I encountered a cross browser mixed implementation bug only today, affecting react components.
https://jsfiddle.net/svandragt/236Lhkub/3/
So I’d say yes
Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
31–40 of 97 posts
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#32Please test with Safari on desktop at least. I routinely find things that are just completely broken. And not small names, big names like Hulu, Clover, green chef, and others have just completely broken on Safari. Integration with Google’s captcha seems to be a common failure point. Also please consider writing your apps in a way such that they don’t completely shit the bed if your 600th ad tracker script fails to lo…
We sometimes hit a bug in Safari which doesn't appear in GNOME Web, which is annoying, because that's really the only WebKit-based browser that runs on my machine. I'd be happy to better support Safari if I wouldn't have to buy new hardware for it :/
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#33I don't think it's worth testing on old versions of Chrome and Firefox since they're updated automatically.
iOS Safari on the other hand, can't be updated on older phones since it's tied to iOS updates. This makes any Safari bug linger for a few years. It's also the only rendering engine available on iphone so some people are truly stuck using an old version.
So I'd say, test on Chrome because it's ubiquitous and test on iOS Safari like it's the new Internet Explorer.
I'm not sure about Firefox. I personally use it and test on it, I think it's the right thing to do for the web. And at least with that you've covered most rendering engines.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#34Not much anymore, at least from my experience. When writing Typescript, I know what I am targeting and it'll transpire to that.
When writing CSS, I rely on caniuse.com when not certain.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#35Chrome and Firefox auto-update so no.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Painful as it is to admit, even Firefox is not worth testing. In our B2B site, more people are using IE11 than FF. https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share at ~3% of overall share / 7% desktop-only share it's hard to justify putting extra effort.
Maybe they are not using Firefox, because your site is broken in it, and they have no other way to tell you this?
This. There are some websites that I have to login that are completely broken when using Firefox. I login with Brave on those and am on a constant lookout for competitors that work on Firefox. As soon as I find them I jump ship and take my money elsewhere.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#37I have no idea about how relevant it is, but every few months I see a website which seem to be tested in Chrome only, because it blatantly don't load in Firefox or Safari. Like, at all, blank page. Or have some buttons like "Purchase" not working.
When you see this, complain and let them know. I've had some success complaining about this to medium sized companies and getting updates.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#38Feels like everything just works on Chrome and Firefox, but Safari is the new IE.
Here is a bug I've recently discovered, which is present only in Chromium-based browsers: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=138298...>.
Doesn't happen on Safari, nor Firefox.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Painful as it is to admit, even Firefox is not worth testing. In our B2B site, more people are using IE11 than FF. https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share at ~3% of overall share / 7% desktop-only share it's hard to justify putting extra effort.
Maybe they are not using Firefox, because your site is broken in it, and they have no other way to tell you this?
Survivorship bias!
Yes, this is something I've experienced directly from end-user perspective as well as debugging/user-analytics perspective.
Re: Ask HN: How relevant is cross-browser testing anymore?
#40I don't think it's worth testing on old versions of Chrome and Firefox since they're updated automatically. iOS Safari on the other hand, can't be updated on older phones since it's tied to iOS updates. This makes any Safari bug linger for a few years. It's also the only rendering engine available on iphone so some people are truly stuck using an old version. So I'd say, test on Chrome because it's ubiquitous and tes…
I don't disagree that most versions/instances of Chrome are updated regularly, but implying that this is universal is questionable.
Chrome is only updated if the user lets it happen. I can't count the number of times I've watched some co-worker share their screen on a conference call and the Chrome update button is lit up, but apparently that's not a trigger to these people (I update pretty much as soon as I notice the indication since Google has done a remarkably good join of updating in place in a way that most SaaS things and web sites just reopen without trouble).
I'm sure the next time they restart/reboot it will get updated, but if there was some hideous Chrome-related bug which is from a release a month ago, you might want to think about that. It's also entirely possible to turn off updates if you or some misguided IT person is really so inclined.