Android Auto 8.0 is here and although we’ve been waiting months for Coolwalk’s renewal, we won’t get it when installing the new version. WhatsApp has started testing communities, but even if you have the beta, you almost certainly won’t have them active. The same thing is repeated every day with many other applications and functions.
Testing mobile apps has become a lottery where you never know what you’ll find on your mobile that day or not, being at the mercy of deployments and testing over which you have little or no control. It’s boring and frustratingBut it wasn’t always like that.
When apps changed with their version
There was a time when application change logs talked about changes instead of having empty sentences
The oldest in the place will remember when applications modified according to their version. If you had installed version 2.0 and updated to version 2.1, you have accessed its new features, if they seemed interesting to you after reading the list of changes. Otherwise, you don’t even need to update.
Those were simpler times in which the applications were still a little more home-made and it was not yet so clear with the applications where and when they could work. If your mobile had the minimum required version, you can probably install the application and access the news. Or not. Maybe it inevitably adapted to your mobile screen, but you will get there. We are talking about the time when ROMs were much more widespread and mobile phones were much less limited than today.
Before, if you had version X of an app, you had the associated news and that was it
We didn’t have phased rollouts back then, and if you opened the same app on your phone and your neighbor’s phone, they would probably be the same and have the same functionality, unlike today. If the applications were more homogeneous, how could it be more exciting than today?
The answer is simple: it was clear what you were going to find, rather than relying on Firebase designs. If an application announced something new – whether in its stable version or in test, in its beta version – you could have it in your hands in a few seconds, instead of several months (if you’re lucky).
Canary, alpha, beta and shot because it’s my turn
Over time, the mobile landscape started to get more complicated and that the apps were the same for everyone ceased to be very practicalwith endless combinations of hardware, different legislations to follow, folding mobiles, tablets and things that work in one country and not another for some reason.
From the start, those who want to be up to date with their favorite apps have been invited to try the beta version with the latest advancements in exchange for less stability, but that also failed. It’s not the same to be a early adopter than someone who, for whatever reason (hobby, job, or whatever), needs to be three steps ahead. Thus, the different variants appear, such as alpha, beta, dev, canary, nightly, etc. A few apps maintain this scheme today, as is the case with Google Chrome.
Google Chrome is one of the few apps that respects its users. Not only does it have many versions, but most modifications can be enabled – or not – with Chrome Flags The stable version is intended for all audiences, while in beta versions you will have news and changes before, although it is possible that they do not work very well, disappear later without notice or that the application contains errors, in which case you can do your part in the development by reporting them to its creators. It’s a decision you have to make as a user and is part of the excitement of participating in a beta program.
In current betas, users are no longer testers, but guinea pigs to whom we launch changes to see how they react
Over the years, the dynamic of beta releases has changed. Users have ceased to be testers and have become guinea pigs to which different objects are thrown into the cages to study their response. If the answer is positive according to what is sought at that time – engagement, more time in the app, purchases… – then the test is positive. Otherwise, in the trash.
And these tests are growing in sophistication and automation, so the beta isn’t even useful for us to test new features anymore, because we’ll rarely see them at all. randomly trigger a small sample of users first. If in the past a beta meant that as a user you wanted to be up to date with the app, today it’s more like a blank contract “give me whatever you want in the app”. ‘app, even if it breaks’. Of course, the tests are far from being exclusive to betas, they are everywhere.
The Google Maps beta is a good example of a beta that serves no purpose, since it hardly ever receives any news before the official release.
Thus, it is inevitable to feel that apps are constantly testing us to see which button position works best or whether Instagram’s new filter is cool or not, without giving us any control over it or even deigning to ask us. The big data It will be responsible for making the decisions about what works or not in an application, sometimes leaving us stuck when a certain function is removed because “few people used it”.
Ok, any developer has the right to do all the tests they want with their application, analyze the results and act on them, but the most frustrating thing for users is not being able to make any decisions . Google Chrome is one of the few examples of apps that respect users: allowing you to turn Chrome Flags on or off, but in the vast majority of apps this is done remotely, making it hard to fight this even if you have root. These are the dreaded “server side” changes.
Ads are disappointing
Do you want Coolwalk? Well, be patient because Google announced it in May and we are still waiting for it.
Google I/O. A man takes the stage and shows us the latest Google Maps virgueria or the incredible redesign of Android Auto. It looks great on screen, and best of all, both “start rolling out to users today.” You open your Google Maps, nothing. Android Auto tests, nothing. And so with everything.
Whenever Google announces new photos, maps and other apps, instead of getting me excited, I feel tired before the long wait until it reaches my mobile
Google has accustomed us to the news he announces comes late, and that’s when it comes. Not only are mobiles – courtesy of foldables and some extra craziness – getting more and more boring, but the software is also getting more and more boring, and part of the blame is that you really don’t know what you’re going to find or you expect to find something, and you don’t.
For the vast majority of people, all this does not matter, but for tech enthusiastsFor those of us who live on the edge of the app and can’t wait to install that app or game and try out the latest technology, it’s not just frustrating, but extremely annoying. The excitement is over.
