Crossover: 2014

Chapter 163
Although Lin Hui has decided to conduct an internal test of the workflow software.

But before Lin Hui, there is still a problem that needs to be solved urgently:
Where should Lin Hui go to find internal testers?
This wasn't originally a problem.

According to Lin Hui's previous work experience, the so-called α test is basically done part-time by the company's internal employees.

There are very few scenes where people are specifically asked to test.

But now Lin Hui is just a polished commander.

Who should he go to for an internal test?

Lin Hui really didn't expect that he would be stuck on the last step in the software development process.

It is indeed the last step.

The internal testing involving a piece of software is actually a procedure before a piece of software goes online.

Generally speaking, the process of an Apple mobile application from development to release:
It is nothing more than analyzing the needs first.

The purpose of the so-called needs analysis is mainly to conduct feasibility assessment.

After all, at the beginning of a project, the project may be just some abstract ideas.

In this case, ideas need to be discussed and researched.

When it comes to the specific research process, developers may need to split and subdivide ideas step by step.

Break down general ideas into specific requirements and function points.

After the demand analysis is completed, the corresponding market research should be carried out.

Through market research, we can further measure whether the previously analyzed needs are universal.

After that, developers will formally start App development.

When it comes to some complex software development.

There may be two groups of people engaged in specific development.

One of them is dedicated to UI development.

Another group of developers will develop functions and interfaces according to the renderings of each UI interface after receiving the UI design drawings.

In the case of no technical difficulties, the specific development is generally not too complicated.

This is just the general case.

It is still very troublesome when it comes to some scenes that require interaction.

Many functions that are easy to achieve in the eyes of ordinary people are actually very difficult to do.

After the App development is completed, it enters the project testing phase.

Testers test the entire App in order to find some problems in the program.

This process generally requires developers to simultaneously debug problems found by testers.

After testing and debugging, the application can basically be officially put on the shelves.

This is just to put it simply.

It involves big applications like Tengu and Mouyin.

Testing is an extremely troublesome thing.

The first thing to do is product process testing.

Testing at this stage is generally done together by product managers and developers.

Test whether each functional module can be used smoothly according to the logical coherence of the product, especially whether some core function points have been realized.

This test focuses on testing the functional requirements of the software.

The main purpose of this round of testing is to check whether the functions are unusable or missing;

Is the interface wrong?Are the inputs and outputs correct?

Does the database have any shortcomings?

Issues with functionality such as initialization and termination errors.

After completing the developer's first round of functional logic testing.

The next step is to build a test environment for professional testers to download and test.

Some teams test with people from other parts of the company.

Usually product managers, company executives, big bosses or others.

As long as it is not a company executive test, it is easy to say.

I don't know anything and I like to change the demand, which is outrageous.

The product manager should at least understand a little bit, the big boss is basically a technical boss, and it is impossible to change the requirements blindly.

As for other personnel, other personnel generally have no right to speak and can basically be ignored.

But no matter who completes the test, the test behavior of this process also needs to be quantified.

Testing without quantification is meaningless. Only quantification can truly reflect the test results and ensure software quality.

After completing the above two tests, you can find some small-scale users at this time, and conduct target user tests at a small cost.

At this time, we need to make corresponding test preparations. One is the test result recovery channel. Common channels include questionnaires, software problem feedback channels, and user communication groups.

This last link is also often referred to as grayscale testing.

However, the above processes are just some testing processes involving larger applications.

Like Lin Hui now, the software doesn't need logic test and download test at all.

Just do the grayscale test directly.

When it comes to issues such as programming logic, if this Lin Hui can't do well.

Don't engage in IT, just go straight to the elderly.

The closed beta involving the workflow software is quite different from the internal test of the game.

As an internal test of Apple software workflow, it is particularly troublesome.

The trouble is mainly trouble in software distribution.

iPhone apps are not distributed "at will" like Android apps.

Lin Hui once suspected that the founder of Apple had a strong desire to manipulate.

In short, everything involving Apple has endless rules.

Among other things, even the tests of Apple mobile phones are restricted by rules and regulations.

Specifically, how to test the Apple mobile phone software?
The most important issue when testing is to distribute the software to be tested.

In other words, you have to distribute the software to be tested to the testers' devices.

From previous lives, because of the different distribution mechanisms, there are generally three types involved in software testing.

They are enterprise signature distribution, TF signature distribution and individual developer account distribution.

When Lin Hui worked in his previous life, when it came to this kind of testing, the development team usually directly applied the enterprise signature for internal test application distribution.

