In this present era of digitization, end-users can use websites and apps from several modern devices like smartphones, desktops, and even tablets. So, app testers must perform cross-device testing. This approach will help provide a smooth user experience across all of these configurations. Using cross-device testing, the testers can also identify and address compatibility issues that might arise on different devices.
With this article, we will dive deep into the importance of executing cross-device testing. We will also list some of the best practices that can help testers provide a consistent and enjoyable user experience. This experience is very important to creating a positive brand reputation.
Why Cross-Device Testing is Important
Currently, users can use many portable devices that are easily available on the market. Some of the common examples are smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Due to this massive change, end-users want websites to function smoothly and accurately across all the available devices. If the testers fail to provide this consistent experience, it can result in user frustration, abandonment, and ultimately loss of customers.
Let us go through some of the most important parameters that justify the importance of integrating cross-device testing in a modern app development process:
● Diverse User Base
As we already mentioned earlier, modern users access websites and apps from a diverse range of devices. Each of these devices is unique as they have different screen sizes, resolutions, and capabilities. So, in case the developers ignore this diversity, they can alienate a massive portion of their target audience.
● Brand Reputation
If the testers provide an inconsistent experience across devices, they will dramatically damage the reputation of their brand. This is because users relate a poor experience with the quality of products or services. So, this entire approach can negatively impact the brand trust and loyalty.
● SEO Benefits
SEO ranking algorithms have gone through many changes recently. These changes have impacted the ranking system in search results. Search engines now give priority to mobile-friendly websites in their search results. So, if the testers fail to optimize for multiple mobile devices, they can lead to lower search visibility and reduce organic traffic on the website.
● Conversion Rates
A seamless and smooth user experience has a massive role in improving the conversion rates of a brand. This is because users are more likely to complete transactions or improve content engagement when they can do so effortlessly across different devices. This process also has a role in massively reducing the bounce rates for the website content.
Best Practices for Cross-Device Testing
Certain best practices can help the testers ensure a seamless user experience across multiple devices and operating systems. To simplify this knowledge for the new testers, we have mentioned some of the most important practices on this list:
1. Identify Target Devices and Platforms
As we already mentioned earlier, there are thousands of devices available in the market. Moreover, thousands of new ones come to the market annually. So, it will become almost impossible for the app testers to guarantee the compatibility of their apps on all these target devices.
So, the testers must thoroughly survey their target audience and understand their requirements. Based on this data, they can create a list of their target devices and platforms that they should focus on during the application development and testing process. This list will not only help to streamline the entire development process but will also ensure a higher quality of end-user experience.
During this process, the tester should also consider the preferred features of the target audience, including screen size, operating system, browser, and input methods.
2. Prioritize Responsive Design
All of the present devices are unique in terms of screen sizes, display resolution, and orientation type. App testers must implement a responsive design in their app so that it can automatically adapt to all these changes. Moreover, the testers should also integrate responsive design testing to ensure that this design is functioning as intended.
During this process, the testers can integrate CSS media queries and flexible layouts, which can adjust the design and content based on the device’s capabilities. The testers should also test the website on different breakpoints to ensure a smooth transition between all of these.
3. Utilize Cross-Browser Testing Tools
All modern web browsers have their unique way of interpreting the test code. This variation can lead to rendering and functionality issues during the application execution process. To resolve this issue, the testers can integrate cross-browser testing platforms like LambdaTest.
LambdaTest supports more than 3000 different combinations of real devices, operating systems, and browser versions. Using this platform, the testers can also improve the test execution process with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. While using this platform, the testers can easily track the test instances using the real-time test activity log.
After executing the test cases, LambdaTest also generates a comprehensive test report, which consists of multiple screenshots and videos.
4. Test Across Multiple Operating Systems
Other than executing the test cases on multiple browser versions, the testers should also consider integrating different operating systems as per the audience base requirements. To perform this process, the testers must test the website or app on various operating systems, including Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac OS. This approach will ensure compatibility and consistent performance.
