WebRTC mobile testing has two failure modes: "broke on a specific device family" and "broke on a specific network condition". BrowserStack and Sauce Labs each cover one of those cleanly, and together they cover both.

Background

BrowserStack ships 30,000+ real devices in its mobile cloud (2,000+ iOS, 2,500+ Android) and is the broader catalog for manual exploratory testing. Sauce Labs ships 7,500+ real mobile devices plus 1,700+ emulators/simulators, and its Sauce Insights analytics layer surfaces flakiness scores at the test-case level — the clearest differentiator from BrowserStack's pass/fail-and-video model.

For AI voice agent apps in 2026, the testing matrix is large: iOS 17/18/19, Android 13/14/15, plus the AI flow (consent → call → transcript → action) on top of WebRTC's existing matrix (codec, ICE, SDP, simulcast). Audio testing specifically — does the agent hear the user, does the agent respond on-time, does the user hear the agent — is poorly served by emulators and benefits massively from real devices.

Architecture

```mermaid flowchart LR CI[CI/CD GitHub Actions] -- triggers --> Tests[Appium/WebDriverIO Tests] Tests -- runs on --> BS[BrowserStack App Live] Tests -- runs on --> SL[Sauce Labs Real Device Cloud] BS -- video + logs --> Triage[Triage Dashboard] SL -- Sauce Insights --> Triage Triage --> Engineers[On-call] ```

CallSphere implementation

CallSphere runs WebRTC mobile QA on both clouds, gated to specific test types, across the six verticals (real estate, healthcare, behavioral health, legal, salon, insurance):

• Real Estate (OneRoof) — End-to-end "agent answers, books showing, sends SMS" tests run on Sauce Labs nightly with Sauce Insights tracking flake. The same scenarios run on BrowserStack for new-OS-release verification (e.g., iOS 19 GA day). The Pion Go gateway 1.23 + NATS + 6-container pod (CRM, MLS, calendar, SMS, audit, transcript) is hit by both. See /industries/real-estate.
• Healthcare — HIPAA gates BrowserStack to redacted-only tests; PHI never touches a third-party device cloud. See /industries/healthcare.
• /demo browser path — Pure browser; we use BrowserStack Live for real-device-browser smoke. See /demo.

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Build steps with code

```yaml

.github/workflows/mobile-qa.yml

name: Mobile QA on: [push] jobs: browserstack: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: browserstack/github-actions/setup-env@master with: username: ${{ secrets.BS_USER }} access-key: ${{ secrets.BS_KEY }} - run: yarn test:mobile --provider=browserstack

saucelabs: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - run: yarn test:mobile --provider=saucelabs env: SAUCE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.SAUCE_USER }} SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.SAUCE_KEY }} ```

```ts // tests/voice-agent.spec.ts (Appium + WebDriverIO) describe("Voice agent E2E", () => { it("answers and books", async () => { await driver.activateApp("com.callsphere.oneroof"); await $("~start_call_btn").click(); // BrowserStack and Sauce both support audio injection await driver.executeScript("browserstack_executor: {"action": "playAudio", "arguments": {"url": "https://test.callsphere.ai/buyer-prompt.wav\"}}", []); await $("~booking_confirmed_label").waitForDisplayed({ timeout: 30_000 }); }); }); ```

Pitfalls

• Trusting emulator audio — Emulator mics are silent or fake; always use real devices for voice tests.
• Not pinning OS versions — Test across the supported OS matrix at minimum, with new betas added on day 1.
• Letting Sauce Insights flake scores drift — Triage flake weekly; ignored flake becomes broken tests.
• Skipping audio injection — Both clouds support it; use it to drive deterministic prompts.
• Network conditioning — Both clouds throttle network; pair "lossy 4G" tests with "Wi-Fi" tests.

FAQ

Why two clouds? Coverage breadth from BrowserStack, automation depth from Sauce Labs. Different teams pick one if budget is tight.

Can I test WebRTC P2P on these clouds? Yes — both clouds expose real network egress so your TURN/STUN works.

How much does it cost? Both run subscriptions in the high four to low five figures per month depending on parallels.

Are there alternatives? Drizz, AWS Device Farm, Firebase Test Lab — but BrowserStack and Sauce Labs lead on real-device count and Appium support.

Can I record audio output? Yes — both clouds capture device audio; Sauce additionally OCRs subtitles for assertions.

Sources

• https://bug0.com/knowledge-base/browserstack-vs-saucelabs
• https://ghostinspector.com/blog/sauce-labs-vs-browserstack/
• https://www.drizz.dev/post/top-browserstack-alternatives-in-2026
• https://saucelabs.com/resources/blog/a-comprehensive-best-cross-browser-testing-tools-comparison
• https://www.getpanto.ai/blog/device-farms-for-mobile-testing

Explore a live demo and compare current plans to find the right fit for your business.