Everything you need to know about Simulator vs. Emulator vs. Real Device - Mobile Testing cover

Emulators vs Simulators vs Real Device for Testing

Device farms are used to simulate the testing process of iOS and Android applications on multiple device platforms. Subsequently, you can cut labor costs and time required by using some of the best device farms for testing. Hence, it helps you achieve greater test coverage and eases your DevOps mobile pipeline.



In recent times, there has been a gradual increase in the range of mobile devices. We see devices with different features, OS, screen sizes, etc. Therefore, it&#8217;s natural that we need to put more effort into testing our applications on each of these devices. We want our applications to work flawlessly on every possible device the user might use.



With all these new versions of Android and iOS devices available, manual testing will take a toll on your budget and labor hours. Hence, there was a need for a platform that would allow you to perform simulated manual testing on a broad range of devices all in one place.



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<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_are_device_farms">1 What are device farms?</a></li><li><a href="#Benefits_of_mobile_app_testing_on_device_farms">2 Benefits of mobile app testing on device farms</a></li><li><a href="#Best_mobile_device_farms_for_testing">3 Best mobile device farms for testing</a><ul><li><a href="#Testsigma">3.1 Testsigma</a></li><li><a href="#AWS_Device_Farm">3.2 AWS Device Farm</a></li><li><a href="#Sauce_Labs">3.3 Sauce Labs</a></li><li><a href="#Firebase_Test_Lab">3.4 Firebase Test Lab</a></li><li><a href="#Samsung_Remote_Test_Lab">3.5 Samsung Remote Test Lab</a></li><li><a href="#Xamarin_Test_Cloud">3.6 Xamarin Test Cloud</a></li><li><a href="#Kobiton">3.7 Kobiton</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">4 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="f6aan">What are device farms?</h2>



When the device fleet rose in earlier times, Nokia started an initiative to make the lives of testers somewhat easier. They would allow them to run their applications on rented devices in a remote-controlled mode. However, we could not scale it to the extent of mobile variations that we have now.



As a further development, now the OS itself could provide tools that would allow testers to simulate user actions on applications. Consequently, they can write scripts that can be executed on mobile phones running in developer modes. These scripts would easily imitate user actions on devices.



Subsequently, they built DevOps tools that automatically build and run these scripts on thousands of mobile devices. These devices would have the target applications on them and run in developer mode.



A fleet of such devices with different variations running on remote cloud labs is called a device farm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="bm1j6">Benefits of mobile app testing on device farms</h2>



If you are working at scale, <a href="https://testsigma.com/mobile-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">testing your mobile applications</a> on multiple devices becomes really expensive and time-consuming. On device farms, you have access to thousands of devices with different configurations.



You can leverage emulators and simulators to perform your testing. Cloud-based testing also allows you to capture performance issues. Here are some of the most important benefits of using device farms for mobile app testing.



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>You have lots of devices with different OS platforms, screen orientations, display sizes, memory, network, etc. It reduces the overall maintenance and infrastructure cost.</li><li>You can perform parallel testing which will save you tons of time.</li><li>Cloud-based environments are usually secure and they can be accessed from anywhere.</li><li>You can get detailed reports in the form of graphs, video recordings, screenshots, etc.</li><li>With the help of all the reports, it becomes easier to spot bugs and fix them.</li><li>You can easily integrate them with your CI/CD pipeline, making collaboration easier.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="b5a22">Best mobile device farms for testing</h2>



On a lower level, all the device farms use some kind of special script. This script is launched by the OS to simulate actions like gestures, button presses, touch, etc.



The main difference is the subsystems used by these device farms for executing these scripts. Some of the popular ones are &#8211; Espresso, Appium, Calabash, UI Automator, Robotium, XCTest, etc.



In this article, let’s discuss a mix of free and professional device farms and test labs.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="1e3u3"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a></h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/static-docs.testsigma.com/new_images/projects/applications/dashboard.png" alt="Testsigma Dashboard showing all the sections"/></figure>



Testsigma is not just a device farm but a cloud-based, no-code test automation platform. It allows you to perform parallel <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-mobile-app-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automated tests on real devices</a> hosted in the cloud. It helps you to create test cases using plain English, and there is no need to set up any infrastructure.



Here are the features of Testsigma that make it sit right on top of the deck.



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Testsigma has zero learning curve, enabling everyone to test on the go with its simple English scripting feature</li><li>You can perform <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-mobile-app-testing">automated mobile app test</a> scenarios on 3000+ iOS and Android devices remotely.</li><li>Parallel automated testing is supported, allowing for quick results.</li><li>Creating detailed test cases for UI/UX testing is easy with Testsigma.</li><li>Testsigma provides drill-down test reports with video recordings and screenshots.</li><li>Bug sharing, CI/CD integration, and other features make reporting results faster and easier.</li></ul>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="fqfak">AWS Device Farm</h3>



This is the most widely used and best mobile device farm for testing currently available. It lets you test concurrently on multiple devices to speed up the execution of your test suites. It also generates logs and videos for extensive debugging.



A large number of devices with options to choose memory, CPU usage, location, carriers, etc.



Videos and logs to reproduce the bugs faster. Fine-tune real-world environments by setting location, network, language, etc. Several plugins and APIs to integrate with your CI/CD, like Jenkins, Android Studio, etc.



Set up private device labs to avoid long waiting queues. For script executors, you can use Appium (iOS + Android), Espresso and Robotium for Android, and UIAutomation and XCTest for iOS.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="at6t2">Sauce Labs</h3>



Sauce Labs allow you to expedite live and automated mobile app testing on public and private device clouds. You can use Android emulators and iOS simulators that are highly reliable, cost-effective, scalable, and optimized for your CI/CD pipeline.



You can easily achieve beta, live, automated, and API testing using high volumes of real device tests with minimum error rates.You will have access to features such as unlimited screenshots and videos, single-use VMs, secure local tunneling, REST API access, tons of debugging tools, etc. 



Similar to AWS device farms, Sauce Labs also allows you access to the best script executors including Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="2hgl3">Firebase Test Lab</h3>



This has been developed by Google and is specifically designed for testing Android applications, but you can also test iOS apps. It uses real production devices for app testing running in Google data centers.



They have customizable locale settings and updated APIs. You can easily road-test your app by configuring the hardware and software configurations. Some of its key capabilities are &#8211;



Firebase Test Lab is integrated with Android Studio, Firebase console, and gCloud CLI. You can even integrate it with your CI pipelines. To execute scripts, you can use Espresso, Robotium, UI Automator 2.0, and Robo tools.



It provides testing and cloud API quotas included in Blaze and Spark testing plans. The spark plan is free and can perform 15 daily test runs. The blaze plan determines the cost based on the time taken for test runs.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="avd6v">Samsung Remote Test Lab</h3>



Needless to say, Samsung owns a big chunk of the world&#8217;s smartphone and Android market. Hence, it’s worth noting the remote testing lab provided by Samsung.



