Yesterday I announced that Build it Beta is now public for Windows Phone app developers, but what is Build it Beta? Well it’s all about Windows Phone Application Testing. There are a number of existing mechanisms available to Windows Phone application developers but none of them offer the simplicity and ease of deployment as say TestFlight. Build it Beta fills that gap, providing a mechanism to allow any Windows Phone application to be deployed for testing to any Windows Phone 8 device*.
Firstly, why the name?
Well it’s a bit of a play on words – we’re always looking to build better apps and of course during development we often release “beta” versions of the app. Hence the origin of “Build it Better Beta”.
Next, how does it work?
Windows Phone 8 included the ability to deploy applications within the enterprise without going through the Windows Phone Store. This is referred to as enterprise deployment and involves signing an application (ie the packaged application file .xap) with an signing certificate. The same certificate needs to be distributed to the devices that the application is to be tested on. Then the signed xap can be installed on the devices either via code or by distributing the application to the device via email or via a url link. Build it Beta uses this mechanism to deliver a testing tool which eliminates the complexity for both developers and testers.
Ok, so how do I get started?
The first step is to get Build it Beta from the Windows Phone Store, but we’ve got a simple set of setup instructions that will get you up and running in no time at all. If you’re not on your Windows Phone, scan the following QR with your Windows Phone (Search button, Vision app bar button) to jump straight to the instructions.
Once you’ve completed the setup, all you need to do is to start sending your .xap files to upload @ builditbeta.com. Make sure you send them from the same email address that you registered with when setting up Build it Beta. We’ll ingest your xap and send you a confirmation email. You should also get a toast notification on your Windows Phone device letting you know that a new version of your application is available for testing. Click on the link in the email, or tap on the toast notification to download and install the signed version of your application.
* Build it Beta relies on enterprise deployment to install applications. This is a feature that was introduced with Windows Phone 8 which means Build it Beta cannot install applications to earlier versions of the Windows Phone operating system. If you need to deploy applications for testing on earlier versions of Windows Phone you can do this using the Windows Phone Store Beta process.