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How to Emulate the Latest Safari Browser Online

Browser emulators are ideal for testing how responsive a site is. The term ‘browser emulator’ refers to software that imitates the functionality of various web browsers. For instance, a Safari emulator aims to emulate Safari. 

Emulators help attain the exact look and feel of an actual Safari browser when a website is launched on it. Safari is a popular browser exclusive to Apple devices. Although Apple has discontinued its usage in other operating systems, users can download older versions if they want to test its features.

You need to use a cross-browser testing tool, a virtual machine, or an emulator to emulate Safari browser online. This helps evaluate if a website is working as per expectations.

Table Of Contents

• 1 Can You Run the Safari Browser on Windows 10 & 11?
• 2.1 Use a Virtual Machine
• 2.2 Use Cross-Browser Testing Tools
• 3 How to Test Safari Browser on Windows?
• 4.1 How to Emulate Safari on Linux?
• 5.1 How to Emulate Safari on Chrome
• 5.2 How to Emulate Safari in Firefox
• 5.3 How to Emulate Safari on Internet Explorer?
• 5.4 How to Emulate Safari on Edge?
• 6 Emulate Safari Browser Online 
• 8.1 Can you emulate Safari on PC?
• 8.2 How do I emulate a device in Safari?
• 8.3 How do I test Safari online?

Can You Run the Safari Browser on Windows 10 & 11?

A segment of users wishes to use Safari as a default browser on Windows 10 and 11. This is because of its user-friendly design and speed. Safari runs parallel with popular browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox when it comes to its outstanding performance. However, there is a catch. 

Even if you can download Safari on Windows, you risk your system because you can face potential security issues. The overall performance of your PC might even get compromised if you download expired or old versions of the software. Apple, therefore, has discontinued offering Safari as a standalone browser for any other operating system, including Windows. 

However, you can install the browser as a substitute browser on any PC that runs the operating system of Microsoft from unofficial online platforms. Concludingly, we can say that there is currently no Safari emulator for Windows. 

No Safari emulator is dedicated to running on any version of Windows, be it Windows 10 or 11. However, many websites offer users the option of testing Safari on Windows.

How Can I Test Websites on Safari Without Mac? 

Safari has been deemed the second most popular browser in 2022 and is the native default browser of Apple devices. It is an ideal browser for testing any online product or site because of its fast responsiveness.

However, one of the biggest challenges most software testers and website developers face is the lack of a Mac (iMac or Macbook). You are primarily required to have a Mac for both automated and manual testing in the Safari browser because this browser is platform-specific.

To address this problem, you can use the following hacks to test your product on the Safari browser:-

Use a Virtual Machine

You don’t need to worry about not having a Mac to run your tests on the Safari browser. To do so, you can easily conduct them on a Windows local host with the help of a virtual machine by using your PC or system as the server. 

Numerous virtual machines are available for you to choose from, and they will run any browser inside Linux or Windows. 

All you need to do is configure a handful of settings at the hardware and the software level (choosing the amount of disk space and RAM to allocate to each OS). Your computer, however, needs to have enough power to sustain this configuration. 

Use Cross-Browser Testing Tools

It is imperative to run any website on multiple browsers to ensure a smooth-sailing experience for visitors. To overcome the challenge of testing websites on Safari without a Mac, you opt for cross-browser testing tools. These tools will allow you to see how the website functions and looks on multiple browsers in one go. It does not require additional costs and is ideal for testing various websites on Safari. 

What Tools Do You Use for Cross-Browser Testing? 

You can easily use special tools to test cross-browser compatibility. This will allow you to check the overall outlook of a website in numerous browsers as well as mobile devices.

Advantages of Cross-Browser Testing

The advantages of using a cross-browser testing platform are listed below:-

• It saves time: With cross-browser testing, you can check your website for any hidden bugs or glitches before launching it. This helps save money and time because it detects issues before publishing the website. 
• Test on local and on-premise machines: With cross-browser testing, you can run test cases and websites on any OS environment on any local system behind firewalls.
• Numerous test reporting procedures: You can choose any preferred reporting from videos, images, and the like for better understanding.
• Real test environments: You can seamlessly check your cross-browser compatibility on actual browsers to identify every kink and bug in your website or application.
• Secure customer privacy: These platforms take stringent measures to help maintain the privacy of every customer.
• Broad test coverage: Most platforms for browser testing are codeless because they are AI or NLP-powered. This helps in reaching a broader test coverage.
• Debugging is easy: The debugging features in cross-browser testing platforms are top-notch to help deliver bug-free websites seamlessly.
• Easy CI/CD integration: Most cross-browser platforms have convenient CI/CD pipelines for managing faster and continuous delivery.
• 24*7 test runs: Cloud-based cross-browser testing platforms help run test suites 24*7 to conduct faster and more efficient testing with the least effort.
• Requires no additional coding: You need not have prior knowledge of CSS or HTML coding for cross-browser testing. They are user-friendly and can even be used by beginners.

Common Cross-Browser Testing Tools

If you cannot use emulators or have access to actual devices, you can opt for cloud-based emulators. One of the biggest advantages of using cloud-based emulators rather than local emulators or real devices is automating unit tests for your site across various platforms. 

To make things easy for you, we have consolidated a list of top-tier testing sites and cloud-based emulators:-

Testsigma is a reliable and comprehensive test automation platform. With Testsigma, you can run automated tests for your applications and software seamlessly. It helps ensure the compatibility of your website or application across various browsers.

It is highly scalable as a cloud-based test automation platform where you can run parallel tests and even write automated tests in simple English. Besides, the platform is ideal for both visual and functional testing. We have listed some of the best advantages of using Testsigma as a cross-browser testing platform:-

• Covers over 2000+ native browser or device combinations
• Helps track issues with test logs
• Enables local testing functionality
• Runs automated tests in parallel and gets results fast 
• Performs automated screenshot testing and Video Responsive testing 
• Tools like Jira, Slack, and others are available for integration 
• Offers geo-location testing 

BrowserStack

BrowserStack is an online testing platform for seamless manual and automated testing. You need to choose an appropriate operating system, a device type, a browser version, and a URL for browsing. BrowserStack offers a reliable hosted virtual machine for user interaction.

You can easily run many emulators all at the same time without having to change screens. You can even test out the look and feel of your website or app across numerous browsers and devices. Some advantages you can reap out of using Browserstack as a cross-browser testing platform are as follows:-

• Ability to reproduce, debug and solve issues to launch bug-free websites and apps. 
• Built for all kinds of teams, starting from Engineering, Marketing, Product, Support, and Growth for testing, collaborating, and delivering quality.
• Highly scalable and can accommodate large teams for successfully shipping out applications and websites.

LambdaTest is another widely used online testing platform where users can perform manual cross-browser testing. You can run a combination of multiple operating systems and browsers at once. You can even record videos of complicated bugs and share them via Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Besides, the platform allows you to speed up your testing by running parallel testing. Some of the best features are:-

• You can test multiple browsers on any OS environment or browser of your choice. 
• It has a highly scalable cloud infrastructure. 
• It is highly secure and reliable for performing automated cross-browser testing .
• It offers high execution speeds as well as fast, automated screenshots.
• With its handy reporting feature and detailed integration, you can easily analyze your test runs and immediately send reports.

BrowserShots 

Browsershots is an open-source online platform that offers developers an easy and user-friendly way to run tests for checking a website’s compatibility with a browser. It also allows screenshotting your web design in numerous operating systems and browsers. BrowserShots is completely free of cost, which is convenient for checking how your website looks across multiple browsers.

How to Test Safari Browser on Windows?

