DEVOPSdigest

Testfire launched Rewind, an upgrade for its Quality Assurance (QA) software development kit that allows product teams to find, track and fix bugs in their apps.

The upgrade lets users "rewind time" and capture any issues they encounter, complete with video, app logs and device details. This enables teams to see exactly how an issue played out, and view it again and again in order to gain a better understanding of what happened.

There are 30 thousand new apps submitted to the iTunes App store alone each month, and more than 1.6 million apps on the Android store. Testfire gives teams who are developing apps for both operating systems the tools they need to put their projects through their paces during all types of testing phases.

The Rewind feature is built on Testfire's Bug DVR, and automatically records the app screen and enables non-technical users testing the app to rewind time when they encounter an issue. These users can then upload the video along with detailed app logs so that the issue can be investigated fully by the development team. Furthermore, Testfire's bug curation service gives companies a solid understanding of important and recurring problems, letting them focus on the key issues.

"The world has gone the way of mobile, and users have a very low tolerance for poor quality experiences," said Testfire CEO and serial entrepreneur Robert Chea. "More and more companies are realizing that in order to consistently deliver a great mobile experience, it is essential to engage users in the testing process through all of their testing phases. You just don't know how well an app will work until you get it into the users' hands."

Rewind is born out of the need to provide people with an easy way to give accurate feedback, particularly during the testing phase of an app's development. The video recording capability allows everyday users to become proficient testers. As a result, testing phases can be broader, as they do not have to rely on technically experienced users to provide useful, on-point feedback.

Testfire is backed by New York City-based Venture Capital firms, including FirstMark Capital and Eniac Ventures. The service differentiates itself from other bug and issue trackers, not only through its video Rewind reporting feature, but also by separating impactful issues from the deluge of complaints and esoteric issues often associated with testing in the wild.

"While most companies are familiar with dogfooding and beta testing programs, they quickly realize they have to dig through a ton of issues to find the important ones, and then often have too little data to actually address the ones they want to fix," added Chea. "Testfire's Bug DVR and curation service provides an easy way for companies to separate the important issues from the noise, and also have enough data to quickly fix them."