Do I still need to test rendering in both Chrome and Safari if they both use Webkit?

Question

Is it necessary to test the rendering of my website in both Chrome and Safari despite the fact that both browsers implement the Webkit rendering engine underneath?

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Answer 1

Interesting question, I was thinking about this earlier. I would say yes, just because the rendering engine is only one part of the browser. You also have to take into account that there are many versions of each browser still in use.

It doesn't take too long to test the page in ether, better safe then sorry.

Answer 2

They use different JavaScript engine, Chrome:V8, Safari:Nitro

Answer 3

Even different versions of Chrome will behave differently, same for different versions of Safari. So I wouldn't use this assumption, and would test in both browsers.

Answer 4

Each browser may choose to include different features of webkit in their final versions, so they are not always the same.

Answer 5

There are some slight differences, so I would test in both. Some examples:

• By default Safari has 3rd-party cookies disabled, but Chrome has them enabled by default.
• Safari does not store <noscript> content in the DOM, Chrome does
• Chrome keeps each browser window sandboxed in its own operating system process (multi-process model). Safari keeps all windows in one process. [Note though: The upcoming WebKit2 will have support for the multi-process model built in].
• Chrome uses the V8 javascript engine, Safari uses Nitro.

I know there a few other differences I have encountered, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I'll update this post if any occur to me.