Conservation

Join the Audubon Bird Guide App Beta Testers Group

We're looking for volunteers to help us test forthcoming app updates before they're publicly available
Calliope Hummingbird on the Audubon Bird Guide app. Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon

Would you like to help us make our app better?

We're continuously releasing updates to the Audubon Bird Guide app, adding new features and fixing bugs based on user feedback. To help us test these forthcoming updates before they become available to the general public, we are seeking volunteers to join our beta testers group. 

Beta testers will be granted sneak-peak early access to our latest releases, and will be asked to provide feedback on new functionality to help us further refine our app. The beta versions may contain new features not yet available in the main release. Since these features may be experimental, we ask that you don’t publicize or share the features you’re testing until they’re publicly launched.

The beta version of our app may also be less stable or have a few minor problems. If you run into bugs, we ask that you let us know so we can fix them. Beta testers can always switch back to the public, stable release at any time.  

You are welcome to log in to a beta release with an existing account. Your sightings, lists, and other user data will appear as they do in the public release, and any new data created with a beta release will be accessible in your account going forward. We extensively test the updates we release for public beta testing, and we will never release an update to the beta group that puts your data in any known danger; that said, usage of beta updates is at your own risk. 

Latest beta update

We are currently beta testing version 6.0.0 for release in May 2021. Join our testers group below to help make our app even better. 

To join the beta program, follow the instructions below for your platform:

Note: we don't always have a beta version available for testing. But once you join the group, you'll automatically receive any future beta releases. On iOS, TestFlight will send you a notification when a new beta release is available. On Android, beta versions will appear along with your other app updates in the Google Play Store automatically.

Webinar for beta testers

We hosted a webinar to preview our upcoming Spring 2020 update on Wednesday, March 11. You can view a recording of the webinar here for an overview of the update's new features. 

How to give feedback

If you run into any issues using the beta, please let us know. This will ensure that we fix the problem before releasing the update to the public. You can also use the feedback tool to share your impressions or ask a question. 

You can give feedback in one of three ways: 

Send us an email

Write to beta@audubon.org with a detailed description of your issue. On what screen did it occur? Are there steps you can take to reproduce the issue? And if possible, please attach a screenshot of the issue to your email. 

Use the TestFlight app on iOS

Submitting feedback through TestFlight is simple, and it's easy to attach a screenshot of any issues you've identified, which is always helpful. 

  • Open the TestFlight app, and tap the Audubon Bird Guide entry
  • Tap "Send Beta Feedback" to send an email directly to Audubon. If you have any screenshots that illustrate your issue, please include them.

Use the Google Play Store app on Android

  • Open the Google Play Store app
  • Choose "My apps & games" from the main menu, then select the "Installed" tab
  • Tap the Audubon Bird Guide in the list, then find the "Private feedback to the developer" heading and tap "Write feedback."

How to leave the beta program

  • On iOS, open the TestFlight app, tap the Audubon Bird Guide app, and tap the red "Stop Testing" link. To switch back to the latest stable release, you can also delete any downloaded beta release and re-download the latest official release from the App Store without losing access to future beta updates. 
  • On Android, use the same link you used to sign up, and tap the "Leave the Program" button at bottom. You must be signed in to the same Google account that signed up to be a tester in order to leave the program. 

If you have any questions about the beta test program, please email beta@audubon.org.