Beta testing with TestFlight

Beta testing is one of the acceptance testing methodologies conducted by customers to assess the level of their satisfaction with the project. It involves end users who use the product, over a certain period of time to check its functionality, usability, reliability, and compatibility. Beta testing is usually performed immediately after completing the alpha testing.

During the testing product and after it, the experience of working with the application gained by end users is taken into account, and feedback on the design, as well as on the functionality and interface is requested. All this helps to assess the quality of the final product since a pre-release working version of the application with full functionality is provided for beta testing.

Beta testing is divided into 2 types:

• closed – the program is tested by a small group of users who receive invitations;
• open – this option helps test the application with a large number of users and get the corresponding amount of feedback. Any user can join the open beta testing and send personal feedback. 

The main advantages of beta testing:

• it helps evaluate the product from the user's point of view;
• it can be performed by many people, each of whom sees the product in their own way and focuses on different nuances of use;
• it is possible to cover many platforms, combinations of OS, devices, and browsers since a large number of people tests the product;
• it allows for detecting problems in the operation of the product. Sometimes usability problems known to the customer but not paid attention to become serious after beta testing, preventing users from enjoying the product.

TestFlight tool

Different services provide convenient access to product files for beta testing, the most popular of which are briefly discussed in this article. Now we will take a closer look at the official application from Apple.

TestFlight is an official Apple product for open beta testing designed for iOS devices to make the process of collecting test device codes (UDIDs) easier. This service provides an easy way to invite users to test iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps before they are released in the App Store.

TestFlight is used to distribute applications that can be tested only for iOS versions 8.0 and higher, as there are almost no OS devices with older versions at the moment.

What is great about the service is that it is free, and the developers promise to keep the basic functionality free in the future.

The main functions of TestFlight:

• providing access to the application for 1000 beta testers, using only their emails;
• the ability to use several devices for testing;
• the ability to download, install, and update test versions of applications by the developers; 
• easy and fast product submission for review after beta testing is completed;
• the ability to download the official application from the App Store without searching and sending the UDID code of the device to the developer to participate in the testing;
• receiving notifications about the release of the tested product's new build (before, email notifications were used for this); 
• an option for beta testers to leave feedback through the TestFlight application so that the customer or developer will receive it at the email address they have previously provided.
• display the number of times the application was launched and crashed.  Additionally, one can receive some information about the delay.

The process of testing program beta versions with the help of TestFlight is simple:

1. First, install TestFlight from the App Store. The installation process is the same as for any other application.
2. After receiving an invite for beta testing in TestFlight, download the official beta version of the program from the App Store through the link in TestFlight.

3. After installation, launch the service from the home screen. There is an orange dot in front of the program name which indicates that this is a test version.
4. After clicking the name of the product in TestFlight, you will see a screen with information about it. Sometimes developers add information about what exactly needs to be tested or a message about the latest updates.

On the same screen, it is possible to install the latest version of the application.

By going to the «Previous Builds» item, you can download any previous build that was released before. This is convenient for comparing the functionality of different versions.

5. You can use the «Send Beta Feedback» function to send the information about the found bugs or write feedback to developers.

6. When users don't want to participate in product testing anymore, they can simply click the «Stop Testing» button in the TestFlight window.

There are many programs for beta testing, however, when it comes to iOS testing TestFlight is at the top of the list. This application is official, user-friendly and also provides all the necessary functionality for successful communication between customers and testers. TestFlight helps developers set priorities in fixing bugs or refining functionality based on end-user feedback. This can significantly improve the software quality. TestFlight is used not only for beta testing but also for sending builds to outsourced testers with whom customers have signed a contract.