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Enable Local Testing with App Live

This guide shows you how to set up Local Testing with BrowserStack App Live.

Introduction

If you’re using Chrome or Firefox to visit BrowserStack App Live for the first time, you will see a prompt. It will guide you through the basic Local Testing setup for your environment.

To verify whether you’ve already enabled Local Testing on App Live sessions, start a session and look for the Local Testing icon in the overhead toolbar.

Image showing the Local Testing icon in the overhead toolbar

If there is no Local Testing icon, you’ve already enabled it. If there is a Local Testing icon (with a red indicator) you can set up Local Testing for your App Live sessions by following the steps below.

Protip: To learn everything about Manual Testing with BrowserStack App Live, visit Test University

Enable Local Testing

Select the OS and browser that you are using to access BrowserStack App Live. Then, follow the setup instructions.

Search for the BrowserStack Local app on your machine. If you have the app installed, Local Testing will be enabled for your App Live sessions. There is no additional setup required.

If you don’t have BrowserStack Local app on your machine, download the BrowserstackLocal app (for Windows). Start the app and you’ll see the following screen:

Local Testing enabled using windows desktop app

This enables Local Testing. Start an App Live session and look for a green indicator on the Local Testing icon in the toolbar dock.

To resolve all requests to local URLs via your machine, click on the Local Testing icon and check Resolve all URLs through my network option.

For example, if there is a URL like abc.com which is restricted to your network or you have /etc/hosts entry for abc.com mapping to localhost or an internal server/environment, this option will resolve all abc.com requests from remote browser/mobile device via your machine.

Settings for resolving URLs through your local network during App Live session

First, Download the BrowserStack Local binary for Windows.

Note: Note: The download links are secure. The binaries are digitally signed, identifying the publisher as BrowserStack Ltd.

Unzip the file to a folder/directory on your machine, and open command-line interface and navigate to the folder containing the Local binary. Run the Local binary using the following command:

BrowserStackLocal.exe --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

Now start an App Live session. You’ll notice that the Local Testing icon in the overhead toolbar has disappeared. This indicates that Local Testing for App Live is now enabled.

To resolve all requests to local URLs via your machine, establish the Local Testing connection with a --force-local flag, as follows:

./BrowserStackLocal --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY --force-local

For example, if there is a URL like abc.com which is restricted to your network or you have /etc/hosts entry for abc.com mapping to localhost or an internal server/environment, this option will resolve all abc.com requests from remote browser/mobile device via your machine.

Note: To set up Local Testing for other environments/network configurations, refer to our complete list of flags. For Local Testing setup in common network configurations, skip to the next section: Use Local Testing with App Live.

Search for the BrowserStack Local app on your machine. If you have the app installed, Local Testing will be enabled for your App Live sessions. There is no additional setup required.

If you don’t have BrowserStack Local app on your machine, download the BrowserstackLocal app (for macOS / OS X). Click on the BrowserstackLocal.pkg and install it. Start the app and you’ll see the BrowserStack Local icon in your menu bar at the top of the screen like this:

BrowserStackLocal macOS App

This enables Local Testing. Start an App Live session and look for a green indicator on the Local Testing icon in the toolbar dock.

To resolve all requests to local URLs via your machine, click on the Local Testing icon and check Resolve all URLs through my network option.

For example, if there is a URL like abc.com which is restricted to your network or you have /etc/hosts entry for abc.com mapping to localhost or an internal server/environment, this option will resolve all abc.com requests from remote browser/mobile device via your machine.

Settings for resolving URLs through your local network during App Live session

First, Download the BrowserStack Local binary for macOS / OS X.

Note: Note: The download links are secure. The binaries are digitally signed, identifying the publisher as BrowserStack Ltd.

Unzip the file to a folder/directory on your machine, and open command-line interface and navigate to the folder containing the Local binary. Run the Local binary using the following command:

./BrowserStackLocal --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

Now start an App Live session. You’ll notice that the Local Testing icon in the overhead toolbar has disappeared. This indicates that Local Testing for App Live is now enabled.

To resolve all requests to local URLs via your machine, establish the Local Testing connection with a --force-local flag, as follows:

./BrowserStackLocal --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY --force-local

For example, if there is a URL like abc.com which is restricted to your network or you have /etc/hosts entry for abc.com mapping to localhost or an internal server/environment, this option will resolve all abc.com requests from remote browser/mobile device via your machine.

Note: To set up Local Testing for other environments/network configurations, refer to our complete list of flags. For Local Testing setup in common network configurations, skip to the next section: Use Local Testing with App Live.

First, Download the appropriate BrowserStack Local binary for your system: Linux 32-bit | Linux 64-bit

Note: Note: The download links are secure. The binaries are digitally signed, identifying the publisher as BrowserStack Ltd.

Unzip the file to a folder/directory on your machine, and open command-line interface and navigate to the folder containing the Local binary. Run the Local binary using the following command:

./BrowserStackLocal --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

Now start an App Live session. You’ll notice that the Local Testing icon in the overhead toolbar has disappeared. This indicates that Local Testing for App Live is now enabled.

To resolve all requests to local URLs via your machine, establish the Local Testing connection with a --force-local flag, as follows:

./BrowserStackLocal --key YOUR_ACCESS_KEY --force-local

For example, if there is a URL like abc.com which is restricted to your network or you have /etc/hosts entry for abc.com mapping to localhost or an internal server/environment, this option will resolve all abc.com requests from remote browser/mobile device via your machine.

Note: To set up Local Testing for other environments/network configurations, refer to our complete list of flags. For Local Testing setup in common network configurations, skip to the next section: Use Local Testing with App Live.

Disconnecting Local Testing

The Local Testing connection is persistent. Essentially, your machine and BrowserStack Cloud remain connected unless:

  • You explicitly end the connection (for example, when using the binary)
  • You close the browser window
  • You sign out of your BrowserStack account.

Even if you accidentally close the browser tab, you can resume Local Testing on re-opening it.

What isn’t supported?

Currently, Local Testing with App Live does not support proxies with advanced authentication like Windows, Digest, etc. and NTLM authentication for hosts. We are working on adding support for these soon.

Next Steps

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