topic Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester? in Content Questions

Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

kxra — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 00:57:24 GMT

I was recently interested in becoming a beta tester to help out Spotify's company. Unfortunately, I've heard that beta testers typically experience crashes and glitches. I was curious to know how often and how severe these bugs are. I do not want to participate in beta testing if it means I'm risking not being able to listen to music. I'd appreciate any feedback!

Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

EthanS1 — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 15:33:18 GMT

Hey!

Hope your keeping well, A lot of us Rock Stars support with the Beta Testing and don't normally have any issues! It's a great way of trying new stuff (sometimes!) and most of the time you won't even notice the difference. The version of Beta that Spotify offers users is usually very stable and you have no issues and you can always opt-out depending on the beta 🙂

Keep well and have a great weekend!

Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

kxra — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 21:52:16 GMT

Thanks @EthanS1! I also just read that if you have any major issues, you can download a previous build so that you can continue to listen to music.

Do you know if Alpha testing has a lot of bugs?

Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

EthanS1 — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 22:11:17 GMT

One of my fellow Rock Stars @MattSuda maybe able to help here as I think he’s on the Alpha beta -he might not be however, I’ll loop him in and I’m sure he’ll be able to comment as I think he’s previously been part of it, but I don’t think there is major bugs that will disrupt your listening experience.

All the best,

Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

MattSuda — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 22:48:35 GMT

Hey @kxra

Spotify currently has the following beta tests for both iOS and Android:

iOS: (iOS TestFlight app)

Alpha (more updates)
Beta (less updates)

Android: (Android App Store)

Alpha (more updates)
Beta (less updates)

From looking at your screenshot it looks like you are interested in joining the program for iOS.

I have been beta testing the Spotify iOS app for over 5 years now. I am currently testing the ALPHA version meaning there are more updates than the BETA version. The ALPHA version usually has an update once a day. You aren't likely to always see changes as most of the changes are behind the scenes and small. If you get annoyed of all the updates on the ALPHA version, you can always switch to the BETA version and get less updates maybe 1-2 a week instead of every day (when available, sometimes it says it's full). There have been a few bugs here and there but it is pretty rare. If you have an issue, there is a previous builds section in TestFlight that allows you to download the previous build if the new build has a bug or crash. Also you can always go to the App Store and redownload the regular stable Spotify iOS version -- how this works is that it overwrites the beta version but you still keep the app data so no need to re-setup the app. Then when you want to switch back to the beta/alpha version, just re-download it from TestFlight. Also remember if you are inactive and haven't used a beta or alpha version in a long time Spotify does remove inactive testers to free up spots for other users interested in testing.

Re: Is It Frustrating Being a Beta Tester?

cdp1276 — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 16:18:30 GMT

Is there a way to sign up in a queue to be an iOS beta tester? I see on testflight it shows beta is full but no way to sign up.