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Ask HN: What are the pros and cons of releasing your app with a beta phase?

1 points by mvleming ↗ HN
Hey guys,

I've been Googling for articles that talk about rolling out with a beta phase and I haven't found many. What apps should you release with a beta phase first, or should you release all apps with one? In what cases would you not want to have a beta phase? Doesn't a beta phase hurt the chances of an app going viral?

I thought these questions would be perfect for the HN community.

Happy holidays!

4 comments

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Lorenz-Kraft
Hi, i never thought much about it, because in my view the beta phase is just there to get many feedbacks on the product itself. This might be usability, bugs or even more fundamental feedbacks.

But like you mentioned, it also might be a good chance for promotion ... if you want to promote an unfinished product ... depends on the basic "revolutionary" idea you are trying to spread.

mvleming
Huh, I thought you could use a beta phase to promote the app for the opposite reason—by having a beta phase you can have a huge release to the public, as opposed to marketing the app must be a revolutionary idea because it's in its beta phase.

Which makes me want to ask: does a beta phase mean it's only open for use to those who've requested and have been given access? Or can you have an app in the beta phase and also have it open for everyone to use?

erichurkman
Beta phase for an existing app (new version) or completely new app? I'm not sure it matters much if you slap a 'beta' label on a new app. When you first kick an app off, you're going to be closely monitoring crash reports, bug reports, reviews, feedback, etc regardless of if you call it 'beat' or not.

A 'beta' label is not going to stop or cause your app to go viral. If your app does take off but crashes and is full of bugs, 'beta' is not going to stop negative reviews.

If you are concerned about bugs or need more testing, try out Fiverr or any of the mobile testing startups.

ibstudios
People don't care what a beta is, they care if it works or now. Be careful if you list your app in a place where people can review it. People view things for what the are, not for what the can be.