This device farm contains all the flagship Samsung smartphone devices. Additionally, testers will have access to innovations even before they have rolled them out to market. This will allow you to test the operations of your applications on devices that have not yet launched.



Not only this, you can even perform tests on Tizen-based devices like Galaxy smartwatches and Tizen mobiles.



There are more than 30 smartphone and tablet models to perform your tests on. It allows you to manually record all the events and steps you want to test in the same sequence. Besides, it enables you to perform remote debugging.



The Samsung device farms are completely free to use. However, the only constraint is that you can only test your application on Samsung smartphones.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="53i5u">Xamarin Test Cloud</h3>



The Xamarin device farms are a part of Microsoft’s Visual Studio App Center. It allows you to run your tests on over 2500 mobile devices. You can upload your application and tests on the Xamarin Cloud using Visual Studio. This will automatically install the application on the environment and prepare your test runs.



Xamarin offers frameworks such as Appium, Calabash, Espresso, and Xamarin.UITest to execute your test scripts. When the test runs are completed, it will send out a notification with detailed test reports to all the registered users.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="3gj89">Kobiton</h3>



With Kobiton, you can access hundreds of real devices in the cloud. Concerning performance, these devices mimic actual devices in hand. It has a slew of features without any complicated setup procedures.



Whether you run manual or automated tests, it captures detailed, rich test logs in formats like screenshots and videos, along with metrics like memory and battery performance. You can easily replay scenarios to perform root cause analysis.



You can perform parallel execution of all your test scripts. It allows you to integrate it into your CI/CD pipelines quickly. With the help of ADB debugging, you can easily get hold of cloud (or local) devices straight from your developer workstation. You can natively access mobile devices directly from your IDE.



You can <a href="https://www.vpnreactor.com/best-free-vpn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">use VPN</a> from your private Kobiton cloud to ensure flexibility but not at the cost of security. Kobiton supports open standard frameworks, which means that your scripts are protected. Some of these are Appium, Espresso, Selenium, XCUI, etc.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="73ec3">Conclusion</h2>



In this article, we have reviewed some of the best device farms you can use to test your iOS and Android mobile applications. There’s no doubt that, when used at scale, the benefits of using cloud-based device farms are immense.



It helps testers get out of the hassles of multi-device UI/UX testing, saves a lot of time, and cuts labor costs. If you are a single developer looking to test your app on a few devices, you can try out a free solution like Firebase Test Lab, Samsung Remote Test Lab, etc.



If you are working on an app with a potentially large target audience, it&#8217;s always better to test the application thoroughly on as many device configurations as possible. In that case, you can try out platforms like AWS Device Farm, Kobiton, etc.



But if you are looking for a completely hassle-free and automated solution, you should definitely give a test-automation platform like <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a> a shot.



Stay Tuned!

7 Top Device Farms to test your iOS and Android applications

The software development lifecycle consists of many stages to ensure that the final deliverable meets the requirements. Testing software is one such integral part of the development process. The two most popular tests for any software are &#8211; unit testing and integration testing.



On a high level, Unit testing allows us to test a single component of code in isolation which is usually a single method or class. On the other hand, integration testing enables us to test the connection or flow between different components. These components can be several pieces of code, services, APIs, database connections, etc.



In this article, let&#8217;s explore the differences between unit testing and integration testing.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Unit_Test_and_Integration_Test_8211_Overview">1 Unit Test and Integration Test &#8211; Overview</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_Unit_Testing">1.1 What is Unit Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Integration_Testing">1.2 What is Integration Testing?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Differences_Between_Unit_Testing_and_Integration_Testing">2 Differences Between Unit Testing and Integration Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Similarities_Between_Unit_Testing_and_Integration_Testing_8211_Why_do_People_Mix_them_Up">3 Similarities Between Unit Testing and Integration Testing &#8211; Why do People Mix them Up?</a></li><li><a href="#Unit_Test_vs_Integration_Testnbsp_When_to_Use_Which">4 Unit Test vs Integration Test:&nbsp; When to Use Which?</a></li><li><a href="#Final_Thoughts">5 Final Thoughts</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">6 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_the_difference_between_integration_testing_and_system_testing">6.1 What is the difference between integration testing and system testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_difference_between_a_unit_test_and_an_interface_test">6.2 What is the difference between a unit test and an interface test?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unit-test-and-integration-test-overview">Unit Test and Integration Test &#8211; Overview</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="5pavl"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/unit-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What is Unit Testing</a>?</h3>



Unit testing is a testing method that focuses on a single piece or unit of code. We use them to test a methodology in isolation. It determines the logical integrity of a method or a class. Simply put, we use them to determine whether a piece of code does what it&#8217;s expected to do.



For example, consider an application that books airline tickets. There might be several services and APIs in the code, each of which might have several methods/functions with their own purpose. There might be a service that allows users to log in, another that allows them to input details such as source and destination, etc. Suppose, in a service, we have a method that filters flights within a specific price range.



In this case, if you want to test this method, you need to ensure that, based on a given price range, the actual output has the same number and description of flights that are expected. This is called unit testing.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="b3vtj">What is <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/integration-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Integration Testing</a>?</h3>



We have learned that only testing the isolated pieces of code is not sufficient to determine the software’s integrity. In such a case, it’s better to test how different parts of the application interact and work together. This process is called integration testing.



Unlike unit testing, integration testing considers the side effects of the code from the beginning, which may even be desirable at times. Let’s consider the example that we used before. Suppose there’s a service that fetches the user&#8217;s details from the database and auto-fills it. If we want to test this logic, there’s a dependency on the database here. In these cases, developers need to prepare, query, and mutate the database. They often mock these external dependencies, just like in unit testing.



Integration testing helps us to spot not-so-obvious issues or bugs that might have been caught by examining a specific unit’s implementation. It figures out bugs in the interplay of multiple components, which are often difficult to reproduce or track.



Ideally, developers prepare and execute unit test cases first to validate the logical integrity of specific methods. After that, they prepare integration tests to ensure that several methods or components interact with each other as they are supposed to. In the above example, an integration test here would run the same test cases against a real database as opposed to unit test cases that use mocked data. “Integration testing” is a general term and confines any tests where we involve multiple components.



