Here’s a simple little testing tip when testing websites on the iPad, using the Safari browser.

Turning on the Debug Console before starting testing will help identify any errors which may occur during the testing. The error messages will be shown in the Debug Console and these error messages can be very useful to the developers who have to fix the error. You can then take a screenshot of the Debug Console and send that to the developers or whoever needs to see it.

To turn on the Debug Console:

  • Go to Settings on iPad
  • Select Safari in the list on left
  • Select Advanced at bottom of list on right
  • Turn ON the Debug Console (see screenshot below)

Update: Since the iOS 6 upgrade, the ‘Debug Console’ option seems to have disappeared! Nice move Apple! 

iPad Settings

Using Debug Console during testing:

  • The Debug Console will sit at the top of the browser and tell you of any Messages which you can check easily, by pressing the Messages alert
  • The Console will then display any error messages
  • From the options at the end of the screen, you can select All Messages, or select only HTML messages, only JavaScript messages or only CSS messages
  • See the screenshot below for an example Debug Console display

iPad Debug Console