Even the most successful apps and websites have restrictions about which devices they formally support.
How to prioritize testing coverageĪs mentioned above, you’re never going to be able to test every single device and browser version in the world. Just because a bug isn’t on all browsers/devices doesn’t mean that it isn’t a critical issue.
But the reality is that a device-specific bug could mean many of your users couldn’t even open the app without it crashing. If all environment-specific bugs were as minor as, “the browser bar icon is missing in Firefox,” it might not be worth the time and effort of testing across browsers/devices. This is the most important reason to do cross-browser/device testing. There can be major bugs that only affect certain environments Read on to find out more about why cross browser testing is important – and how to do it right.
As with most things, finding a balance is key. But how do you make sure you discover these environment-specific bugs?Īnd even after finding them, how do you prioritize them? After all, your app or website is never going to look completely perfect for 100% of possible device/browser/screen size combinations. If you work in software development, it’s a good idea to remember that to a user encountering it, that “ edge case” bug is everything. As an everyday user, when you encounter a bug, you don’t usually stop and think, “Maybe this issue is only happening on Chrome version 89 on Windows 10!” And why should you? Most people expect websites and apps to work properly on their system – especially if they’re not using an esoteric old version of Internet Explorer.