In the ever-evolving aspect of the digital age, ensuring that the website looks great and functions smoothly across a variety of devices becomes paramount. With the availability of divergent types of screen sizes and resolutions in mobile devices, a challenging step comes to optimize the test site on mobile to be responsive and adaptable.
Setting the seal that the site can effectively handle different screen resolutions with accuracy becomes an integral component in delivering a consistent and high-quality user experience. This is because different devices may disturb and hamper the web content in different ways. What seems ideal to one device might appear troublesome to another. Hence these problems make mobile test sites more demanding.
In this article, we will discuss how testers can effectively handle different screen resolutions while testing on mobile. But before starting with that it’s also important to brush up on what test sites are on mobiles. So let’s get started.
What are test sites on mobile?
As the rise of mobile phones has become predominant over the years, the plethora of devices, ranging from smartphones to tablets all of the different resolutions demand sites within the mobile phones for testing the functionality of applications. For that, there are various test sites on mobile that testers and developers can use to resolve this problem effectively.
Generally, a test site on mobile refers to the process of testing and perfecting the functionality of a website to ensure it performs correctly and brings forth an up-to-mark experience to the user on mobile devices including tablets and
smartphones.
Mobile site testing has a beneficial role in helping testers and developers ace their testing process and application smoothly. This feature allows testers to test their applications and sites across multiple browsers screen resolutions and operating systems. With these test sites on mobile, testers can benefit from testing the usability, functionality, user-friendliness, and compatibility of the websites. The site must be upgraded to offer an optimized user experience.
The need to test websites in different screen resolutions
When any mobile or web application is developed, an important criterion that we bump into during the early stages of the development cycle is the kind of devices with which the users will interact with the applications. Common devices that were preferred in the past were computers or laptops, but lately, a sudden shift has been made towards smartphones or mobiles, as they are handheld devices.
Smartphone usage and users are increasingly growing. As this shift towards types of smartphones increased greatly, the screen sizes also vastly differed, ranging from flip phones to foldable phones. So it becomes difficult to test the application across each type of screen size. Now that it is clear why we need to test the website at different screen resolutions, it would be rational to come up with a QA strategy where testers can identify the most favored devices and screen sizes.
Strategies to handle different screen resolutions while testing site on mobile
A challenging aspect of web development is making sure that the website looks and functions great on different devices and screen resolutions. This is crucial because users may approach the website differently, from several browsers, operating systems, and devices like desktops, tablets, laptops, and smartphones.
If the website built is not adaptive, responsive, and compatible with different devices and screen sizes, testers can suffer damaging losses. Therefore, it becomes important to test the website on different devices and screen resolutions to make sure that it bestows an optimal and consistent user experience across all platforms. Mentioned below are some ways in which testers can handle different screen resolutions easily
Opting for responsive design
Opting for responsive design is a highly potent approach when it comes to strategies for handling different screen resolutions on mobile devices. The responsive design guarantees testers and developers that their website or application smoothly adjusts to different screen sizes and orientations, along with offering a seamless user experience over varying devices.
It also offers an effective resource management strategy as a single responsive design can adapt to a variety of screen sizes, thus rationalizing resource management and minimizing the chances of irregularities across device versions.
Make the most of DevTools
With the expanding need for websites to be responsive, many leading browsers have made it easier for developers and testers to check them using DevTools. Most importantly, DevTools enables developers and testers to inspect websites as well as their performance and network activity.
It also offers debugging code properties, enabling them to make test changes to the websites and maximize web page capabilities. As soon as a Dev tool has been installed, testers can easily define the screen resolution and can even select the screen resolution according to their needs.
Utilize emulators
An emulator is a software that enables testers to mimic their devices on an Android device. Emulators offer various benefits to testers, like providing skill across devices. This means that testers can mimic a wide range of device orientations, fluctuating from different screen resolutions to varying hardware capabilities. Emulators are also cost-efficient.
Make use of real devices
The best way to test a website on different devices and screen sizes and resolutions is to make use of real device cloud, which users may opt to approach the website.
By using physical devices, testers can optimally test the performance, usability, and functionality of the website on real devices and obtain the most precise and rational feedback.
Carry test across multiple screen sizes and resolutions
Carrying out the website testing on multiple mobile devices and resolutions is important for getting a successful testing result. With emulators and browser developer tools, testers can help mimic different screen sizes, but nothing can match testing on actual devices. Testers can consider opting for a device lab or even go for remote testing services to cover a broader range of configurations.
