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Multi-user beta app

flocsy🤠
8 days ago

We're planning a new app with some friends and the question is if it's possible to have a "multi-user beta" app? I guess the simple answer is no, but maybe I'm not the 1st one who does something like this, so maybe there are some interesting insights.

I was thinking about generating a new developer key, creating a new developer account and upload the app there, and let everyone log in to Connect IQ with this new developer, then download the beta app, and then log out and log in with our own user. Will the beta app be usable (if it has settings and records fit file)? Or will we face problems?

Any other idea how to share beta app?

  • 0 8 days ago

    Interesting!
    I would be there for the test! But it would have to be a test app including for Edge devices. I don't have a watch.

  • +1 8 days ago

    Your way is sth that would work but i think you would also need to connect your watch to that account. I guess it's OK if you have a watch to spare.

    it's easier to do a public upload and to provide a key to your testers. If the key is not entered in settings (app downloaded by a non-tester) you just show a black screen 

  • 0 8 days ago in reply to peterdedecker

    Yes, the secret code would have been my next idea. Less "non user" friendly, but we can only blame Garmin

  • 0 7 days ago
    peterdedecker said:
    i think you would also need to connect your watch to that account. I guess it's OK if you have a watch to spare.

    A single watch can be registered to multiple accounts without syncing to all of them.

    flocsy🤠 said:
    Will the beta app be usable (if it has settings and records fit file)

    I think this should work as I have done something similar for private use years ago - I have one Connect account for personal use and one for development, and I temporarily switched a watch to the development account to install a beta app from my dev account. This was actually a bit of a pain, so I subsequently used my personal account for beta apps.

    I do think the secret code approach is the best way to go, in the absence of any way to actually upload a beta app which can be installed by other users. The process you described is too much of a hassle for everyone imo, especially compared to simply sharing a secret code with everyone.

    I think multi-user betas might be a good feature request tho. A similar feature request could be to allow marking an app as "unlisted" in the store (like an unlisted youtube video), so only people with the URL can download it.

  • 0 7 days ago
    flocsy🤠 said:
    We're planning a new app with some friends

    If it's just an app with trusted friends, another (not so great) alternative could be to simply distribute the IQ file to all your friends, and have them upload it as a beta to their own accounts. I mean, if they were all willing to log in and out of your special developer account every time they have to update the app, this isn't really much more of an imposition imo.

    Compared to the "secret code" solution, the only advantage is that the app isn't listed in the store.

    Compared to the "shared developer account" solution, I see a few advantages:

    - no need to log in and out of a shared account, or worry that their device will accidentally sync with the shared account (e.g. say they do a wi-fi sync right after logging into the shared account - will the device sync with the shared account or their personal account?)

    - no need for them to register their devices with the shared account (this will share their devices' serial number with everyone - maybe not a big deal tho)

  • 0 7 days ago

    Some of the team are only users (they work on other parts of the project, like android, ios), so having to open a Garmin dev account + uploading distributed iq files is also not very user friendly, so I'll go with the secret code + some clear statement in the app description not to download it unless you already have the secret code.

  • 0 4 days ago

    I also want to share my app in beta - after all, what is the point of a beta app if it's not to share it with beta testers? Would be great if this could be made possible with a simple sharing mechanism, e.g. a private link.

  • 0 4 days ago in reply to bostonwalker
    bostonwalker said:
    what is the point of a beta app if it's not to share it with beta testers

    To quote Garmin:

    "Connect IQ beta apps allows developers to test app settings and Garmin Connect integration in production without releasing the app."

    (Garmin Connect integration refers to writing developer FIT fields and having the graphs and summary information show up in Connect. App settings are settings in Connect, not on the device. Neither of those things will work unless the app has been uploaded to the store.)

    I do think that the name "beta app" suggests exactly what you said tho.

  • 0 4 days ago in reply to flocsy🤠

    There is an annoying history behind the current beta app feature on available on the App Store. Essentially, it was not implemented as requested. The intent was to allow developers to upload an app in a "beta mode", whitelist certain users that would be able to view and download the app for testing, and then at some point, the developer could disable beta mode to release the app to the public. I tell you this because I am displeased with the current beta app feature as well.

    I have made appeals that we must address this at some point and am optimistic that we'll eventually make it more useful.