Testing Safari Browser on Windows can be challenging because Safari is primarily designed for macOS and iOS platforms. However, there are a few approaches you can consider to test Safari on a Windows machine:

• Remote testing services: Utilize remote testing services such as BrowserStack or Sauce Labs, which offer virtual machines with different operating systems and browsers, including Safari on macOS. These services allow you to access and test Safari on real macOS environments directly from your Windows machine through a web browser.
• macOS virtual machines: Set up a macOS virtual machine (VM) on your Windows computer using virtualization software like VMware or VirtualBox. You can install Safari on the macOS VM and perform testing as you would on a native macOS environment.
• Remote access to macOS device: If you have access to a physical macOS device, you can remotely connect to it from your Windows machine using remote desktop software like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, or Chrome Remote Desktop. This allows you to control and test Safari on the macOS device without needing to physically access it.
• Cross-browser testing tools: Some cross-browser testing tools like BrowserStack or Sauce Labs offer a feature called “Interactive Testing” where you can remotely access and interact with Safari browsers running on real macOS devices from your Windows machine.

Cloud-based test automation platforms: Consider using a cloud-based test automation platform like Testsigma, which provides access to real macOS environments with Safari installed. Testsigma allows you to run automated tests on Safari Browsers without needing physical access to macOS devices.

Emulate Safari Across Other Different OS

There are separate pathways for different operating systems when it comes to emulating Safari. We have consolidated the best ways to emulate Safari on the following OS:-

How to Emulate Safari on Linux?

To emulate Safari on Linux, you can follow two methods.

• Installing Safari using WINE.
• Using WINE and PlayOnLinux provides a graphical user interface (UI) for WINE. 
• Using a virtual visualization application for cross-browser testing

Emulate Safari Using Various Browsers

There are several browsers available that users use at their convenience. This is why you must test it on every possible platform before launching your website or application. Down below, we have listed the various ways you can emulate Safari on numerous browsers:-

How to Emulate Safari on Chrome

To emulate Safari on Chrome, you can use websites such as TestingBot or Chrome extensions such as BrowserStack. BrowserStack is a very reliable solution that allows you to initiate testing sessions with a large number of device and browser combinations. You can immediately set up a Safari testing environment by clicking on the BrowserStack extension icon in your Chrome browser.

Alternatively, you can use these steps to emulate Safari using the Developer tools:

• Hit the Control + Shift + I keys to open the Developer tools environment
• Go to the Network tab and click on Network conditions
• Go to the User Agent section and unselect the ‘Use browser default’ radio button and click on the dropdown with the ‘custom’ label
• Scroll down till you can see the devices under Safari, and then select the device (Mac, iPad etc.) you want to emulate Safari with

How to Emulate Safari in Firefox

Firefox is notably one of the most popular browsers used by millions worldwide. If you want to emulate Safari in Firefox, you have to use visualization software which you can download as a browser extension or turn to a cross-browser testing website. The latter option is completely free of cost, hassle-free, and requires no technological prowess.

How to Emulate Safari on Internet Explorer?

Internet Explorer is one of the oldest browsers known to mankind. Although quite rarely used, it is still surprisingly used to this day. If you still use Internet Explorer to this day, you can emulate Safari on Internet Explorer with a cross-browser testing platform or an additionally installed extension. 

How to Emulate Safari on Edge?

Edge is a popular browser developed by Microsoft. You can emulate other browsers by changing the user string. If you want to emulate Safari on Edge, you need to follow the steps listed below:-

• Open Microsoft Edge and visit the link you wish to test
• Hit the F12 key to open the Developer tools environment
• Go to the User Agent section and unselect the ‘Select automatically’ radio button and click on the dropdown
• Scroll down till you can see the devices under Safari and then select the device (Mac, iPad etc.) you want to emulate Safari with

Emulate Safari Browser Online 

Although the ideal way to emulate Safari is by using an open-source testing platform, some other ways to do the same have been listed below:-

• Using browser widgets
• Downloading older versions of Safari, like Safari 5.1.7 or previous versions 

Every application or website is built using codes using HTML, JavaScript, or CSS elements. Since they are launched online, it is impossible to ascertain which user will use which browser. Safari has its own technology, comes with its own set of challenges, and interprets every application in its own way. 

Therefore, to ensure that your website or application runs smoothly on Safari, you need to conduct cross-browser testing to maintain consistency in its display and functionality. Running automation tests is also integral to software testing. Testsigma is a great platform for seamlessly running automation tests. 

Frequently asked questions

Can you emulate safari on pc.

The Safari Browser has now been limited only to macOS and iOS. However, you can easily emulate this browser on Windows or any other OS by using a virtual machine with your computer as the server. 

How do I emulate a device in Safari?

To emulate a device in Safari, you can use the Simulator added with Xcode and debug/inspect those reviews remotely by using the Develop menu in Safari.

How do I test Safari online?

To run a website on a Safari browser without a Mac, you can use a cross-browser testing tool or an online testing platform. 

Suggested Reading

Android Emulator Online

Adhithi is having 9+ years of experience in automation testing as well as manual testing. She is a QA, blogger and open source contributor. She loves exploring new tools and technologies, and gadgets and sharing her experience by writing blogs and making vlogs.

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Emulate and Test Other Browsers

Your job doesn't end with ensuring your site runs great across Chrome and Android. Even though Device Mode can simulate a range of other devices like iPhones, we encourage you to check out other browsers solutions for emulation.

• When you don't have a particular device, or want to do a spot check on something, the best option is to emulate the device right inside your browser.
• Device emulators and simulators let you mimic your development site on a range of devices from your workstation.
• Cloud-based emulators let you automate unit tests for your site across different platforms.

Browser emulators

Browser emulators are great for testing a site's responsiveness, but they don't emulate differences in API, CSS support, and certain behaviors that you'd see on a mobile browser. Test your site on browsers running on real devices to be certain everything behaves as expected.

Firefox' Responsive Design View

Firefox has a responsive design view that encourages you to stop thinking in terms of specific devices and instead explore how your design changes at common screen sizes or your own size by dragging the edges.

Edge's F12 Emulation

To emulate Windows Phones, use Microsoft Edge's built-in emulation .

Since Edge does not ship with legacy compatibility, use IE 11's Emulation to simulate how your page would look in older versions of Internet Explorer.

Device emulators and simulators

Device simulators and emulators simulate not just the browser environment but the entire device. They're useful to test things that require OS integration, for example form input with virtual keyboards.

Android Emulator

Stock Browser in Android Emulator

At the moment, there is no way to install Chrome on an Android emulator. However, you can use the Android Browser, the Chromium Content Shell and Firefox for Android which we'll cover later in this guide. Chromium Content Shell uses the same Chrome rendering engine, but comes without any of the browser specific features.

The Android emulator comes with the Android SDK which you need to download from here . Then follow the instructions to setup a virtual device and start the emulator .

Once your emulator is booted, click on the Browser icon and you'll be able to test your site on the old Stock Browser for Android.

Chromium Content Shell on Android

Android Emulator Content Shell

To install the Chromium Content Shell for Android, leave your emulator running and run the following commands at a command prompt:

Now you can test your site with the Chromium Content Shell.

Firefox on Android

Firefox Icon on Android Emulator

Similar to Chromium's Content Shell, you can get an APK to install Firefox onto the emulator.

Download the right .apk file from https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/releases/latest/ .

From here, you can install the file onto an open emulator or connected Android device with the following command:

iOS Simulator

The iOS simulator for Mac OS X comes with Xcode, which you can install from the App Store .

When you're done, learn how to work with the simulator through Apple's documentation .

Modern IE VM

Modern.IE Virtual Machines let you access different versions of IE on your computer via VirtualBox (or VMWare). Choose a virtual machine on the download page here .

Cloud-based emulators and simulators

If you can't use the emulators and don't have access to real devices, then cloud-based emulators are the next best thing. A big advantage of cloud-based emulators over real devices and local emulators is that you can automate unit tests for your site across different platforms.

• BrowserStack (commercial) is the easiest to use for manual testing. You select an operating system, select your browser version and device type, select a URL to browse, and it spins up a hosted virtual machine that you can interact with. You can also fire up multiple emulators in the same screen, letting you test how your app looks and feels across multiple devices at the same time.
• SauceLabs (commercial) allows you to run unit tests inside of an emulator, which can be really useful for scripting a flow through your site and watch the video recording of this afterwards on various devices. You can also do manual testing with your site.
• Device Anywhere (commercial) doesn't use emulators but real devices which you can control remotely. This is very useful in the event where you need to reproduce a problem on a specific device and can't see the bug on any of the options in the previous guides.
• LambdaTest (commercial) will help you to perform manual cross browser testing on a combination of 2000+ browsers & operating systems. Users will be able to record video of complex bugs and eve share it via integrations like MS Teams, Slack and more. Users can speed-up their testing by running tests in parallel.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2015-04-13 UTC.

