How to Debug iOS App in Chrome

With a 27% global market share, iOS is the second most popular mobile operating system after Android globally. This translates to the fact that millions of users across the world use mobile apps on iOS devices.

Naturally, it becomes imperative for mobile teams to develop flawless apps that are compatible with iOS. This ensures that businesses provide an inclusive app experience for their target audience across platforms. However, releasing flawless iOS apps demands comprehensive testing and debugging across a wide range of iOS devices in real user conditions. This is a challenging task, particularly in a fast-paced market where new iOS devices with the latest iOS versions are released at regular intervals.

This article addresses this challenge by describing an intuitive yet effective method that will help individual testers or developers comprehensively debug iOS apps from web browsers. Moreover, this method won’t require any complex setup or configurations and you can easily debug chrome on iPhone.

Let’s get started.

Debugging iOS Apps on Chrome using Real iPhone or iPad Device Cloud

QAs often have to deal with certain bugs appearing for a specific iOS device or an iOS version. In such instances, the developer or QAs need those specific iOS handsets handy for instant testing and debugging to identify the root cause of the bug. In most scenarios, it is not feasible for teams to own diverse iOS handsets for the sake of debugging given the handsets are expensive. This can hinder the testing and QAs might have to compromise with another handset.

To avoid compromising, teams can opt for cloud-based platforms like BrowserStack which offers mobile teams a real device cloud for manual and automated testing of iOS apps on real Apple devices. Besides, remote debugging in such scenarios become easier. 

To get started, one simply needs to:

1. Sign-up for a free trial on BrowserStack App-Live 
2. Upload the iOS app (.ipa file) from the App-live dashboard. One can also directly install the test app from the App Store. Refer to the image below for better clarity on the options available on the dashboard.
3. Choose the desired Apple handset to test the app on (For example iPhone 13 Pro).
4. Start debugging or inspecting the iOS app using the developer tools in real user conditions.

The instant access to DevTools during live iOS app testing simplifies the debugging process on the desired device significantly as it allows developers to inspect elements on the desired iOS device like iPhone X, iPhone 11 Pro, 13, etc. Most importantly, there are no complex configurations required as a prerequisite for debugging apps.

Test iOS Apps on Real Device Cloud for Free

All the latest and legacy Apple devices are hosted on a secure cloud and are available 24×7 to overcome the challenges of remote testing. This means one can log in, upload their app, choose the desired iPhone or iPad and start testing whenever they wish to from anywhere in the world.

The image below displays a BrowserStack App-Live test session on iPhone 13 Pro:

Besides DevTools, teams also get the following features in the toolbox:

1. Screenshot testing to ensure apps do not capture screenshots for screens with sensitive user information.
2. Access iOS settings to test the app’s performance in Dark Mode, Offline Mode, or different Time Zone.
3. Network Throttler to test the app’s performance in poor network conditions.
4. Change language features to validate the app’s performance in different languages.
5. Device rotation feature to validate the app’s appearance in the Portrait and Landscape mode.

As individual developers or QAs get the flexibility to inspect elements on any iPhone, debugging the iOS apps on those iPhones becomes an effortless task. They can also choose to switch iPhones instantly for testing across distinct iPhones or iPads. 

Debug Apps on Real iOS Devices

Any bug in an iOS app can range from being annoying to being majorly disruptive to the user experience. Comprehensive testing help fix these bugs before they are detected in the production environment.

Debugging iOS apps on iPhones and iPads is mandatory for mobile teams so as to release apps that work perfectly in real user conditions. However, given it is not feasible for all organizations to procure and maintain Apple devices on-premises, teams must leverage platforms like BrowserStack.

It makes the job of testing much easier as testers get the required test infrastructure and environments at their fingertips. With a powerful set of debugging tools and secured cloud infrastructure, teams can debug iOS apps on the desired set of devices directly through a web browser like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. No complex setup and maintenance efforts are required.

Instead of wondering how to debug iOS apps in Chrome, follow the steps in this article and get start releasing bug-free iOS apps.