GUIDE: BROWSER AND DEVICE FRAGMENTATION

1
What is People access the internet through...

Fragmentation? 9000+ distinct

devices
1300 android
manufacturers
50+ iphone & ipad
models in use
21 different
operating systems

Fragmentation is the diversity

of browsers, devices and platform
versions in use at any given point 12 major screen- 8 major 20% yoy 20+ browsers versions
of time. resolution in use browser engines growth in devices added each year

2
How does it affect you? 3
How does it affect
Building responsive sites and customizing layouts
for different screen sizes is no longer an option.
your users?
THE THUMBZONE
THE THUMB ZONEEVOLUTION
EVOLUTION Credit: Scott Hurf

( ONE HANDED )

OW of customers judge a company’s

credibility based on the website design.
75%
OW

STRETCH
STRETCH
STRETCH STRETCH
STRETCH
STRETCH
STRETCH STRETCH

NATURAL NATURAL
NATURAL
NATURAL NATURAL
NATURAL
NATURAL
NATURAL

OW OW
OW
OW OW
OW

of users wouldn't return to a site if

iPhone 4S iPhone 5S iPhone 6 iPhone 6 PLUS they had issues on mobile, and
61% 40% would visit a competitor instead.

67%
increase in
57%
of internet users
likeliness of won’t recommend of mobile users gave high importance to

83%
product use, businesses with a a seamless experience across devices.
if your website poorly designed
is responsive. mobile website.

4
How does it affect your organization?
Bugs are expensive to fix.

70% 40%
PHASE

PRODUCTION
GATHERING QA TESTING
REQUIREMENTS
of customers of online transactions
abandon their involve more than one
cart due to device in the decision
$
100 $
1,500 $
10,000 bad UX. making phase.
5
How do I solve for this?
STEP 1 Identify where your users are coming from
This is what the sample data could look like

Geographies Devices

You can use the
following tools
 to get this data


% TRAFFIC


Samsung Samsung Apple Apple Apple Samsung Samsung

Galaxy S8 Galaxy A8 iPhone 8 iPhone 6 iPhone 7 Galaxy S7 Galaxy S9
TRAFFIC SPREAD
BY REGION DEVICE MODEL

STEP
STEP 2 2 Prepare a list of device-browser combinations covering these aspects:

Device-browser combinations with high Flagship devices with high

test-fail rates and low conversion rates potential usage in the future.

Relevant devices and browsers Type of tests to run in each device

depending on the selected geographies. (Sanity, Regression, Integration, etc.).

STEP
STEP 3 3 Use these 3Rs to come up with a final set of devices to test on

REDUCE REFINE RE-ADJUST

It is never possible to Consider aspects that might Do a cost-benefit

test on all devices or browsers make more sense to your website analysis for additional testing

Reduce the number of similar Look at browsers with a low Cost of additional testing (set up,
devices (Apple iPhone 7 & 8) conversion rate execution, and delay in release)

Remove devices with the Include devices that people will Revenue gains from reaching
same viewport/resolution start using more in the future more users with a better UX

Remove devices that Build a test strategy that attacks The gain in brand equity and
consistently pass all your tests the high-risk areas for your UX customer goodwill
6
Test on the right browsers and devices
To help you get started, we have prepared a list of browsers you need to test
on. This list has been prepared after considering the following parameters:

x
x
-
- FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Global traffic volume Launch year

Market share and popularity Manufacturers

OS and OS versions Resolutions
and Viewports
Screen sizes
Upcoming devices
Usage statistics of
BrowserStack customers

Recommended device-browser combinations

STARTING UP GROWING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Everything in Starting Up Everything in Growing

 
Win 10 - Chrome 79

Win 7 - Chrome 78

macOS Catalina - Win 10 - IE 11 Win 10 - Opera 65

Safari 13
Win 10 - Edge 18 Win 7 - Firefox 70
Samsung Galaxy S8 -
Samsung Browser Win 10 - Firefox 71 Win 8.1 - Chrome 77

