Cross-Browser, API, and Desktop Apps Testing With Studio

getting started with studio for multi-platform testing

Ever felt like you're drowning in tools just to test one simple workflow? One minute you're in a browser, the next you're hitting an api, and then—boom—you gotta deal with some clunky legacy desktop app.

It’s a mess, honestly. But according to the Course, you can actually handle all this from one spot. It’s an intermediate-level approach that doesn't require you to be a senior dev to get moving.

• Unified environment: You don't have to context switch between three different ides just to check if a retail order went from the web shop to the backend database.
• Low code for api testers: If you're used to postman, you can actually bring those collections right into studio to keep things moving fast.
• Object Repository: This is a lifesaver for healthcare or finance apps where UI elements change constantly; you fix it once in the repo, and it updates everywhere.

I’ve seen teams stop wasting hours on setup and just start testing. Next, let’s look at how we actually handle those pesky browser variations without losing our minds.

mastering cross-browser testing automation

Ever tried running a test on Chrome only for it to blow up in Edge? It's honestly the worst part of my day when that happens.

Instead of hardcoding your browser, you should use a variable like browsername. This lets you pass different values—chrome, firefox, or edge—without rewriting the whole script.

According to Ranorex, you can map these variables to a simple data table to cycle through every browser automatically. It’s a huge timesaver for things like retail checkout flows or healthcare portals where users use all sorts of weird setups.

• Variable Setup: Create a browserName variable in your "Open Browser" activity so the script isn't locked to one exe.
• Data Binding: Connect that variable to a spreadsheet or table listing the browsers you need to hit.
• Parallel execution: Once you got the variables set, you can run tests across multiple machines at once to finish your regression in half the time.

"Instead of testing against one browser at a time, you can execute your cross-browser tests in parallel."

I've seen teams cut their testing cycles by 60% just by getting this right. Now that the UI is covered, let's talk about the invisible stuff—testing those apis.

deep dive into api testing and rest apis

So you've got your UI tests running across browsers, but let's be real—testing through the frontend is slow as molasses. If you want real speed, you gotta hit the api directly.

I’ve spent way too many hours manually rebuilding requests in different tools. Honestly, it's a huge pain. But as we saw in the Course earlier, you can just import your postman collections. It saves so much time when you're dealing with complex retail checkout apis or healthcare patient records.

• WebAPI Package: You’ll need to grab the UiPath.WebAPI.Activities package from manage packages. It gives you the "HTTP Request" activity which is your bread and butter for rest calls.
• JSON Parsing: Most backends spit out messy json. Use the "Deserialize JSON" activity to turn that string into a object you can actually use in your workflow variables.
• Validation: Don't just check for a 200 OK. Use the verification activities to make sure the body actually contains the right data, like a specific orderID in a finance app.

Sometimes you need to see what's happening under the hood without a heavy setup. I’m a big fan of using tools like apifiddler for quick insights. It’s great for security scanning because you don't even have to register.

You can spot performance bottlenecks in your rest apis before they hit production. If a banking api takes 2 seconds to respond to a simple balance check, your mobile users are gonna hate it.

Getting these api tests into your ci/cd pipeline is the next big step. Now that we’ve poked at the invisible stuff, let's talk about those old-school desktop apps that just won't die.

testing desktop applications with verification activities

Look, we all have that one legacy desktop app that feels like it’s held together with duct tape and prayers. Testing these beasts is a nightmare because selectors break if you even look at them funny.

To get around this, you gotta use the UiPath.Testing.Activities package. It’s got these "verification activities" that are way better than just hoping a click worked.

• Verifying ui elements: Instead of just clicking, use "Verify Control Attribute" to make sure a button is actually enabled in that old finance app before you send a transaction.
• Object Repository: As mentioned earlier, save your selectors here. If the dev team moves a field in the healthcare portal, you update it once and your whole suite stays green.
• Data-driven testing: You can loop through a spreadsheet of account numbers to stress test the desktop UI without writing fifty separate scripts.

It’s about making your tests robust enough to handle the "jank" of older windows apps. Next up, let's wrap this all together into a pipeline that actually works.

best practices for modern qa teams

Building a massive test suite is easy, but keeping it from falling apart? That’s the real trick. I've seen too many projects turn into a "maintenance nightmare" because everything was hardcoded.

To keep your sanity, you gotta think modular. Don't cram your api logic inside a UI click-stream.

• Modular design: keep your rest calls in separate workflows from your browser steps. If a retail site changes its checkout UI, your backend api tests should still stay green.
• Error handling: use "Try Catch" blocks in studio. If a finance app times out, you want a clean log, not a crashed runner.
• Documentation: as mentioned earlier, use the object repository. It basically documents your app's structure for you.

Honestly, just start small. You don't need a perfect pipeline on day one—just one that doesn't break every time you push code. Happy testing!