We’re not always in need of external testers, but when we’re looking for feedback on bug fixes or new features, we’ll publicly or privately open test feeds so we can try our latest changes out in the wild. To stay on top of test announcements, we recommend keeping an eye on our Mastodon account, blog, or Slack workspace.
If you’d like to help us test our apps, please make sure you’re comfortable with buggy software and you back up important data regularly.
Also, make sure you’re in a position where you have internet access and can install/check for updates regularly. Test builds automatically expire after a few weeks, so if you frequently travel without internet access, we recommend staying on the official release track to avoid getting locked out of the app.
How Can I Participate?
When we do have open test feeds, you can find them on our Omni Test Builds page.
Our test builds will be distributed either via Apple’s TestFlight program or as direct-downloads (Mac only), which will be indicated on our Omni Test Builds page. In order to use test builds of point releases of our currently shipping apps, you do need to have an active license or subscription.
TestFlight vs Direct Downloads
TestFlight is the way of distrbuting test builds for iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro. We are also beginning to provide Mac test builds via TestFlight, but not always. Even when Mac test builds are made available via TestFlight, we will typically still provide them as direct downloads too.
The advantage of providing our own direct downloads for test builds is that they don’t have to go through Apple’s review process, allowing us to publish new test builds much more quickly.
What to test
Typically, we just want you to use the app as you normally would. If there is any specific feature or area of the app we’d like you to pay particular attention to, we will let you know in the release notes.
When submitting feedback about a test build, particularly if it is a bug, we want to know the specific test build revision that you are using—this will be a longer version number in parentheses, e.g. (v160.0.123). The easiest way to ensure this information is included is by the Contact Omni option built into each of our apps or through the Send Feedback option in the TestFlight app. If you need to include this information manually, it can be found in the About item for the app or App Details in the TestFlight app.
