Top 4 Cross Browser Testing Tools

May 19, 2014
admin
- General

Cross Browser testing helps test the compatibility of Website or Web Application with all the intended browsers. In Cross browser testing, we check if all functionalities, features and UI elements of the application are working as intended in different browsers. The application should be compatible with the latest browser versions and there should be no issues related to Alignment/design, Functionality, JavaScript, AJAX and JQuery.

CB testing can be done manually as well as with the help of variety of tools. However, testing the site manually can be very time consuming and test engineers can miss some defects in this process. CB testing with the help of tools can be very helpful as it saves a lot of time and there is a rare chance of missing any defect in Web application. Tools available in the market are mostly for finding the Visual defects in the website. However, tools for testing the functional working of the application across different browsers are also available and are available in web as well as desktop versions.

TOOLS TO LOCATE VISUAL DEFECTS IN WEB APPLICATIONS

Browserstack.com:

It is web based cross browser testing tools for websites or web Application. User can enter the URL of the website and then he can select his desired operating system and Browser available in the tool.

CrossBrowserTesting.com:

It is a web based cross browser testing tool for testing the Website or Web application across different Browsers on a variety of Operating systems and Mobile devices. User can take one of the browsers as a base browser for comparison and rendering differences of other browsers will be displayed or the user can compare the screenshot images side by side for more effective testing.

Browsera.com:

It is a web application for testing the cross browser testing of website or Web application. It discovers layout problems across different browsers automatically and locates JavaScript errors from different browsers.

Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview:

It is a desktop application for finding the visual defects of the web application across different browsers by comparison. A standalone version of this software supports only Internet Explorer but a complete version supports Firefox and Safari also.

COMPARISON OF CB TOOLS AGAINST 8 FACTORS

Comparison Factors	BrowserStack	CorssBrowserTesting	Browsera	Microsoft Expression Web Super Preview
App Type	This is a Web application.	This is a Web application.	This is a Web application.	This is a desktop application.
Manual/Automated	User has to find the errors manually.	Differences of other browsers are displayed and user can also find the errors manually.	Automatically find errors.	User has to find the defects manually.
Subscription	Subscription required for its proper usage.	Subscription required for its proper usage.	Subscription required for its proper usage also provides free Subscription for its limited usage.	License Key is required for activation.
Test Results	Let the user to take the screen shots of the defected portion. User has to prepare test results itself.	Locates rendering differences OR User can prepare the test results itself.	User will get a report that provides details on which pages of website possibly have problems.	User has to prepare test results itself.
Supported Browsers	IE, FF, Chrome, Safari, Opera.	IE, FF, Chrome, Safari, Android Browser	IE, FF, Safari.	IE, FF, Safari.
Supported Platforms	Windows, MAC, IOS, Android, Opera Mobile.	Android, Black Berry, iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone, MAC, Windows, Ubuntu	Platform specifications not mentioned.	Windows
Registration	Requires user account registration for Proper usage.	Requires user account registration for proper usage.	Requires user account registration for proper usage.	No Registration is required.
Cost Measures	User has to pay for its usage.	User has to pay for its usage.	User has to pay for its usage but a free trial period is also offered.	Open source. User can download it from internet for free.

At Kualitatem Inc, we use variety of tools during manual CB testing to improve work efficiency and ensuring Cross Browser Web quality. Choice of tool often depends on project needs and test requirements.