How To Test Your App Before Publishing : Comprehensive Guide

Releasing an untested mobile app is as wrong as releasing an unfinished app. Few apps are complete—or even excellent—when first released, but many are at slightly a minimum viable product (MVP). And even then, they would have gone through at small one round of testing before being posted.

There are a few portals available for testing native and hybrid mobile apps. Some help only testing for a single operating system, either iOS or Android. But others let you to test both versions of your app, taking you are release it for both OS. However, most of these are services you pay to operate. Both Apple and Google offer methods for developers to test their native or hybrid mobile apps at no cost. You should also test any web-based apps you create. However since you do not post these on the App Store or Google Play, the process for testing differs.

Why Test Your App Before Releasing It?

You test your app before releasing it to confirm that all features work as you planned. This includes evaluating usability and assessing the app’s stability. These are all things you can test yourself. But calling other people to test it can help determine issues you did not experience, overlooked, or did not expect.

Not everyone is operating the very latest software release or the latest phone model. This involves whether you formed your app for iOS, Android, or both. And unlike iPhones, with Android, you have dozens of phones released by various manufacturers. Large-scale testing will let you to pick up on issues only experienced on specific phone models or specific versions of the operating systems.

It isn’t unique for app developers to stipulate that they optimized their app for recent phone and operating system releases. But this usually contains phones and operating systems released in the last 3-4 years.

Testing an iOS App Using TestFlight

• If you have accumulated the email addresses of people curious in being notified when the app launches, reach out to them to see if they would want to test your app.
• If your app is suggested to support your existing business, talk to your current customers to enquire if any would like to be testers.
• Operate social media (including Reddit) to request for testers. You can utilize a public link, permitting anyone to opt-in without the need to manually manage a list.

TestFlight permits up to 10,000 external users to test your app, and you can even have further users testing different builds of your app. Each form remains available for testing for 90 days after it was first uploaded. The App Store will review the rather build you add for external testers. This is to provide it adheres to the App Store Review Guidelines. Testing can only start once they approve the app.

Testers can submit feedback straight to you through the TestFlight app and can also include screenshots to highlight problems they encounter. If you allow crash reporting, the system will prompt testers to send details of any app crashes to you.

Testing an Android App Using Google Play Console

Like TestFlight, Google’s Play Console lets users to test your app before you publish it. Utilizing Play Console for testing is free and permits for open, closed, and internal testing. As the name implies, internal testing is meant for having a small group of trusted users test your app before letting a larger group of volunteers to test it. Open and closed testing have significant distinctions you need to be aware of:

• Open Testing: With open testing, you post the test version of your app on Google Play and anyone can find and install it. This keeps you from having to manage an email list and users can still submit personal feedback on the app. But your app and store listing must be ready to be shown on Google Play.
• Closed Testing: internal testing permits you to have up to 100 trusted users test your app before you release it. Closed testing permits you to have a much larger group of users test your app without publishing it on Google Play first. As with TestFlight, you will be required to find users for closed testing. You will need to build an email list and manually add testers for a closed test.

You can run numerous closed tests and one internal test at the same time. This can be valid for having different groups of testers focus on specific features or tests.

Things To Remember When Testing Your App

With TestFlight you won’t always understand who your testers are. When testers submit feedback through the app, they can opt out of including their email address. However, you will be capable to see what device and iOS version the tester was using, along with other critical—but non-identifying—details.

Give testers information on what the purpose of the app is, even if you feel it is obvious. Ask them to perform specific tasks too, such as:

• For e-commerce apps, request them to find specific items in your store, add them to their cart, and then finish the check-out steps.
• Making an account and updating their profile.
• Utilizing Facebook, Apple, or Google to sign in (if offered in your app).
• Have them test all features of your app, with a particular focus on any features that use a phone and operating system features, such as the camera roll, calendar, and others.

Keep in mind that there are two kinds of Android releases: an APK version, which is utilized to test your application before publishing,  and a bundle version, which is the version utilized for publishing on the Google Play Store.

If you’re able to speak directly with your app testers, ask them queries as part of their feedback, such as:

• How comfortable was it to navigate to specific screens and find the details they needed?
• Why would or wouldn’t they operate the app again?
• What functions did not operate or did not work as desired?
• How likely are they to suggest the app to friends?
• What features were most and small useful?
• How fast was the installation in comparison to other apps they’ve installed?
• What features or functions did they feel were missing?

App testing is essential to ensuring your app works as planned and is enjoyed and valued by users.