Mobile browser emulators are valuable tools for evaluating how websites and web apps look on different devices and screen sizes. However, the emulation process is not without its drawbacks. For example, emulators may not detect all features available on real devices and are not always updated regularly to reflect new releases. Furthermore, some mobile emulators are prone to UI bugs that can lead to an unpleasant user experience. To address these problems, it’s essential to use multiple methods of detecting mobile browser emulators to eliminate pain points during testing and ensure that websites remain responsive and error-free across all platforms.

What Cannot be tested with a mobile device emulator?

Browser emulators are great for assessing a site’s responsive design, but mobile browser emulator detection cannot emulate differences in API or CSS support and certain behaviors. To test a website for these issues, you must either use live testing on actual devices or leverage a cloud-based platform that provides device and emulators in one place.

LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing platform that provides developers and testers with access to a comprehensive device library, enabling them to easily select the desired device-browser-OS combination and instantly start a test session. Additionally, the platform offers up front access to Chrome DevTools to allow for inspection of the web elements on a page. This enables developers to quickly identify and resolve any problems that arise during testing. As a result, LambdaTest reduces the time spent downloading and configuring emulators and enables teams to achieve higher test coverage for all releases.