Software Testing Blog

Thursday, in the quiet darkness of a cold New England night, the uTest engineering team flipped a switch and lit up computer screens worldwide with version 2.8 of our testing platform.  Featuring a shiny new look that matches our website, blog and forums, this is a big step forward for our platform and our users.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg!  Version 2.8 also introduces a few highly useful new features that our customers and testers have been asking for:

Real-Time Coverage Reports
We often provide our customers with a testing coverage report after a test cycle has concluded.  With a complete record of what platforms, operating systems, devices, and browsers were tested, the coverage report has provided customers with peace of mind that all the bases were covered.

Starting today, that information is now available in real-time while the test cycle is still running.  This gives testing managers a whole new way to find out what’s been covered and what needs to be covered before the test cycle completes.  Testers can then be redirected to cover important elements that haven’t been sufficiently verified. (Click for a larger screenshot.)

Easier Environment Reporting for Testers
Along with real-time coverage reports, we are also introducing a better way for testers to include their device details (OS, browser, etc.) with each reported bug.  As part of our tester re-profiling from earlier this year, we have a very complete description of each tester’s platform, including all relevant software and hardware.

Now when a tester reports a new bug, they will be presented with a list of the testing environment information from their platform profile.  Instead of describing their environment from scratch in each bug, testers will be able to choose which elements of their environment were relevant for a particular defect.  Bug reporting will be quicker, simpler, and more reliable, while the resulting bug data will be more structured and easier to analyze.

For example, if you are a tester who has profiled that you have a Mac running Mac OS 10.6, you will only see the browsers, firewall and anti-virus tools that you’ve included in your profile (so make sure your tester profile is 100% up to date and accurate).  (Click for a larger screenshot.)

Other Fixes
As always, we have our tester community to thank for their help in finding and fixing a number of bugs.  Have a great idea for our future product releases?  Join our testing forums and check out our Platform Feedback section.