Website Testing [OT] uTest

[askgar]

Thanks for the Screen-cast-omatic tip - I use jing on my mac without problem but for some reason Jing keeps crashing when I try and use it with Windows Edge.

Out of interest why do you use Jing on the mac rather than quicktime which is built in?

 

[Christine2]

Thanks for the information Flexit, I appreciate it

 

[askgar]

Hi everyone,
Another newbie here, signed up with utest more than a week ago, expanded my profile but no sandbox yet, does anyone have an idea about when I will get an invite?
Is it possible to apply for jobs and get accepted before passing sand box?
Thanks for your help

My sandbox invite was about a month after I signed up I believe, took a little while.

 

[Flexit]

Thanks for the Screen-cast-omatic tip - I use jing on my mac without problem but for some reason Jing keeps crashing when I try and use it with Windows Edge.

Out of interest why do you use Jing on the mac rather than quicktime which is built in?

Good question!! I think it is just a habit as Jing's what I started using in the first instance for utest. When I'm in a rush (to report a bug first) I just use whatever is familiar. But now you mention it - I'll try and remind myself to use QT - I'm sure it would be better!

 

[askgar]

Thanks for the Screen-cast-omatic tip - I use jing on my mac without problem but for some reason Jing keeps crashing when I try and use it with Windows Edge.

Out of interest why do you use Jing on the mac rather than quicktime which is built in?

Good question!! I think it is just a habit as Jing's what I started using in the first instance for utest. When I'm in a rush (to report a bug first) I just use whatever is familiar. But now you mention it - I'll try and remind myself to use QT - I'm sure it would be better!

It was a genuine question, I use Quicktime but always have to run my videos through handbrake after as QT outputs in .mov format and almost all cycles want MP4 videos.

 

[Genie]

Hi everyone,
Another newbie here, signed up with utest more than a week ago, expanded my profile but no sandbox yet, does anyone have an idea about when I will get an invite?
Is it possible to apply for jobs and get accepted before passing sand box?
Thanks for your help

My sandbox invite was about a month after I signed up I believe, took a little while.

My invite took a while. The website has undergone a massive overhaul since I started but there used to be an article with tips on how to get a sandbox invite. I think one of them was to post in the 'Introduce yourself' thread on the forum. As I recall, I got my invite a day or two after doing that.

You can be offered paid work before passing sandbox; but your chances to be offered any increase by having done sandbox & it will help you get a feel for how they like things done.

 

[Friar]

Hi,

I signed up to uTest a few days ago and have just participated in the "uTest Acadamy (September Test Cycle)". I have always enjoyed working with computing across different software and systems for as long a I can remember, but I wasn't really sure what to expect with uTest as I have never really been involved in any actual testing.

I really enjoyed the test cycle. After searching for a while I finally managed to find (what I would consider a critical bug), where a user could sign out of the uTest website, but having done so, were only partially logged out and it was still possible for someone (using their computer) to access their personal details such as zip code, date of birth, discussions etc from within the uTest site, so I was pleased with that one.

Just received an email advising that my sandbox invitation will be arrive tomorrow, so hopefully that will go well also!

Really enjoying the uTest experience so far. There seems to be plenty to learn so it looks like that is where my main focus will be from now onwards ( + a bit of matched betting )

Assuming the sandbox goes well, hopefully it won't be long until the paid test cycles start heading my way.

 

[Rabbit]

Hi guys, I'm back! Having successfully passed Sandbox a few weeks ago in the top 30% of my class after lots of studying, I am having some serious issues with a uTest Academy test cycle. :-\

In this training Test Cycle, I am meant to find 2 app crashes on Android, from ANY app, and report the logs. Sounds easy, right?

Sadly, no. After spending much of the day getting my head around what programs I need and how to report these logs when crashes occur, I have found myself playing around on multiple Android apps for the last 3 hours, trying to find a page or feature which will crash. I've had absolutely no luck, and am starting to feel more than a bit deflated. :-[

I've spent so much time on this, and have made lots of notes on the process of crash reporting. I'm sure I'd be able to file a decent report, if only I could find something which actually crashes! It'd be such a shame for all that time to have gone to waste, plus I've read that your score can go down if you accept but don't complete a test cycle (and as a newbie with a base level score, this may be disastrous for my uTest future prospects!)

Do any of you lovely folks have any tips, or know of apps prone to crashing??

 

[askgar]

I've never done one of the academy test cycles, unless things were changed they are designed for testers to get tips on how to make their issue reporting better, I don't believe they impact your tester rating at all. It's annoying that you won't have anything to actually raise in the cycle, but if you've come away knowing more about getting logs from an android phone that you can probably consider it a success.