In case the app developing companies do not have the resources to set up and maintain a physical OS test bench, they can also use various emulators and simulators that are easily available in the present market. Using this software, the testers can replicate the environment of multiple devices to execute the test instances.
5. Conduct Performance Testing
The testers must remember that page load times and performances can massively vary depending on the device and network conditions. To analyze these variations, the testers can use modern tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools allow testers to analyze and optimize the website performance according to their required parameters.
While performing this process, the testers must aim for fast loading times and smooth interactions across all modern devices. Loading time is an important parameter, as various modern surveys show that users expect their websites to load within 2 seconds. The ultimate goal for this process is to massively elevate their end-user experience to expand the target audience.
6. Validate CSS, HTML and JavaScript
The testers must ensure that all the app codes are valid and semantic and follow the best practices that have been laid down for modern web development. To perform this process, the testers can use tools like W3C Markup Validation Service, ESLint, and CSS validator. All these tools help identify and fix issues with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code.
Code validation is an important process of the app testing cycle, as valid code is more likely to render consistently across different browser versions and devices. If testers fail to perform this process, the app or website might crash completely on other devices or browsers. Moreover, code validation will allow testers to roll out future updates seamlessly.
7. Test Touch Interactions
Most modern smartphones use touch gestures for all forms of interaction. In case your website or app also depends on touch interactions, including tapping, swiping, or pinching to zoom, the testers must test all these interactions on multiple touchscreen devices.
This approach will also help the companies to ensure that the touch targets are appropriately sized and spaced. This will allow the web UI to accommodate the variations in user fingers and thumbs. Using this approach, the testers can avoid incidences of accidental types or gestures.
Although the testers can test these processes using emulators or simulators, we suggest the inclusion of real devices. This is because simulation software cannot replicate the physical parameters of a device, such as a broken display, low battery, or user interaction errors. All these factors have a crucial role in evaluating the performance of touch interactions.
8. Accessibility Testing
Accessibility is important to provide an inclusive user experience. To perform this process, the testers must test their website or app for accessibility standards, including web content accessibility guidelines. The testers should also ensure that users with disabilities can navigate and interact with the content efficiently.
The inclusion of assistive technologies like voice commands or screen readers can also help in this approach. The testers must remember that various countries have implemented strict guidelines regarding accessibility standards. So, if the app companies do not comply with these guidelines, they might face geographical bans.
9. Automate Testing Where Possible
Modern websites or apps consist of different elements that require thorough testing. So, if the developers adopted traditional manual testing to complete all these processes, it would not only take them several months but would also be inaccurate due to human errors.
So, we suggest that testers integrate automation testing wherever possible to not only improve the testing efficiency but also streamline the app development process. Using automation testing, testers can run all the repetitive test instances using pre-determined test scripts.
The testers can utilize various modern frameworks like Appium, Selenium, or Cypress to automate the test instances for functionality, compatibility, and performance testing. However, the testers must remember that automation testing should not be adopted as a complete replacement for manual testing.
This is because there are certain test cases, like exploratory testing and visual interpretation testing, that rely on human developers.
Moreover, the app tests must remember that automation testing comes with a significantly high initial expense as it requires the inclusion of various libraries, dependencies, and frameworks, which are crucial for its functioning.
10. Continuously Monitor and Iterate
Finally, the testers must remember that cross-device testing is not a one-time task but a continuously ongoing process. So, they must constantly monitor the website or app’s performance across different devices and platforms. The testers should also gather feedback, prioritize improvements based on real-time usage patterns, and analyze analytics data.
This approach will help them to iterate the app design and development process to address any emerging issues or opportunities for further performance optimization.
The Bottom Line
Based on all the factors that are discussed in this article, we can easily conclude that cross-device testing is an important part of delivering a seamless user experience that meets the expectations of a modern, diverse digital target audience. By using all the best practices that we discussed in this article, testers can ensure that users can access the content or services effortlessly regardless of how they choose to connect.
Read More: The Evolution of AI in PPC Advertising: Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Empowerment.
