Chrome
Chrome is a browser developed and maintained by Google. It is proprietary, and anyone can download and use it for free. But the code cannot be decompiled, reverse engineered or leveraged to create other projects.
How to test websites on Chrome?
There are multiple ways to test a website on multiple versions of Chrome:
- Download old versions of Chrome and run websites to ensure they work as expected. However, doing so would take a considerable amount of time and effort.
- Use a cloud-based testing service.Testers can simply select a Chrome version, a real device to run it on and start testing their website on Chrome. Different versions of Chrome are available for manual testing as well as automated Selenium testing.
- Use a browser emulator. But remember that emulators cannot replicate real-world conditions. For example, an emulator cannot replicate network connectivity, device location, low battery conditions and other factors that users have to deal with.
Chromium
Chromium is not just a browser, but also the open-source project that generates the source code Chrome is built on. Basically, Google developers take the Chromium source code, add their proprietary code — thus resulting in Chrome which has more features and add-ons than Chromium. For example, Chrome updates automatically can track browsing data and provides native support for Flash. Chromium does not.
Multiple browsers other than Chrome are built on the Chromium code.
Chrome or Chromium: Which to use?
There’s no singular answer. Choose the browser based on the use case.
Generally most people prefer using Chrome since it is easier to use and has many useful add-ons. Chrome offers a better Flash player, allows viewing of more online media content.
However, open-source developers may prefer using Chromium if they choose to often modify the source code. A major advantage is that Chromium allows Linux distributions that need open-source software to package a browser almost identical to Chrome. Linux distributors can also use Chromium as the default web browser in place of Firefox.
Make the choice after careful and extensive analyses of what the browser is required for. The difference between Chrome and Chromium should help make the choice.
