Can you test a modern web application without running it on multiple different browsers? No? This is because every browser has a different way of rendering all the elements present on the application. This makes it almost impossible to generalize the testing processes while working with modern, complex web applications. This is exactly the problem that a web browser online tries to solve.

Using a web browser online, you can emulate various native browser settings without actually downloading and installing them on your testing machine. This is very useful when you are aiming to release your application across hundreds of different browsers.

Are you struggling to implement web browser online testing? Do not worry! We are here for you. Our article will help you understand the web browser online testing industry while focusing on various testing challenges, tools, and techniques. We’ll also go through some of the best practices that can help you elevate the entire process.

Why Should You Use Web Browser Online

Now, before going into the details of web browser online testing, we must clear our understanding about why should you implement it in the first place. Let us begin with the understanding that modern browsers have evolved to such a degree that they have turned into sophisticated platforms that support advanced functionalities like WebGL for graphical rendering, progressive web apps, and AI-powered extensions.

In such a scenario, it becomes very important for a web developer to individually verify the performance of their applications on all modern browsers before releasing the stable version. To further improve our understanding regarding this process, let us divert our attention to some of the most important factors that justify the role of browser testing:

• As we already mentioned earlier, it helps ensure a consistent end-user experience across multiple browsers and also browser versions.

• Using browser testing, you can verify that the device types, like a desktop or a mobile, do not hamper the functioning of your web application.

• By performing browser testing, you can further optimize the performance of your application by evaluating its load time, responsiveness, and resource consumption.

• Finally, browser testing is one of the most important factors in implementing security compliance on your web application. This is because it helps you identify and address vulnerabilities to prevent data breaches.

Challenges in Web Browser Online Testing

Let us now divert our attention towards some of the major challenges that you will face while implementing web browser online testing:

• Every browser has a unique rendering format, which will vary depending on the rendering engines like Blink, Gecko, and Webkit. Therefore you will have to anticipate these variations while using the online versions of these browsers.

• The browser developers release frequent updates which introduce new features, remove old ones and also add various security patches. If you do not address these issues proactively, you can face major compatibility issues in the test execution process.

• As a tester, you must remember that your end users will access the websites through various combinations of operating systems, browsers, and devices. Implementing all these variations makes exhaustive testing a very challenging and time-consuming process.

• From a business perspective, you should also remember that a huge segment of your end users will not update the browser versions and will continue using the outdated versions. So, it becomes equally important to guarantee the proper functioning of your application on these versions as well. It is very crucial to continue expanding the target audience and not implement any compatibility barriers.

• Finally, you must create web applications that can adapt to multiple screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations. This is because, in the current generation, it has become practically impossible to predict the device that your end user will use to access your app. 

Browser Testing Techniques

While implementing browser testing with a web browser online, you can validate the performance of your application in 3 broad ways. To improve the understanding of all these three methods for the new testers, we have mentioned all the required details about them below:

1.    Manual testing

While using manual testing, the testers have to manually access each individual web browser online and run the test cases. The most beneficial side of this process is that it will help you to identify unexpected behaviors and usability issues that might be deeply embedded within the infrastructure of your application. 

However, manual testing also comes with a significant disadvantage as you will have to allocate a lot of time for running the test scripts. It will also be a hectic process as you will have to rerun every test script after any update to the application infrastructure. Moreover, manual testing is also prone to human errors and inconsistencies. 

2.    Automated Testing

Automation testing helps to overcome all the challenges that we have listed in manual testing. In this process, the testers can utilize an automated test script to run the test without any human involvement. This script will provide all the required parameters and data that the system will require to run the test scripts. 

Due to its advanced infrastructure, the app developers have to invest a significant amount to get started with automation testing. This investment will cover the cost of all the tools, frameworks, and integrations that are required to set up an automation testing environment. 

To further help you with the understanding, we have mentioned a sample code snippet for this process:

3.    Cloud Testing

Finally, the testers can utilize a third alternative that is the most advanced and effective among the three. Cloud testing is the process of running your test scripts over a remote device farm. This farm will grant you access to thousands of different devices, operating systems, and browsers. 

To improve our understanding about the influence of cloud testing, let us use the example of LambdaTest:

It is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that lets you perform manual and automation testing at scale with over 3000 real devices, browsers, and OS combinations. The testers can also integrate LambdaTest with Selenium and Java to perform automated JUnit testing on their web applications. To further help you understand this process, we have mentioned a sample code snippet to implement this process:

Headless Testing With Web Browser Online

There are various scenarios when the application testers might not have access to high-end devices while running thousands of different test scripts. In such a scenario, you will witness considerable lag till the test execution process. In a worst case scenario, the entire system might crash and result in an incomplete testing scenario.

To solve this problem, you can initiate the web browsers online in a headless configuration. It is the process of only running the in-line command window without the Graphical User Interface. This process not only helps boost the efficiency of the infrastructure but also reduces the resource strain. 

The following code snippet will help you initiate headless Chrome for running automation testing with Selenium:

Best Practices for Browser Testing

Let us now go through some of the best practices that we recommend the testers to incorporate within their testing infrastructure to not only improve the efficiency of the entire process but also have a role in elevating the quality of the application that is currently being developed:

• We recommend the testers to identify critical browser and device combinations based on their target audience and analytics data. All this information will help you to streamline the testing process towards the most important devices for ensuring us maximized market reach.

• It is very important for the testers to use automation tools for tasks like form submissions, login workflows, and navigation. Most of these actions are repetitive, so you can save a lot of time and resources by automating them.

• We also advise the testers to ensure that all the test cases cover the key functionalities, test cases, and known problem areas. One of the most important rules in this segment is to have at least one test case dedicated to each element present on the application.

• We recommend the testers to incorporate real device testing wherever possible. This is because, using real device testing, you can analyze the performance of your application when exposed to various real-world parameters and unexpected scenarios. Platforms like LambdaTest can help you implement this process without going through the hassle of a physical device lab.

• Finally, the testers must adapt various testing scenarios to accommodate browser updates and new features that will be coming to the application in the long run. 

Emerging Trends in Browser Testing

Finally, let us go through some of the emerging trends in browser testing that will recommend the testers to watch out for while using a web browser online:

• Artificial intelligence tools will predict the potential failure points, optimize the test cases, and provide actionable insights into the future app development industry. So, the testers should start adopting these trends as soon as possible.

• With the increasing popularity of progressive web applications, there will be a shift towards testing the offline capabilities of these tools and also implementing cross-platform functionality. This trend will also be fueled by the increasing popularity of mobile devices.

• Testers will also see an increasing popularity of implementing browser testing with voice commands and gesture-based interactions. All these features will be incorporated within the browser infrastructure to improve the accessibility of the applications.

• Finally, the entire app development industry will further increase its focus on privacy and user data security. You will see a shift towards testing various advanced features like tracking prevention and cookie management. It is important to keep up with all these trends to ensure that the application isn’t blacklisted by any demographic region. 

The Bottom Line

Based on all the factors that we went through in this article, we can safely say that web browser online testing is a very important parameter of modern quality assurance and the development process as a whole. By understanding the browser-specific challenges and using advanced tools, the testers can create robust and user-friendly apps that deliver exceptional end-user experiences.

We also suggest the testers to implement all the best practices that we mentioned in this article. Finally, it is very important for the testers to update themselves regarding all the upcoming trends and innovations in the segment of web browser online testing. This information will give you a competitive edge and assist your brand reputation in the coming years.