GBA4iOS Beta Testing

Tuesday. September 03, 2013 - 7 mins

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would need some help beta testing GBA4iOS 2.0. Despite saying that I would have more information shortly, I had quite a large number of people post their emails in the comments anyway. I had anticipated a large number of people wanting to beta test, but seeing all these comments made me wonder exactly how many people would want to sign up.

To gauge interest in signing up, I posted this tweet about a week ago. I was blown away by the number of people that responded to it, so I knew I had to rethink how I’d be doing the sign up process (plus this tweet also became my most-favorited tweet ever, so thanks guys!). Due to Apple’s limitations, I can only register 100 devices under my developer account per year, and I’ve already used 50. That means of the hundreds of you wanting to sign up, I can only select at maximum 50. (There are rumors of Apple increasing the device limit to 200, but my account has yet to see that bump so I’m planning on having 100 for the next month or so.) As such, I need to make sure the people I choose are going to actually be helpful in beta testing, as well as know what they’re doing so I don’t have to spend too much time explaining the process to them. This post will detail exactly what each person needs to do to sign up, and what I’ll expect of them when beta testing. I’m really not meaning to sound harsh, but because I have such a limited number of slots open I need to make sure they’re put to good use.

So without further ado, here’s exactly how to sign up to beta test GBA4iOS 2.0.

Prerequisites

• iPhone 3GS or later, iPod Touch 3rd Gen or later, iPad 2 or later, or iPad mini.
• TestFlight account with your testing device registered. All betas will be distributed via TestFlight, so it’s important you have one.
• Twitter account. I’m guessing the vast majority of people reading this already have one, but if you don’t make sure to sign up now! There may be some instances when I want to communicate via Twitter, and that’s typically harder to do without a Twitter account.
• Basic knowledge of how emulation works. This doesn’t mean you need to know the technical details, but you should be able to know what’s possible via emulation and what’s not (ex: emulation does not modify how a game works, so feature requests asking for GBA4iOS to unlock a certain feature in a game are not valid).
• Easy access to internet connection. Seems obvious, but I’ll be needing to keep in contact via email and Twitter so you need to be able to receive these messages easily.

After you’ve made sure you’ve done or have all the things listed above, there are two ways to sign up: as a general beta tester, or a press beta tester. General beta testing is the one for most of you, as anyone can apply for it if they fit the requisites. Press beta testing is for people who have a blog, website, or other form of media where they can write long (i.e. more than 140 characters) posts.

So why would you prefer to be a press beta tester as opposed to a general beta tester? For one, the chances of being selected as a press beta tester are much higher, simply because there are less people who fit the requirements. Secondly, I’ll release betas much more frequently to press beta testers, as they’ll need as up to date builds as possible to better evaluate the app. If you’re selected, I’ll contact you and tell you more information on what exactly this type of beta testing entails. Even if you’re not selected, however, you’re still eligible to be a general beta tester. The process for both is very similar, but I’ve written them both out separately below.

General Signup

1. Set up your TestFlight account if you haven’t already, and register the device you wish to beta test with.
2. Send an email from your TestFlight email to betatest@rileytestut.com with the following information:
   • Name
   • Test Device + iOS Version
   • Twitter username
   • Why do you want to want to test GBA4iOS? (Sorry if this sounds cheesy and like a high school essay, but I really do want to know!)
   • Anything else I should know about you (are you an iOS Developer? Do you have a blog? What are you working on now? Etc.).
   • Not a requirement, but remember I’m not a robot, I’m actually going to be reading all of these myself, so you might wanna make them personable! Don’t just put each fact as a bullet point; instead, just write a normal email that includes all the information.
3. ???
4. Profit! (a.k.a. hope you get picked!)

Press Signup

1. Set up your TestFlight account if you haven’t already, and register the device you wish to beta test with.
2. Send an email from your TestFlight email to press@rileytestut.com with the following information:
   • Name
   • Test Device + iOS Version
   • Twitter username
   • Link to your website/information over where you will be able to write about GBA4iOS
   • Why do you want to want to test GBA4iOS? (Sorry if this sounds cheesy and like a high school essay, but I really do want to know!)
   • Anything else I should know about you (are you an iOS Developer? Do you have a blog? What are you working on now? Etc.).
   • Not a requirement, but remember I’m not a robot, I’m actually going to be reading all of these myself, so you might wanna make them personable! Don’t just put each fact as a bullet point; instead, just write a normal email that includes all the information.
3. ???
4. Profit! (a.k.a. hope you get picked!)

Improve Your Chances

I debated whether or not I should put this section here. I may still remove it before I publish this post, but if you’re reading this you can assume I didn’t. Basically, the things listed here will show that you are indeed dedicated to GBA4iOS, which is something I want in beta testers. Some things that I’m looking for I’m not putting here, however, as that could give me an incorrect representation of you. Remember, nothing here is required, but it can’t hurt:

• Either retweet the tweet I posted with a link to this post, or tweet your own link. As I said before I’ve had lots of people ask to beta test and I want to make sure they don’t miss their chance.
• Follow me on Twitter. If you’re picked you’ll need to do this anyway so we can DM each other, but if you’re already following me I know you’ll be notified of any new GBA4iOS info.
• Being an iOS/Mac Developer. Again, this isn’t a requirement, but if you’re a developer it’d be nice to know since that shows me you’re familiar with how the whole beta testing process works.

Misc. Info

• iOS 7 is for developers, not end users (yet). If you are not a developer, you shouldn’t be running iOS 7. If you are using iOS 7 and are not a developer, use your iOS 6 device as the testing device. If however you have a valid reason to be using iOS 7 (such as you’re beta testing for someone else, or you’re a tech blogger), tell me and it shouldn’t be a problem.
• I’ll be releasing multiple betas throughout this testing period, and I’ll need to be getting good feedback. If you simply install the betas and never report back anything whatsoever, I’ll stop sending you later betas.

Deadline

I’ll stop accepting submissions on Friday, September 6, at 11:59pm. I’ll choose the beta testers over the weekend and notify them via email. The first beta will be released the following Monday.

Once again, I apologize if I sound rude or strict with all these requirements; I’ve been burned in the past by selecting beta testers who did nothing at all to help me. I really am excited for people to be using GBA4iOS, and I want as many people as possible to get a shot at doing so.

Well that’s everything, so get your emails ready! I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Riley Testut

Independent iOS developer, USC student, and Apple fan.

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