ChumMe is now on to the next phase of development: private beta. Unless you're in the technology field, this might as well be Greek. There are a few stages of software: development, alpha, beta and full public release.
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| ChumMe app icon as it appears on home screen |
In the development stage, there isn't much to see from an end-user's perspective. Often, no graphical user interface - commonly referred to as a GUI - exists. In essence, the code to produce the software only resides with the computer software programmers. Once they have a viable product to demonstrate, then it enters the next stage - alpha.
An alpha release is the first version where a user can view the features and functionality. ChumMe was released in alpha in early April 2016. Not all the details are completely hashed and there is still some exploratory activity. Also, the software is expected to be buggy and lacking in the elegance department. Think of an early draft of a novel - the story is there albeit rough around the edges.
On April 15 - yes, tax day - ChumMe moved from alpha phase to private beta. Beta is the stage where design and features start to get refined. ChumMe is stable now with the core messaging features functioning as expected. All major issues were resolved in alpha and it's ready to be released to a small group of people to test it, ergo private beta. This is where friends and family come in as the quality assurance testers, along with a professional QA department. The goal is to find funky behavior and turn the coal into a diamond.
With great excitement we have submitted the ChumMe app to the Apple App Store Team. The process can take 7-10 days for them to review so we will anxiously wait for approval into the App Store!
