Companies spend a fortune on testing their apps before they’re released through the various App Stores. Some are undoubtedly higher quality than others, which highlights the importance of a good and thorough beta testing process.
You’ll no doubt know the frustration of starting to use an app and learning how it works, only to find the next time you try to launch it, it crashes as it loads, or fails to complete whatever task it’s supposed to do.
Proper app testing programs can be expensive for companies to organize and complete, and they often show up major flaws in the design and operation of the apps they’ve created. This can feel like a vicious circle – especially for new startups releasing their first few apps to market. That means that finding the right people to communicate problems to them is incredibly valuable – good communication skills on the part of testers can mean the developers quickly understand the changes that need to be made.
If you can provide that input – to give a clear message about what doesn’t work, why an app working the way it does will be frustrating to users and so on, you’re the kind of person app developers are looking for. You don’t necessarily need to have amazing written English, and handwriting isn’t important – feedback is typically done through websites – you can learn more about how to become a beta tester at the beta tester apps website specifically focused on app beta testing.
As we mentioned earlier – apps that suddenly stop working, don’t behave as users expect, or even that cause bigger problems with your smartphone or tablet computer can quickly break the loyalty of users. It’s an expensive job to get users to download and open apps – there are so many to choose from it can be difficult to stand out. The last thing you want to happen as a software developer is to find that you get the hard work done in getting the apps onto devices, only for them to be removed again because they don’t work or are too hard to learn or use. What’s more, low quality apps tend to sink to the bottom of App Store lists, making them harder to find, so it can quickly become a big problem for app developers.
On the other hand, companies that create great apps – useful software that make people’s lives more fun or easier, can become viral quickly, and have the potential to earn a huge amount of money. Typically there are two routes to revenue for App developers – advertising within the app or direct purchases of the app itself or add-ons within it. Again, good testing of the product can really help the company to understand which route to go down – some apps can even get away with doing both!
As this huge opportunity for making money exists, it also means that good app development tends to include a substantial portion of the overall budget for testing purposes. In other words, beta testing should be seen as a cost of doing business for software developers – it’s not wise to rely on ironing out problems after the big launch date, even though you’re likely to need to do that too.
All in all, becoming an app tester is a great way to supplement your income if you have the right skills. It can take a little while to get the hang of how the process works, and it’s not for everyone, but if you want to earn a little extra, that’s a possibility fairly quickly, and for some people can even lead to a full time career!