While automation testing is crucial for ensuring the productivity and quality of the app development process, it is also important for the developers to pair it with the appropriate test cases to ensure that they can utilize its full potential. For instance, by integrating automation testing with Browser testing, the developers can seamlessly verify the application’s performance across various hardware and software combinations.
While executing automated Cross-Browser testing, the developers have to run the application on not only different browsers but also hundreds of different versions for every individual browser. Therefore, it can become a complex process to keep track of all these test instances and also ensure the accuracy of the final test reports.
So, with this article, we are going to explore how application developers can prioritize Cross-Browser Testing for different browser versions. We will also go through some of the major practices that can help developers ensure that they maintain the smoothness of the entire application development and testing life cycle.
The Basics of Cross-Browser Testing
From the basic understanding, this is the process of verifying the functionality, flexibility, and maintainability of a website or web application across multiple websites, operating systems, and device configurations. Since there are thousands of browsers available in their present market, Cross-Browser Testing has become an invaluable part of the testing infrastructure to provide a smooth user experience and maintain a positive image for the brand.
To properly understand the rule of Cross-Browser Testing in the modern application development process, let us understand some of the key aspects of this advanced testing process:
- Browser Compatibility
This process involves verifying that the application functions properly and smoothly across multiple popular browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Google Chrome.
- Operating System Compatibility
In this step, application developers have to verify the application’s compatibility with multiple operating systems like Linux, Mac, and Windows. It is also important to verify its stability on mobile operating systems like Android and iOS. In this step, the developers also have to verify the functioning of the web app on outdated versions of these browsers as well.
- Device Compatibility
While executing browser testing, one of the most vital steps is to stabilize the web application on multiple devices like desktops, smartphones, tablets, and even IoT devices.
- Network Compatibility
It is important to remember that the network will fluctuate depending on demographics and other parameters. So, it is crucial to verify the functioning of the application on unstable network bandwidth, latency, and other connection speeds.
- Software Dependency Compatibility
Modern web applications depend on multiple libraries, plugins, software dependencies, or third-party integrations for proper functioning. So, while executing Cross-Browser Testing, the developers should also verify the proper functioning of these integrations.
- Localization and Internationalization Compatibility
It is important to check the application’s compatibility with different regions, cultural conventions, and languages. This process will ensure the proper execution of text rendering, localization features, and data formats.
So, we can easily say Cross-Browser Testing is essential to the modern technological landscape. This is because users access modern web apps from a wide range of browsers and devices. So, by thoroughly executing Cross-Browser Testing, app companies can ensure a reliable and consistent user experience, mitigate the risk of compatibility issues, and improve user satisfaction.
These are crucial parameters for improving usability and uplifting business outcomes.
Prioritizing Different Software Versions for Cross-Browser Testing
The developers must understand their audience, access browser user statistics, and consider the impact of browser versions on a web application to prioritize Cross-Browser Testing on different browser versions. To simplify this knowledge for the new automation testers and developers, we have mentioned a step-by-step guide:
- Identifying the Target Browsers
The first step in this process is to identify the browsers and their versions that are most commonly used by your target audience. The easiest way to complete this process is by analyzing web analytics data or accessing market research reports.
- Segmenting The Browser Versions
Based on the data collected in the previous step, you have to group the identified browsers into different segments based on their importance and usage share. For instance, create a primary segment consisting of the latest versions of popular browsers like Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. You can also create a secondary segment for slightly older versions of legacy browsers.
- Considering the Browser Compatibility
Now, it is time for the testers to analyze the compatibility of the web application with each of the browser versions. In this step, you must prioritize executing the test cases on browsers that are known to have compatibility issues. It is also important to pay special attention to browser versions that have a significant portion of a target audience.
- Focusing on Critical Functionality
The next step involves identifying critical features or functionality of your website that must work seamlessly across all the supported browsers. Based on this data, the testers must prioritize testing these functionalities on the most widely used browsers in the list. During this phase, the testers must also ensure that the basic functionality of the application is accessible in all instances.
