Why Safari Still Matters for Cross-Browser Testing

Liviu Lupei

Founder & Solutions Architect, Endtest · December 12, 2024

Cross-browser testing is more relevant in 2021 than ever.

Testing on Safari is critical. Here are five reasons.

1. Safari is the 2nd most used desktop browser in the world

According to the latest browser market share data, Safari usage keeps going up.

Not testing on Safari means ignoring almost a quarter of your users.

We've also noticed this in our own Endtest platform; more and more users are running their tests on Safari.

2. Safari will keep using the Apple WebKit engine

Apple is bullish on their own technologies, which means there's almost zero chance that Safari will ever adopt the Chromium engine.

A few years ago, we might have imagined a world where all browsers started using Chromium.

But now it seems less likely than ever.

3. A browser is more than a JavaScript interpreter

Everyone loves JavaScript; it's easy to write and flexible.

But checking if our JavaScript works as expected doesn't count as cross-browser testing.

Each browser has its own set of particularities.

Your Jest tests are showing us that your JavaScript code is working correctly, but they're not showing us if your web application is working correctly.

4. Safari is installed by default on macOS

There was a lawsuit in 2001 between Microsoft and the US Government; it started because the Internet Explorer browser was included by default in the Windows OS.

Not much has changed since then.

Safari is the default browser in macOS, so lots of folks without a strict preference will end up using Safari.

5. Modern JavaScript libraries do not eliminate cross-browser issues

Using a library like React instead of vanilla JavaScript has many advantages.

It makes it easier to manage reusable components and pull data from multiple services with real-time updates.

It might even make you look cooler; nothing says Hackerman like starting that new build.

But you still need to execute your tests on all major browsers, including Safari.

Why not do it with Endtest?