Testing your Shopping App

Testing your Shopping App before launching an improvement is essential to ensure constant improvements without regressions.

Getting started

Test apps, or Beta builds, of your brand are regularly used for internal testing and are available to you when necessary.

To access Beta builds, you need to be invited to the developer program for iOS and Android. Contact your Omnichannel Success Manager or Expert Services representative to get started.

For iOS, Beta builds are distributed via the TestFlight app. For Android, via the Firebase App Tester (download link available in the invite).

What is a Beta build

Beta builds are a copy of your production app by default. Hence, they share the same functionalities of the app that your users can download from App Store and Google Play.

Beta builds can contain improvements and changes for testing purposes without affecting your production app. Since Beta builds can be plugged into the demo or staging environment, they might contain errors or broken behaviours.

You can distinguish Beta builds from Production Apps by checking their names. On iOS, for Beta build, a yellow dot is present in front of the app name. On Android, for a Beta build,  ‘acpt’ (short for acceptance), is present at the end of the app name.

Downloading a Beta build

Once you are all set, your email can be added to the specific Beta build tester list by the NewStore Expert Services or Product Engineering Teams. Or, on iOS, you can add yourself to the Beta builds via App Store Connect.

To get a Beta build,

1. Collect the test participants’ emails;

2. Ask NewStore Expert Services to add the emails to the correct TestFlight (iOS) and Firebase (Android) builds. Or on iOS, add yourself to the Beta build via App Store Connect.

3. Test participants will receive an email with instructions on how to download and install the builds.

4. Test participants need to set up builds as required by changing developer settings. Beta builds can come with hard-coded or forced changes. Your point of contact will keep you informed if a Beta build is ready to use or requires manual setup.

Changing developer settings

A Beta build comes with developer settings that can be manually changed to test different cases.

Some examples:

• Beta builds can be connected to your brand development environment (Merchant Environment field) to ensure backend changes meet requirements before they get moved to production. You can learn more in this specific article.

• Beta builds can force a specific language or country (Localization fields) to test a new storefront before launch.

• Beta builds could simulate a no-cache scenario (No-Cache toggle) to test catalog response time.

Changing developer settings on iOS

1. Open iOS Settings.

2. Search for your app name and tap the one with multiple fields (country, debug proxy, etc.)

3. Change settings as required. For example, type “staging”, or "development" in the Merchant Environment field.

4. Close the Settings app.

5. Launch your Beta build app.

Changing developer settings on Android

1. Search for Developer Menu app with your app logo in the app list.

2. Open the Developer Menu app.

3. Change settings as required. For example, type “staging”, or "development" in the Merchant Environment field.

4. Close the Developer Menu app.

5. Launch your Beta build app.

Important

You might be required to turn on developer mode on your Android Phone. Enabling Developer Mode requires 7 taps on the Build Number of your device. Learn more.