In the fast-moving digital age, users demand that software applications work uniformly well across various platforms, devices, and operating systems.
Achieving this consistency with your software depends on a crucial process called compatibility testing.
We take you through compatibility testing, why it’s important and how it can help you achieve better software.
What Is Compatibility Testing?
Compatibility testing is a type of software testing that checks whether your application performs correctly across different environments.
This environment could be a variety of:
- Devices (smartphones, desktops, tablets)
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge
- Network conditions (like bandwidths or connection speeds)
Developers perform compatibility testing to ensure that their software is working fine and it is user-friendly.
Why Is Compatibility Testing Important?
Compatibility testing is non-functional testing conducted on an application to ensure that the application is compatible with different browsers, hardware platforms, operating systems etc.
Compatibility testing ensures that your app works across multiple devices and environments consistently.
It’s important to validate that the new app performs as expected for users.
No one wants an application that crashes or behaves differently when accessed on a mobile device versus a personal computer.
Without testing compatibility, some devices or browsers will conflict with each other. It’s better to discover this early rather than have to rewrite your code later.
Here are a few more reasons which depict the importance of compatibility testing:
- Sell your product to a larger market
With people accessing software from all sorts of devices and systems, with compatibility testing you can actually make your product available to a larger audience that is still using some specific platforms.
- Brand Reputation Boosting
Buggy software ruins the reputation of a brand. Compatibility testing saves your brand from releasing unreliable software.
- Reduce Software Bugs
Without compatibility testing, certain combinations of devices or browsers may cause errors. Identifying these issues early helps avoid costly fixes after release.
Key Types of Compatibility Testing
- Hardware compatibility
This ensures that the software works correctly for different hardware configurations e.g. Processors, memory sizes, and storage capacity etc
- Operating System Compatibility
Operating system compatibility testing is performed to ensure that the application works well on multiple operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Browser Compatibility
In the case of web applications, browser compatibility testing is important to ensure that the application works as expected in different browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
- Device Compatibility
This test verifies the performance of an application on multiple devices like Smartphones, Tablets and Desktops.
- Network Compatibility
Network compatibility testing is performed to check the performance of an application under different network environments such as low bandwidth or fluctuating network connections.
Steps To Conduct Compatibility Testing
Step 1: Identifying the Target Platforms
Figure out the environments where the application has to work, i.e., devices, operating systems and browsers.
Step 2: Test Cases Creation
Create exhaustive test cases which cover all possible scenarios like different screen resolutions or browser versions.
Step 3: Test Environment Setup
Use actual phones and tablets, or use tools that allow you to access the mobile device clouds for the target platform.
Step 4: Test Execution
Run the test cases to find the compatibility issues. And note down all the differences and errors we have.
Step 5: Analyze and Fix Issues
You can validate the results if required and further make sure that the application is compatible with all the target environments.
Best Compatibility Testing Tools
- TestSigma
TestSigma is a powerful testing tool that can perform compatibility testing across browsers and devices.
It provides many additional features like cross-browser testing, parallel testing, visual regression testing and more.
- BrowserStack
It is a Cloud-based tool which enables testing on a wide range of devices and browsers.
- Sauce Labs
Sauce Labs Offers cross-browser and mobile testing capabilities, and supports multiple operating system.
- LambdaTest
LambdaTest is a powerful tool to enables you to carry out automated browser compatibility testing on different browsers and operating systems.
- TestGrid
Testgrid is a cloud-based platform that enables testing across various devices, browsers, operating systems etc.
It further allows users to check application compatibility with respect to detailed reporting and real-time data.
- CrossBrowserTesting
An easy-to-use web application testing platform running on real browsers and devices.
Best Practices for Effective Compatibility Testing
1. Automate Repetitive Tests
The use of automation tools is important to fast-track the testing and increase the coverage.
It reduces the manual effort and makes sure that tests are performed uniformly on various scenarios. It also helps testers to execute multiple test cases at the same time, making quicker results.
2. Test Early and Frequently
Prioritize environments that the component will be exposed to and verify the property interplay in those scenarios first.
Base your testing effort on the environments used most frequently by your user or customer.
This will help you to make sure that you are testing the right things and that most of your users will experience the best possible quality.
3. Prioritize High-Impact Environments
The digital landscape changes at a rapid pace.
New device models, operating system updates, browser versions, and firmware updates emerge on an almost daily basis.
If you don’t test your software on the latest technology, you may face some unpleasant surprises.
4. Perform a Compatibility Test for Critical Updates
Every time you make major changes to your software, it’s important to execute a compatibility test.
Those tests will make sure that the new changes don’t break existing things.
Doing it before anyone discovers issues takes your software and product from being unreliable, unprofessional and on the route of defectiveness.
Conclusion
So, Compatibility testing is a must to deliver quality software that meets user expectations.
When your application works well on all platforms, you can target a larger audience and enhance user experience and brand image.
You can easily attain all this by following best practices and using compatible testing tools like TestSigma, Browserstack and more.
Were you able to learn enough about compatibility testing from this article? Let me know in the comments section.