The "Spinner of Death": Why Localhost Latency is Lying to You
The "Localhost" Bias
We've all been there.
\ On your machine, the API responds in 5ms. The UI updates instantly. You click "Submit," the modal closes, and you move on to the next ticket. Status: Done. ✅
\ But on a user's 4G connection in a subway tunnel, that same API call takes 2 seconds.
\ Because you tested on localhost (Gigabit Fiber), you missed critical race conditions:
- 🖱️ The Double-Click Bug: The user clicks "Submit" twice because "nothing happened," charging their credit card twice.
- 🔄 The Infinite Spinner: The loader gets stuck forever because a packet was dropped.
- 🏎️ Race Conditions: Data arrives out of order, overwriting the user's input.
\ Your app feels fast because you are cheating. 0ms latency is a lie.
\ The Wrong Solution: time.sleep() \n I often see tests that look like this: \n
# ❌ Don't do this page.click("#submit") time.sleep(2) # Simulating "network lag" expect(page.locator(".success")).to_be_visible()
Why this fails: sleep() just pauses the test execution script. The browser engine itself is still blazing fast. It doesn't simulate network queues, slow handshakes, or constrained bandwidth. You aren't testing the network; you're just making your test suite slower.
The Right Solution: Network Throttling (CDP)
To test this properly in automation, you need to talk directly to the browser engine. You need to tell Chrome: "Pretend you are on a terrible 50kb/s connection."
\ We can do this using the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) within Playwright. This forces the browser to handle packet delays and loading states exactly as a real user would experience.
\ The Code (Python + Playwright)
Here is how to inject a "Bad 3G" connection into your test: \n
from playwright.sync_api import Page, expect def test_slow_network_handling(page: Page): # 1. Connect to Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) # This gives us low-level access to the browser client = page.context.new_cdp_session(page) # 2. 🧨 CHAOS: Emulate "Bad 3G" # Latency: 2000ms (2 seconds) # Throughput: 50kb/s (Very slow) client.send("Network.emulateNetworkConditions", { "offline": False, "latency": 2000, "downloadThroughput": 50 * 1024, "uploadThroughput": 50 * 1024 }) page.goto("https://myapp.com/search") # 3. Trigger the slow action page.fill("#search-box", "Playwright") page.click("#search-btn") # 4. Resilience Assertion # Check 1: Does the UI prevent double submission? expect(page.locator("#search-btn")).to_be_disabled() # Check 2: Does the user get immediate feedback? expect(page.locator(".loading-spinner")).to_be_visible()
Why this matters: This test proves your UI provides feedback. If a user clicks a button and waits 2 seconds with no visual feedback, they will assume the app is broken.
But wait, what about Mobile Apps?📱 \ The script above is perfect for automated CI pipelines running Chrome. But CDP has a major limitation:It doesn't work on a physical iPhone or Android device**.
\ If you are a Mobile Developer or manual QA, you can't "attach Playwright" to the phone in your hand to simulate a subway tunnel.
\ The Manual Alternative (System-Level Proxy)
To test latency on a real device without writing code, you need a System-Level Proxy that sits between your phone and the internet.
\ You can use desktop tools like Charles Proxy (if you enjoy configuring Java apps and firewalls), or you can use a cloud-based tool like Chaos Proxy (which I'm building).
\ It allows you to simulate "Subway Mode" (2s latency) on any device—iPhone, Android, or Laptop—just by connecting to a Wi-Fi proxy.
\ The Workflow:
- Create a "Chaos Rule" (e.g., Latency = 2000ms).
- Connect your phone to the proxy via QR code.
3. Watch your app struggle (and then fix it).
Summary
- Stop trusting Localhost. It hides your worst bugs.
- Automated: Use Playwright + CDP to inject latency in your E2E tests.
- Manual/Mobile: Use a Chaos Proxy to test resilience on physical devices.
Happy Testing! 🧪
If you found this useful, check out my previous post: Stop Testing Success. Kill the Database.
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