Beta test your app

[ This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation ]

Beta testing gives you the chance to improve your app based on feedback from individuals outside of your app-development team who try your unreleased app on their own devices.

This section describes your options for beta testing your apps.

Why beta test?

To thoroughly test an app, you need to try it against as many device configurations and user interactions as possible. Doing all of that testing in-house is difficult if not impossible.

With beta testing, users try your app on their own devices. And it's unmoderated: instead of performing specified tasks, users have complete freedom in how they use an app, so they can find issues that you might never have expected.

With beta testing, you can:

• Test your app on a variety of devices.
• Identify performance issues and other bugs that you might not have found otherwise.
• Get real-world usage info that can be used improve the user experience.
• Receive feedback without affecting public ratings in the Windows Store.

When to beta test

It's best to conduct beta testing as the final stage of testing before you release your app. At that point, you have tested the app as thoroughly as you can yourself, and you've covered all explicit use cases. Beta testing is not a substitute for other testing methods. Since beta testing is unmoderated, participants may not catch all bugs in your code because every tester's experience is self-directed and it's unlikely that they'll explore all features of the app. But beta-testing feedback can give you a final wave of real-world feedback that reveals issues that you might never have expected before you go live.

Beta testing overview

Here's how to perform a beta test by platform.

Windows Phone 8.1 and earlier	Submit your app for beta distribution through the Windows Dev Center while keeping it hidden in the public Store. You can limit distribution to a list of people you specify by email address, or you can let anyone with the link to your listing download the app. For more info, see Beta testing and targeted distribution.
Windows 8.1 and earlier	Use the developer sideloading process to install the app directly to the beta tester's Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 device without submitting the app in the Windows Dev Center. For instructions, see Developer sideloading Windows Store apps. Note  There's currently no way to conduct a beta test on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 through the Windows Dev Center. As a result, you can't run a beta test on in-app purchases or on ads shown through the Microsoft Ads SDK. That functionality is available only when you publish the app through the Windows Store.
Windows 10	When you submit your app to the Store, choose Hide this app and prevent acquisition. Customers with a promotional code can still download it on Windows 10 devices in the Distribution and visibility section of the Pricing and availability step. Then generate promotional codes to provide to your beta testers, so that they can download your app for free on devices running Windows 10. For more info, see Beta testing and targeted distribution.