Browser Emulator: What It Is & How Efficient Is It to Test Website?

In the early stages of any SDLC, it may not be feasible to run tests on real desktop and mobile devices. This is because the code is still in an immature stage, and many teams may not have the budget to access a real device cloud from the first test. 

The solution? Browser emulators. 

This article will define browser emulators and discuss their benefits and usability in testing websites within QA funnels. 

What is a browser emulator?

A browser emulator is an application or environment that replicates the functions, design, and user-facing behavior of an actual web browser. For example, an online browser emulator can replicate the MacOS on a Windows machine, letting you test apps on Safari without having to get a MacBook. 

Emulators are used by analysts, devs, and testers to run applications for usage, testing, and debugging. They don’t need the actual browser, just the emulator. 

Testing on a browser emulator is not a replacement for testing on real browsers, devices, and OSes. But it is perfect for testing sites at the early stages of development. 

Common features of the Browser Emulators

• Replicates different browsers on different platforms (with some reduced functions). 
• Simulates web page rendering with JavaScript, CSS, and DOM manipulation support. 
• Automates user actions like clicking, form inputs, moving between pages, and so on. 
• Allows adjustments in screen dimensions, device orientation, network conditions, location, etc. 
• Emulates browser APIs for geolocation, local storage, session storage, etc. 
• Allows for programmatically crawling and scraping web pages with visible browser interaction. 

The role of browser emulators in Quality Engineering

At the early stages of software development, browser emulators can take on a set of roles that help push code with some testing. Browser emulators can be used for 

• Cross browser testing
• Functional testing
• Performance testing
• Responsive design testing

However, it is always recommended to run security tests, accessibility tests, regression tests, and all pre-production tests on real devices. 

Benefits of testing on browser emulators

Cost-effective testing

When you test on a web browser emulator, you don’t need immediate access to real browsers, devices, and OS. A single browser emulator can replicate multiple environments, cutting down the need for real device access from the first stage of development. 

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Support for responsive testing

Emulators are useful for checking how the site renders on browsers load on different device sizes. For example, what would your site look like on Safari mobile vs Safari desktop? What about its functionality when Safari is running on different iPhones? These are questions the browser emulators can answer. 

Early-stage debugging

Testing on browser emulators can help QA engineers identify JavaScript errors, layout anomalies, and console warnings. It works fairly well for DOM inspection, network monitoring, and performance profiling. 

Easy and quick scaling

The low cost and high efficiency of emulators make them a great option to scale tests quickly. For example, if you’d like to run a new feature through a preliminary set of tests, a robust browser emulator works perfectly. Set up a series of emulated browsers for the initial round of checks. 

Drawbacks of browser emulators

Gaps inaccuracy

No browser emulator can replace the real browser. If it could, no one would bother using or upgrading the actual browser. 

Often, visual elements and animations do not render on emulators the way they do on real devices. This leads to overlooking UI bugs that tarnish end-user experience. 

In particular, emulators are unsuitable for monitoring website behavior for complex scenarios and edge cases. Browser emulators leave too many real-world variables uncertain because they simply cannot replicate them. Instead, you can choose to run your tests on a cloud-based test lab to test your apps and websites on real devices and browsers.

Incomplete hardware emulation

Online Browser emulators cannot completely recreate hardware behaviors like CPU performance variations, multi-touch gestures, device-specific bugs, and touchscreen sensitivity. It certainly cannot support advanced features like gyroscopes, fingerprint scanners, or accelerometers. 

Network discrepancies

Conditions like high or low latency or packet loss are not always accurately simulated by browser emulators. If the emulator in question runs on high-resource developer machines, it may not work properly on lower-end devices. 

Gaps in browser-specific features

Most browser emulators cannot support plugins and extensions, leaving gaps in tests. Proprietary APIs and experimental features are also impossible to emulate for most accessible emulators. 

This takes away from the accuracy of test results, leaving emulator-tested websites riddled with bugs that users will find. 

