Test Automation Videos: Summer 2022 Roundup

This roundup points to test automation videos and event sessions published or highlighted by Applitools between May and August 2022. The sessions cover UI and frontend testing, Cypress versus Playwright, coded and codeless automation, visual AI, autonomous testing, and customer implementation stories. Treat them as a window into the discussions and examples presented in 2022, not as a current review or a controlled comparison of tools.

The source is Applitools’ August 5, 2022 roundup, written by Danny Shain, then identified as Content Marketing Manager at Applitools. Its descriptions are useful for deciding which session to watch; they do not independently validate the vendors’ claims or establish the current state of the software.

What the summer 2022 roundup covers

The sessions range from testing user interfaces and frontend applications to framework comparisons, hybrid coded and codeless workflows, visual AI examples, and customer stories. The roundup also points to event recordings and related recaps, making it a useful starting point if you want several perspectives from the same period.

Videos and sessions to watch

The State of UI/UX Testing: 2022 Results

Applitools’ roundup says the research behind this session surveyed more than 800 testers, developers, designers, and digital thought leaders about UI and UX testing in frontend development. Dan Giordano presented a webinar, and the roundup links to a downloadable report. The appropriate takeaway is limited: more than 800 people surveyed, as reported by Applitools in 2022. The roundup does not establish that the respondents represent the entire industry.

Front-End Test Fest 2022

The roundup features Andrew Knight’s opening keynote, “The State of the Union for Front End Testing,” which it describes as covering seven trends. It also points to an event recap and a video library. The roundup does not list the seven trends, so consult the keynote itself rather than inferring what they were from the title.

Cypress versus Playwright: “Let the Code Speak”

Andrew Knight and Filip Hric reportedly implemented small JavaScript coding challenges, then invited the live audience to vote for preferred solutions. Hric’s recap included the final score. This format can be useful for seeing how syntax and implementation choices differ in concrete examples. The audience vote is not a controlled performance benchmark, and it does not establish a universal winner.

When comparing browser testing frameworks for a real project, use criteria that match your work: the team’s programming fluency, control over test logic, onboarding needs, maintenance effort, ecosystem integrations, and required browser or UI coverage. The session offers examples to discuss against those criteria, not a systematic scorecard.

Coded, codeless, and hybrid testing

A panel on coded and codeless automation discussed trends, common pitfalls, and hybrid approaches. Participants named in the roundup include Anand Bagmar and Andrew Knight from Applitools, and Mush Honda, Chief Quality Architect, and Coty Resenblath, CTO, from Katalon.

The roundup does not conclude that one style is better. Use the panel as a prompt to consider where each approach fits:

Coding skills: Who will create and maintain tests, and how comfortable are they with code?
Control: How much custom logic and flexibility does the workflow require?
Maintenance: Who will update tests when the application changes?
Onboarding: Which approach lets the people responsible for quality contribute effectively?
Integrations: Which existing tools and workflows must the tests work with?

These are decision criteria, not findings established by the panel description.

Autonomous testing and emerging trends

The roundup describes a Q&A between Applitools co-founder and CEO Gil Sever and QA Financial about autonomous testing, cloud advances, AI, and possible future directions. Because this was a forward-looking discussion in 2022, treat predictions as views expressed in that session, not settled facts about current testing practice.

Customer stories and visual AI examples

The roundup points to three examples. They are publisher-presented session descriptions, not independently measured case studies in the material summarized here.

Manufacturing quality control: Test Automation Architect Jerome Rieul describes using Visual AI to detect changes in CAD drawings and surface issues before production.
Codeless testing and visual AI: Applitools’ Nikhil Nigam discusses integrations with Selenium IDE, Katalon Studio, and Tosca.
EVERFI: VP of Quality Engineering Greg Sypolt and Director of Quality Engineering Sneha Viswalingam describe a move from no automation to continuous test generation in nine months, along with the tools and approaches involved.

The roundup does not supply independently measured savings or numerical outcome gains for these stories. Watch the sessions for the speakers’ explanations and context before drawing conclusions about expected results elsewhere.

How to get the most from the recordings

Choose a question first. For example: how do two test frameworks express the same task, or how might visual testing fit an existing codeless workflow?
Start with the relevant session. Use the roundup’s descriptions to find a keynote, panel, webinar, or customer story that addresses the question.
Separate demonstrations from evidence. Note what the speaker demonstrates, what they report, and what the session does not measure.
Check the date and context. These videos reflect discussions and examples from 2022; verify current tool behavior and documentation before making implementation decisions.
Turn the takeaway into a small evaluation. If a session raises a useful idea, try it against a representative workflow in your own application and define success criteria in advance.

ScreenshotNeo for capturing test evidence

For a separate task often used alongside test automation—capturing a webpage as an image or PDF—ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. A single GET request can return a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. It is not a test automation framework and does not change the historical scope of the sessions above.

ScreenshotNeo can accept cookie or consent banners and remove more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. It reports page verdict and billing status in response headers. Bot checks and CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing. Its MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.

The service offers full-page capture with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element capture, dark mode, 12 device presets and custom viewports, retina scale, PDF controls, HTML/CSS rendering, custom CSS and JavaScript, click-before-capture, selector waits, delay and network-idle waits, request and resource blocking, custom headers, cookies, user agent and Authorization, timezone and geolocation, transparent backgrounds, image resizing, configurable cache TTL, signed links for public image tags, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, and an OpenAPI specification. Parameter names used by other screenshot APIs also work to simplify migration.

Or skip the browser setup

Make a screenshot request with cURL, Python, or Node.js. Replace YOUR_API_KEY and the example URL as needed. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options and response details.

cURL

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot",
    params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"},
    timeout=90,
)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)

Node.js

const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Screenshot request failed: ${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);
const bytes = new Uint8Array(await res.arrayBuffer());
await import('node:fs/promises').then(fs => fs.writeFile('shot.webp', bytes));

Cookie banners, popups, and chat widgets are removed before the shot. Bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. An MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots. Sign up for free.

FAQ

When was this roundup published?

August 5, 2022, according to the Applitools page.

Does the Cypress and Playwright session prove one framework is faster?

No. The roundup describes small coding challenges and audience voting, not a controlled speed benchmark.

Are the customer results independently verified here?

No. They are examples described in Applitools’ roundup, which does not provide independent outcome measurements.

Are these videos a current guide to choosing a testing framework?

They are historical session material. Check current documentation and evaluate tools against your own project requirements.