Check here-<a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/integration-testing-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Integration Testing Tools</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="differences-between-unit-testing-and-integration-testing">Differences Between Unit Testing and Integration Testing</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Aspect</td><td>Unit Testing</td><td>Integration Testing</td></tr><tr><td>Definition</td><td>Testing individual components or functions in isolation.</td><td>Testing combined parts of an application to ensure they work together.</td></tr><tr><td>Purpose</td><td>Verify that each unit of the software performs as expected.</td><td>Ensure that integrated components function correctly as a group.</td></tr><tr><td>Scope</td><td>Narrow focus on a single unit or module.</td><td>Broader focus on the interactions between multiple units.</td></tr><tr><td>Level of Testing</td><td>The first level of testing in the software development lifecycle.</td><td>Second level, following unit testing.</td></tr><tr><td>Features</td><td>-Fast execution,&nbsp; -High granularity</td><td>&#8211; Tests interactions &#8211; May involve multiple systems &#8211; Can use real data</td></tr><tr><td>Tools</td><td>JUnit, NUnit, Mocha, pytest</td><td>Testsigma, TestNG, Postman, JUnit (for integration), Cypress</td></tr><tr><td>Limitations</td><td>&#8211; Doesn’t test interactions between units &#8211; Misses integration issues</td><td>&#8211; More complex setup &#8211; Can be time-consuming &#8211; May miss individual unit issues</td></tr><tr><td>Benefits</td><td>&#8211; Catches bugs early &#8211; Simplifies debugging &#8211; Facilitates refactoring</td><td>&#8211; Identifies interface defects &#8211; Validates combined functionality &#8211; Ensures data flow between modules</td></tr><tr><td>Types</td><td>&#8211; Manual Unit Testing &#8211; Automated Unit Testing</td><td>&#8211; Top-down Integration Testing &#8211; Bottom-up Integration Testing &#8211; Big Bang Integration Testing &#8211; Sandwich (or Hybrid) Integration Testing</td></tr><tr><td>Execution Time</td><td>Generally quick to run.</td><td>Takes longer due to the complexity of integrated components.</td></tr><tr><td>Testers</td><td>Typically performed by developers.</td><td>Often involves testers and developers working together.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="codeh">Similarities Between Unit Testing and Integration Testing &#8211; Why do People Mix them Up?</h2>



There are a lot of similarities between unit testing and integration testing, which may confuse developers and testers. Fundamentally, both these tests are functional tests. We use them to catch issues and bugs during the early development phase. We do both tests to ensure good quality and <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/continuous-delivery/software-testing/code-coverage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">code coverage</a> before release.



Ultimately, this will reduce the time needed for debugging in case of any errors or issues after release. Moreover, these tests help you reduce the time and effort required to maintain the code. Also, if any changes or refactoring are done to a piece of code, you can verify if that piece of code still holds the same functional value. In this way, both tests are correlated to each other. These tests play a vital part in the complete testing process of your project.



Check here- <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/functional-testing-vs-integration-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Functional Testing vs Integration Testing </a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="unit-test-vs-integration-test-when-to-use-which">Unit Test vs Integration Test:&nbsp; When to Use Which?</h2>



Unit Testing



What It Is: Tests a single piece of code (like a function) to ensure it works correctly.



When to Use:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>During Development: Use them while writing code to catch errors early.</li><li>Frequent Changes: When a piece of code is likely to change often, unit tests help ensure it still works.</li><li>Debugging: To find and fix issues in specific functions.</li><li>Example: Testing a function that calculates the total price in a shopping cart to make sure it gives the right result.</li></ul>



Integration Test



What It Is: Tests how different pieces of code work together.



When to Use:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>After Unit Testing: Once individual pieces are tested, check how they interact.</li><li>Multiple Components: When different parts of the application need to work together (like a front end and a back end).</li><li>Complex Workflows: When you want to ensure that the flow of data between parts is correct.</li><li>Example: Testing the entire process of a user making a payment through a website to ensure it connects correctly to the payment processor.</li></ul>



Check here- <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/android-integration-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Android Integration Testing</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="final-thoughts">Final Thoughts</h2>



Unit testing and integration testing are both essential in software development. It&#8217;s important to use both strategies to ensure bug-free software. Understanding their differences is key to deciding which one to use. Happy testing!



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="what-is-the-difference-between-integration-testing-and-system-testing">What is the difference between integration testing and system testing?</h3>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/system-testing-vs-integration-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Integration Testing vs System Testing</a>



Integration Testing: Focuses on verifying interactions between multiple components or modules within a system to ensure they work together correctly. It is typically conducted after unit testing and before system testing.



System Testing: Involves testing the complete and integrated software application as a whole to validate that it meets specified requirements. It checks the end-to-end functionality of the entire system in an environment that mimics production.



Check here- <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/integration-testing-vs-end-to-end-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Integration Testing vs End to End Testing</a>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="what-is-the-difference-between-a-unit-test-and-an-interface-test">What is the difference between a unit test and an interface test?</h3>



Unit Test vs. Interface Test



Unit Test: Tests individual functions or methods in isolation to ensure they work correctly, focusing on specific pieces of code without dependencies. It is usually written and maintained by developers.



Interface Test: Validates the interactions between different software modules or systems, ensuring that the interfaces work as intended and data is correctly passed between them. It typically focuses on the boundaries between components.



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Unit Testing Vs Integration Testing - Important Differences cover

Unit Testing Vs Integration Testing – Important Differences

Smartphones have revolutionized our lives, and you&#8217;re likely reading this on one. It&#8217;s hardly shocking to consider how pervasive mobile gadgets have become. Nearly half of people polled in a February 2021 survey conducted by L.Ceci via Statista spent five to six hours a day on their phones, not considering work-related smartphone use.&nbsp;



Mobile devices handle more than half of all searches worldwide. Additionally, page speed is becoming a factor in mobile search engine rankings. Companies and bloggers must opt for a website theme that has been developed and optimized for speed.



This means if your website is not mobile-friendly,&nbsp; you are missing more than half of your potential customers. It also implies that your website&#8217;s design and navigation must be consistent across all platforms and devices



This is where the ultimate responsive website design testing comes in. It ensures that your website displays correctly and functions smoothly on any computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The most accessible approach to ensure that you execute responsive design testing successfully is to follow a responsive design testing checklist, and in this article, we have done the hard work for you.&nbsp;



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_Is_Responsive_Web_Designnbsp">1 What Is Responsive Web Design?&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Ultimate_Checklist_For_Responsive_Design_Testing">2 Ultimate Checklist For Responsive Design Testing</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Test_For_Navigation_On_Website">2.1 1. Test For Navigation On Website </a></li><li><a href="#2_Perform_Font_Device_Testing">2.2 2. Perform Font Device Testing </a></li><li><a href="#3_Third-Party_Browser_and_Device_Testing">2.3 3. Third-Party Browser and Device Testing </a></li><li><a href="#4_Conduct_a_Test_on_a_Small_Screen">2.4 4. Conduct a Test on a Small Screen </a></li><li><a href="#5_Test_How_Fast_Your_Website_Is">2.5 5. Test How Fast Your Website Is </a></li><li><a href="#6_Test_Element_Alignments">2.6 6. Test Element Alignments</a></li><li><a href="#7_Test_For_Content_Placement">2.7 7. Test For Content Placement</a></li><li><a href="#8_Perform_Compatibility_Testing_Across_Multiple_Browsers">2.8 8. Perform Compatibility Testing Across Multiple Browsers</a></li><li><a href="#9_Test_For_Interactive_Experience">2.9 9. Test For Interactive Experience </a></li><li><a href="#10_Test_the_Mobile_Compatibility_of_Website_Pop-ups">2.10 10. Test the Mobile Compatibility of Website Pop-ups </a></li><li><a href="#11_Test_for_Better_Functionality">2.11 11. Test for Better Functionality. </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Tools_For_Responsive_Design_Testing">3 Tools For Responsive Design Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusionnbsp">4 Conclusion&nbsp;</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-responsive-web-design">What Is Responsive Web Design?&nbsp;</h2>