Implement continuous monitoring capabilities
As the evolution in mobile devices and web technologies is rapid, it becomes important for the testers to continuously monitor the performance and functioning of the website across different screen resolution performance across different devices and resolutions. Gather feedback from users and analytics data to find out areas that need improvement and thus emphasize accordingly.
Make use of online tools and services
There are many online tools and services available that can aid testers leverage their testing process across different screen resolutions with ease. There are many tools available in the market, but a tool with robust capabilities LambdaTest can effectively optimize the testing results.
Be updated with new technologies
Finally, it is crucial to keep up with new technologies and trends in the testing dynamic. In other ways, it can be interpreted as staying up-to-date with the ongoing screen sizes, new devices, and website testing techniques. By following this practice of keeping up with new technologies, testers can ensure that the website is suitable and easily accessible to the target audience.
Testing websites on different screen sizes using the device cloud
A cloud is a testing environment that offers instant access to thousands of real iOS, Android, and other mobile devices, allowing app developers and QA testers to ensure site compatibility across different screen resolutions and get real-world feedback, for optimal coverage.
Among various cloud device platforms, LambdaTest is the one that has many compelling reasons that attract testers. The platform allows to ensure that the application is tested properly without the overhead of maintaining the infrastructure. It gives access to real-world testing experience and greater access to a large set of devices so testers can test how their application runs on different screen sizes. LambdaTest can also be integrated with popular mobile testing frameworks like Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that allows testers and developers to run both real-time and manual testing of web and mobile applications at scale. On this robust and comprehensive testing platform testers can also execute tests both manual and automated across a diverse scope of more than 3000 environments, browsers, and real mobile devices.
LambdaTest can also be effectively utilized as a web browser online, that offers a virtual environment to mimic different devices and browsers. This feature allows developers and QA professionals to test how the website behaves on different browsers and devices, and identify and solve debug compatibility issues as early as possible. It also ensures that the website is responsive and flourishing across different screen sizes and resolutions.
Challenges faced while testing site on different screen resolutions
There are high possibility that testers may encounter some challenges while carrying out testing across different mobile devices and screen resolutions.
Device fragmentation
Device fragmentation is the first and foremost challenge when dealing with the complexity and diversity of different devices and screen resolutions. Hence, it has the power to make testing more laborious and time-consuming.
User expectations and preferences
When it comes to mobile testing, and handling different screen resolutions, user expectations and preferences come out to be challenging for testers. Satisfying the needs and wants of different users is no joke as each user demands different needs, and uses different screen sizes and devices which can adversely affect their satisfaction and expectations.
Security and privacy concerns
Security and privacy concerns also present a challenge in front of the testers.
Protecting privacy like protection of the data and information is also not easy. Also, unlawful access to information regarding the testing suite across mobile can adversely affect the end testing result, and hamper trust and reliability of the testers.
Solutions to overcome the above challenges
Overcoming device fragmentation issues
To overcome device fragmentation problems, there are many solutions, like opting for a cloud-based testing platform, making use of device matrices, and implementing cross-browser testing tools, and device labs, that will help testers choose, manage, and have hands-on, various mobile devices and screens resolutions.
For carrying out website testing, choose analytics, user feedback, and market research, so that it becomes easier for testers to identify and prioritize the most suitable and important devices and screen sizes for carrying out testing.
Also to maintain and create a consistent and compatible testing suite across different screen sizes and resolutions, use frameworks, device systems, and libraries which will ease up the process.
Overcoming security and privacy concerns
Some solutions that can help testers ensure security and privacy are opting for authentication, encryption, and authorization, which will in turn help testers secure the data and information. Testers can also go for disclosure using protocols, APIs, and certificates that promote communication between devices.
Overcoming user experience and satisfaction issues
To help testers overcome the problem related to user experience and satisfaction, testers can opt for user testing, user feedback, and user research, which can help them maintain the needs that will ease and fulfill their expected needs across different screen sizes and wants flawlessly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, handling different screen resolutions becomes supremely important when a high-quality mobile experience is demanded. As mobile devices are available in varying sizes and resolutions, the website must be responsive and effectively adaptable so the needs of users are fulfilled.
A precise testing approach across these varying screen resolutions will in turn help testers to recognize and handle issues and also ensure that the site is still functional and appears magnificent despite the device. By availing the benefits of advanced tools and testing platforms testers can efficiently navigate the peculiarities of mobile design. This provident approach will not only magnify user satisfaction but also promote significant user engagement and loyalty.
