It seems like a no-brainer I know, but you have to thoroughly TEST YOUR APP before you submit it. First to make sure everything works the way it should. Second to make sure people like it.
Remember the Atari? I bet they wish they had of done some more testing before releasing a couple of games..
TEST THE FUNCTIONALITY OF YOUR APP….AND GET OTHERS TO TEST
Again, you think you have an awesome app, with lots of awesome features…but you need a reality check. Enlist the straight shooters who will tell you your app is crap if it really is. Your friends and loved ones are going to be nice and say “cool app bro!” “what a great idea!” and smile and spare you the harsh reality that your app is the pits.
You can set up anyone as a tester, you just need to get their device UDID and register their device. Then when you build your app, you can create either an ad hoc version or an actual app file they can install on their device. This will be the same version as what will be on the app store. Apple tells you how to do it all here.
You will also want different people to test your app. Not just people who would represent your potential market (photographers, runners, moms, whatever), but let regular people try it out. Get anyone who uses an iPhone or iPad to play for a few minutes with it.
Take ALL their feedback, and USE it. If you get negative feedback on a feature from more than one person, you should probably evaluate it. If they tell you to add this or that, look into doing so. You want your app to be all it can be…so make sure it is.
THE iOS, THEY ARE A CHANGIN….
One other thing to keep in mind is that Apple will continue to release new versions of iOS. So not only is it important to test your app, you need to test it on all iOS updates and new devices. It hasn’t happened to me, but I have read online of people who’s apps no longer function because of a change made in the newest iOS. So make sure you have testers with different devices and OS versions. My iPod has iOS 5 and will stay that way. My kids iPods are iOS6. I’m set.
TESTING SERVICES
There is a great testing service called TestFlight that many people recommend. It allows you to upload your app, distribute it, and get feedback. I’ve never tried it, because I have enough people close to me with devices…and frankly I want to see and play with the app in my hands. It’s hard to describe issues over the phone or via email sometimes.
UPDATED:
You should also check out Broke Your App by Aaron Kaump, where he shows off bugs in various apps. Gives you a good idea of the kind of things you need to look out for. Here’s a great podcast interview with him by Scotty Ruth of MyAppventure.com about QA testing apps.
DOWNLOAD YOUR APP FROM THE APP STORE
Since you have to use one device for testing apps and updates on, you will want to have an actual downloaded version of your apps from the app store on one of your testing devices once the app has launched. Pay for it (you’ll get your money back of course, minus Apple’s 30%) or use a promo code. That way you have a version that everyone else will have and can test it properly. You still need to have a device free for testing future updates, etc though.
USERS ALSO DON’T LIKE IT WHEN THINGS DON’T WORK PROPERLY!
I’m going to talk from the app USER perspective now.
A fun app that I have on my iPod is Stair Dismount. Basically you send a dummy down stairs and other interesting obstacles and you get points for causing as much damage to him as possible. Sadistic? Maybe. Fun? Yes. You can even put someone’s face on the dummy. So if you’ve ever felt liking pushing your boss down the stairs at work, this app might prevent you from being fired or charged with a crime.
Two things this app has done recently irked me:
1) They used the app to promote another app. Which I don’t have a problem with really. The screen pops up to advertize the new app, I tap NO THANKS, and move on to throwing the dummy down the stairs. However, the next time I open the app…the ad screen comes up again.. I tap NO THANKS again…a little harder this time. When it happens the third, fourth, fifth….ok, every time I open the app…now I want to throw the developer down a set of stairs. If this was a free app, fine…but I had PAID to upgrade, so they shouldn’t really be annoying me with this. It was fixed with an update, so I can only assume enough people complained to them to fix it. With the small amount of coding that I have done, I know this is something they could have easily done.
2)For their scoring records, they used a service called OPEN FEINT. Which ceased operations. So they then had to use the Game Center on the device.
But it doesn’t work properly. First it wouldn’t save the scores (which was fixed). Now, it doesn’t recognize that I’ve played the game more than once and messages keep coming up congratulating me on completing my first X, getting my first million, etc…which I’ve done already.
Now, are these bugs going to make me delete the app or not recommend you download it? No, because throwing a dummy down stairs is too much fun. But these annoyances still take away from my enjoyment of it.
MY TESTING EXPERIENCES
I know all about having issues with testing…
One of the main feature I wanted for the app was to have a daily reminder to get your photo assignment. Everyone I asked about said it was a great feature that would help keep people taking part in a 365 challenge on track.
So I was able to figure out the programming with a little help from numerous sources, including the Apple Developer Forums and the Stackoverflow (a great resource), and started testing.
The way it’s supposed to work is every day a notification pops up reminding you to go get an assignment. Check.
When you clicked OK should launch the app…and instead…it crashed. Now, you could just tap the app icon and it would load, but the point was to launch the app from the notification.
I tried to debug it, troubleshoot it, asked for help online, everything…nothing worked…I even tried to remove the LAUNCH APP button, but due to an iOS 5 bug it wouldn’t work.
It was a feature I really wanted and felt it had to be there.I spent weeks trying to solve it. Then I thought, to hell with it, it doesn’t work, people will have to just tap on the CLOSE icon. So I changed the OK button to say “<-HIT CLOSE” 🙁
I built the app for archiving to submit to the app store. And then when I tried that archived version on a device… it magically worked properly and would launch the app. Why? I don’t know.
NEWB APP DEVELOPER MISTAKE
I forgot to change the text on the OK button back to OK…it still says HIT CLOSE. so I have to fix that for the update. The joys of DIY i guess!!!
BOTTOM LINE IS….TEST YOUR APP!
Like an iceberg meandering it’s way down the Atlantic Ocean….one bad review is all it takes to sink your app.
Especially today, people are more frugal with their dollars…and may not bother to look at the other reviews if they see that one bad one. Or see something negative online on Facebook or Twitter about a product.
So to avoid that, test your app over and over again to make sure it works. Set up people as testers and let them try it over and over again. Otherwise, you’ll make a DUMBASS NEWB DEVELOPER MISTAKE like THIS ONE.
And your app won’t be a success. Which is the point of all this, right?
Noel Chenier
ONE YEAR LATER
So I’ve gone through a few updates since launch, testing testing testing testing testing every step. A boy am I glad I did. It’s amazing how adding new features can create amazing new problems and puzzles to solve!
PS-Help out a fellow developer! Download the free versions of my Photography Assignment Generator Apps and let me know what you think!
If you want to keep updated on my newb app developer adventures, subscribe to the blog by clicking on the subscribe page at the top or in the sidebar on the right!
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