Nowadays, people use various gadgets to access the internet and interact with websites. You can find these high-tech gadgets in multiple form factors and display sizes. Your site&#8217;s design and functionality must adapt to the screen size of every visitor accessing it.&nbsp;



Responsive web design helps your site display correctly on all screen sizes and resolutions. This layout method adjusts the content&#8217;s visibility, size, and position in response to the viewing device, ensuring optimal readability and viewing experience across all devices.&nbsp;Later, you may use a<a href="https://venngage.com/features/poster-maker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> free poster maker</a> to create banners if you&#8217;re getting into traditional ads, but you should still follow your brand guidelines.



Conversely, your rivals are rolling out the red carpet for potential clients. Currently, smartphones are widely available, with 80 percent of internet users having one. Users in this demographic often devote 69% of their media consumption habits to their mobile devices. Without a mobile-friendly website, a company runs the danger of losing sales. Furthermore, about  57% of consumers said they wouldn&#8217;t suggest a firm with poorly designed websites also <a href="https://taggbox.com/blog/embed-youtube-shorts-on-website/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">embed YouTube shorts</a>, TikTok videos, and Instagram reels to make it more responsive to increase retention time. When adding TikTok or Reels, create vertical, captioned cuts and defer loading so media enhances UX instead of slowing the page.



This shows the value of responsive web design, and if you care about keeping your audience and your business alive, you should seriously consider investing in it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ultimate-checklist-for-responsive-design-testing">Ultimate Checklist For Responsive Design Testing</h2>



A responsive design should already be live on your website if you&#8217;ve updated it or gotten a new one during the past several years. A website that adapts to different devices&#8217; screen sizes is now expected of users; hence most web design firms include responsive design in their primary offerings. However, optimizing your website for mobile devices isn&#8217;t a one-and-done deal.



Your website&#8217;s responsiveness should be tested with a responsive design checker and regularly updated per your responsive design testing checklist.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="1-test-for-navigation-on-website">1. Test For Navigation On Website </h3>



Use a navigation bar to direct visitors to certain parts of your site or specific pages. There are usually five or more buttons on a navigation bar. The menu bar must evolve with the device. No matter how much we tried to make the navigation bar smaller using the @media queries meta tag, it still wouldn&#8217;t be clickable on a mobile device. So, we&#8217;ve found that the &#8220;hamburger menu&#8221; works well on mobile devices. Because of its widespread use, users will actively seek it out if they have no choice.&nbsp;



It should be standard practice to confirm that the navigation layouts work correctly across devices to ensure a positive user experience.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="2-perform-font-device-testing">2. Perform Font Device Testing </h3>



Developers will often employ a wide range of typefaces and design approaches while composing text for a website to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the users. Devices that do not support these fonts, or use a different encoding system, may display them as gibberish. It is, thus, vital to test the typefaces on various devices before releasing them for actual website <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/mobile-responsive-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mobile responsive testing</a>.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="3-third-party-browser-and-device-testing">3. Third-Party Browser and Device Testing </h3>



You should use Google Analytics data to examine online and mobile traffic, considering the browsers and devices used to access the sites. This should be done quarterly, with the latest OS and device and the old ones phased out. Consider including the beta versions to ensure your website is mobile-friendly.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="4-conduct-a-test-on-a-small-screen">4. Conduct a Test on a Small Screen </h3>



With the constantly growing number of mobile users, having a website that doesn&#8217;t adjust to any screen size is no longer acceptable. That&#8217;s why keeping the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/mobile-first-design/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mobile-first design</a> strategy in mind when creating a responsive layout is crucial. Mobile phones and other small display devices should be a starting point for your design.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="5-test-how-fast-your-website-is">5. Test How Fast Your Website Is </h3>



You can track how well your components adapt to different screen sizes with responsive design. However, when considering mobile devices, which often operate on lower bandwidth, it becomes clear that rich content, such as photos, videos, etc., poses the greatest threat to the site&#8217;s loading speed. The loading time will grow proportionally if we keep using the same graphics we were producing on larger devices like laptops, which will frustrate your users.&nbsp;



A mobile web page should only take four seconds to load. After two seconds, if your loader is still spinning, users will likely hit the back button.&nbsp;



Web page load times can negatively affect even the most well-known companies. To paraphrase current findings from Hubspot&#8217;s research:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Yahoo may see a boost of 9 percent in visitors if the company can shorten the time it takes pages to load by 0.4 seconds.&nbsp;</li><li>Amazon will lose $1.6 billion annually in sales should page load times increase by just one second.</li><li>A 2. the second delay in Bing&#8217;s search results would result in a 4.3% drop in revenue per visitor, a 3.75 % drop in clicks, and a 1.8% drop in queries.</li></ul>



If your website loads slower than you&#8217;d like on these smaller devices, you may need to employ different strategies to present the same graphics.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="6-test-element-alignments">6. Test Element Alignments</h3>



When working with limited space, element alignment becomes especially crucial. Everyone can readily identify a shape that is out of proportion and breaks the limits. The tester must verify that the website&#8217;s many parts are spaced adequately across the screen. Responsive web design will not be effective if it is not rendered and aligned correctly.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="7-test-for-content-placement">7. Test For Content Placement</h3>



The larger viewing area of a desktop or laptop computer makes it simple to zero in on a specific component. In addition, because of the viewer-to-screen distance, we can examine every detail. However, mobile devices are an exception to this rule. Because of the limited real estate screen on mobile devices, we must be mindful of condensing unnecessary information. For example, if your website features a <a href="https://www.kittl.com/templates/ads/billboard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">templated billboard ad</a>, it’s important to ensure that it automatically resizes and reorganizes itself for smaller screens, so users aren’t overwhelmed or distracted by oversized promotional content. See below for a representation of where your attention should be drawn on a mobile device&#8217;s display:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Edges, Corners (Least Precise)&nbsp;</li><li>Center (Most Precise)&nbsp;</li></ul>



Determine if the location of the critical elements is inside this area and if the elements are not overly crowded. You can use web-based management software to plan and manage your content placement. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="8-perform-compatibility-testing-across-multiple-browsers">8. Perform <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/compatibility-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Compatibility Testing</a> Across Multiple Browsers</h3>



