When working on my first iPhone application (Buckets v1.0), I was having an incredibly hard time finding enough testers to make me comfortable, as I did not have a large testing budget. Therefore, I found friends who had the hardware I needed and asked them to test. This had advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage was that I depended on people who perhaps (due to their extremely busy lives) did not make Buckets testing a priority. For this reason, version 1.0 of Buckets was not initially available for the 1st Generation iPod Touch (I knew it would work, but wanted to prove it through testing before it was sold).
I'm sure many developers share the same story, which is why this forum is here, and I have been thinking about a solution for a long time. Therefore, I've been working on "Test Bed" @ Press Start Games, a concept where iPhone / iPod Touch enthusiasts can meet and easily connect for testing purposes. Test Bed provides a seamless and intuitive experience for developers and testers. Developers can easily add their application information, receive notifications from testers, automatically update testers of new builds, and see feedback / bug reports, right from Test Bed.
Test Bed is in Alpha at this time, and is not feature complete. However, I would love to hear your opinion about additional features or necessary changes to maximize the value of Test Bed to developers. I encourage you to take a look at the links below to get started (there is much more information at Press Start Games, and provide any feedback you wish.
Press Start Games & Applications: iPhone Games and Applications
Press Start Games & Applications: iPhone Games and Applications
Press Start Games & Applications: iPhone Games and Applications
A New Concept to Find Ad-Hoc Testers
Linear Mode
