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When building websites I commonly use tools such as Browsershots to ensure that my pages looks reasonably OK in the different browsers. I am however starting to get complaints about a heap of mobile browsers running on different portable devices.

My question is simply how do one best carry out mobile cross-browser tests ? (answers that does not require me to install a ton of different mobile emulators will be preferred).

Orlymee
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Lars Tackmann
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    Though not exactly what you want, I think http://quirksmode.org/mobile/ may be helpful. – Marcel Korpel Jul 11 '10 at 23:19
  • `answers that does not require me to install a ton of different mobile emulators`: I have bad news ... – FelipeAls Jul 16 '10 at 17:10
  • How about sticking to the standards and the good practices (like the alt-poperty of the img-tag), while checking the major browsers, and blaiming the mobile browsers when they don't render stuff right? – Jasper Jul 18 '10 at 19:47

3 Answers3

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DeviceAnywhere can do this, but not for free.

Annie
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    It does indeed provide access to a heap of mobile phones, and from there one can use their browser. But I would prefer some service where I can just post a URL and get immediate pictures back of how it looks in various mobile browsers. – Lars Tackmann Jul 05 '10 at 13:08
  • @Lars: “pictures […] of how it looks in various mobile browsers” are not very useful; especially the way a mobile browser app ‘feels’ (e.g. touchscreen, scrolling, zooming) differs from desktop browsers and from mobile browsers mutually. – Marcel Korpel Jul 11 '10 at 23:17
  • You do have a point with the pictures, but the DeviceAnywhere solution still seams overly complicated in comparison with services like browsershots.org. So I am still pursuing a solution where I can just post a url and get at least some (imperfect) idea on how my site looks on the most common mobile devices. – Lars Tackmann Jul 11 '10 at 23:38
  • DeviceAnywhere definitely does more than you need it to, but it should be possible to write an automation script that works like browsershots. – Annie Jul 16 '10 at 20:18
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The answers are old. Nowadays, there are many more options. Check out "Browserstacks", or google for "alternatives to Browserstacks". Some services offer (paid) automation for testing across devices.

Rolf
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http://validator.w3.org/mobile/ will provide you with several good advices, but won't provide any mobile devices' screenshots...

I'm afraid Felipe's right, the only way to know how your website interacts is to do it yourself.

1ace
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