The first thing you should do when testing a website for responsive design is to use a different browser on the device to see if it displays correctly. When you perform <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/9-tips-to-avoid-cross-browser-compatibility-issues-from-the-start/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross-browser compatibility testing</a>, your website may be viewed and explored in any browser, operating system, or resolution. Manual and automated <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross-browser testing</a> is under the broader umbrella, and both have several sub-paths. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/remote-usability-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Remote Testing</a> of Websites provides additional details on the same topic.&nbsp;



Our knowledge tells us that <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross-browser testing tools</a> hosted in the cloud are among the most effective of their kind. Cloud-based solutions don&#8217;t require the installation of any testing infrastructure, can be accessed from anywhere, and are easy to learn and use.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="9-test-for-interactive-experience">9. Test For Interactive Experience </h3>



We&#8217;ve already established a wide range of screen sizes for mobile devices. There&#8217;s also the fact that the interactive experience has evolved since Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone. Some individuals today choose to use a stylus for a more consistent and accurate touch, while others prefer to use one hand exclusively for most interactions with the device. The primary goal of this responsive design testing checklist is to ensure a consistent user experience across devices and interaction types.&nbsp;



You shouldn&#8217;t be able to press two buttons simultaneously with one hand on the same button. The user interface should attempt to consolidate the available choices by providing several different models, etc. The user&#8217;s impression of our site depends on this, so our responsive design testing checklist must remain a top priority.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="10-test-the-mobile-compatibility-of-website-pop-ups">10. Test the Mobile Compatibility of Website Pop-ups </h3>



Everybody is utilizing pop-ups because they are so effective at getting visitors to sign up for newsletters and buy products. However, you should be aware that website pop-up windows can be helpful and annoying. It can be highly irritating to site users and harmful to your site&#8217;s reputation with search engines if it is not presented correctly.&nbsp;



You should also check if the website&#8217;s pop-ups are responsive—all pop-ups, whether online or in a new window, are included. Pop-ups should also be responsive to their purpose on any device and pass a responsive design test.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="11-test-for-better-functionality">11. Test for Better Functionality. </h3>



Check that your menu bars don&#8217;t spill off the sides of the screen. On mobile devices, tap the hamburger menu icon to access the site&#8217;s hidden navigation. Verify that swiping is an option for the user.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tools-for-responsive-design-testing">Tools For Responsive Design Testing</h2>



It would help if you had a thorough <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/software-testing-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing strategy</a> to ensure that your website works consistently across all platforms, browsers, and operating systems. Checking for user engagement, page loading, typefaces, graphics, navigations, alignments, etc., across several mobile devices would be a huge undertaking. Use a funnel template to monitor and group audience interaction with the website. 



However, several solutions on the market make it easy to check off every item on the responsive design testing checklist. For example, <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> is a responsive cloud-based automation tool that provides website and mobile app testing to increase speed and improve performance. The tool has many notable features, including automated maintenance, debugging, and instant reporting. If you want to test how responsive your website is, this is a great place to start. Some of it&#8217;s features are;



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/test-planning/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test planning</a>, development and execution for multiple projects </li><li>Multi-device testing of websites&nbsp;</li><li>Multiple <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/use-case-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing use cases&nbsp;</a></li><li>Reporting and analytics </li><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-test-data-management-is-more-important-than-you-think/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test data management</a> </li><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/ai-driven-test-automation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI test automation&nbsp; </a></li><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/visual-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visual testing&nbsp;</a></li></ul>



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 Check Out:
 <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cross-website-tracking/" class="goto-link">Cross Website Tracking</a>
 
</div>



<div class="goto-wrapper">
 
 Get Here:
 <a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/responsive-design-testing-tools/" class="goto-link">Responsive Web Design Testing Tools</a>
 
</div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conclusion">Conclusion&nbsp;</h2>



More than 8.5 billion mobile devices are currently in use worldwide; thus, your website must be optimized for mobile users. Every day, new gadgets, Operating systems, and browsers are released. However, testing a website&#8217;s responsive design is an ongoing process. Regular maintenance of the responsive design testing checklist is required.



To ensure your website is compatible with the latest devices and browsers, you should regularly update the list you test with. If you need inspiration for a new website and want to use responsive design, you can find examples of it all over the internet.&nbsp;



Remember, too, that testing for responsive design is a continuous effort, not a one-and-done task. Each day brings a slew of new gadgets, so we must keep at it.

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When you build a web application, it must work well across various OS platforms and browsers. In simple terms, verifying the web application&#8217;s performance and compatibility is necessary. In recent trends, automation testing is a top-notch framework that automates the effort of manual testing. Selenium is one such tool that fits well in this scenario. In this blog post, let&#8217;s understand how to perform cross browser testing using Selenium WebDriver.



It&#8217;s not fair to ask users to access your application with a specific browser. To reach out to the maximum number of users, you need to cater to all the devices and platforms they use. Since there are various web browsers in the market, the choice of usage should be left to the user. Different users use different browsers based on their comfort. It’s the job of the test engineer to ensure that the application works well on all the widely used browsers. This urges the need for testing the application code on different platforms. This is where <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross browser testing</a> comes into the picture, the type of testing which verifies that a website works accurately in all browsers. 



The main goal is to verify that the website you’re developing runs perfectly on all targeted browsers and operating systems. Testers can either run manual tests or use automated tools like Selenium WebDriver. It helps save you time, as you need not reinstall your browsers multiple times.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Cross_Browser_Testing_using_Selenium">1 Cross Browser Testing using Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#How_Does_Selenium_Help_With_Cross-Browser_Testing">2 How Does Selenium Help With Cross-Browser Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#Step-by-Step_Guide_On_How_To_Perform_Cross_Browser_Testing_In_Selenium">3 Step-by-Step Guide On How To Perform Cross Browser Testing In Selenium</a><ul><li><a href="#Step_1_Set_Up_Your_Environment">3.1 Step 1: Set Up Your Environment</a></li><li><a href="#Step_2_Choose_a_Test_Framework">3.2 Step 2: Choose a Test Framework</a></li><li><a href="#Step_3_Write_Browser-Specific_Code">3.3 Step 3: Write Browser-Specific Code</a></li><li><a href="#Step_4_Write_Your_Test_Case">3.4 Step 4: Write Your Test Case</a></li><li><a href="#Step_5_Run_Tests_for_Multiple_Browsers">3.5 Step 5: Run Tests for Multiple Browsers</a></li><li><a href="#Step_6_Analyze_Results">3.6 Step 6: Analyze Results</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Best_Practices_to_do_Cross_Browser_Testing_in_Selenium">4 Best Practices to do Cross Browser Testing in Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#Cross_Browser_Testing_in_Selenium_8211_How_Testsigma_can_help">5 Cross Browser Testing in Selenium &#8211; How Testsigma can help?</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">6 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">7 Frequently Asked Questions</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="9o12o">Cross Browser Testing using Selenium</h2>



As mentioned earlier, Selenium is the most popular automated testing tool for various functions. Browser testing is one of the many features supported by Selenium.



