Apps have become an everyday tool that everyone uses for a variety of purposes. With each passing day, there are new apps coming out and updates that enhance already existing ones. To make the experience for live users seamless, developers utilize the help of app testers to check the quality of their apps and updates. This ensures that apps and updates come out in the best and most efficient state possible. App testers play a very important role in app development, and check for much more than just bugs. Their role is integral to the greater user experience, and they are an invaluable tool to any company developing an app. There are many reasons for this, so let’s take a look at the most important ones.
Why App Testing Is Critical to Everyday Tech
Long before an app makes its way to the app store, it goes through many rounds of rigorous app testing by real people. These individuals are app testers, they use apps privately to identify bugs, issues, and other missing areas. This process ensures that software is functional, usable, and navigable. Testing such as this is also the reason you don’t experience crashes or massive issues that often. Which gives you a better user experience and improves retention rates for the app.
App testing, while seemingly a simple task, is in fact a quite intricate process that spans multiple devices, operating systems, and usage scenarios. It is the purest form of quality control across thousands of testers at a time. No matter what kind of app it is, testers examine it for its intended use, as well as check the many technical aspects of it. Everything from how quickly the app responds to whether the app correctly handles data is covered during this process.
For example, let’s take a mobile casino Finland app that is set to release in a few months. The company hires app testers to try out the games, transaction methods, customer support lines, chatrooms, and all other aspects of the app. During this process, they can identify if any games are slow or aren’t properly displaying results, or if transactions are secure and quick enough. All of this, while costly in the beginning, prevents losses in the future and, most importantly, protects future users.
Who Gets Hired for These Jobs?
The app testing field is very diverse and has a variety of positions and individuals working in it. From full-time professionals to part-time workers scattered all around the world, you will find it all here. This is because app testing is best done across various different approaches and levels of expertise to find all the relevant issues. The most common types of app testers can be distributed into four main categories:
- Career QA Engineers – Quality assurance engineers are testing veterans who work full-time testing applications. They use automated tools and primarily focus on the high-end issues apps can face.
- Freelance Testers – These testers are the backup for QA Engineers and provide their services to companies on demand. They are well-versed in the field and get paid per test, as such, this position most often attracts tech enthusiasts and digital nomads.
- Students and Part-Time Workers – This tier of app testers primarily tests niche issues and the overall user experience. This insight is very valuable because they are the closest comparison to future consumers. Just like freelance testers, they are hired per job, but this also serves as a good entry point into the tech world for them.
- Remove Testers – Finally, we have remote testers; these are individuals from countries all over the world. Their role is to test apps across nations, which gives valuable regional feedback for apps.
Together, this force works towards a world full of quality and valuable apps that are usable. They bring a range of devices, languages, and perspectives to test each app as much as possible. As a result, this makes them a critical part of building any functional app in the modern space.
A Day in the Life of a Tester
A typical day for a tester starts with checking if they have any test cycles available and picking which one they will tackle first. Once they choose one, they are given a detailed brief on what they should check. From here, they install the app and begin recording the experience while using the app. During this recording, they take notes of any issues, big or small, and try to navigate the app until all tasks are complete and features checked. Any issue that is found is written in a bug report, where it is described, and the video evidence is attached. Finally, they fill out a feedback form and rate their experience during the test, where they can suggest improvements.
This process is repeated across hundreds of testers on various continents. Its repetitive nature of the process is essential in locating issues and fixing them before the app goes live. Effectively, this means that even if you are the first to download the app, it has passed through many hands before hitting the app store. The hard work of these app testers and developers is what allows us to have a seamless experience with each app we download. So, the next time an app works exactly and quickly as expected, take a moment to appreciate the invisible force behind that feat.
