Browserstack, iOS and Windows 10

My memory's not great so these days, when I learn how to do something, I try and jot it down somewhere. And today, that somewhere is dev.to. Hello, strangers and forgetful future version of me! This is how you can check local sites using iOS through Browserstack.

Unfortunately, when you try and visit any URL starting with localhost in iOS under Browserstack, it replaces it with bs-local.com (I assume here that BS stands for Browser stack, rather than something ruder). Browserstack say this is due to restrictions, and then just sort of get on with their lives. No, I'm not being quite fair there. They do have a tiny bit of documentation, but it's still pretty confusing.

Here's what you really need to do.

Setting up local connections

If you haven't already, you'll need to download an installer which, I dunno, does something.

You can find the installer in that little side bar, at the top where mine currently reads Force local: ON

The configuration for the Browserstack local app has a bunch of proxy setting in it. Ignore them. This is a red herring.

Finding your actual IP address

There's a couple of ways to do this.

The h@xx0r way

• Hit the Windows key and R, like the Windows key is a shift (on the keyboard or in a car, dealer's choice)
• Type CMD
• Type ipconfig/all
• Nod, as if you understand what all that gibberish means (this is mostly for the benefit of any onlookers)
• Find the entry which reads IPV4 Address
• Take a note of that IP address, but ignore the (Preferred) bit
• Type that into a browser address bar, with any ports or paths you need after it
• If that URL resolves to the site you're expecting, perfect! That's the URL iOS needs within Browserstack
• If it doesn't, I'll be honest: I'm out of ideas

The mouse-only way

• Right-click on your internet connection icon in your system tray (bottom right of the taskbar, by default)
• Select Open Network & Internet settings
• Find the tiny blue link for View your network properties
• Look for IPv4 address
• Your IP address is everything before the forward-slash. It'll probably start with 192.168. I still don't know why.
• Type that into a browser address bar, with any ports or paths you need after it
• If that URL resolves to the site you're expecting, perfect! That's the URL iOS needs within Browserstack
• If it doesn't, this is where this page is useless

That's all I've got. Goodbye!