<ol class="wp-block-list" type="1"><li>Selenium WebDriver enables you to automate test cases on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers.</li><li>You can integrate the TestNG framework with Selenium WebDriver to run your test cases on different browsers.</li><li>You can analyze performance for cross-browser compatibility.</li></ol>



Read on <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-based-automated-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium Based Automation Testing</a> to gain deeper insights into the various components of Selenium.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-selenium-help-with-cross-browser-testing">How Does Selenium Help With Cross-Browser Testing?</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Selenium WebDriver works with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer, ensuring your application behaves consistently across all major browsers.</li><li>Simulates real user actions like clicks, form entries, and navigation to detect browser-specific functionality or layout issues.</li><li>Enables testing on different operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux, supporting a broader user base.</li><li>Allows writing tests in various programming languages (like Java, Python, C#, etc.), making it easy to integrate into existing workflows.</li><li>Allows running tests in parallel across multiple browsers and environments, speeding up test execution and improving coverage.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-perform-cross-browser-testing-in-selenium">Step-by-Step Guide On How To Perform Cross Browser Testing In Selenium</h2>



Here, we will discuss how to do cross browser testing in Selenium, the setup required, etc.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="step-1-set-up-your-environment">Step 1: Set Up Your Environment</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Install Java/Python (based on your preferred language). Download and configure Selenium WebDriver.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="step-2-choose-a-test-framework">Step 2: Choose a Test Framework</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>For Java, use TestNG or JUnit; for Python, use PyTest or unittest. These frameworks allow parameterization for different browsers</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="step-3-write-browser-specific-code">Step 3: Write Browser-Specific Code</h3>



Example in Java (TestNG):



<styled-code>

WebDriver driver;

@BeforeMethod
@Parameters(&#8220;browser&#8221;)
public void setUp(String browser) {
 if (browser.equalsIgnoreCase(&#8220;chrome&#8221;)) {
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;path/to/chromedriver&#8221;);
 driver = new ChromeDriver();
 } else if (browser.equalsIgnoreCase(&#8220;firefox&#8221;)) {
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.gecko.driver&#8221;, &#8220;path/to/geckodriver&#8221;);
 driver = new FirefoxDriver();
 } else if (browser.equalsIgnoreCase(&#8220;edge&#8221;)) {
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.edge.driver&#8221;, &#8220;path/to/edgedriver&#8221;);
 driver = new EdgeDriver();
 }
 driver.manage().window().maximize();
}

</styled-code>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-step-4-write-your-test-case">Step 4: Write Your Test Case</h3>



<styled-code>

@Test
public void openGoogle() {
 driver.get(&#8220;https://www.google.com&#8221;);
 Assert.assertEquals(driver.getTitle(), &#8220;Google&#8221;);
}

</styled-code>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-step-5-run-tests-for-multiple-browsers">Step 5: Run Tests for Multiple Browsers</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Use a testng.xml file or command-line parameters to execute the same test across multiple browsers.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-step-6-analyze-results">Step 6: Analyze Results</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>You can check the output in the console or use test reports (TestNG, Allure, Extent Reports) to verify which browsers passed/failed.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="best-practices-to-do-cross-browser-testing-in-selenium">Best Practices to do Cross Browser Testing in Selenium</h2>



Some of the best practices to consider while performing cross browser testing in Selenium:



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Best practices</td><td>Reasons</td></tr><tr><td>Selecting the right libraries and frameworks</td><td>The most recent CSS or JS frameworks might not be compatible with all browsers. This is important to remember while creating web apps because browsers have various rendering engines. Before using these libraries or frameworks, check browser recommendations to discover if they support them.</td></tr><tr><td>Employ relevant JavaScript libraries and task runners</td><td>Because JavaScript is a crucial component of web app development, it is critical to employ the appropriate JavaScript resources that fulfill site needs and provide consistent browser compatibility.</td></tr><tr><td>Identify and analyze your browser&#8217;s OS configuration</td><td>To effectively perform cross-browser testing with Selenium, you must know the required browser versions and operating systems. We recommend prioritizing combinations likely to be used by the largest segments of your audience.</td></tr><tr><td>Optimize for Internet Explorer</td><td>Internet Explorer does not support advanced CSS styles and frameworks, which can distort design elements. To solve this problem, create a separate style sheet for IE and add some hacks to the doctype.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cross-browser-testing-in-selenium-how-testsigma-can-help">Cross Browser Testing in Selenium &#8211; How Testsigma can help?</h2>



Modern teams need automation testing to build and deploy bug free applications efficiently. Achieving test automation is complicated due to multiple framework setups, complex coding, etc.



Testsigma, a unified test automation platform on a cloud, simplifies and accelerates automation testing for web applications, mobile applications, and APIs. With Testsigma, test engineers, QA team, and business users can create, run and maintain automated tests easily. Simply put, anyone can test high-quality software with zero coding skills.



Using simple English commands powered by NLP (Natural Language Processing) engine, you can write tests in minutes. With NLP and Integrated <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/api-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">API testing</a> capabilities, teams can achieve in-sprint test automation with minimum effort. With Testsigma, maintaining different servers, operating systems, and mobile devices is no longer a problem.



It comes in two versions. One is free for a lifetime and meant for basic apps. The second one is the pro version which is free for 21 days and later charges a monthly fee.



One can run tests in parallel on different operating systems, browsers, and browser versions. Testsigma offers more than 200 Android and iOS operating systems to run tests. This is how the platform replaces the effort of coding with simple English instructions and built-in functionality.



<div class="cta-banner-v2">
<div class="title-with-description ">
Automate your cross-browser tests, 10x faster, with Testsigma
</div>
<a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" class="cta-btn-v1" rel="noopener">Try for free now</a>
</div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



Cross browser testing lets you check for website compatibility. Selenium is one such automated testing tool, which serves this purpose. It’s up to the developers to deliver an end-user experience that’s consistently delightful across a multitude of browsers and devices.



Testsigma is a fully-managed test automation platform that includes all the core features of the open-source platform, without any infra-requirements. It offers enhanced security, extensive test lab, project and review management, powerful reporting capabilities, etc. Organizations can therefore consider using Testsigma to have a hassle-free and extensive testing process, especially as a <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross browser testing tool</a>.