Test any website on Safari browser Emulator online

Having a cross-browser compatible site is a vital thing for any web developer. They use different methods in order to obtain perfectly displayed sites in all browsers. In our article we will talk about the testing site while using Safari emulator online and the reasons for testing sites via emulators.

Try testing for free right now.

• Safari – ​the second most popular browser among users

Installing Safari on a Windows machine

Advantages of using safari emulator for web testing, frequently asked questions.

Thanks to emulators, testers get a real possibility to test the functionality of sites, web systems, using a significant number of devices and operating systems that are used on a daily basis by end users of the web site. Their importance cannot be overemphasized when running tests on a wide variety of devices and systems, because it is impossible to have access to all the mobile devices and web components existing in the world. So how to view website in Safari using different operating systems? And why is it important to test websites on Safari?

Safari – the second most popular browser among users

StatCounter , a web traffic analysis tool, has released a report on the global browser market. Thanks to it, the most popular programs became known. Analysts took into account data for both mobile browsers and desktop programs. As it turned out, the most popular browser in the world is still Google Chrome (64.19%) and the second most popular browser is Safari (19.03%).

From this statistic it makes clear why performing Safari browser test for compatibility is important and why testers should not neglect this browser. It is worth mentioning that Safari browser is available for Mac computers and laptops, as well as iPhone and iPad mobile devices. Designed specifically for Apple devices, Safari runs faster than other browsers and uses less battery power, besides that it is a default browser for Apple devices. Apple's Safari Internet browser provides ample opportunities for surfing the Internet and working on the Internet.

That is why it is highly recommended to test site in Safari as the share of users with Apple devices is increasing day by day and as we know, having a cross-browser compatible site is a first step towards success. Knowing that Safari is one of the most demanded browsers, how to perform Safari check while not having macOS? Let’s try to figure it out.

The popularity of Safari on Mac led developers to adapt their software for other platforms, and in 2007 a starter version for Windows was released. Unfortunately, support for the Windows version ended back in 2012 - Safari 5.1.7 (5.34.57.2) for Windows was the last one, and it is already outdated and not updated. However, it is still used by some users today, so testers can perform Safari test on Windows , unfortunately it will not be the latest version.

It is a known fact that Safari for Windows stands out for its decent speed and characteristic interface. All this is overshadowed by the lack of support for many modern technologies. The browser is not able to display the content of many sites, including YouTube and even, so to speak, the native Apple.com. One of the reasons why Apple has stopped supporting Safari for Windows is that the latest could not become the main browser on Microsoft systems.

So, what is left for web developers and QA testers when they need to test website on Safari? Yes, you are right, they can emulate Safari on Windows or any other operating system and enjoy seamless testing. In such a way we came to one more burning topic like Safari emulator.

We all know that while QA testers may encounter a problem when the required device is not available. Definitely, the first option is to buy a device.However, if you require lots of devices or need to perform testing immediately? Deploying virtual machines demands lots of system resources as well as money and can cause system conflicts. That is why turning to Safari browser emulator tools is an excellent idea. Of course, it cannot overshadow testing on real devices but also has significant advantages:

• quick test site in Safari when Mac device is unavailable;
• testing complex or dangerous scenarios that are impossible or not recommended to be tested in real browsers;
• when it is necessary to work with an older version of the browser within a modern technical architecture;
• when there is no version of the browser for your OS (Safari emulator for Windows);
• doesn’t require maintenance of the device;
• no difficulties to get devices that are only available in foreign countries;
• is not time consuming solution;
• safari browser emulator online doesn’t require installation of your computer.

Perform Safari browser test without having any Mac device is sometimes quite challenging. As Apple Safari is the first browser that blocks third party cookies by default.

That is why Testers choose Mac browser emulator solutions like Comparium - a free cross browser testing tool that facilitates Safari browser testing no matter the OS you have installed on your computer.

Can I use Safari not on Mac? I mean, I have Linux and I need to perform tests in Safari but do not want to install Safari or use a virtual machine. Some kind of online emulator or service maybe?

There are lots of testing services on the Internet. Can recommend Comparium. It is a free solution and allows you to test Safari without installing it on your computer or any additional software.

• Cross Browser Testing
• Live Testing
• Visual Testing
• Smart-TV Testing
• Automated App Testing
• Live App Testing
• Codeless Automation
• Documentation

Safari Browser Testing

Test Safari online, running on macOS and iOS. No emulators or simulators, only Safari running on real Apple devices and physical mobile devices. Signup & Start Testing for Free!

Trusted by some of the world's most innovative companies

Test on different safari browsers online.

Interactively test your website with Safari's native Developer Tools.

Adjust the screen-resolution on the fly or resize your browser to do responsive testing.

Test your website with Safari from different regions in the world.

Instant access to different Safari versions, test on real Apple products.

• macOS Sonoma: Safari 17
• macOS Ventura: Safari 16
• macOS Monterey: Safari 15
• macOS BigSur: Safari 14
• macOS Catalina: Safari 13
• macOS Mojave: Safari 12
• OSX High Sierra: Safari 11
• OSX Sierra: Safari 10
• OSX El Capitan: Safari 9
• OSX Yosemite: Safari 8

Safari Testing On Windows Machines

Are you using Windows on your computer and want to test something on Safari? No need to setup a virtual machine, simply test your website on a remote Safari desktop browser in the cloud. It does not matter if you are using Windows 11, 10, Vista or XP on a laptop, pc or any other device. TestingBot will stream the contents of a remote macOS machine to your screen. Test any version of Safari on Windows, developer tools included.

TestingBot provides access to various Safari versions, ranging from Safari 8 up to 17 on Desktop and Mobile Safari running on iOS 8 up to 17.

Geolocation Testing on Safari

Perform geolocation testing in various regions across the world. Test Geo Targeting, Geo Blocking and Geo Localization in 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Spain, China and more.

Automated Safari Screenshots

Take automated screenshots of your website on various Safari versions, running on macOS desktops. Perform visual comparison testing with various Safari versions, running on various macOS versions: OSX Yosemite up to macOS Ventura

Safari Tech Preview & Safari Beta

Manual, Automated and Visual testing on Safari Technology Preview and Safari Beta. Make sure your website works and looks correctly on Apple's upcoming Safari web browser versions. Available on macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura.

Automated Mobile Safari Testing with Appium

Use Appium to connect to our grid of physical iOS devices and run automated mobile Safari tests against your website.

Run multiple Appium tests simultaneously, shortening your total Appium execution time.

Since Appium uses the WebDriver API, you can write your tests in any language and run on TestingBot.

Test on the devices that matter, representing a large share of global device usage.

Local Cross Browser Safari Testing

Use our secure tunnel to quickly and easily test your staging website on any Safari browser version on macOS and iOS.

Once you download and start our tunnel, you can immediately test your webapps running on your computer or internal network on any browser in our cloud, straight from your browser.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do i need to test my website on safari.

Safari has a market share of about 4% in the global browser market. This browser is built and maintained by Apple and supports all the latest browser technologies.

Safari is the default browser on all macOS operating systems, which means a large portion of macOS users will use this browser for their day-to-day browsing. Test Safari's private browsing capabilities, open multiple tabs or test the cross site tracking prevention.

What is Safaridriver?

Safaridriver is a utility, shipped by default in every macOS operating system, which allows Selenium to automate Safari through a HTTP based API.

To use Safaridriver, you need to make sure it is enabled by running this command in a terminal window: safaridriver --enable

How can I automate Mobile Safari?

We recommend using Appium, which has built-in support to communicate with iOS Safari. Simply run your Appium scripts against the TestingBot device grid.

TestingBot will instruct the iOS device to open Safari. Your Appium script will then instrument the mobile Safari browser in an automated way.

