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Amazing DevTools To Test Websites for Mobile (iOS)
The era of websites serving as business cards has passed. Web resources now are a powerful means of achieving business goals.
Modern web solutions involve many components like services, analytics, interactivity, and engaging layout, which might complicate the work of your website on mobile devices. You might need an integrated QA and testing team to audit your solution's internal and external structure, test API endpoints, check mobile website performance and security issues, as a minimum.
What would professionals do to make your website work excellent for mobile?
This article uncovers development tools that might not be so commonly used by QA and testing engineers. It also discusses aspects that need priority attention when testing websites for mobile iOS devices.
Modern web solutions involve many components like services, analytics, interactivity, and engaging layout, which might complicate the work of your website on mobile devices. You might need an integrated QA and testing team to audit your solution's internal and external structure, test API endpoints, check mobile website performance and security issues, as a minimum.
What would professionals do to make your website work excellent for mobile?
This article uncovers development tools that might not be so commonly used by QA and testing engineers. It also discusses aspects that need priority attention when testing websites for mobile iOS devices.
By Dzmitry Seachouk, Senior Manual QA Engineer at Solvd
July 30, 2021
Why Your Business Needs Mobile Web Testing
The pace of life is getting faster, and mobile devices give users more convenience. They facilitate accessing information and improve productivity in many cases. Today, a sought-after specialist is a proactive person who works with the head, not 12 hours per day, systematically achieves the goals set, and completes more tasks while applying less effort.
4.53 billion users worldwide opt for surfing the web via mobile devices. It is almost 59% of the world's population.
The global internet traffic generated via mobile devices was growing steadily during the last decade and continues its growth, as you can see from the chart below:
4.53 billion users worldwide opt for surfing the web via mobile devices. It is almost 59% of the world's population.
The global internet traffic generated via mobile devices was growing steadily during the last decade and continues its growth, as you can see from the chart below:
In terms of distribution by country, there are absolute leaders in the percentage of the population using mobile devices:
For clarity, the number of U.S mobile users compares to the population of New York multiplied by 32. If you take together Canada, the USA, Russia, Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, Japan, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Great Britain, you will receive the same total number of users as in China and India.
In 2020 alone, mobile device manufacturers sold about 1.59 billion smartphones. If someone put all those devices in a line, it would encircle the Earth five and a half times!
Mobile users make up the largest portion of your product or services consumers. If you wish to improve your website conversion rates and decrease customer churn, you can't do without adapting websites for mobile devices.
In 2020 alone, mobile device manufacturers sold about 1.59 billion smartphones. If someone put all those devices in a line, it would encircle the Earth five and a half times!
Mobile users make up the largest portion of your product or services consumers. If you wish to improve your website conversion rates and decrease customer churn, you can't do without adapting websites for mobile devices.
5 Not So Common iOS Mobile Testing DevTools You Might Not Know You Need
What are development tools? It is a set of browser instruments that developers and manual and test engineers use to test and debug code chunks. These tools assist in creating applications and designing websites for mobile and serve to test web solutions on the chosen mobile platform.
Development tools are widely employed for testing websites on mobile as they are easy to understand and use and offer several perks:
The most popular tools are only the tip of the iceberg. Let's learn about some less widely used ones.
Development tools are widely employed for testing websites on mobile as they are easy to understand and use and offer several perks:
- Built into a browser and available out of the box without installation
- Intuitive for new users
- Offer a wide range of tools for middle- and senior-level testers
- Available for different types of mobile web applications
The most popular tools are only the tip of the iceberg. Let's learn about some less widely used ones.
1. Emulator of Different Types of Web Solutions and Mobile Devices
All web applications fall into responsive and progressive (PWA) categories. A responsive web app looks like an old school website, while a progressive one combines responsive and native web app features. PWA is easier to adapt to mobile devices since they support push notification, dynamic content, and other up-to-date features.
The tools allow engineers to check the behavior and layout of websites with mobile versions, simulating responsive or PWA types. That is often a challenge since iOS mobile devices have different screens, sizes, and shapes and support different browsers and versions.
You might argue that using real mobile devices for testing websites is a better option. But they may be unavailable and expensive, or it might be impossible to run tests on all types of devices, especially those that work correctly only in particular locations. Besides, a testing team may have to work under time and budget restrictions.
How to resolve the challenge? First, QA team managers should draw up a list of devices under testing.
Then, senior test engineers should identify high-priority components that require obligatory testing on real devices. For other components, testing on emulators, such as McCloud or BrowserStack, might be enough.
