WPbeta.me - new service that connects developers and beta testers

[DomagojPa]

Hi all,

You've probably seen the article on our loving WPcentral yesterday: WPbeta.me claims it makes beta testing Windows Phone apps easier | Windows Phone Central

I'm a developer of that service and would like to invite you all to use it for your private and public beta testing. I'm sure it will make your life easier:
- free
- really, really simple and easy to use, setup in under a minute
- a way to get more beta testers
- you get your own landing page, e.g. wpbeta.me/my-app-beta (you choose what, so it can be sth like wpbeta.me/xa25rs as well if you want to keep it private)
- testers must login with Microsoft Account, so you're sure you're getting the right e-mail address
- you don't have to manually maintain the list of beta testers (automatic unsubscribe)
- new users get an e-mail with the direct link to app download, but with tracking
- you can add current/old beta testers without creating accounts for them
- you can fully delete your app any time from the service

Of course, this doesn't mean you have to stop using this forum here - this is a great way to find beta testers as well as get direct feedback from your peers. For best results - use both, combined!

The development of the service goes on. I would like to hear what do you need, in terms on new features, and what do you dislike. So we can work together to make it even better. Please, be cricital and nice

I hope my post doesn't violate some rule about not posting a beta app here, although it's highly relevant. If it does, I'm asking you to join a beta testing for my app Analog Clock Tile at Analog Clock Tile (beta) @ WPbeta.me - a great way to test a service from a user's perspective!

Thanks!

 

[Laura Knotek]

Hi and welcome to WPCentral. Good luck with your beta testing and with your apps.

 

[0vZ]

Hi there! You've got a great service!
I've got an idea, that could make it even better: what about a part of service, that let's developers and testers talk to each other.
Like, developers can write something "Dear beta-testers, please, check functions A, B and D" and beta-testers can also submit bugs, wishes, vote for some changes, etc.
And maybe a little survey for beta-testers after they have downloaded beta app?
So, the developers would be able to get a real user feedback and improve user experience.

 

[DomagojPa]

I agree, but that's really a huge amount of work. Maybe in the future. And there are a lot of services that can help you with all those things, so use them! This forum is also a very nice place to get feedback from users for your apps.

I do plan to add mass e-mail feature (restricted to once a week or something), so you can inform beta testers about the updates, new features, feedback mechanism etc.

One more idea: use app description on Dev Center! It's visible on WPbeta.me site as well.

From my limited experience, people prefer sending feedback via e-mail and don't like to use third party services for that. And it is crucial to include feedback mechanism in the app itself - that's the most convenient way for a user to give you feedback.