How does TestingBot help with Safari testing?

TestingBot provides a grid of real browsers, ranging from Safari 8 up to 17 on Desktop.

Next to desktop browsers, TestingBot provides access to physical iOS devices, capable of running mobile Safari tests.

Can I test Safari on iPhone and iPad?

TestingBot provides access to physical iOS devices, located in our datacenter.

You can run your automated or manual tests against iOS Mobile Safari on our iPhones and iPads.

How to test on older Safari versions?

TestingBot provides access to Safari versions from Safari 8 up to Safari 17.

Why is TestingBot the preferred choice for Safari Testing?

TestingBot provides real Safari browsers, ranging from Safari 8 up to Safari 17. You can use the developer tools that come with Safari to debug webpages, inspect elements and run performance tests.

You can test the intelligent tracking prevention, test Safari extensions, open multiple tabs and perform all other actions on a remote Safari instance.

How can I test on Mobile Safari?

TestingBot provides access to both iOS simulators and physical iOS devices. Use the developer tools to inspect webpages running on Mobile Safari, straight from TestingBot's Manual Testing service.

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How to Simulate Mobile Devices with Device Mode in Chrome

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Developer Tools

Touch-enabled emulation, the mobile emulator device toolbar, css media query bars, emulated device options, bandwidth throttling simulation, emulated mobile sensors, remote real device debugging.

• Great! I Don’t Need Any Devices Now!

FAQs About Chrome Mobile Emulator

Website testing has become increasingly complex. The days of checking functionality in a couple of browsers are long gone. Your latest masterpiece must be rigorously evaluated on a range of mobile, tablet and desktop devices with differing OSs, screen resolutions, and capabilities. In extreme cases, it could take as long as the original development.

The process is complicated further by touch screens, hybrid devices, and high-density displays. If you’re coding on a regular PC with a mouse and keyboard, it’s difficult to appreciate how your interface will operate. Features such as mouse hover won’t necessarily work and your application could be inoperable. But how can you test your code on a range of operating systems during development and avoid the pain of managing and switching between multiple devices?

Fortunately, all modern browsers offer mobile emulation tools, and one of the best can be found in the Chrome browser. It can help identify early problems without leaving the comfort of your PC and development environment.

Start Chrome, navigate to the web page you want to test and open the Developer Tools (Menu > Tools > Developer Tools, Cmd + Opt + I on macOS or F12 / Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows and Linux).

You can now enable the browser emulator by clicking the Toggle device toolbar icon in the top left:

A device simulation will now appear:

While not quite an iOS or Android emulator, a number of mobile devices running both platforms can be selected as presets. The dimensions of the emulated screen can be changed when Responsive is selected as the device type.

Move your mouse over the device to see a circular “touch” cursor. This will react to touch-based JavaScript events such as touchstart , touchmove and touchend . Mouse-specific events and CSS effects should not occur.

Hold down Shift then click and move your mouse to emulate pinch zooming.

It’s worth spending a little time familiarizing yourself with the toolbar and menu above the Chrome emulator:

The default controls are:

• the device type (or Responsive )
• the current resolution
• the scale (the screen can be zoomed in or out to fit better in the emulator pane)
• the network speed
• a portrait/landscape toggle button

The three-dot menu allows you to show or hide additional controls:

• the device frame (if available, a graphic of the phone or tablet)
• CSS media query bars (see below )
• a pixel ruler
• add device pixel ratios
• add device types
• capture a screenshot (including the device frame if shown)
• capture a full-page screen shot

Select Show media queries from the three-dot menu to view a graphical color-coded representation of all media queries set in the CSS.

• BLUE: queries which target a maximum width
• GREEN: queries which target widths within a range
• ORANGE: queries which target a minimum width

Any bar can be clicked to set the emulator screen to that width.

The drop-down menu on the left allows you to select a device. Several dozen presets are provided for popular smart phones and tablets, including iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Nexus tablets, Samsung Galaxy, and so on.

Not all devices are presented at once. Click Edit… at the bottom of the device drop-down or click the DevTools Settings cog icon and choose the Devices tab:

You can enable or disable devices or enter your own by defining:

• a classification such as “Mobile” or “Tablet”
• a browser user agent string
• the device resolution
• and pixel ratio (such as 2 for iPhone Retina screens where the pixel density is twice as high as the reported viewport resolution)

All browsers identify themselves with a user agent string sent on every HTTP header. This can be examined on the client or server-side and, during the dark days of web development, would be used to modify or provide a different user experience. In extreme cases, the viewer would be directed to a different site. The technique was always flawed but has become largely redundant owing to Responsive Web Design techniques, and it was unsustainable given the number of devices available on the market.

The throttling drop-down allows you to emulate slow network speeds typically experienced on mobile connections or dodgy hotel and airport Wi-Fi! You can use this to ensure your site or application loads quickly and remains responsive in all environments.

The throttling drop-down is available in the Network tab and Chrome’s device toolbar. You can set your own bandwidth configuration by clicking the DevTools Settings cog icon and choosing the Throttling tab:

Click Add custom profile then enter:

• the profile name
• the download speed in kilobits per second
• the upload speed in kilobits per second
• the latency in milliseconds (the typical delay when making a network request)

Smartphones and tablets often have sensors such as GPS, gyroscopes, and accelerometers, which aren’t normally present in desktop devices. These can be emulated in Chrome by choosing More tools , then Sensors from the Developer Tools main three-dot menu:

A new pane appears which allows you to define:

• The current latitude and longitude or select a major city from the drop-down. You can also select Location unavailable to emulate how your application reacts when the device cannot obtain a reliable GPS signal.
• The orientation. Several presets are available or you can move the device image by clicking and dragging.
• The touch response.
• An idle state to examine how an app reacts to a lock screen.

Finally, Google Chrome allows you to connect a real Android device via USB for remote device debugging. Enter in the address bar, ensure Discover USB devices is checked, then attach your phone or tablet and follow the instructions.

Chrome allows you to set up port forwarding so you can navigate to a web address on your local server on the device. Chrome’s preview pane shows a synchronized view of the device screen and you can interact either using the device or Chrome itself.

The full range of developer tools can be used including the Application tab to test Progressive Web Apps in offline mode. Note that, unlike a real application which requires HTTPS, Chrome permits PWAs to run from localhost over an HTTP connection.

Great! I Don’t Need Any Devices Now!

Chrome’s mobile browser emulator is useful and powerful, but it’s no substitute for interacting with your website or app on a real device to evaluate the full user experience.

You should also be aware that no device emulator is perfect. For example, Chrome shows a representation of the page on an iPhone or iPad but will not attempt to simulate the standards support or Safari quirks.

That said, for quick and dirty mobile testing, Chrome’s device emulation is excellent. It’s far easier than switching between real smart phones, and you’ll have all the developer tools at your disposal. It saves hours of effort.

What is Chrome Mobile Emulator?

Chrome Mobile Emulator is a feature provided by the Google Chrome web browser that allows users to simulate the experience of browsing the web on a mobile device directly from their desktop or laptop computer. This emulator is a part of the Chrome Developer Tools, a set of built-in tools designed to assist web developers in testing and optimizing their websites and web applications. With the Chrome Mobile Emulator, developers can select from a range of predefined mobile device profiles, such as various Android and iOS devices, and view their websites as they would appear on those specific devices. It allows developers to test responsiveness, ensuring that their websites or web apps adapt and display correctly on a variety of mobile devices. Chrome Mobile Emulator serves as a valuable tool for web developers, helping them ensure that their websites and web applications are mobile-friendly and provide a seamless user experience across a wide range of mobile devices. It accomplishes this by offering a comprehensive set of emulation features within the Chrome Developer Tools, making it easier to develop and optimize mobile web content without the need for physical access to multiple devices.

How to simulate a mobile device on Chrome?

