Apple Has 4 Million Users Beta Testing its Software

[MacRumors]

Apple has been allowing developers and members of the public to test beta versions of new iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS releases for quite some time now, and during today's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook provided insight into just how many people try out new software ahead when it's officially released.

At the current time, Apple has "over 4 million users" participating in its OS beta programs, according to Cook.

Public beta testers have access to iOS 12, macOS Mojave, and tvOS 12, three operating system updates that will be rolling out this fall after an extended beta testing period, while developers have access to iOS 12, macOS Mojave, tvOS 12, and watchOS 5. watchOS 5, a new software update for the Apple Watch, is limited to developers because it's not possible to downgrade the software on an Apple Watch.

Public beta testers and developers are tasked with testing Apple's software to help the company suss out bugs and improve features ahead of a public launch.

Apple did not break out how many users participate in each of its beta programs, nor what percentage of those users are developers or public beta testers, but it's probably safe to say that iOS gets the lion's share of interest.

Despite Apple's robust beta testing process, there are still major bugs that slip through on occasion, but Apple offers frequent fixes and updates for all of its operating systems.

Article Link: Apple Has 4 Million Users Beta Testing its Software

 

[826317]

Pretty smart. Saving them a lot of money.

 

[JosephAW]

I wish I could but there's no broadband where I live. Everything has to pass through the cellphone data plan.
[doublepost=1533082571][/doublepost]That speaks poorly then of beta users. Look at the security fiascos of High Sierra. Nobody caught them before version 1.0? Either that or Apple completely ignores the feedback from beta users.

 

[Swampthing]

I'm willing to bet close to 80% don't report any bugs at all, and are simply in the program to get access to the latest software... that's the way it usually goes with all betas. In other words, those numbers are meaningless unless they correlate with the same amount of reports.

 

[Ultramove69]

Unable to check for update - An error occurred while checking for a software update. Hope I can install today’s update soon. Yeah it’s my daily driver but meh, it’s just a phone. Betas are fun.

 

[drumcat]

It’s unfortunate that this level of “test” isn’t resulting in better quality. Might be due to having about 3,950,000 too many testers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just call it an Early Access Program. It ain’t “beta” any more than Gmail was “beta”. It’s just a corporate built-in excuse PR mechanism.

 

[groovyd]

yet they still release it with a boatload of bugs

 

[thadoggfather]

yet they still release it with a boatload of bugs

Not disagreeing, and this isn’t the culprit or end all be all by any means but it is fair to point out there are an insane amount of beta testers that don’t submit feedback And just “consume” betas. That was me when I used to beta test iOS

 

[M2M]

4million Testers and still so many bugs

 

[scrapesleon]

I'm willing to bet close to 80% don't report any bugs at all, and are simply in the program to get access to the latest software... that's the way it usually goes with all betas. In other words, those numbers are meaningless unless they correlate with the same amount of reports.

Maybe it’s because 80% of them aren’t even developers

 

[artfossil]

Pretty smart. Saving them a lot of money.

Even if a relatively small percentage actually submit feedback, this is a commendable level of crowdsourcing for the evaluation of new software.

 

[dominiongamma]

4million Testers and still so many bugs

people have to actually report the bugs instead of just playing with the latest and greatest

 

[isomorphic]

At the current time, Apple has "over 4 million users" participating in its OS beta programs, according to Cook.

As opposed to Microsoft, who has all of its users in OS beta-testing.

 

[pizzzle]

people have to actually report the bugs instead of just playing with the latest and greatest

I certainly want to “play” with the latest beta, but I also submit bug reports when I encounter them and when they interfere with my particular life workflow. And, Apple usually fixes them, sooner or later...

 

[nortonandreev]

To be honest, I think that, unfortunately, the feedback from beta testers is not a priority for Apple, so it's not really a beta testing in the way it should be.

 

[Bin Cook]

It’s unfortunate that this level of “test” isn’t resulting in better quality. Might be due to having about 3,950,000 too many testers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just call it an Early Access Program. It ain’t “beta” any more than Gmail was “beta”. It’s just a corporate built-in excuse PR mechanism.

Careful, the stock holders will be after you for that. But yes, pretty embarrassing to boast about all these beta testers and still manage to ship the crap they have been lately.

 

[goobot]

Maybe force all crashes in betas to be reported to Apple rather than be a choice? As others have said I doubt many beta testers contributes back.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

If only 1/2 of them would report their issues rather than complain on MacRumors about them. Apple doesn't fix them if they don't know about them and they don't browse the forums here to find them.

Please use the Feedback app. It only takes a minute but it's huge for getting problems fixed. DON'T JUST ASSUME SOMEONE ELSE WILL REPORT IT. Apple prioritizes what they fixed based on the volume of feedback. If you choose to not report a problem, that's one less report. Everyone assumes someone else reports a problem and it results in countless less reports so even bigger issues can appear smaller and not take priority.

Help the whole community and report every issue you find. Don't rely on others to do so.

 

[sracer]

Pretty smart. Saving them a lot of money.

It isn't smart if it isn't effective.

 

[1applerules1]

And probably 100 of those 4 million are actually giving feedback.

 

[sinsin07]

snip...That speaks poorly then of beta users. Look at the security fiascos of High Sierra. Nobody caught them before version 1.0? Either that or Apple completely ignores the feedback from beta users.

Could be most “beta testers” are just people who want the latest and greatest and have no interest in reporting bugs. These would be your people who only use iMessage, instagram, Facebook, Safari and occasionally the phone app.

Some clues to this can be found in forum post after Apple release a public beta.

 

[826317]

I'm willing to bet close to 80% don't report any bugs at all, and are simply in the program to get access to the latest software... that's the way it usually goes with all betas. In other words, those numbers are meaningless unless they correlate with the same amount of reports.

Even if 99% of the developers don't provide any feedback that means that 40,000 people did provide feedback. 40,000 people is a LOT.

I understand that these people aren't spending 8 hours a day checking for bugs in the betas, but imagine if they had all of those 40,000 testers on pay roll. At $55,000 per year per person. That's $2.2 billion per year saved!

But seriously, Apple knows that the public always find quirky ways to find obscure bugs that need fixing. I think 4 million is impressive.

 

[bluecoast]

I'm willing to bet close to 80% don't report any bugs at all, and are simply in the program to get access to the latest software... that's the way it usually goes with all betas. In other words, those numbers are meaningless unless they correlate with the same amount of reports.

I guess though, many will still have analytics turned on and that’ll provide useful data about app crashes and general performance across each model.

 

[artfossil]

Even if 99% of the developers don't provide any feedback that means that 40,000 people did provide feedback. 40,000 people is a LOT.

I understand that these people aren't spending 8 hours a day checking for bugs in the betas, but imagine if they had all of those 40,000 testers on pay roll. At $55,000 per year per person. That's $2.2 billion per year saved!

But seriously, Apple knows that the public always find quirky ways to find obscure bugs that need fixing. I think 4 million is impressive.

Indeed it is. And it’s a really smart way to invoke a highly diverse group of testers.

 

[pat500000]

I wonder if apple take beta testers seriously.