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Amazon intros live app testing for mobile developers

Pre-selected app buyers will have full access to the finished product with all features live -- notably those relating to other Amazon products, such as in-app purchasing.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor
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Amazon is launching a new feature to further please its growing mobile developer base with the introduction of live app testing.

The measure is a safety net of sorts being that mobile developers will be able to publish their apps to the Amazon Appstore to a select pool of testers before pushing products to general availability.

But this is more than just a beta group. The sample set will have full access to the finished product with all features live — notably those relating to other Amazon products, such as in-app purchasing.

The idea then is that this extra step will give mobile developers a better understanding of how well — or not — an app's first version actually works, making them more proactive rather than reactive to bugs discovered by initial buyers. 

Paul Cutsinger, head of developer experience for the Amazon Appstore, outlined the steps in a blog post, acknowledging that "in-house testing" is simply not enough for catching bugs in advance.

"To be certain that your customers are getting the experience you want them to have, you have to test your app against a production environment," Cutsinger asserted.

Live app testing is supported on any Android or Amazon Fire device. Developers can sign up and take advantage of the service through the Amazon Developer Portal now.

On Wednesday, Amazon also introduced Local Register, a card reader aimed at small business owners for $10 while charging a 1.75 percent fee per card swipe — a full one percent lower than Square’s going rate.

Image via Amazon

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