To simulate a mobile device on the Google Chrome web browser, you can use the built-in developer tools. Here’s how to do it: Open Developer Tools: There are several ways to open Chrome’s Developer Tools. You can press F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I ( Cmd+Option+I on Mac) on your keyboard. Alternatively, right-click on a web page element and select “Inspect” from the context menu. You can also go to the Chrome menu (three dots in the top-right corner) > More Tools > Developer Tools . Toggle Device Toolbar: In the Developer Tools panel, you’ll find various tabs at the top. Look for the “Toggle Device Toolbar” icon, which is usually represented by a small device icon. It’s commonly located in the top-left corner of the Developer Tools panel. You can also activate it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+M ( Cmd+Option+M on Mac) on your keyboard. Choose a Device: Click on the “Toggle Device Toolbar” icon, and you’ll see a toolbar appear at the top of the web page. This toolbar allows you to select a specific device or device type from the dropdown menu. You can choose from various Android or iOS devices. Additionally, you can toggle the device orientation between portrait and landscape and adjust the viewport dimensions by clicking on the dimensions display. You can select from available presets or enter custom dimensions. Reload the Page: After selecting the desired device and orientation, you can simply refresh the web page you’re viewing. Chrome will then render the page as if it were displayed on the selected mobile device. You can interact with the page and test its responsiveness just as you would on a real mobile device. Access Additional Features: Within the Device Toolbar, you can use the “Network Conditions” tab to simulate different network speeds and conditions. This helps you evaluate how your website or web application performs under various network conditions. Additionally, the “Sensors” tab allows you to simulate various sensor inputs, such as geolocation.

Why is Chrome Mobile Emulator not accurate?

Chrome Mobile Emulator may not provide perfect accuracy in simulating the user experience on real mobile devices for several reasons. It primarily emulates the behavior of the Chrome browser, which may differ from other browsers used on mobile devices. Additionally, emulators cannot fully replicate hardware capabilities, varying operating systems, network complexities, and device-specific behaviors. Interaction methods, such as touch events, might not precisely mimic real devices. Moreover, emulators may not always keep up with the latest updates and changes in browsers and devices. While valuable for initial testing, using actual mobile devices for testing remains crucial to ensure a more accurate assessment of website or app performance across diverse platforms.

Can Chrome emulate Android?

Yes, Chrome Mobile Emulator is a feature provided by Chrome that allows users to simulate the experience of browsing the web on a mobile device directly from their desktop or laptop computer.

Craig is a freelance UK web consultant who built his first page for IE2.0 in 1995. Since that time he's been advocating standards, accessibility, and best-practice HTML5 techniques. He's created enterprise specifications, websites and online applications for companies and organisations including the UK Parliament, the European Parliament, the Department of Energy & Climate Change, Microsoft, and more. He's written more than 1,000 articles for SitePoint and you can find him @craigbuckler .

Cross-Browser Testing Tools (Free, Open Source, Paid)

October 2, 2023 Software Testing Magazine Software Testing Tools 6

When today’s applications run on various browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.) on different mobile or desktop devices with specific screen settings. This is why you need to perform cross-browser testing for your automated tests . This article lists the main desktop or online cross-browser testing tools available today. Some of these tools are open-source, some are commercial with a free plan. Use our contact form to make us aware of some cross broswer testing tools that we should add to this list.

Cross-browser testing is a software testing activity that check the quality of web applications across multiple browsers, devices and operating systems. Screen size, screen resolution, OS version, browser versions, JavaScript and CSS languages support are elements that impact how your users are viewing content on a moblie phone, a tablet or a desktop screen. Cross-browser testing helps you to understand and verify these different user experiences for the main devices and system used by your target audience.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when looking for a cross-browser testing tool:

• Are you testing on real devices vs. emulators/simulators?
• How many browsers, devices and operating systems are supported by the platform?
• How can you test: writing your own scripts, with a record & replay tool or supporting an existing software testing framework like Selenium?
• How much software testing power or which features do you need and get in the pricing plans: number of users, virtual location, testing time, parallel usage, support, external tool integration (bug tracking, continuous integration, test management, …), analytics, etc. ?

* October 2 2023 Added Colin Creevey, Datadog, Momentum Suite * June 26 2022 Added Headspin, Telerik Bitbar replaces CrossBrowserTesting.com, Experitest is renamed Digital.ai * September 27 2021: added Applitools, Ghost Inspector, Virtuoso

Applitools leverages Visual AI for a fresh approach to cross browser testing that is fast, secure, and stable with its Ultrafast Test Cloud. With Ultrafast Grid, you run your functional and visual tests once locally and it instantly renders all screens across all combinations of browsers, devices, and viewports. This is all done with security, stability, and speed, and with virtually no setup required. Website: https://applitools.com/

BitBar is an online testing service that allows testing on more than 2000 different browser, device, OS, and resolution combinations, either in live testing sessions or with automated tests using frameworks like Selenium or Appium. You can interact, swipe, and explore your website on real devices, making sure your customers get the right experience. You can make testing easy by recording sessions, focusing on actually finding bugs instead of documenting them. in just seconds. Website: https://smartbear.com/product/bitbar/

Browsera is an online cross-browser testing service that detects visual discrepancies between how different browsers display your website. Browsera will notify you of possible cross-browser layout problems it finds while testing your site. Instead of having to check out each screenshot on your own, you get a report detailing which pages have potential problems. You can quickly see the problems indicated as each screenshot is highlighted in the problematic areas. Website: http://www.browsera.com/

Browserling

Browsereling is a cross-browser testing tool that performs tests on real browsers running on real computers. It runs real desktop browsers on its own servers in virtual machines, not using use emulators or fake browsers. Testers can capture, save, and share screenshots of their web pages in all browsers. You can also annotate them and send bug reports this way. Website: https://www.browserling.com/

BrowserStack

BrowserStack provides Interactive web-based testing on 2000+ browsers and real devices instantly., from legacy versions of Internet Explorer, to the latest beta and developer releases of Edge, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Yandex. You can also use its Selenium grid to start testing instantly on 2000+ real mobile devices and desktop browsers. Website: https://www.browserstack.com/

CloudQA provides out of the box cross browser testing support. You can see how your page(s) look in different browsers. Simply provide the URL(s) and CloudQA will run in the background and access the page(s) via multiple browsers. We also support mobile Chrome emulator for testing. CloudQA will show you not only the screenshots of your page from each browser, but also provide other valuable information like performance metrics for each browser, page resource graph and HTML5 validation. Website: https://cloudqa.io/cross-browser-testing/

Comparium is a cross-browser testing tool that you can use to manage web browser testing on different browsers and operating system according to your choice. The supported browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.0, 8.0, Google Chrome 75.0, 74.0, 73.0, Mozilla Firefox 68.0, 67.0, and Safari 11.0. Perform visual compatibility testing across different web browsers. Comparium supports cross-browser testing on the following operating systems, namely, Windows 10, 7, Mac OS X Mojave, High Sierra, and Linux. Website: https://comparium.app/

Colin Creevey

Colin Creevey is an open source cross-browser screenshot testing tool for Storybook with fancy UI Runner. It features the usage of stories as tests and writing interaction tests. This tools supports Docker and is CI Ready. Website: https://git.io/creevey

Datadog is a commercial monitoring and testing platform. It aims to monitor critical user journeys and business transactions with intelligent, self-maintaining cross browser tests. You can create end-to-end tests with the codeless web recorder by clicking through applications just like end-users would, testing from various global locations, browsers, and devices. With Datadog you can configure test steps with advanced options such as assertions, variables, and subtests, easily analyzing test results with out-of-the-box metrics and dashboards. Website: https://www.datadoghq.com/

Digital.ai Continuous Testing

With Digital.ai Continuous Testing, you can test your sites and web applications across more than 1,000 real desktop browsers on SeeTest cloud real browser lab. You can perform manual web testing securely, even on a staging environment, using remote desktop and mobile browsers by connecting through a secure tunnel. Simplify web app testing by eliminating all errors before putting your work into production. You can also Perform large scale parallel test execution across +1,000 combinations of desktop and mobile browsers versions and operating systems, hosted in Experitest data centers around the globe. You can run Appium and Selenium tests without any modification directly from your IDE, using any testing framework such as Eclipse, IntelliJ, Visual Studio, TestNG, JUnit, etc. Tests can be programmed in any language (Java, C#, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, etc.) Website: https://digital.ai/continuous-testing

