Facebook is looking to get user feedback on its Android mobile app in a much earlier phase than ever before. In a blog post, mobile release engineering lead Christian Legnitto introduced its Facebook for Android alpha testing program.
In This June they introduced the Facebook for Android beta testing program, giving users who opt in access to the latest versions of Facebook for Android before the general release. With over 1 million daily active users from over 150 countries, the Facebook for Android beta testing program has been successful in giving us the feedback necessary to make Facebook for Android more stable for users.
Facebook States that The beta program gives us the opportunity to identify a snapshot of the diversity of use cases and eliminate our blind spots when we’re testing our apps so that when we ship an update to all of our users, everyone has a better experience. Whether someone is using Gingerbread or Jelly Bean, more complete testing coverage gives us the opportunity to make sure more people can access a stable, high-performance Facebook.
initial goals with the beta program were to expand our pool of testers and gain feedback across a more diverse set of devices. Our beta testers currently use phones from over 50 manufacturers, run multiple versions of Android, and use our app in varying network conditions.
The crash and performance reports we get from testers help us track down issues before we ship the general release. Manual bug reports from testers using the "Report a Problem" menu item have also alerted us to problems we might have otherwise missed because of Android's diversity and the impossibility of testing it all ourselves.
With its alpha program, Facebook wants to get feedback at an earlier stage in the development process. But aside from where in the process it takes place, both the alpha and beta programs will be pretty similar. Here’s how you can get enrolled in the program:
- Join the Facebook for Android Alpha Testers Google group
- Allow alpha downloads by clicking “Become a Tester” in the Play Store (you need to join the Google Group before becoming a tester)
- Download Facebook from the Play Store to update your app
- Turn on automatic updates–we’ll be updating alpha multiple times per week
- Report problems and give us feedback by using the “Report a Problem” menu item
It’s possible to sign up for both programs, but Facebook says if you do, you’ll receive the alpha version — it will install over both the beta and general release of Facebook’s app.
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