Lighthouse is known as an automated and open source tool for enhancing the quality of web pages. It is possible to execute this against any type of web pages which are public or needing certain authentication. It includes auditing procedure for accessibility, performance, progressive online apps and many others. It is possible to execute the Lighthouse as a Node module or from the command line in Chrome development tools.

URL is given to Lighthouse for auditing. A collection of audits are accomplished against the web page and a report is generated how well the page performs. Failing audits are the indication how to improve the web page. A reference doc is included in every audit that illustrates why it is vital to make an audit and also how to fix the issue.

Upgrade to Lighthouse 3.0

Lighthouse 3.0 is released already. Features of lighthouse 3.0 include less variance, quicker audits, new audits, a new report UI and many others. Let us know how to update to 3.0:

CLI – Execute npm and perform installation of -g lighthouse@next

Node – Perform npm by installing lighthouse@next

Extension – Google chrome extension should be auto update to 3.0.

Chrome DevTools – Lighthouse 3.0 can be accessed in Chrome 69.

Less Variance and Quicker Auditing

Using lighthouse 3.0, it is possible to complete the audit work quickly. It includes a few differences while running.

Lesser Waiting Time – Lighthouse requires waiting idly for the CPU and network in order to check that a page is loaded completely. The waiting period is smaller in v3.

Simulated Throttling – In the previous version, web pages was throttled before execution of audits. Now an internal audit engine is used by lighthouse. It is codenamed as Lantern. Normal CPU settings and network is needed to accomplish the audit by Lantern. Afterwards it is calculated how much time the page will take to load into mobile.

New Report UI

Using lighthouse 3.0, a new UI report can be obtained. It is the result of the collaboration between the Chrome UX and Lighthouse teams.

Formats of New Output and Changes

Support of CSV Output

The result of the reports can be shown in CSV. Each row has results and information for a single audit. It includes:

The name of the audit

The type of score used for the audit

A description of the audit

Value of the score

The name of the category which the audit belongs to

In lighthouse 3.0 the perceptual speed index audit is known as speed index. The reason of the audit is not different but the process is little bit different.