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Beta testing
To avoid hijacking another thread any further, an interesting question arose about beta testing. So, I ask, have you done beta testing of iOS apps before and if so what was your experience like? What was your reason for wanting to test? No judgement, I'm just interested.
I was a beta tester only one time and it's an experience I probably will not repeat. I realized that early access and free app when it came out was not worth the time I put in, especially since almost everything I reported or suggested is still not fixed or implemented in said nameless app. That particular app has been deleted for a long time on my iPad as well. I also realized I like to make music and use my devices, not constantly find problems and fix them, which is what I think beta testing is supposed to be.
Anyway, I'd love to read the views of others.
Comments
I'm doing this since iOS 4.2 (when midi came). I'm doing it for very selfish reasons. I want great tools. It's worth putting time in it for me, because I get the features I want most of the time, so I can do stuff my way. I like to find bugs and find stuff in workflows that don't work. Because after I complain it get fixed.
I'm beta testing an app now and to be honest I find I don't really have the time needed to do a good enough job. I'm not sure the length of time apps are usually tested, but this one seems to be quite a while and have had many changes so far. Many times I've just been about to report what seems like a bug, when a new version arrives with the bug fixed!
Get the notification, download the beta, play with it for an hour, report 2 bugs, and wait for the new beta.
If you found nothing, say nothing. But that never happens.^^
Flo said what I was trying to say in a better way- I'm definitely not the guy for beta testing!
As for half-dedicated beta-testing I've only signed up for two apps, FingerBeat and SidTracker 64.
The others i 'buy' and report the issues I find back to the developer, if or when they are 'communicating'.
I will not limit my freedom of expression and sign up for testing apps that require NDA, never, unless someone pays me big bucks to keep my mouth shut...
common problem of the app: no deleting and/or name editing
why?
I've been on the beta team for Mitosynth, Flux FX and a couple others (and a few VST and PC applications). I do it just to help out, as well as the fun of playing with something that most people won't get for a while. It's neat to have a preset you made get included, have your name listed in the credits, or even just to find a bug.
I've done it once and I don't think I'II do it again (ditto Alpha testing). I too don't have the patience with the process, especially when the same issues appear to be unresolved with each new beta.
The most annoying thing about Beta-Testing apps is when you find and report a bug early and after, many, many months they are still there when the app is released...
The list of issues i sent for FingerBeat will keep the dev busy for another year or so
For SidTracker 64 I'll wait until the devs. are done with their summer-vacation, it's super nice weather here in Sweden right now
The Open In... export bugs in current SidTracker 64 were reported same day as I got the beta but were not fixed for the release. If you leave the 'loop button' activated when doing an export in SidTracker 64 you'll end up with a 10 minute loop of the currently active patterns and the export-loops are not 'trimmed' lots of empty space in the beginning.
These have been reported so only time will tell when or if they will get fixed...
I've tested a lot of software over the years, mostly in my job. And that's part of why I've gotten into some Beta testing on iOS; thinking that my prior experiences could help in assessing and documenting an app.
It seems foolish for a developer to have open beta testing and yet not listen to the feedback from testers. Luckily, I have not run into that, otherwise the app would be deleted and forgotten.
I've done a fair amount of beta testing. As an iOS blogger, in some instances developers will share the beta version with me just so I can have a "sneak-peek" at the app before release.
In other instances, I dedicate a good deal of time in testing, generally due to my relationship with the developer (Elastic Drums, Oscilab, Patterning).
As with anything, beta testing depends on both the testers and developers. No doubt there are a lot of "beta testers" who simply volunteer their services so they can have a copy of the app. This is a shame, as it doesn't help the developer.
A lot also depends on the developer's messages and needs. In some cases, the developer sends out the app and says "Have fun and let me know if anything is broken!" Other developers are very methodical, and suggest specific testing requirements and scenarios to be tested.
If it's something you're interested in doing, I would recommend reaching out to the developers to offer your assistance. But it's not for everyone.
Apart from testing it is (at least to me) important that there is a proper way to report and follow up the reported issues. I was pleasantly surprised by the TwistedWave developer and also had good communication with FingerBeat devs but when the list of issues and suggestions grew fairly large some compromises had to be made or the app would never have been released...
It is always positive sign when the developers of apps pop up and have direct communication with the users in various forums, this is where most of the 'free future feature research' is done anyway
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This is the reason I don't beta test, because I like to make music.. Yes the aim is to try and crash the app and report exactly how etc.. Very disruptive to music production.
My motivation for beta testing is that many iOS developers have limited resources and if I want better apps then beta testing is a way to do so. Different people use apps in different ways and the developer has their own vision for the app. I think it's unrealistic to expect apps to be perfect upon release but hopefully through the beta testing process major bugs can be identified and eliminated before release.
Features and app design are different than eliminating bugs. Depending upon where in the development process beta testing starts, there are limits to how much feedback on features and design the developer will be open to.
It seems to be the case that you can't please all of the people all of the time so developers can get a lot of feedback to sift through, and prioritize. They work within the limits of iOS, their own skill, knowledge, and time.
My experience has been that developers listen to feedback and are diligent about trying to fix problems brought to their attention.
If I was an app developer I don't think I'd have an open house approach to testing, I'd setup a forum like this one with a support/bug reporting section so users can report issues that way. There's a danger you'd be swamped with false bug reports that were user/hardware/setup related that could otherwise be ruled out or explained via other forum members.
