mobile browser emulator chrome extension

There’s no doubt Google Chrome’s Device Mode Emulator can speed up the development and the QA cycle. These two examples of Chrome’s emulator failing to match the real device rendering are not uncommon. Notice the video in the emulator does not appear in the real device screenshot. Notice the button on the right splits and appears on two lines.

Examples of Chrome Emulator Misfiresīelow are two examples of where Chrome’s emulator didn’t match the real device:Ĭhrome Device Emulator Real Device Screenshot To solve #3, you’ll have to test on the physical device by either owning the device or having virtual access to a mobile device testing lab.

Rendering Engine – this is the code the browser uses to interpret the HTML/CSS and create what we see in the browser.Īn emulator can solve #1 and #2 assuming the dimensions of the screen and User Agent is accurate for the device.

Supplied User Agent – this is the browser’s way of telling a website about itself to retrieve the most appropriate HTML.

Screen size – simple enough, this is the size of the viewport to render the website.

Chrome Emulator’s Basic DefectĪs with any mobile browser emulator, there are three primary factors that determine how closely the website will render to the real physical device. It’s a very simple tool and easy to use, but if you need more details check out Google’s directions. Bring up Chrome’s Developer Tools panel from the menu (View-> Developer -> Developer Tools) or shortcut key (Cmd+Opt+I on the Mac or Ctrl-Shrift+I on the PC.) Turn on Device Mode to change device settings.

The design community has been beating the Mobile First drum for a couple of years now, but development and quality assurance teams are still lagging behind to put responsive design testing first in their processes and tools.įortunately, there’s a new tool in the tool belt that Google’s providing with Chrome’s built-in emulator.

If you need a wakeup call, check out these staggering statistics on the growth of mobile. If you’re not focused on mobile, you’re losing money.

Mobile browser emulator chrome extension