This distribution method is a privilege of the Apple App Store enterprise-level development account.

Developers in the Apple App Store generally have three types of accounts.

They are personal developer account, company developer account and enterprise developer account.

The Apple/Apple Enterprise Development Account is a high-level developer account provided by Apple/Apple to iOS developers.
Although Lin Hui's previous account in the app store is already an excellent developer account.

But in the final analysis, it still belongs to the personal developer account.

From a functional point of view, the functions of an individual developer account in the Apple App Store are far from those of an enterprise-level account.

Of course, the price of an enterprise-level development account in the Apple App Store is also more expensive than a personal account and a company account, with an annual fee of $299.

And it is not possible to apply for such an account if you have money.

It is very difficult to apply for a brand new enterprise account through Apple's official website.

On the one hand, when applying for an enterprise account, the developer needs to provide Apple with a large amount of information;

On the other hand, Apple/Apple also has a very limited number of approvals for new enterprise accounts.

In short, the current stock of enterprise accounts in the market is relatively scarce.

Even many developers who really need an Apple/Apple enterprise account cannot apply for an enterprise account.

One of the privileges of an enterprise-level account is that the signed application can be installed on any iOS device, and there is no limit to the number of installations.

Enterprise signing is a process of packaging the Apple/Apple installation package (IPA) with an enterprise account.

Enterprise signatures are somewhat similar to digital signatures, which are implemented based on asymmetric encryption algorithms.

It means that the IPA file of the In House version is packaged with an Apple/Apple enterprise account, indicating that the Apple/Apple enterprise account has approved this data.

After being signed by the enterprise, the application is ready to be distributed.

The essence of the Apple/Apple signature is somewhat similar to the authorization process for the installation package.

The authorized installation package can be installed on the Apple mobile phone system.

(It's outrageous, the installation package must also be authorized.

However, considering that Apple has MFI authorization for data cables, it is not surprising that it authorizes installation packages. )
How to understand this process?
Let's take Lin Hui's previous online application process as an example.

After Lin Hui launched the app on the Apple App Store.

It does not mean that these applications can directly face ordinary users.

After that, it still needs to go through an official review.

Despite the current situation of Lin Hui, the review time for each online application is very short.

But it still needs to be reviewed, and only after the review can it be downloaded by other users.

Enterprise-level accounts do not have this constraint.

As long as the company signs it, it can be downloaded by testers.

This signature is valid for approximately one year.

But it is worth noting that the reason why Apple provides this feature is to make it easier for enterprise-level users to develop, test and distribute apps.

rather than for other purposes.

But there are always some companies with magical brain circuits, and blind students can always find the bright spots.

Some unscrupulous companies often use this mechanism to directly develop some kind of software that you know to circumvent Apple's online review mechanism for software distribution.

On the surface, it seems that this kind of application is distributed to testers, but it is actually distributed to some ls users.

Hey hey hey.

Similar to this distribution mechanism is through TF signature.

TF signature, the full name is testflight signature, is the process of uploading the IPA file to Apple's official internal application testing platform.

Testflight is Apple's official internal application testing platform. It is similar in nature to the App Store and is an officially approved distribution channel by Apple.

The Apple/Apple TF signature is currently the only one in the market that can claim never to drop the signature.

However, it is only stable for 90 days.

It is worth mentioning that precisely because of the existence of this mechanism.

Some Apps that cannot be put on the App Store will also be released through this channel. .

In this case, some strange applications can only be downloaded through textflight.

It's not as casual as a corporate signature, though.

If it is listed here, it also needs to be reviewed.

It's just relatively loose.

Rao is so, textflight is often called the second AppStore because of its rich applications.

If Lin Hui conducts the test, there is a high probability that it will be conducted in this way.

Although it can also be distributed using a personal developer account.

However, there are too many restrictions on the distribution of individual developer accounts.

Individual developers distribute to up to 100 devices a year.

With Lin Hui's speed of developing software.

100 distribution qualifications can only be said to be very insufficient.

In short, although it is difficult to find internal testers for the time being.

But Lin Hui still decided to upload the software on Textflight.

Wait until you find a suitable internal tester and then open the internal test qualifications, and you're done.

Originally this was just a simple task.

But Lin Hui hit a wall.

There is no textflight in this time and space!

Uh, no, it cannot be said that there is no textflight in this time and space.

However, this space-time textflight actually only focuses on the distribution of Android applications.

(End of this chapter)