I've worked for software companies and they kept everything in-house with very strict systems for beta testing. If finances agreed I'd follow this route and use a few trusted devs I've worked with for pro testing, and then the forum option for general feedback and support. Obviously this might not be viable for small dev companies, but I'm guessing they have to spend a lot of time looking into false bug reports with the open house system.
I try to limit my requests to what to my knowledge is possible to do under iOS.
The 'push' for iOS-FilePicker is finally starting to pay off as more and more apps implement support for it...
I also try to request for things that should be fairly simple to implement and try to 'adapt' the idea to the apps 'style and philosophy' to make it easier for the developer to accept the idea as his/her own
I do try to stay as polite and focused as I possible can and avoid sending rude complaints when things don't work...
What would also be helpful were if apps had a 'road-map / todo-list' available so we could avoid sending duplicate requests for things that have already been requested...
I think beta testing is valuable for sure and I do want better apps, I just know that I'm not the man for the job. I appreciate those who do it to make things better and not to get free apps (the one I tested was not free for sure- I put a lot of hours into the beta testing, so I got a code but I worked hard for that.)
Totally agree with @Paul
+1 to what @Zymos and @Paul said. I beta for 4 or 5 apps (or try to, been slacking lately!) and I've never really had the experience you had @mrufino1. I've only ever done it for indie developers which could be a different sort of experience than doing it for Retronyms or Steinberg.
I only talk to indies, big companies are not worth my time, they don't listen ...
Respect to those who do beta test. But it must be hard for a developer because there are so many updates and all combinations need thorough testing. For example I'm on ipad2 ios 7.2 (and rapidly becoming antique). Others use combinations of air1, air2, ios 8.1, 8.2, 7.3 etc .
Just give me a couple minutes with anything and I will find something that isn't working properly (i.e. how I expect it to). So I've not been participating in any beta testing lately, mostly because I feel like a dick the entire time while reporting stuff that I think is odd or quirky and the devs probably are just shaking their heads like "Oh great, this f'n guy again."
@Ringleader It's just like me when i get my hands on a 'new' app. I always encounter bugs and things that don't work properly but I wait with the report until I can find a repeatable pattern to reproduce the problem. Sometimes it's iOS related (memory handling causes crash) or the app that doesn't behave sometimes it's just one-time glitch...
I, as a developer can't thank enough my beta testers to point out stuff i never thought of. For an indie developer like me with limited resources beta testing is a heaven sent help.
I've beta tested apps since 2010. Not sure how many but at least 30 I reckon
My reason for doing so was two fold:
Interest in the app itself and its potential
To try an ensure a decent functional app at launch that could be used for serious music making.
My approach to beta testing was simple- pretend i bought the app to use in my own song creation.
So, I'd consider the UI, wether it was appealing, wether navigation around the app made sense- was it easy to figure out or would buyers have to RTFM!
Then the sounds, were they good? Able to be tweaked? How responsive were each function , dial, fader, window clicker etc
And then of course export.
So I would approach from a serious producers perspective. In many cases crashes and bugs were reported, and some were automatically delivered to the developer via their own means.
I no longer beta test, it's not the time factor, but I just cannot be bothered. I no longer want or need to accumulate many apps anymore, I'm happy with what I have. It's rare that I buy or receive promocodes for newer apps.
My recommendation to developers is to seek out experienced and skilled producers and pay them a small fee for their time to beta test. Seek those that create full songs using a combo of apps in an intense way. I understand there is one blogger who is skilled at finding all sorts of esoteric bugs and charges a steep fee, that's all well and good but I feel he needs to join forces with a producer or two and work as a team to not only ensure that the apps are bug free,but that they "Make sense".
People approaching developers to beta test and just toying around with the app due to some egocentric thing about getting hands on first, need to stop that, because it doesn't help matters at all. And developers need to be more cautious about whom they engage in the testing and work closely with the testers step by step..
@touchconspiracy
Very well said. Real world use is so important for something to be a good tool.
I'm enjoying reading the responses as well, thanks to all who are posting. Everyone has their role and their strengths and it's important to know both and do/ use them well.
As a developer you have to be very careful who you choose as beta group. If it's more than 5 people you just drown in an endless flow of reports of the the same bug. (If you have good people or in an endless flow of uneducated complains if you have the wrong and to much ppl)^^
As a beta tester you need to be able to create a scenario that is repeatable, otherwise the info is completely useless ...
I've done alpha and beta testing for years. I'm not allowed to say much about the app I'm currently testing, but I usually test for selfish reasons. For example, if there is a hole or gap in what is available (ie DAWs on iPhone), then I want to be able to give input and make the app be the best it can be, since I will be using it all the time. I jump at opportunities like that. :-)
I've done a couple but find it fun when testing apps that I'm not using in my live rig. For apps that I rely on I prefer to obstain as it is painful to have to restore from backup because something's gone wrong. It was different in the times when Ifunbox worked.
Having said that, it is a torture to wait for the official release when you know that beta has THAT feature that you've been waiting for.
Over the course of my career in IT, I did a lot of alpha and beta testing. I'm told that I tend to approach apps/programs in unanticipated ways. As a consequence I earned the nickname, "Bugmagnet".