Beta testing is a great way to get feedback from real users about your app. From ideation to beta-testing apps, the process is complex.
The technological world is extremely dynamic, and changes are happening constantly. Markets are competitive, and there are many choices for people to make. A competitive market leaves no room for errors for developers, testers, or business owners.
Businesses must be very careful to ensure their application is free of defects. It’s like a soft launch where real users can test the app and tell you what needs to be changed or added.
Beta testing ensures that your app users have a smooth experience and mobile app test automation may be very important for that. App owners are frequently urged to develop new mobile app testing strategies and find beta-testing platforms to improve their mobile apps. This blog will teach you all about beta-testing apps.
What Does Beta Testing Mean?
Beta testing a mobile app involves allowing a small group of users to access your app to evaluate and test its performance. This is like performers doing a dress rehearsal for a large show before it goes on to a larger audience to smooth out any rough edges. It’s to ensure everything goes smoothly once the curtain is raised.
Beta testing is best done when there is still time to make changes to the product based on feedback. However, it should be close enough to launch for the beta to reflect the final version accurately.
Types Of Beta Testing
It can be stressful to release a new application or feature for an existing one. Most organizations launch their apps without beta testing new features. When it comes to the development of mobile applications, beta testing must begin as soon as acceptance tests are completed.
Two categories of mobile app beta testing are available:
Open beta testing: This is the first beta testing for mobile apps. The number of testers is not limited. Suppose you wish to use the beta version of an application. In that case, you may download it directly or request the executable from the company—for example, Google Chrome’s beta tester app.
Closed Beta Testing: Apps for closed beta testing are restricted by an organization. Only users whom the company has invited can download the beta testing app and use it. We will explore the reasons behind these restrictions in this post. Google Task Mate, for example, is a closed beta-testing app. It is free to download, but only with Google’s permission.
There are also a few other divisions in beta testing apps – focused beta test applications, technical beta test applications, etc. These are the children of closed and open beta testing, and they differ only slightly. Most organizations simply refer to their mobile app testing as open or closed.
Importance of Beta Testing for Mobile Apps
Beta testing begins when the testers and developers are satisfied with the results of the alpha phase. First, let’s ask if this process is still important after the product has been tested manually by people in the organization multiple times.
Beta testing apps are a great way to get the perspective of users before the final product is released. This testing is performed outside of the testing environment, with parameters set by the beta app tester. You get very accurate results. Beta testing apps are useful for many other reasons besides these.
1) Hidden and corner case detection
You can identify corner cases by beta-testing your apps. This is easier than manually testing in testing labs. You can be sure that most bugs will be found during mobile beta testing since different users use mobile applications differently.
2) Cost-effective solution
The beta testing process is cost-effective and ensures the app meets design and development requirements. The tester approves the application and is ready to be moved to production. Suddenly, users find bugs when this application is made available to them.
Correction of production bugs is always expensive. Beta testing allows you to detect and fix these bugs within the testing environment easily.
3) Diversifies the device matrix
The user must use their device to test beta apps. Our mobile application can run on various devices since they use their own devices. This would have been difficult to do in a lab. cross-browser testing can be done at home.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform for different types of testing such as cross-browser testing, Visual regression testing, mobile app testing, and many more. can test mobile applications on popular OS versions. Cross-browser or cross-device testing is required to find bugs relating to responsiveness and compatibility. It is best to avoid delivering the app directly into the hands of beta testers, as this can lead to unexpected behavior.
4) Increase application quality
The number of variables in testing increases when beta testing apps. After we have completed the beta testing of the mobile application and corrected all feedback from the testers, we will get a high-quality application. The end-users, developers, and testers will all be happy when we release our product.
5) Localization and geolocation testing
Geolocation Testing tests the application in different locations to ensure the data complies with regional rules. Localization testing can include testing the application’s behavior in different regions to see if it works correctly.
An example is displaying the application’s local language and time. Beta testing apps allow users to use and download the app from anywhere. This is a great use case to test localization.
6) Increased application security
It is possible to enhance the security of an application by analyzing its logs or by pushing a trigger and checking for any leaks within the infrastructure.
7) Business goals
The application is designed with the goals of the company in mind. The application is developed according to the goals of the organization. The beta testing results can be used to understand how many people worked towards the organization’s goals without knowing anything about the process or app.
Steps To Conduct a Successful Mobile App Beta Testing
Mobile beta testing is an easy process. The process is very simple. Only two groups are involved: the testers and developers who analyze the app’s behavior and the beta testers who simply have to use it regularly.
Beta testing an app requires that you keep the following in mind:
1) Design
Designing the mobile app is the first step to beta testing. The design phase is the first step before we develop our application or have rendered it. It is common to design based on the market, business goals, scope of business, etc.
2) Planning
After the design is complete, we begin the planning phase. The planning phase is where we lay out the structure for beta testing. We must separate sections clearly and carefully while analyzing the application’s business goals. We need to note down, for example, the dates and times of each beta-testing phase. What type of questions do we want to ask beta testers? How can we reduce the number of incorrect beta testers’ data? What kind of beta testers are we looking for – random, technical, or another specific group?
3) Finalize the beta testers
Next, you must finalize the list of beta testers working on your application. You already know what kind of beta testers are needed, so you only need to develop or find a platform that will connect them to you. Many web applications are made to connect you with the correct audience.
4) Make your pool of testers
Wait for the testers to accept or reject your proposal. Send them your mobile app beta-testing link in the Play Store/Apple Store or a downloadable link. Let them know what you’re looking for. Note that you do not need to share all of your plans for analysis with the beta testers. The data may be tempered, which could result in a poor application.
5) Take Feedback and work on Them
Next, you will need to take feedback regularly from beta testers. The feedback may be destructive or constructive, but it will help you shape your application to fit the target audience.
Remember that you do not need to address each comment. Only consider feedback that fits your design and aligns with business goals. You should not consider feedback from users who have an application for eCommerce that sells books. This is solely a marketing and business decision. Beta testing is intended to find bugs, improve business goals, and enhance the quality of an existing application.
6) Reward the Tester
You can reward testers once you have completed beta testing (or in the middle). You can give them coupons or even a sneak peek at the newest features before anyone else.
Final Talk
Beta testing is an essential phase of the development process. It is a feedback test that exposes the application to real users and real environments.
The beta testing process is an essential part of software development. Beta testing allows real users to test the application and find any bugs before releasing it publicly. This also allows you to test customer satisfaction and gain an early understanding of the product.