BrowserStack is a Cloud service that enables you to perform simple manual and automated testing using a variety of browser types and real mobile devices.
For information on mobile app testing, please refer to here.
Compatible browsers/OS version
You can check this here.
Method of use
First, register for an account by clicking the FREE TRIAL button on the BrowserStack home page. After completing registration, you will be taken to the Product selection screen, as shown in figures 1 and 2, where you can select Website > Automated Testing. If you wait for a while, the dashboard will automatically appear. The free trial will start from this point, and will allow you to utilize automated test execution for 100 minutes.
Figure 1. BrowserStack Product Selection Screen (1) .
Figure 2. BrowserStack Product Selection Screen (2).
Next, on the batch run settings panel, enter the required items as shown in figure 3.
Figure 3. Batch run settings.
[1] Username/Access Key
Open ACCESS KEY (figure 4) from the menu at the top of the screen and copy User Name and Access Key respectively.
Figure 4. Username and Access Keys.
[2] Device types
Set, in general terms, whether the test is for a PC browser or mobile browser.
- Desktop: Test with a normal PC browser.
- Mobile emulation (Chrome): Emulates the iOS or Android browser on Chrome.
- Mobile real device: Test with a browser on an iOS / Android real device. The BrowserStack Automate Mobile plan contract is required.
[3] Further detailed settings
See the BrowserStack Capabilities Generator page (figure 5) and specify the required information (OS, version, browser, mobile phone model, etc.) for the desired environment.
Figure 5. Capabilities Generator.
After you select the OS and browser on the left side, the values to be set will appear on the right side. This is slightly difficult to see, but the correspondence with MagicPod items is as shown below. Note that this may not work if the number of places after the decimal point is different. figure 3 above shows the settings on MagicPod based on the options in figure 5.
| MagicPod | Capabilities Generator | Reference |
| OS | os | If omitted, this is automatically set as BrowserStack |
| Version | osVersion |
If omitted, this is automatically set as BrowserStack *In the case of a mobile real device, this item is mandatory. |
| Browser | browserName | Mandatory input. The notation may be different, but you can select what you need from the pull-down menu on the MagicPod screen. |
|
Browser version |
browserVersion | If omitted, this is automatically set as BrowserStack |
|
Model |
deviceName | In the case of a mobile real device, this item is mandatory |
Automatic settings when omitted will generally work in the latest environment, so you do not need to worry about them. However, as of June 2020, if you choose Safari as the browser and leave the other fields blank, an older version of Windows Safari was selected (incompatible with MagicPod). If you use Safari, we recommend that it be properly configured, in accordance with the Capabilities Generator. An example is given below.
Figure 6. Capabilities Generator (Safari settings).
Figure 7. Safari settings on MagicPod.
A configuration example for a real device is shown below. Although you can specify the model, it is not possible to select the browser or version that will run on it, and the default will be used.
Figure 8. iOS Safari settings on MagicPod.
Test results
In addition to the MagicPod test results screen, you can also confirm the test results on the BrowserStack screen. On this screen, you can view real-time logs of tests that are currently being run and videos of tests that have already been completed. (figure 9)
Figure 9. BrowserStack test results screen.
Command line execution
Using the method here, you can run tests as a batch from the command line.
Batch test execution for multiple types of devices
Using the method here, you can run tests as a batch for multiple types of devices. Although the linked instructions are for the mobile application, the operation procedure is the same for the web application.
Limitations
- If Japanese characters are included in the test case name or batch execution setting name, they will not be displayed in the test result name on the BrowserStack web console.
Known issues
The following problems may occur when running tests on BrowserStack.
- In Firefox testing, we have seen rare cases where there is an extremely slow response and timeouts when taking screenshots. This problem is currently being investigated by the MagicPod development team, but can be largely avoided by setting the number of retries to “1”.
- In Safari tests, the error message “Could not start Browser / Emulator Reason: Could not create a session: You must enable the 'Allow Remote Automation' option in Safari's Develop menu to control Safari via WebDriver” is displayed when starting the test, and the browser cannot be launched. This problem is currently being investigated by the MagicPod development team, but can be largely avoided by setting the number of retries to “1”.