- Regression Testing
It is important to pay proper attention to regression testing especially when rolling out significant updates to an existing web application. During this approach, the testers must ensure that all the changes do not introduce compatibility issues with supported browser versions. They must particularly focus on the browsers present in the primary and secondary segments of the list.
- Considering Industry Standards
Another important step in this list is to check whether the web application serves specific industries or regions with known browser preferences. Based on this data the developers must prioritize testing on those browser versions accordingly. For instance, if you are targeting enterprise-level users, it is crucial to ensure compatibility with Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge.
- Automating the Test Cases Wherever Possible
It is crucial to implement automated testing tools and frameworks for streamlining the Cross-Browser testing process. This is because while using automation testing, the application tests can cover a wide range of browser versions efficiently. It is also important for executing regression testing as the system will automatically deploy the code whenever it detects any changes.
- User Feedback and Bug Reporting
The testers must monitor user feedback and bug reports. This approach will help them to identify any issues across multiple browser versions and operating systems. Based on this data, they must prioritize fixing issues that affect a significant portion of the user base or impact the critical functioning of the application.
- Staying Updated
The final step in this list is to stay updated about the changes in the browser market share and all the updates to the browser vendors. It is important to periodically review and adjust the Cross-Browser Testing strategies based on all these changes. The developers should also look out for any new browser version releases and integrate them into the testing process.
Best Practices for Cross-Browser Testing
To further improve the knowledge of executing Cross-Browser testing, we have listed some of the best practices that can drastically elevate the standards of this testing process:
- Defining the Browser and Platform Support
Before beginning the Cross-Browser testing process, the developers need to choose their target browsers and platforms for executing these test instances. A great practice is to constantly survey the target audience and understand their requirements. For new companies, they can start with the most popular browsers that are currently available in the market.
- Using a Cross-Browser Testing Tool
The developers can integrate a Cross-Browser Testing tool to automate the test cases across multiple operating systems and browser versions. Furthermore, cloud-based platforms like LambdaTest allow the developers to execute automated Cross-Browser test cases on thousands of real devices and browsers through remote servers.
For instance, while using Selenium WebDriver for automating Cross-Browser testing with LambdaTest, the developers can run the test instances on 3000 browser versions at the same time. Some of the additional features include the generation of comprehensive test activity logs, access to real-time test reports, and natively tracking the bugs.
- Implementing Page Object Models (POMs)
We advise the application developers to improve the maintainability and scalability of the test cases by using page object models. Using this approach, the developers can separate the test code from the page-specific information. It also helps reduce the risks of code duplication.
- Integrating Explicit Waits
Modern applications consist of thousands of different elements that rely on each other for proper functioning. So, it is important to align the testing parameters accordingly to eliminate errors like false positives and false negatives. By integrating explicit waits with Cross-Browser testing, the system can automatically pause the testing instance unless the specific criteria are met.
- Handling Browser-Specific Behaviors
It is a common parameter that different browsers will behave differently while handling CSS elements, HTML scripts, or rendering UI entities. Therefore, the Cross-Browser testers should accordingly adjust all the testing parameters to ensure the accuracy and dependability of the test cases.
- Executing Parallel Testing
Modern web applications consist of thousands of different elements that require thorough testing to ensure that they are functioning properly. However, if the developers rely on individual test cases, it will take several months to complete the testing phase. Instead, we would advise the developers to execute parallel testing to run multiple test instances on different machines and systems simultaneously.
- Monitoring the Test Results
Finally, it is equally important to properly analyze the test reports and go through all the bugs and errors that have been detected in the application interface. The developers can also use advanced test reporting tools that integrate various screenshots and videos to easily track faulty elements and resolve them.
The Bottom Line
By following all the steps that we discussed in this article and reviewing the Cross-Browser testing strategy, the testers can effectively prioritize testing efforts. This process will help ensure a consistent user experience across multiple browser environments. It is also important to understand that the type of the application, intended target audience, and company development practices also have a crucial role in devising the strategy.
Therefore, we would advise the Cross-Browser testers to critically understand all these parameters and make the required changes. These customizations will also help to integrate additional features that will help expand the company’s reach and better serve the target customers. It is also important to choose the correct tools and dependencies that align with all these goals.