Thus, this brings us to the end of our post on Cross Browser Testing using Selenium WebDriver. If you have any questions or suggestions, drop them in the comment section below.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<div class="schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block"><div class="schema-faq-section" id="faq-question-1754547105040">How Does Selenium Help With Cross-Browser Testing? Selenium helps test web applications across browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari to ensure consistent behavior. It uses browser-specific drivers to mimic real user interactions and detect browser-specific issues. </div> <div class="schema-faq-section" id="faq-question-1754547117295">Why Run Selenium WebDriver Tests On Real Devices? Running Selenium tests on real devices provides more accurate results by simulating real-world conditions like screen sizes, touch inputs, and hardware limitations. It helps uncover issues that may not appear in emulators or simulators, ensuring the application works well. </div> <div class="schema-faq-section" id="faq-question-1754547137301">What Are The Different Types Of Browser Testing In Selenium? Selenium supports different types of browser testing, including cross-browser testing, parallel testing, regression testing, and UI testing. These help ensure the app&#8217;s quality, speed, and consistency. </div> <div class="schema-faq-section" id="faq-question-1754547194408">How do you test cross-browser compatibility using Selenium? To test cross-browser compatibility with Selenium, you must write a test script using Selenium WebDriver, which supports multiple browsers. You can write test cases for each browser individually or use a testing framework such as TestNG to run tests on multiple browsers simultaneously. It&#8217;s crucial to ensure that your application&#8217;s functionality and user interface are consistent across all tested browsers and their versions. You can also use Selenium Grid to run your tests in parallel on multiple machines to speed up your tests. The best option would be going for an end-to-end automation platform like Testsigma. </div> </div>

Cross Browser Testing using Selenium WebDriver

Cross Browser Testing in Selenium WebDriver – Testsigma

To understand the difference between the Selenium Standalone server and the Selenium server, we need to go back to the Selenium history. Released in 2002, Selenium is an open-source tool, shipped with Apache Open Source License 2.0. Since web technologies have undergone many changes, automation frameworks like Selenium also had to go through changes.&nbsp;



Interestingly Selenium is the most popular automation framework today as well. Selenium has survived because it is adopting the latest technology and architecture. Every time Selenium made a new release it ensured that the framework is aligned with the latest technology trends and architecture. 



Selenium framework is designed in such a way that programming language should not be a barrier to testers as it supports Java, JavaScript, Python, C#, etc.



Many are confused that WebDriver API is a Selenium, but WebDriver is one of its components. Selenium has multiple components such as Selenium IDE, Selenium Grid, Selenium WebDriver, etc. As Selenium is the most flexible automation framework, it provides support to local execution, remote execution, and recording of the scripts.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Difference_between_Selenium_Standalone_server_and_Selenium_server">1 Difference between Selenium Standalone server and Selenium server</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Selenium_Server">2 What is Selenium Server?</a></li><li><a href="#How_does_Selenium_RC_Selenium_Server_work">3 How does Selenium RC/ Selenium Server work?</a></li><li><a href="#Sample_Selenium_Server_RC_script">4 Sample Selenium Server RC script.</a></li><li><a href="#Why_is_Selenium_ServerSelenium_RC_deprecated">5 Why is Selenium Server/Selenium RC deprecated?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Selenium_Standalone_Server">6 What is Selenium Standalone Server?</a></li><li><a href="#When_to_Use_Selenium_Standalone_serverGrid">7 When to Use Selenium Standalone server/Grid</a></li><li><a href="#Challenges_with_Selenium">8 Challenges with Selenium</a><ul><li><a href="#Challenges_of_Selenium_and_other_Test_Automation_Framework">8.1 Challenges of Selenium and other Test Automation Framework</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Features_of_Testsigma">9 Features of Testsigma</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-difference-between-selenium-standalone-server-and-selenium-server">Difference between Selenium Standalone server and Selenium server</h2>



The current Selenium version is 4.x. As mentioned earlier, Selenium has undergone many changes whenever it is upgraded to a major version like 1.x, 2.x, etc. With Selenium 4.0, there is no such confusion between Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server. The only executable server jar available is Selenium Grid.&nbsp;



This article provides concrete and definite answers to the question: Difference between the Selenium Standalone server and the Selenium server.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-selenium-server">What is Selenium Server?</h2>



<a href="https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/legacy/selenium_1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium RC</a> was the initial and core Selenium project even before Selenium WebDriver started. The Selenium RC is deprecated and no longer supported. But to understand the difference and arrive at a definite conclusion, you need to explore the history of Selenium Versions.



Let&#8217;s understand the components of Selenium RC.



Selenium Server



The Selenium Server in Selenium RC was responsible for the below set of actions



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Launch the browser</li><li>Interpret and run the Selenium command passed from the test program (code)</li><li>Act as an HTTP proxy by intercepting and verifying the HTTP message passed between the browsers and the Application Under Test</li></ul>



Client libraries



Client libraries in Selenium were used as the interface between each programming language and the Selenium RC Server.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Selenium-RC-Architecture.jpg" alt="Selenium RCArchitecture" class="wp-image-21175" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Selenium RC Architecture</figcaption></figure></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-selenium-rc-selenium-server-work">How does Selenium RC/ Selenium Server work?</h2>



The above Architecture&nbsp; diagram shows the working mechanism of the Selenium RC Server



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Selenium Client Libraries communicate with the Server by passing the Selenium command for execution one by one</li><li>The server passes the Selenium command to the browser using Selenium Core</li><li>The browser executes the Selenium command</li></ul>



Since the Selenium Server is in context, it existed in Selenium RC, which was the initial version of Selenium. The Selenium Server was one of the key components in Selenium RC. It receives Selenium commands from the test program, interprets, and reports back to your program; the results of running those tests, and tests are then marked as pass or fail.



The Selenium Server was designed to receive the Selenese commands from your test script. The communication was done using the simple HTTP protocol, either GET or POST methods. This method enables support for multiple programming languages. Any programming language supporting HTTP calls can be used to communicate with the Selenium Server.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sample-selenium-server-rc-script">Sample Selenium Server RC script.</h2>



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;public class NewTest{



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; public void testNew() throws Exception {



Selenium Selenium = new DefaultSelenium(&#8220;localhost&#8221;, 4444, &#8220;firefox&#8221;, &#8220;https://google.com&#8221;)



Selenium.start



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.open(&#8220;/&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.type(&#8220;q&#8221;, &#8220;Testsigma&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.click(&#8220;btnG&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.waitForPageToLoad(&#8220;30000&#8221;);&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; }



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}



The Selenium RC Server architecture was different from the latest Selenium, so the above code is comparatively different from today&#8217;s Selenium Code.



The DefaultSelenium was part of package com.thoughtworks.Selenium in Selenium RC which was used for Initialising the Selenium.



Selenium 2.x introduced the Selenium <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/legacy/selenium_2/upgrading/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WebDriver API</a>, which removed the complexity of the Selenium RC server. In Selenium RC, the Selenium Server was the mediator between the Selenese command and the browser. The WebDriver was built with new architecture, it does the job similar to Server (not the same); however, WebDriver is not a server. WebDriver makes use of native events to interact with a web page.



