Ubertesters Mobile Application Testing Platform: Implementation Experience
While ordinary users are waiting for their next iPhone, and ASUS is announcing a new tablet, I would like to share one day in the life of a mobile application developer.
Like other small development companies, our company faced a banal lack of people to manually test written applications. With the increase in the number of projects, the number of disordered files with bug reports has also increased. The lack of a normal build management system and submission of bugs has become a serious problem.
For some time we used TestFlight to distribute builds and crash reports and it was very convenient. But, as already wrote on Habré , TF was absorbed by Apple, therefore the platform instantly ceased to support Android. In search of an alternative, we switched to Ubertesters- not least because of the month of the free trial version.
The principle of operation is extremely simple:
1. We create an organization and a project on the platform;
2. Integrate the SDK with our build;
3. Download the build;
4. Add the device;
5. Add to the project participants - virgins, testers, someone-no-no;
6. We share the build with users;
7. The tester installs the application on the device;
8. The tester sends reports with attached screenshots of bugs;
9. Bugs are fixed;
10. ???????
11. PROFIT
First of all, in the working environment, we need to create an organization from which applications for testing come (see screenshot). An organization is a set of projects written by developers for different devices.
We create a project within the organization for each new application. To do this, we need to choose which OS our application was developed for - iOS or Anfroid. You can simply drag and drop the .apk or .ipa file into the window.
What you should pay attention to when working with iOS - the UDID of the device must be added by the developer in the Provisioning profile in iTunes. If the device is not added to the profile or the wrong UDID is added, the tester will not be able to install the build.
In order to start using Ubertesters, download and integrate the SDK we need. If you are writing a cross-platform application, then among the supported frameworks there are also Xamarin, Unity, PhoneGap, and by the time of the submission of this publication, support for Adobe Air was also announced.
Add devices with the appropriate OS to your project.
After connecting and configuring devices, we invite participants to the project - developers, testers and RMs. If we need, for example, to collect statistics for a particular category of users, we create a separate “distribution group” for them and form it according to our wishes.
When new builds are released, testers added to the project receive push notifications, download the build through their device and do the actual testing.
A little unusual after TestFlight, but generally convenient, has in addition to the standard set of functions for such platforms a set of features for faster feedback from the tester. Yes, and the bugs themselves, the tester now submits directly from the device with the attached screenshots and description. Before, we faced the same stupid problem: testers spend more time reporting themselves than not testing. The bug report at best came in the form of a text description, after which it took a long time and painstakingly specify where exactly the error got out. The screenshot editor built into the SDK elegantly solves this problem - the tester simply takes a screenshot directly on the device itself, circles it or draws an arrow to it and sends it to the submission. Very clear. In addition to the screen itself,
You can also export bug reports to other bug trackers, which is very convenient for those who work, for example, through Redmine or Jira.
It is also possible to track the sessions of each individual device or project participant, check how long the session was active, and how much - just hung in the background. Although we didn’t use this function, I think it would be an ideal solution for RMs who are paranoid trying to control the entire development and testing process.
After a month of successfully using the trial version of Ubertesters, the speed and quality of testing our applications has grown significantly. In general, the Ubertesters platform is a solid, comparable to Tesflight service with a number of additional features such as support for test cases, build management, as well as automatic submission of device data. You no longer need to send revisions by mail - the tester receives all notifications automatically.
It would be interesting if in the comments you share your experience of using similar platforms, what advantages they have, and what problems you encountered in doing so.
Like other small development companies, our company faced a banal lack of people to manually test written applications. With the increase in the number of projects, the number of disordered files with bug reports has also increased. The lack of a normal build management system and submission of bugs has become a serious problem.
For some time we used TestFlight to distribute builds and crash reports and it was very convenient. But, as already wrote on Habré , TF was absorbed by Apple, therefore the platform instantly ceased to support Android. In search of an alternative, we switched to Ubertesters- not least because of the month of the free trial version.
The principle of operation is extremely simple:
1. We create an organization and a project on the platform;
2. Integrate the SDK with our build;
3. Download the build;
4. Add the device;
5. Add to the project participants - virgins, testers, someone-no-no;
6. We share the build with users;
7. The tester installs the application on the device;
8. The tester sends reports with attached screenshots of bugs;
9. Bugs are fixed;
10. ???????
11. PROFIT
First of all, in the working environment, we need to create an organization from which applications for testing come (see screenshot). An organization is a set of projects written by developers for different devices.
We create a project within the organization for each new application. To do this, we need to choose which OS our application was developed for - iOS or Anfroid. You can simply drag and drop the .apk or .ipa file into the window.
What you should pay attention to when working with iOS - the UDID of the device must be added by the developer in the Provisioning profile in iTunes. If the device is not added to the profile or the wrong UDID is added, the tester will not be able to install the build.
In order to start using Ubertesters, download and integrate the SDK we need. If you are writing a cross-platform application, then among the supported frameworks there are also Xamarin, Unity, PhoneGap, and by the time of the submission of this publication, support for Adobe Air was also announced.
Add devices with the appropriate OS to your project.
After connecting and configuring devices, we invite participants to the project - developers, testers and RMs. If we need, for example, to collect statistics for a particular category of users, we create a separate “distribution group” for them and form it according to our wishes.
When new builds are released, testers added to the project receive push notifications, download the build through their device and do the actual testing.
A little unusual after TestFlight, but generally convenient, has in addition to the standard set of functions for such platforms a set of features for faster feedback from the tester. Yes, and the bugs themselves, the tester now submits directly from the device with the attached screenshots and description. Before, we faced the same stupid problem: testers spend more time reporting themselves than not testing. The bug report at best came in the form of a text description, after which it took a long time and painstakingly specify where exactly the error got out. The screenshot editor built into the SDK elegantly solves this problem - the tester simply takes a screenshot directly on the device itself, circles it or draws an arrow to it and sends it to the submission. Very clear. In addition to the screen itself,
You can also export bug reports to other bug trackers, which is very convenient for those who work, for example, through Redmine or Jira.
It is also possible to track the sessions of each individual device or project participant, check how long the session was active, and how much - just hung in the background. Although we didn’t use this function, I think it would be an ideal solution for RMs who are paranoid trying to control the entire development and testing process.
After a month of successfully using the trial version of Ubertesters, the speed and quality of testing our applications has grown significantly. In general, the Ubertesters platform is a solid, comparable to Tesflight service with a number of additional features such as support for test cases, build management, as well as automatic submission of device data. You no longer need to send revisions by mail - the tester receives all notifications automatically.
It would be interesting if in the comments you share your experience of using similar platforms, what advantages they have, and what problems you encountered in doing so.