New browser engine: Chrome

As of today, Silktide uses the Chrome browser to download and test pages within websites. Previously, we used Phantom, which aims to behave like Chrome, but which was behind Chrome's technology in several key ways. By moving to Chrome, we're able to test pages in the exact same way that most users experience them. What does this mean for you?

• Mobile testing is virtually perfect. Using Chrome we can now simulate mobile devices in an almost perfect way, including nuances like how text automatically resizes on small screens.
• Screenshots are identical to Chrome. Silktide now supports newer browser technologies, such as CSS Flexbox and Grid, and can screenshot these as you see them in Chrome.
• JavaScript testing is identical to Chrome. Our previous technology differed subtly from real browsers, which could cause some JS errors to be reported that wouldn't appear in real browsers. With our new engine, errors should match what you experience all of the time.
• Faster testing. Chrome is faster than our previous technology, and in future we'll be able to make it faster still.

Most importantly, this technology will soon allow us to release a range of more powerful tests that were previously impossible.

How to use Chrome reports

New reports (as of 24th July) automatically use the new Chrome engine. For now, older reports will continue to use the older Phantom engine. If you want to change this, there's an option under Settings > Site settings > Advanced to turn on or off the engine.