Before we explore about Selenium Standalone Server, let&#8217;s conclude the Selenium Server



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The Selenium Server was part of the Selenium RC.</li><li>Selenium Server acts as the mediator between the Selenium commands and the browser.</li><li>Selenium Server communicates with the client using HTTP calls such as GET/POST.</li><li>The Selenium Server is deprecated; it is no longer available.</li><li>The Selenium WebDriver replaced the Selenium Server.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-selenium-server-selenium-rc-deprecated">Why is Selenium Server/Selenium RC deprecated?</h2>



The Selenium Server/RC had limitations, so the Selenium team decided to introduce a WebDriver and bring the changes to the architectural level.&nbsp;



Some of the challenges with Selenium Server/RC:



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Selenium RC architecture was complex.</li><li>Selenium Server needed to start before test execution.</li><li>Selenium RC doesn&#8217;t support headless mode.</li><li>Supporting multiple browsers for a long period was challenging.</li></ol>



Now, let&#8217;s learn about Selenium Standalone Server.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-selenium-standalone-server">What is Selenium Standalone Server?</h2>



The Selenium Standalone Server is what you see as a Selenium Grid today. But you may be wondering: Why do we still need a Selenium Standalone Server when Selenium Server was replaced with WebDriver in Selenium 2?



Replacing Selenium Server with Selenium WebDriver solved the problem of local execution. Using WebDriver, you do not need to start the Selenium Server as WebDriver communicates to the browser directly without starting the <a href="https://www.redswitches.com/dedicated-server-hosting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dedicated server</a>. However, there are some use cases where you need to use the server. Some common scenarios are



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>If you want to Execute your test on the remote machine</li><li>If you want to distribute tests across the multiple machines</li></ol>



Earlier, the Selenium was shipped with a standalone server, though it was optional. The Selenium Standalone server had the format of <a href="https://selenium-release.storage.googleapis.com/index.html?path=2.39/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium-server-standalone-{version}.jar</a>.&nbsp;



The Selenium 4.0 doesn&#8217;t follow the above format; it follows the format of Selenium-server-{version}.jar. The Selenium Standalone server is optional. You need to use the Selenium Standalone server or Selenium Grid only when you have the above use cases.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Selenium-Grid-Architecture-in-Selenium-4-Grid4.jpg" alt="Selenium Grid Architecture in Selenium" class="wp-image-21170" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Image: Selenium Grid Architecture in Selenium 4 (Grid4)</figcaption></figure></div>



Not to confuse other sources on the internet, the Selenium Grid has undergone many changes over the versions. For example, the Selenium Grid 2 and 3 had different architecture than the Selenium 4 Grid.



The Selenium Grid 3 had Hub and Node architecture, where the hub was a central system to communicate with the Nodes. The Node was the system where the actual browser runs.



The Selenium 4 Standalone Server or simply Selenium Server (in Selenium 4)&nbsp; has the above architecture.



Router: Entry point of Grid, receives all external requests and forwards to Node with the help of Session map and Session Queue.



Distributor: It keeps all the Node details,&nbsp; such as a list of browsers, available node slots, etc.



Node: Node is the place where the actual browser exists. Each grid can have multiple Nodes. The distributor will have every Node&#8217;s information along with its capabilities. The Node&#8217;s responsibility is just to execute the commands. It doesn’t make any judgments; it simply executes the command received.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-to-use-selenium-standalone-server-grid">When to Use Selenium Standalone server/Grid</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>To run the cross-browser and/or cross-platform tests parallely</li><li>To execute the tests faster in distributed test execution environment</li></ul>



The confusion between the Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server arises because of Selenium RC or an older version of Selenium 4. Considering Selenium 4, there is only one Selenium Server available which is Selenium Grid Server.



Example of Selenium Code using Selenium Grid:



ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();



options.setCapability(CapabilityType.BROWSER_NAME,&#8221;chrome&#8221;)&nbsp;&nbsp;



RemoteWebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(&#8220;http://localhost:4444&#8221;), options);



driver.get(&#8220;https://google.com&#8221;);



driver.close();



To Summarise 



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server are different; each is designed to serve a different purpose.</li><li>Selenium Server was part of Selenium RC, which is now deprecated.</li><li>Selenium WebDriver is a replacement for Selenium RC Server with better and faster execution of tests.</li><li>The primary purpose of Selenium Standalone Server / Selenium Grid is to execute the tests in a distributed environment parallelly.</li><li>The Selenium Grid/Selenium Standalone server is still available for use with the latest version of Selenium 4.</li><li>The Selenium Grid /Selenium Standalone server is optional and can be chosen based on the requirement and purpose.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-with-selenium">Challenges with Selenium</h2>



Though Selenium is the most popular automation framework, it requires a deep level of technical expertise. Today, there are many test automation frameworks such as Playwright, Cypress, TestCafe, WebDriverIO, etc. One of the major challenges that you and your organization face is skillset. You&#8217;ll have to learn a new API and architecture whenever you switch to a new testing framework.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="challenges-of-selenium-and-other-test-automation-framework">Challenges of Selenium and other Test Automation Framework</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The learning curve for every framework is considerably high.</li><li>Complicated setup, requiring a good amount of technical expertise.</li><li>Setting up a framework from scratch is different.</li><li>Testing in a cross-browser and cross-platform environment requires robust infrastructure. Maintaining the infrastructure is complicated.</li><li>Not all frameworks support multi-level testing such as API Testing, UI Testing (Visual Testing), and end-to-end Testing.</li><li>Manual Testers need to put high effort into learning automation.</li><li>Reporting and DevOps integrations are additional complications.</li><li>Whenever there is an upgrade of your tool version you need to learn and upskill. Breaking changes in the latest version may cause false failures, which in turn requires high maintenance.</li></ul>



With all these difficulties, achieving a quality product is a nightmare. Well, Testsigma addresses all these pain points. Imagine writing the test case in plain English, which executes like a charm. Testsigma is an Gen AI-powered test platform that allows you to write tests in simple English. 



Unlike Selenium, Testsigma doesn&#8217;t require any complicated setup or infrastructure management. The tests can be recorded, or you can even write your own; same tests can be executed on 800+ browsers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-features-of-testsigma">Features of Testsigma</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Ability to record the tests or write your tests.</li><li>No coding knowledge is required, and tests can be written in plain English language.</li><li>Manual testers can quickly learn and upgrade themselves to the automation world.</li><li>Feature to Test on Mobile devices without complicated setup.</li><li>No need to maintain infrastructure; Testsigma takes care of that.</li><li>Supports multiple types of tests such as API Tests, End to End tests, and Visual Tests.</li><li>Supports all major DevOps tools.</li><li>Faster execution and instant reports and analytics,</li></ul>



In addition, Testsigma has a community-driven plugin marketplace where you can easily hook any plugins to your test.&nbsp;



Comparing Selenium and Testsigma, Testsigma can save a lot of time and effort. Selenium testers mostly spend time setting up, configuring, and debugging issues by losing the main focus of writing the automation scripts. Testsigma, on the other hand, takes all those burdens and complications of configuration and setup, enabling testers to focus on their automation script and execution happily.

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