 

[Rabbit]

I've never done one of the academy test cycles, unless things were changed they are designed for testers to get tips on how to make their issue reporting better, I don't believe they impact your tester rating at all. It's annoying that you won't have anything to actually raise in the cycle, but if you've come away knowing more about getting logs from an android phone that you can probably consider it a success.

Thanks [member=928]askgar[/member]. The TTL has since amended the project outline, stating that duplicates are allowed - we'll be capped ratings-wise to 'somewhat', but that's better than submitting nothing, and, as you say, at least this project will have been a somewhat useful learning exercise. Really glad that this won't impact our tester ratings!

I suspect the TTL must have realised what a tough task it is, as he's also messaged everyone asking why so few crashes have been submitted!

 

[askgar]

Yeah, crashes are very hard to find in released apps. In fact it's quite hard to find crashes in most testing apps as generally crash bugs are the first to be found and fixed.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any apps that would reliably crash, maybe search for apps with 1* in the store with reviews saying they crash?

 

[Anna]

I joined uTest around a month ago but have not yet done any work for them. Is it a case of going through the various projects and selecting one that is suitable? I can see requirements and a tick box to say that you verify that you meet the above requirements. Does this mean you are definitely doing the project or do they need to allocate it to you?

I'm also not able to see what the fee is for each project?

Are the projects fairly easy to do? I'm not too technical so don't want to accept something I can't do!

 

[askgar]

I joined uTest around a month ago but have not yet done any work for them. Is it a case of going through the various projects and selecting one that is suitable? I can see requirements and a tick box to say that you verify that you meet the above requirements. Does this mean you are definitely doing the project or do they need to allocate it to you?

This is just applying for a project, after that you may or may not be accepted to that specific project. Once you've taken part in a few projects you tend to get sent invites, rather than having to apply.

I'm also not able to see what the fee is for each project?

Generally the fee is only shown when a project invite is sent, there can be payments for various things.
[list type=decimal]
[*]Test Case - Complete a test case and get a payment.
[*]Bugs - Approved bugs will be paid depending on how valuable they are to the customer.
[*]Other things - The above are the main 2 things, you can also be paid for other things like completing a review, completing a google form, etc.
[/list]

I've had test cases ranging from $3-$150, bugs are generally paid out between $5 and $30. Reviews are usually only a few $. You will never be guaranteed a payment, however if you get a test case and follow it completely then you'll get the payment. When there aren't test cases then you have to hope to find a bug.

Are the projects fairly easy to do? I'm not too technical so don't want to accept something I can't do!

The most important thing to learn to do is how to take both screenshots, and videos on your chosen device. Some tests will require logs, which can be harder to gather if you are less technical.

 

[lindagreenwood1]

I am doing my sandbox test today but I am one of those, less technically minded people, so will likely fail! I'm learning a I go though, so it may be ok.

 

[Christine2]

Give it a go, it's a learning process, still waiting to hear from them concerning sandbox, i have no clue but it will be nice for me to learn a new skill, good luck

 

[lindagreenwood1]

Thanks. I've done it this evening. Easier than I thought once I waded through the jargon! Hope we both get something from them soon!

 

[Anna]

I was invited to the Sandbox test and I have reported the 2 bugs and done the test case. Should I expect to get an email at the end of the cycle (which ends in 4 days) on whether I passed?

 

[Genie]

I was invited to the Sandbox test and I have reported the 2 bugs and done the test case. Should I expect to get an email at the end of the cycle (which ends in 4 days) on whether I passed?

You'll probably see if the bugs you reported were accepted or not within the next few days after Sandbox closes & you get an email for each. For me, it took a few weeks before I found out if I had passed Sandbox, but I did get one or two invites for paid projects in that time.

 

[Friar]

So, I completed the sandbox a couple of days ago. Went fine. Found the 2 required bugs and logged them as advised. Should hear results from that one at some point.

Shortly after posting my sandbox bugs, I received an invite to a paid test cycle with test case, which also didn't go too bad. Found a couple of bugs there which were rated as somewhat useful. Since then have missed out on a few paid test cycle invites due to not seeing them in time, and am currently signed up for 2 test cycles (same project manager as the first paid test cycle I did)

All good experience. At the moment, just getting to grips with reporting bugs quickly while testing on mobile devices.

 

[askgar]

So, I completed the sandbox a couple of days ago. Went fine. Found the 2 required bugs and logged them as advised. Should hear results from that one at some point.

Shortly after posting my sandbox bugs, I received an invite to a paid test cycle with test case, which also didn't go too bad. Found a couple of bugs there which were rated as somewhat useful. Since then have missed out on a few paid test cycle invites due to not seeing them in time, and am currently signed up for 2 test cycles (same project manager as the first paid test cycle I did)

All good experience. At the moment, just getting to grips with reporting bugs quickly while testing on mobile devices.

Sounds like you're getting on well