Ghost Inspector

Ghost Inspector is a online software testing tool that allows recording yourself walking through user journeys on your website and turn them in reproducible tests using our browser extension. You can then synchronize your recording to Ghost Inspector and run it as an automated test in the cloud. These tests can run on various versions of Chrome and Firefox, with a wide range of screen sizes that include mobile and tablet for testing responsive designs. Website: https://ghostinspector.com/

Headspin is an online sofware testing and software quality assurance platform that provides cross-browser testing features. You can target multple real mobile and browser testing devices with access to remote devices equipped with actual SIM cards through a secure global device cloud. Headsping allows running cross browser tests on real devices and test real user experience in locations around the globe, instantly adding more locations. Website: https://www.headspin.io/

Inflectra Rapise

Inflectra Rapise is a desktop Windows software testing tool. You can record a test script using one browser and then play it back using Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Rapise supports cross-browser testing because it uses the web browser Document Object Model (DOM) to interact with the current web page. Website: https://www.inflectra.com/rapise/highlights/cross-browser-testing.aspx

LambdaTest is a cross browser testing cloud solution that allows performing automated and live interactive cross browser testing on more than 2000 real browsers and operating systems online. You can test from different locations to make sure that users get perfect experience across all locations. It integrates with other software development tools like Jenkins, GitHub, TeamCity, SpecFlow or Slack. Website: https://www.lambdatest.com/

Momentum Suite

Momentum Suite is a commerecial cross platform E2E software testing solution. It allows to automate tests of web applications on both mobile and desktop platforms. You can define your functional tests with real web and mobile browsers. Website: https://momentumsuite.com/

Perfecto Web

Perfecto Web is an online testing platform that allows testing across browsers. You can create tests with Perfecto Codeless is AI-driven test automation creation based on Selenium or use an existing test automation frameworks like Selenium, Protractor, and WebdriverIO. The Smart Lab is the heart of Perfecto’s test platform. You have 24/7 access to the power of six global data centers. Smart, self-healing abilities provide unshakable stability. You’ll always test on real devices and browsers with real user conditions in our smart testing lab. Website: https://www.perfecto.io/

Sauce Labs is an online software testing platform where you can test on thousands of desktop and mobile browser/OS combinations in the cloud. Extended debugging provides browser console logs and network calls to gain insight into network requests and browser performance that can cause automated tests to fail, helping to speed root cause analysis. You can setup, manage, and view test results all from within your continuous integration server like Jenkins, MSFT VSTS or and Bamboo. Website: https://saucelabs.com/

Telerik Test Studio

Telerik Test Studio is a suite of tools for web test automation with cross-browser support and flexible web and mobile form factor coverage. It allows you to create tests with the help of a visual test recorder and automate your test runs with multiple browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Chrome Headless, and Chromium-based Edge. To simulate different devices, you choose from several predefined browser screen sizes or create the custom ones that you need for your test scenarios. Website: https://www.telerik.com/teststudio

TestingBot provides cloud-based Selenium and Appium Grids for testing websites and mobile applications. You have access to over 2000 browsers and devices which you can instantly start using for live and automated testing. You can automatically take screenshots of your web pages on the browsers you specify. Website: https://testingbot.com/

Virtuoso is a test automation platform that aims to take the manual work out of functional and visual test automation. Virtuoso combines NLP, RPA, and other AI techniques to deliver faster results at any scale in the cloud. You can increase test coverage with on-demand access to 2000+ browsers and real devices to test web and mobile applications. Website: https://www.virtuoso.qa/

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• functional testing
• test automation
• web testing

5 Comments on Cross-Browser Testing Tools (Free, Open Source, Paid)

I chose BrowEmAll ( https://www.browseemall.com/ ) solution. It is inexpensive and easy to use.

Thanks for this suggestion. I will add this in my nex update.

Hi, Thanks for the information. Your information is very helpful for those who want to choose a cross-browser testing tool.

I think the list is missing testgrid.io

Thank you for the info. I will include it in the next update.

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Tools and debug

All the tools available for web development are also helpful for progressive web app development, including libraries, frameworks, code editors, builders, developer tools, debuggers, and more. But when working with PWA-specific abilities, such as installability, service workers, offline support, and more, certain tools for PWA are extra helpful. Let's see them in action.

Simulators and devices

As mentioned in the Foundations chapter , you should use agnostic design patterns to offer the best experience to every user in every context. However, it's good practice to test your experiences on different devices.

You probably won't own dozens of physical devices, including iPhones, Android phones, tablets, and desktops or laptops with different operating systems. That's why simulators and emulators exist.

Simple simulators

Most developer tools within browsers let you test your PWAs in different screen sizes or network conditions while using a single desktop browser engine. Some of these tools can also force a different user agent under these simulations.

Some available simulators are:

• Chromium DevTools: Device Mode , network throttling and several sensor simulations available
• Firefox Developer Tools: Responsive Design Mode

Apple simulators

Apple offers the Simulator app (formerly known as iOS Simulator) which allows you to test your web app on different iPhones and iPads on various operating system versions.

The Simulator app is only available for macOS computers, and it comes with [Xcode, available in AppStore ; it simulates iOS and iPadOS with different device configurations. It includes the real Mobile Safari app and the Web.app engine used when your PWA is installed on the home screen, so the final experience you see is fairly representative of an actual device.

To launch the app, once you have installed Xcode, you can open the Simulator in the Xcode menu, by selecting Open Developer Tools then Simulator . Once in the simulator, you can open Safari as if you are in a real iPhone or iPad. You can open other devices by selecting File then Open Simulator menu.

Some useful shortcuts for web developers while using Simulator to test PWAs are:

• Command-Shift-H : go to the Home screen.
• Control-Command-Shift-H : access the App Switcher.
• Command-Right and Command-Left : rotate the device.

Simulator is not a virtual machine, but an app running on top of your macOS that looks like an iPhone or iPad, so it doesn't have its own TCP stack. Therefore, if you use localhost within Simulator, Safari will point to your macOS localhost device.

By default, Xcode only installs the latest version of iOS, but you can go to Xcode, use the Preferences menu, and download older Simulators from the Components tab.

It's good practice to test your PWA on the latest version of iOS, the previous minor version, and at least one previous major version.

Android emulators

The Android ecosystem offers different emulators, but the ones available within the Android SDK are the most commonly used.

As a PWA developer, you also need browsers in your Android emulator, which will add a layer of complexity to testing, because AOSP (Android Open Source Project) doesn't include Google Chrome or Play Store to download browsers. Therefore, not every Android emulator is helpful for PWA testing.

The Android SDK comes with two tools useful for emulation:

• SDK Manager: downloads and updates different operating system versions and plugins.
• AVD Manager: adds, edits, and deletes Android Virtual Devices (AVDs), each of them representing one device with one Android OS installed, similar to a virtual machine instance.

You can only install the Android SDK or Android Studio , a free IDE including the Android SDK with the emulators. With the SDK, you will have to use the command line to open and set up your emulators. With Android Studio, you can open the tools needed from the Welcome screen's menu. Once in the AVD Manager, you can create as many devices as you want, with different combinations of screen size, abilities, and Android OS version.

With an Android emulator, you can check your PWA installation support, the entire user experience, and if the abilities you are using are working as expected.

Using Google Chrome

To use Google Chrome in the Android emulator, you have to create an AVD with Play Services inside. To do that, make sure the SDK you use for your AVD has the Play icon, as you can see in the following image:

AVDs with Play services also include Play Store, so you can update your Chrome with the latest version after setting up your account with your Google account.

Using other browsers

If you use an AVD with Play services, you can also download browsers from the Play Store.

Most of the browsers available for Android, including Samsung Internet, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Firefox, and Brave, are available as APKs (Android Packages). If you have the APK for the browser you want to test, you can just drag the file to the emulator or install it through the command-line using ADB .

