iBetaTest Blog

All Right… Now that the launch has actually happened, we are finally ready to sit down for a moment and write down a few thoughts.

Many of you have waited patiently for iBetaTest.com to launch, and first and foremost I’d like to THANK all of you for your patience, support, and interest.

Last night at about 10PM we managed to finally kill off most of the last-minute-bugs, deploy the system onto our servers and let the fun begin. Immediately people started pouring in which was sincerely a huge pleasure to watch happening live. I personally never before experienced a launch like this, and even though small by some standards, it’s the biggest one for Peconi Group, LLC

At the moment of this writing, just short of 20 hours after the gates opened, there are already 135 Registered Testers in the system. As for developers, this module lists only those developers who’ve created their user profiles, not all developers who registered. From 44 registered developers, only 15 have created their profiles by now, so I am sure we’re to see a lot more of them any time now.

The only thing missing at the moment are the Applications to be tested. I assume that by next week we should already have some apps in the system for beta testers to dive into. I am confident since I go by the old rule - Build it and they will come

As of now, the main Welcome Page of the system is not yet ready. I was OK with this since most of the people on the site are BETA TESTERS, and as such, a complement to their genius, they do not need instructions on how to use things - they simply love to test them out.

Big shout out to those who already reported some minor bugs. These have been fixed immediately.

Within a day or two, a nice Welcome Page with all features neatly presented with screenshots and videos will be published, so those who love learning while watching, and others who just want to get to know iBetaTest and what it provides can get their information right then and there. This also includes the helpful how-to videos which will be integral part of the whole application.

For now, here is the outline of the features currently in the system, in a logical order of beta testing Life Cycle:

• Beta testers and developers register for a free account
• Beta testers log in and go into the Device Manager and add all of their devices
• Developers can go to Manage Betas module and create a new beta
  - at this point they specify beta type (public, manual, invite only, the auto approve setting, etc.)
  - select which devices are required to run their application (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod touch v1, v2, or All)
  - set number of desired testers (2-100)
  - write the application’s description
  - provide info on any incentives for beta tester participation
  - upload the application files, license file and any screenshots they want
  - write what needs to be tested and add any special instructions and voila - the app is up and running
• At this point (if app is set public), beta testers can see it and apply for it
  - ONLY beta testers with devices the application supports, and with UDID’s already entered can apply for a given beta
  - If the application is set to auto approve - they are automatically added to the list of testers, until the limit set by the developer is reached
  - If it is not set to auto approve - the developer gets an email, and then either approves or denies the tester 
• During this time, no matter if the application is public or private, developer can also send invites to anyone to come and join the beta
  - Users not yet registered on iBetaTest.com get an email, and once they sign up, their Pending Beta Testing Invitation will be shown on the Dashboard from where they can accept or deny it
  - Registered members also see it on the Dashboard, and can approve or reject any invitation straight from there
  - NO INVITE CODES are necessary. It’s all seamless and based on user’s email address, for both registered and non registered members  
• There is a convenient “Get ADC Import File” feature for developers, which lets them download a file containing beta tester’s names and UDID’s which is directly importable into Apple’s Developer’s Connection portal; no more copying and pasting
• At any time developer can simply click Close For Signups button under My Betas module and close the beta signup process (which is not necessary)
• Approved beta testers can access all features the system offers right on every application’s home page
  - From there they may send reports (bugs, feature requests, comments) and communicate with developer and other testers
  - Everyone can also download Application files, documentation, and license files straight from there
• The system AUTOMATICALLY checks developer’s .mobileprovision files to see if the tester’s UDID has been provisioned in that version, and notifies a tester if he/she should be downloading any files yet.
  - This way, developers do not have to send the files individually to each tester. They are all available in the same pool, and as soon as the license is uploaded, beta testers know if their device can run and install it yet or not.
• During the beta testing - developers can also email users from My Betas module at any time (one by one, or all at once) with any info they have that has to get to testers right away. If a support email address is provided in developer’s profile, these emails are shown as if they are coming from that address, however, if none is entered, they are all sent from system@ibetatest.com
• Privacy is STRONGLY guarded on iBetaTest.com. From initial interviews with developers, before the system was even built, all they cared about was what the beta testers have to say - not, what their personal information is
  - The only piece of information a developer can see on their tester is the First Name (for a more professional communication), and tester’s username.
  - The system itself sends all information via integrated mailing system, thus enforcing the use of Reports Module for all direct communication with the developer
  - Each report can be set to either “for all” or “for developer only”, making it easy to talk to the developer “in private”
• Both developers and beta testers can set their personal profiles (with addition of developers also having a developer profile), where they can publish all other info they’d like to share with the world: Short bio, and links to their Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter profiles
• Once the beta testing has finished, the developer has a chance to rate the beta testers (1-5 star rating) and write a short note, which will become a part of Tester’s Testimonials Page (located right on their profile with all other info)
• Rating system is an interesting one, to say the least. Each star is 10 points. THERE WILL BE REWARDS for first testers to reach 200, 500, 1000, and so on points - and these won’t be shabby either! Stay tuned for more info on this.

The above is an intended scenario which outlines the Life Cycle of a beta, and shows off some of the integrated features.

There are a LOT more useful features on our to-do list - and these will be published on a regular schedule throughout our Beta runtime.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please, email us at hello@iBetaTest.com, or chat with us from any page on our site (when we’re on-line of course).

For now I would only like to make a personal call to all developers out there to please publish their apps. Testers are very anxious and ready to help out. As I suspected, many are genuinely interested in HELPING and having an early access to the apps not yet seen. Their profiles tell the story.

For everyone, if you’d like to help us out, you can of course register, however, if you would like to push it further, feel free to either put our little iBetaTest badge onto your site, or give us a Digg here.

Thank you!

Petar Smilajkov - Peconi
Peconi Group, LLC Owner/Founder
iBetaTest.com Lead Developer