iPhone® & iPad® Web Design For Dummies®

Comparing Site Testing Solutions

The most important principle to understand when testing your website can be summed up in one well-worn aphorism: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice — but in practice, there is.” And so it is with the mobile web. Although simulators and emulators and the numerous testing services we describe in this chapter approximate how your designs will look, you can never fully replicate the quirks of using a real iPhone or iPad over a Wi-Fi or mobile connection, even with the best mobile testing tools on your desktop computer.

Here are five ways you can test your mobile sites (you find more detailed descriptions of each of option in the sections that follow):

View your site in every version of the iPhone or iPad: In an ideal world, you have a desk full of devices, all connected to the Internet and ready to test every page on your website thoroughly.

Use the Safari browser on a computer to view your pages: The next best thing to Safari on the iOS is Safari on the Mac operating system. You can also download the Windows version of Safari to test designs on your computer — a handy way to do preliminary testing as you develop on your computer.

Browse your site in online mobile simulators: A few websites offer mobile emulators. These are ...