Desktop emulators

Emulating a different desktop computer is typically done via a virtual machine system, such as VirtualBox or VMWare. Even with these tools, emulating some environments is impossible, such as emulating macOS on Windows or Linux, and some other options may require a license, such as emulating Windows on macOS or Windows.

Using physical devices

Using actual devices to test your PWA is also a good idea. We don't need to own several devices as there are some cloud-based solutions where you can use physical devices remotely. There are some free solutions and some commercial solutions with a free-tier available.

One of the available solutions is Samsung Remote Test Lab , a free solution to test your PWA on Samsung devices, including phones, tablets, and foldable devices.

Remote inspection

When you want to debug your Progressive Web App in an actual device, a simulator, or an emulator, you may want to connect a remote inspection session with your desktop's browser tools.

There are commercial tools available, but all the browsers also offer ways to do it, including:

• WebKit Remote Inspector to connect to Safari and installed PWAs on iOS- and iPadOS-connected devices and simulators.
• Chromium DevTools Remote Debugging to connect to Chrome, Edge, Samsung Internet, and other Chromium-based browsers on Android and PWAs installed from those browsers, including connected physical devices and emulators.
• Firefox Remote Debugging to connect to Firefox for Android on connected actual devices and emulators.

Port forwarding for Android

When testing PWAs available on localhost on Android physical devices or emulators, you will have a problem, as localhost will point to the Android TCP stack and not your development machine.

You may want to use your local IP address as a replacement to localhost , but that's not a good idea as service workers and many abilities will only work with HTTPS connections, with the exception of localhost , so your PWA won't work offline or pass PWA criteria.

You can solve the problem by enabling port forwarding on a Chromium browser on your desktop computer. In that case, you can bridge a port on localhost on the Android device to any origin and port from your host computer, including your development computer's localhost . Check this guide for more information.

Chromium browsers

Chromium browsers offer many tools for debugging and testing Progressive Web Apps, starting from DevTools.

Most Chromium-based browsers, including Samsung Internet, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome, offer different channels, such as Stable, Beta, and Canary. You can install separate versions on desktop and Android to test your PWA on future versions of the browser. This allows you to build and test features that are not yet widely available, or to test deprecations and changes, and work out how your app will behave in newer versions.

Using remote inspection, you can use all these tools to debug and test your PWA on desktop and Android devices.

Service worker tools

Chromium DevTools has a complete set of tools to debug service workers and their APIs' "Application" tab. From the "Service Workers" section, you can:

• See service workers' installation status and lifecycle.
• Update and unregister the service worker.
• Follow the update cycle.
• See current service workers' clients.
• Send a push message to a service worker.
• Register Background Sync and Periodic Background Sync operations.

Read more about these tools .

Storage tools

Within Application then Storage , you can see, preview, update, and delete data from your origin, such as Web Storage entries or IndexedDB stores. Inside Application , Cache then Cache Storage , you can see all the caches stored in current origin, preview content, and delete entries. Read more about the cache tool .

Also, selecting from Application then Storage , you can see the current quota used, simulate custom quota storage, and clear all your data, including the service worker registration, using Clear site data .

Background services

Chromium DevTools also has a set of background services event recording tools, found by clicking Application then Background Services . This lets you see what happens with some events in the background on top of the service workers' API. Read more about these tools .

Web app manifest tools

Chromium DevTools has a section for Web App Manifest and installability criteria under Application , Manifest . In this section, you can check whether the manifest has loaded correctly, the manifest's values, how the icons look, the app id , and a quick checker for maskable icons .

Warnings and errors around installability criteria issues are also shown in this section.

Installation debugging

On Android devices using WebAPK installation mode , you can access a list of installed apps by browsing to about:webapk on Chromium browsers.

You will see the current update status and request a WebAPK update from here.

On desktop computers, you can see a user-friendly list of installed PWAs by browsing to about:apps , and a debug version by browsing to about:app-service-internals .

At the time of writing, Safari has a more limited set of tools available for PWA testing and debugging. There are no tools to see and debug the state and lifecycle of service workers, no inspector for the cache's content, and no tools for web app manifest support and installability on iOS and iPadOS.

Safari is available only on stable, while Safari Technology Preview available for macOS will only let you try abilities of future versions of Safari beforehand. The iOS and iPadOS beta programs sometimes include new versions of Safari that you can use for testing.

What you can do on Safari (both on macOS and remotely for iOS and iPadOS) is to open an inspector window for a service worker that is currently running.

From Safari on macOS, the Develop , Service Workers menu will list all the currently running service worker sessions. You have to select the device to inspect in the Develop menu for remote inspection. Service workers' contexts will appear in the same submenu as window contexts under the origin's or PWA's installed name.

If you select one of them, Safari will open a new window with a restricted inspector, including only Consoles , Sources , and Network Tabs .

Firefox supports service workers on all platforms and App Manifest for installation only on Android. You can access the tools for PWAs on desktop and Android by a USB remote inspection session .

You can use the desktop version known as Firefox Developer Edition . As with Chromium browser, Firefox has versions in different channels on desktop and Android, including stable, beta, and dev versions.

Tools for PWAs

The service worker inspector on Firefox is a basic tool available in Developer Tools under Application , Service Workers . It lets you see the currently registered service worker, check its running status, and unregister it. Debugging the service worker's code may only be available on some developer versions of Firefox.

The manifest tool is available under Application , Manifest , and it only renders the manifest's values with a preview of the icons.

Under Storage , you can manage the origin's storage, including IndexedDB and Cache Storage.

You can read more about Firefox developer tooling for web apps .

• Chrome DevTools: Debug Progressive Web Apps
• Debug PWAs on Edge
• Firefox Developer Tools: Application Tab
• Debugging Service Workers in Chrome (video)

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2022-05-15 UTC.

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Emulate and test other browsers

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Your job doesn't end with making sure your site runs great across Microsoft Edge and Android. Even though the Device Emulation tool can simulate a range of other devices such as smart phones, we encourage you to check out solutions for emulation provided by other browsers.

When you don't have a particular device, or want to do a spot check on something, the best option is to emulate the device right inside your browser.

Device emulators and simulators enable you to mimic your development site on a range of devices, from your workstation.

Cloud-based emulators enable you to automate unit tests for your site across different platforms.

Browser emulators

Browser emulators are great for testing the responsiveness of a site. But a browser emulator doesn't emulate differences in API, CSS support, and certain behaviors that manifest only on a mobile browser on an actual device. Test your site on browsers running on real devices, to be certain everything behaves as expected.

Firefox Responsive Design View

Firefox has a responsive design view that encourages you to stop thinking in terms of specific devices and instead explore how your design changes at common screen sizes, or on your own screen size by dragging the edges of the window.

EdgeHTML emulation

To emulate Windows Phones, use the Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) built-in emulation .

Use IE 11 Emulation to simulate how your page might look in older versions of Internet Explorer.

Device emulators and simulators

Device simulators and emulators simulate not just the browser environment but the entire device. Each simulator is useful to test things that require OS integration, such as form input with virtual keyboards.

Android emulator

At the moment, there is no way to install Microsoft Edge on an Android emulator. However, you can use the Android Browser, the Chromium Content Shell, and Firefox for Android, which we review later in this article. Chromium Content Shell runs the same Chromium rendering engine as Microsoft Edge, but comes without browser-specific features.

The Android emulator comes with the Android SDK which you need to download as part of Android Studio . Then follow the instructions to set up a virtual device and start the emulator . After your emulator is booted, select the Browser icon, and test your site on the old Stock Browser for Android.

Chromium content shell on Android

To install the Chromium Content Shell for Android, keep your emulator running and run the following command:

Now you can test your site with the Chromium Content Shell.

Firefox on Android

Similar to the Chromium Content Shell, you can get an APK to install Firefox onto the emulator.

Download the correct .apk file .

To install the file onto an open emulator or connected Android device, run the following command:

iOS simulator

The iOS simulator for Mac OS X comes with Xcode, which you install from the App Store .

When you are done, learn how to work with the simulator through Apple Developer documentation .

To avoid having to open Xcode every time you want to use the iOS Simulator, open it, right-click the iOS Simulator icon in your dock, and then select Keep in Dock . Now just click the icon whenever you need it.

Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML)

If you need to test your website or app with Microsoft browsers and don't have the necessary versions of Windows to do so, you can use BrowserStack, which supports testing of many combinations of Microsoft browsers and operating systems both past and present. For example, you can test all versions of Microsoft Edge (Chromium) from version 80 onwards, and Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) versions 15 through 18. Testing of Microsoft Edge is free on BrowserStack. For more information, see Microsoft Edge Browser Testing at BrowserStack.

Cloud-based emulators and simulators

If you aren't able to use the emulators and you don't have access to real devices, then cloud-based emulators are the next-best thing. A big advantage of cloud-based emulators over real devices and local emulators is that you can automate unit tests for your site across different platforms.

The following list is a sample of cloud-based emulators and testing sites. Review the descriptions for features or capabilities to consider when selecting a testing site. Conduct your own search to find the best cloud-based emulator for your needs.

BrowserStack helps you perform manual testing. You select an operating system, a browser version, a device type, and a URL to browse, and then BrowserStack spins up a hosted virtual machine that you can interact with. You can run multiple emulators in the same screen, to test the look and feel of your app across multiple devices at the same time.

Mobileum doesn't use emulators, but real devices which you can control remotely. This is useful when you need to reproduce a problem on a specific device and an issue might not appear in some reports.

HeadSpin helps you perform manual cross-browser testing on thousands of real devices, browsers, and operating systems. You can record videos of complex bugs and share them through integration such as Slack, JIRA, and more. Fast forward your go-to-market launch by testing in parallel.

LambdaTest helps you perform manual cross-browser testing on a combination of various browsers and operating systems. You can record videos of complex bugs and share them through integration such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, and more. You can speed-up your testing by running tests in parallel.

SauceLabs enables you to run unit tests inside of an emulator, which can be useful for scripting a flow through your site and watching the video recording of this afterwards on various devices. You can also do manual testing with your site.

TestingBot helps you do both manual testing and automated testing on various browser and operating system combinations. Test both your websites and mobile apps on TestingBot's emulators and physical devices.

Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . The original page is found here and is authored by Meggin Kearney (Technical Writer) and Paul Bakaus (Open Web Developer Advocate at Google | Tools, Performance, Animation, UX).

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Freelance iOS, macOS, Apple Watch, and Apple TV Developer

Web inspector on ios devices and simulators.

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Over the past few weeks I’ve worked on a number of projects that have necessitated me working with HTML and JavaScript be that via Safari on iOS, an SFSafariViewController, or in an embedded WKWebView. In all of these cases, I’ve needed to dive into the DOM to see what styles are being applied to certain elements or dig into a JavaScript Console to work out why some code isn’t working. On desktop, this is trivial as Safari has a Web Inspector panel built in similar to other browsers. It turns out it is also trivial on mobile as the exact same tool can be used with both iOS simulators and physical devices.

If you select the ‘Develop’ tab from the menu bar of Safari on macOS, you’ll see a list of all of your connected devices and actively running simulators 1 . Drilling into this will then show all of the active web instances you can interact with; notice how the content within Safari has highlighted blue within the Simulator as I’ve moused over the twitter.com web instance above. When you click, a web inspector panel is then produced which allows you to make all the usual interrogations and changes you can within desktop Safari such as interacting with the console or changing CSS values of elements to see how they would look in realtime.

Here’s an example using a WKWebView within one of my client projects, Yabla Spanish :

Discovering that simulators and devices could be interacted with in this way has been a huge timesaver for me. Whilst developing Browser Note , I was constantly needing to tweak CSS values and investigate the current state of the DOM as websites have various tricks to try and make ads or cookie notices appear on top of all content (and the note needed to be on top at all times - you should totally take a look at Browser Note whilst you’re here). In doing this, I was then able to put this knowledge to use on no less than 3 client projects in the past month; this validates my theory that by working on your own side projects you can improve your efficiency when it comes to work projects.

There are a few caveats to be aware of when using the Web Inspector with an iOS device or simulator:

• If you want to use this on an actual device you’ll first need to enable the Web Inspector on iOS. To do this, go to the Settings app and then Safari > Advanced and toggle the Web Inspector on.
• Whilst the Web Inspector can interrogate WKWebView, it can only do this for apps you are running via Xcode. You cannot look at the WKWebView of apps you did not create nor of your own apps from TestFlight / the App Store. However, you can inspect debug builds installed via Xcode even if the debugger is not active (i.e. you build to the device then quit Xcode).
• Conversely, you can use the Web Inspector with any SFSafariViewController even if it is not in your own app.
• Whilst it is still possible to submit apps that use UIWebView, the web inspector will not work with them; it needs to be WKWebView .
• This also works for AppKit, SwiftUI, and Catalyst apps on macOS.

I use an “iDod” naming prefix for all of my devices; a throwback pun to my first Apple product, the iPod.  ↩︎

Eyes on Exoplanets Web Application

Visit the Eyes on Exoplanets - Web Application

“Eyes on Exoplanets” is a fully rendered, scientifically accurate 3D universe that allows you to explore thousands of exotic planetary systems known to orbit distant stars.

On desktop, tablet or smartphone, you can visit newly discovered gas giants, Earth-sized planets and “super Earths”—rocky like ours, but gargantuan. The program is updated daily with the latest finds from NASA's Kepler mission and from ground-based observatories around the world as they hunt for planets like our own.

You can instantly find out the time it would take to travel to each planetary system by car, jet plane, bullet train or starship. Use an overlay to compare the orbits of planets in our solar system with those around other stars. Or you can search for planets that might support life by toggling the “habitable zone” display, showing the region around a star where temperatures are right for liquid water.

“Eyes on Exoplanets” is powered by NASA's Exoplanet Archive, the official database used by professional astronomers engaged in exploring new worlds.

Also available: Downloadable desktop version

exoplanet: a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system

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More From Forbes

Google issues ‘critical’ chrome update for all windows users.

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If you are a Windows user with Chrome installed on your PC, then this latest warning will impact you—it’s critical you update your browser as soon as you can…

Another critical Chrome update has just been issued

Another Chrome security update has just been issued, with the Stable channel updated to 124.0.6367.78/.79 . This release includes a critical fix to the underlying graphics engine of the type that has allowed attackers to execute code on target machines in the past—albeit no news yet as to any exploitation this time around.

The update also includes two high-severity memory fixes—the kind typically seen in such updates. Google has acknowledged that such memory vulnerabilities in its core engine are the most frequently discovered and exploited. As usual, there is no further information “until a majority of users are updated with a fix.”

Given that Google has designated the first fix—essentially a vulnerability to potential code manipulation—as critical, it seems highly likely it’s a credible threat. And once the fix becomes public, it’s important that users update as soon as they can—the clock is ticking for any exploitation.

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Usually, a critical fix might have been the biggest Chrome news of the week, but not this time. The other news is that the death of Chrome’s dreaded tracking cookies has been delayed once again—this time into early 2025, at least.

The issue is Google’s need to balance the privacy of its users with the seemingly fair treatment of its advertisers, especially when it essentially plays both gamekeeper (as owner of the browser) and poacher (as the world’s largest ad machine).

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers,” Google said in a post mid-week, “and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem.”

That’s a critical update of an entirely different kind.

The update comes as Google’s ongoing engagement with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) tries to carve a path through this messy situation. “We will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4,” Google confirmed. “Assuming we can reach an agreement, we envision proceeding with third-party cookie deprecation starting early next year.”

Google is in something of a bind here, given its unique role in the industry. As web users become ever more privacy savvy, the gap between where Chrome is today and Apple’s Safari remains too wide. Chrome is an excellent browser, and its users rightly want to see it line up more closely with the alternatives.

Google seems to agree—notwithstanding its awkward Incognito Mode stumble—but it needs to find a compromise that doesn’t kill its ad model as well as those cookies.

Meanwhile, the bigger open question is around AI, of course, and just what this will mean for browser searching and advertising in the coming years. All told, by the time these cookies finally disappear, we may be in new territory anyway.

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