Limitations in accessibility and security features

Emulators can mimic a few accessibility settings but are reportedly not great at fully replicating screen readers, braille displays, and voice-to-text conversions. 

Additionally, emulators are not recommended for security testing as they cannot recreate the browser backend—browser-specific exploits, cookies, and session management. Security tests verify the mechanisms that will safeguard sensitive information, but this cannot be accomplished on a tool that can’t replicate all real-world scenarios, such as cross-origin attacks. 

Limited support for older/niche browsers & dependence on updates

Many emulators cannot accurately recreate older browser version environments. They face similar issues when emulating browsers with unique rendering engines. You may not be able to replicate browsers for niche operating systems or device specifications. 

Emulators also have to keep being updated regularly; if they aren’t, they will lag in real-world scenarios. Similarly, truly effective emulators for newer browsers take time to release, and depending on them delays your entire test pipeline. 

How to use a browser emulator online

Browser emulators do not let users mimic real-world scenarios with 100% accuracy. It is best to choose a test automation platform that supports real device testing for automating browser tests. Testsigma is a codeless GenAI-powered test automation platform that offers a real device cloud for testing on actual devices and not emulators. 

With Testsigma, you can achieve maximum device coverage and ship apps that are responsive, compatible, and functional on all browser combinations. It allows QA to automate web, mobile, desktop, API, SAP, and Salesforce tests across 3000+ real devices and browsers.

Can testers depend on browser emulators for 100% accurate test results?

No. 

Browser emulators can do a great deal to verify a website’s compatibility, functionality, and performance. However, as the previous section on “Drawbacks” reveals, there are too many gaps in production-level accuracy for emulator tests to reflect real-world conditions. 

Emulators miss out on hardware-based features, cannot faithfully replicate real-world user activity loads, and don’t support many browser APIs, plugins, or experimental features. They also cannot mimic the strained network connectivity users often have to deal with in their actual lives. 

All these factors make browser emulators unsuitable for pre-release testing. Real devices must come into play, and tests must be designed to test the website in practical user scenarios. 

Instead of browser emulators, test on real devices on the cloud

It is certainly not possible for every QA team to buy, maintain, and upgrade a vast repository of devices. The financial and human resources required to set up and manage such an in-house device lab would be too much for most businesses. 

The solution is to run all software tests on a cloud hosting real desktop and mobile devices—a cloud very much like the one offered by Testsigma. Create, execute, and manage tests entirely on the cloud, and get rid of all your infrastructure overhead. 

Here are some features that make Testsigma the ideal solution for testing teams across industries:

• Testsigma Copilot is a GenAI assistant that provides automated test cases and scenario suggestions within seconds.
• Build automated tests in plain English. No coding is involved, manual testers can transition faster to automation tests, and with much less effort. 
• Test multiple application types—web, mobile (Android and iOS), API, SAP, Salesforce, and desktop applications—from a single platform. 
• Tests self-heal, i.e., adjust in response to any changes in the application’s source code. 
• Create test cases by simply interacting with elements on the website. The steps are recorded and can be placed in sequence to create the test case. 
• Club test cases into test plans for easier management and execution. 
• Enhanced test data management via dynamic test data generation and integration of data from external sources (CSV, Excel, databases). 
• AI-enabled test maintenance: finds and fixes broken tests automatically to manage changes to the application. 
• Detailed and real-time analytics: pass/fail status, screenshots, logs, and other pre-determined performance metrics. 
• Create reusable tests that work across multiple test cases.
• Real-time, built-in version control and shared test artifacts for easier collaboration. 
• Combine functional and UI tests and automate user actions for faster and leaner execution.
• Add new users to testing projects with a couple of clicks. 

The best way to gauge Testsigma’s value is to just use it. Sign up for Testsigma and try the tool for free. Build tests in plain English and manage them from a single dashboard. Run tests on multiple device clouds and get detailed results that break issues down to the test step. 

After that, if you’re ready to 10X the accuracy and efficiency of your test cycles, let’s talk about magnifying your ROI.