Emulators support several emulation modes that allow testers to check animation size and display, a layout of UI elements, verify the work of User Agents, and other testing scenarios.
The tools allow engineers to check the behavior and layout of websites with mobile versions, simulating responsive or PWA types. That is often a challenge since iOS mobile devices have different screens, sizes, and shapes and support different browsers and versions.
You might argue that using real mobile devices for testing websites is a better option. But they may be unavailable and expensive, or it might be impossible to run tests on all types of devices, especially those that work correctly only in particular locations. Besides, a testing team may have to work under time and budget restrictions.
How to resolve the challenge? First, QA team managers should draw up a list of devices under testing.
Then, senior test engineers should identify high-priority components that require obligatory testing on real devices. For other components, testing on emulators, such as McCloud or BrowserStack, might be enough.
Emulators support several emulation modes that allow testers to check animation size and display, a layout of UI elements, verify the work of User Agents, and other testing scenarios.
2. Remote Debugging
When engineers need to check several application layers, they may connect a mobile device to a desktop one using a USB cable and employ development tools to monitor mobile web browser testing on a computer screen.
By doing so, test engineers may check the following:
By doing so, test engineers may check the following:
- Compliance of UI elements with the design requirements
- Verify UI elements that are hard to check on real devices
- Increase or reduce animations speed
- Check layout and fonts
- View data and details of HTTP requests, inspect all response data, and the work of API
- Check the data layer, analytics, and Pixel
- Check the work of any function, verify input data, and test business logic
3. Geolocation Emulator and Mock Data Usage
Modern web solutions often interact with multiple third-party microservices and components. For example, geolocation features may impact the work of an entire solution by making some functions available or not as per a user location.
Engineers need web mobile testing tools to test websites that require specific settings otherwise unavailable, even via VPN. Development tools allow them to set up specific location parameters, including the coordinates.
Development tools come into play for your web solution if the target audience resides in rural or remote areas. Such areas often struggle with a poor network connection. Considering that location-specific hurdle, engineers may need to emulate unstable network connections while performing web accessibility testing.
Engineers need web mobile testing tools to test websites that require specific settings otherwise unavailable, even via VPN. Development tools allow them to set up specific location parameters, including the coordinates.
Development tools come into play for your web solution if the target audience resides in rural or remote areas. Such areas often struggle with a poor network connection. Considering that location-specific hurdle, engineers may need to emulate unstable network connections while performing web accessibility testing.
4. Password Security Testing
DevTools are helpful in cases when engineers need to verify how effective the protection against password-guessing attacks works.
For instance, a web solution allows a limited number of attempts to enter a password into the login form. If the input data is wrong, the form freezes for a certain period.
With the help of development tools, engineers can check if freezing of HTTP-response works correctly after a user exceeds the limit and endure a user will be allowed to log in after this freezing period ends.
For instance, a web solution allows a limited number of attempts to enter a password into the login form. If the input data is wrong, the form freezes for a certain period.
With the help of development tools, engineers can check if freezing of HTTP-response works correctly after a user exceeds the limit and endure a user will be allowed to log in after this freezing period ends.
5. Mobile Web Performance Testing
The tools make it easy to test the overall performance of a solution and check if individual components like cookies, UI elements, and browser queries perform just as well.
Here are some cases when development tools may be invaluable for QA and testing tasks:
Here are some cases when development tools may be invaluable for QA and testing tasks:
- Detect memory leaks or collect the needed metrics by taking snapshots.
- Pre-test such UI elements as color or text replacement without making changes to the code
- Check the work of cookies or add a random parameter to test websites on mobile devices
- Use incognito mode to check the work of a web solution when the cache is clear
- Find the path to a specific element in the XML hierarchy
Wrap-Up
Over half of the world's population uses smartphones to look for solutions and services. You are more likely to meet your customers where they are if you care about how the audience sees your web solutions or interacts with products via mobile devices.
If a business website's mobile version functioning is second to none, owners may expect high brand recognition and conversion increase. Is your website mobile-friendly?
You might opt for the help of software quality assurance specialists. They would use browser development tools like device emulators, remote debugging, mock geolocation data, mobile web security, and performance testing. Your best option is to turn to professionals who can audit your current solution and fix issues that hamper the growth potential of your business.
If a business website's mobile version functioning is second to none, owners may expect high brand recognition and conversion increase. Is your website mobile-friendly?
You might opt for the help of software quality assurance specialists. They would use browser development tools like device emulators, remote debugging, mock geolocation data, mobile web security, and performance testing. Your best option is to turn to professionals who can audit your current solution and fix issues that hamper the growth potential of your business.