Google Pixel 3 - macOS Mojave - macOS Mojave -

Chrome Safari 13 Chrome 78

Apple iPhone 8 - Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus - macOS High Sierra -

Safari UC Browser Firefox 71

Huawei P20 Lite - Chrome Google Pixel 4 -

UC Browser
Apple iPhone XR - Chrome
Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime -
Apple iPad 6th - Safari Opera

Apple iPhone 6S -
Chrome

Apple iPhone 11 Pro -

Safari
Countering fragmentation in Apple devices
Factors to consider

iOS 10
iOS 11 Distribution

iOS 12
Impact
13
Testing on at least 1-2 versions
preceding the latest versions is important.
( Fig: Global iOS
distribution of
recent iOS versions )

63%
of all tablet traffic
40%
of iPhone traffic in the US
comes from iPads. comes from devices that
are more than 3 years old.

Impact Impact
Adding a couple of iPads will Testing on old iPhones such as
give you a decent coverage. iPhone 6, 7 and iPhone SE is critical.

Recommended devices to test on

STARTING UP GROWING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Apple iPhone 8 Everything in Starting Up Everything in Growing

Apple iPhone XR

Apple iPad 6th

 
Apple iPhone 8 Plus Apple iPhone XS

Apple iPhone 6S Apple iPhone SE

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Apple iPad Air 2019

Countering fragmentation in Android devices
Factors to consider

 Distribution

% DISTRIBUTION


 Impact
 Testing on at least 4 different versions
is critical for ensuring good coverage.
      
ANDROID VERSION

( Fig: Global distribution of popular Android versions )

9 major
custom
implementations
74.19%
of global mobile
of stock Android
traffic comes from
(One UI, Oxygen
Android devices.
OS, MiUI, etc.)

Impact Impact
Include custom UIs in your test A good strategy for Android will improve
suite, stock android isn’t enough. the experience for a big chunk of users.

Recommended devices to test on

STARTING UP GROWING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Samsung Galaxy S8 Everything in Starting Up Everything in Growing

Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Google Pixel 3
 
Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime Samsung Galaxy S6
Huawei P20 Lite
Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime Xiaomi Redmi 6A

Samsung Galaxy A8 Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

Google Pixel 4 Samsung Galaxy J2 Core

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 One Plus 6T

Samsung Galaxy A10

Countering desktop browser fragmentation
Factors to consider

Traffic share

Chrome 68.84% Firefox 9.44% Safari 9.03%

Impact
Testing on remaining 5 browsers
beyond Chrome will improve your
coverage significantly.
Edge 4.6% IE 3.56% Opera 2.49%

( Fig: Global traffic share of the top six browsers )

94.1%
of desktop traffic
44%
of global internet
comes from either traffic comes from
Windows or macOS. desktops.

Impact Impact
Testing on the major Windows and Desktop traffic is still significant and
macOS versions will cover most of has much higher conversion rates.
your users.

Recommended devices to test on

STARTING UP GROWING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Win 10 - Chrome 79 Everything in Starting Up Everything in Growing

Win 7 - Chrome 78

macOS Catalina -
 
Safari 13 Win 10 - IE 11 Win 10 - Opera 65

Win 10 - Edge 18 Win 7 - Firefox 70

Win 10 - Firefox 71 Win 8.1 - Chrome 77

macOS Mojave - macOS Mojave - Chrome 78

Safari 13
macOS High Sierra -
Firefox 71
 About BrowserStack
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centers. We help Microsoft, Twitter, Barclays, Expedia and over 25,000 customers deliver quality software at speed by moving
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delivering an amazing experience for every customer.

Founded in 2011, BrowserStack is a privately held company backed by Accel with offices in San Francisco, Mumbai and Dublin.

For more information, visit https://www.browserstack.com

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SOURCES:

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