time testing, the user needs to be logged into the LambdaTest server. You can start with the Lite plan free for a lifetime to try your hands on the tool.
Local Testing In LambdaTest
In our example above, it looks like we need a published website to perform real-time testing. But sometimes, publishing a website is a later stage than testing. It is quite risky first to publish the website and then rectify the errors as there is no point when the damage has already been done. We perform the cross browser testing with the local machine’s real-time testing feature on an unpublished website in such cases. This is made possible through the LambdaTest tunnel feature. The tunnel will render your website sitting in the local system on your choice machine similar to a published one.
To perform the local testing with LambdaTest, select the tunnel feature from the top panel:
Once the tunnel is configured, it will be visible alongside the Start button. You can enter the localhost web address with the port configured by you on the local server in the web address.
LambdaTest Underpass
Similar to the configure tunnel feature discussed above, LambdaTest also offers an underpass feature that establishes the same goal of local web testing but in a different way. In the “configure tunnel,” the tester has to perform some manual operations. These operations may include establishing an SSH connection, configuring a tunnel with the LT key, etc. The underpass application takes care of all that by providing an application that can provide a GUI platform for all the manual efforts. It is easier, efficient, and quick to understand.
The underpass application also takes care of the advanced configuration required in the local web testing method. These advanced configurations may include applying the proxy ports, DNS servers, and applying the Man-in-the-middle approach. With the MIIM approach, you can test the locally hosted website with a self-signed certificate to mimic the SSL certificate inclusions.
LT Browser
The next option to encounter after the real-time testing is LT Browser. LT browser is a next-generation browser focusing on mobile website testing. The LT browser comes equipped with many debugging and testing features that help you improve the quality of your web application and increase your outreach.
LambdaTest Automation Testing
LambdaTest provides automation testing across a wide range of real browsers and operating systems on cloud grid. Run automated Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, and more, on a cloud-based infrastructure that is dependable, scalable, and secure. You can ensure that your users have the greatest experience possible regardless of the device they are using. With LambdaTest’s Automation cloud of 3000+ real desktop and mobile devices, you can deliver cross-device and cross-browser compatible apps.
Performing Visual UI Testing With LambdaTest
LambdaTest’s visual regression testing allows you to run sophisticated image-to-image comparisons to identify visual anomalies introduced with the new release related to Icon Size, Padding, Color, Layout, Text, Element Position, and much more.You can view/detect any visual discrepancies by comparing screenshots of your application’s webpages obtained from two different browsers. Expand browser coverage by running automation scripts on a cloud of 3000+ various desktop and mobile environments.
Screenshot Testing with LambdaTest
Often, a tester does not want to interact with the website but wants to have a first look at the web page (any URL) rendered on various browsers. This practice clarifies very early into the process as to which browsers have cross browser compatibility issues. For me, this is the first step in cross browser testing. It helps me analyze the render on various browsers and then take the suitable steps ahead. This method of testing, in LambdaTest, is called screenshot testing.
Screenshot testing is a testing method in which the tester can capture up to 25 screenshots simultaneously. You can also save your selected browsers into a list so that the next time you are ready for testing with a different URL, you can choose the same combination with a single click. Screenshot testing saves time since the tester does not need to open each browser manually and take screenshots.
Responsive Testing with LambdaTest
Responsiveness and responsive testing need no introduction today. As far as a web application is concerned, it must go through responsive testing to ensure a consistent website. LambdaTest offers responsive screen testing to generate screenshots on mobile devices and see how the website renders on different devices.
Your choice
To perform responsive screen testing with LambdaTest, move on to the Responsive Testing section in the Visual UI testing:
Smart Comparison Testing with LambdaTest
As the name suggests, the smart comparison testing compares multiple images and tells the tester how they are different from the baseline image.
Smart comparison testing pays off when we are looking for subtle UI changes that are hard to acknowledge with our eyes. I use smart comparison testing with the baseline image as the UI render from the UI team and the actual web page that I built as the comparison image. With comparison testing, I get a clear picture of the areas that lag in the development.
Conclusion
I hope this post would have made you aware of the testing methods and how important it is to web app testing. LambdaTest provides a complete end to end testing solution, with every need of the tester being fulfilled with a variety of features.
Along with the online tool, LambdaTest has introduced a new browser called the LT browser to efficiently test the mobile web app and gain confidence in your website. With performance reports, you can judge the performance without even publishing the website. LambdaTest manual testing helps me a lot when I am on a web app project.
If it helps you, we would love to hear your comments and experiences with the comment section’s tool. I am sure the comments will make the tool better and the community stronger.
