FERGUS HURLEY: Hi.
I'm Fergus Hurley, a product manager at Google.
Thorough testing is an essential part
of building a high-quality app or game.
But the process can be time consuming and frustrating.
That's why we've added new features
to our pre-launch report to make basic app testing a breeze.
So what is the pre-launch report?
It's a helpful dashboard within the Google Play Console
that alerts you of any quality concerns in your app
before it affects your users.
Whenever you upload an app to the closed or open testing
tracks in the Google Play Console,
you'll automatically generate this free report.
The report is created from an automated crawl of your app,
using the tools and infrastructure of Firebase Test
Lab.
The crawler, which we call Robo, explores your app
by inputting taps, swipes, and text.
Tests are run on a wide range of devices of varying
specs and price points.
Once your app has been crawled, within an hour,
the pre-launch report flags any crashes,
security vulnerabilities, startup time issues,
or other problems.
On the Overview page, you'll find clear recommendations
on how to address the results.
You'll also see a summary of the issues found by the crawler.
It even offers suggestions of taking
advantage of the report's more advanced features.
We'll come back to that in a moment.
Below that, you'll see the full details of everything
the crawler found, including screenshots and videos
taken during the crawl.
These are great for spotting UX issues
by seeing what the crawler was doing when your app crashed.
We've also added information about accessibility
and usability issues, like small-touch targets,
poor contrast, and missing or confusing voice annotations.
While the pre-launch report is useful in its default state,
you can easily customize it to focus on the things
that matter most to your app.
For example, while Robo can crawl any app built
on the Android framework, what if your app or game
uses OpenGL?
In that case, you can use demo loops or monkey actions.
A demo loop lets you create automated journeys
through your app.
So if you're testing a game, you might
configure it to focus on a particular level or character.
To run a demo loop, first add the loop to your game,
then modify your game to launch and run the demo loop.
Finally, declare the demo loop in your apps manifesto.
Now, when you run a test, the crawler will use the demo loop.
When the crawler is finished, you'll
see both the standard test results
and any rendering issues so you can investigate any problems
with frame rates.
A monkey action let's the crawler test
actions in places where you haven't provided demo loop.
In this case, when the crawler reaches an OpenGL canvas,
it'll perform random taps and swipes.
While it doesn't have the sophistication of a demo loop,
it can detect issues you didn't encounter in your test.
And what if your app asks for users to sign in?
No problem.
The crawler can test the logged in experience too.
If you Sign-in with Google, the crawler
can locate the log-in button and use
the Google account that's already
included on the test device.
If your app uses a custom sign-in mechanism,
just configure the pre-launch report with a test account.
Go to Settings and enter the resources used for the username
and password fields as well as the log-in button.
You'll also enter the test username and password.
Now when the crawler encounters your log-in button,
you'll enter the test account details and keep testing.
The pre-launch report can also test up to three deep links.
Deep links take users right to the specific feature
in your app, skipping the usual entry flow.
To specify which deep links you want to test, go to Settings
and just add the URLs.
The crawler will run for about five minutes,
then close your app and visit each deep link
for about 30 seconds each.
If it finds any issues, you'll see them in the report.
What if you want even more control?
Maybe your app has a sign-up screen early
in the onboarding flow that you need to test
or you want the crawler to access
a specific part of your app.
That's where robo scripts come in.
Robo scripts are a sequence of actions recorded in JSON file.
To record a script, open Android Studio, go to Tools,
and open Firebase.
Click Record Robo Script and use it to guide robo test, then
Record Robo Script.
Select the test device and record the steps
you want the crawler to follow and save
the robo script to file.
Now go to the pre-launch report and upload your script
under Settings.
The next time you run the crawler,
it'll open your robo script and follow the sequence
of steps you recorded before returning
to its default crawling pattern.
The pre-launch report can also be configured
to test in any language.
By default, it will test the most popular languages
among your users.
But you may want to test out a new version before launching it
with a new language.
To test in another language, open the pre-launch report
settings anytime after the initial crawl of your app.
You can define up to five languages
to test when you upload a new version.
The pre-launch report is a great way
to do a final quality check after your own QA testing,
helping you deliver higher quality apps and games.
Everyone who publishes APKs to the closed or open testing
tracks can get a pre-launch report.
Just open the Google Play Console
to get your free report.
Check it out next time you're uploading a pre-production app.
Thanks for watching.