What do you expect from the next update?

[A Former User]

@zhang965 said in What do you expect from the next update?:

products running like a untested piece of shit, it’s a mystery

products like these take time and many resources to debug, and time, unfortunately, is a benchmark for brands. fixing things in the long run is ok for me

[isazi]

@altcmd so we have two groups of volunteers in the forum: mods and external field testers. Neither group is paid, and both mods and testers do moderation and testing on their own time. Mods get nothing from Suunto, and most have been elected on this same forum by other users (last election in 2020). External field testers have access to new hardware and software, but not as gifts. Experimental hardware may not work, beta software can brick a watch or crash multiple times a day, and devices can be recalled by Suunto at any time (so they’re not owned by the tester). So the only thing testers get (that in some way is precious) is insider knowledge, but that cannot be shared because of a signed NDA, and still Suunto does not share everything with externals. And testers have obligations, filling one or more surveys a week, reporting bugs, and acting on special tasks. No field tester has any obligation to report issues from this forum or other channels to Suunto, btw, the customer service is doing that, but some of us do it anyway out of appreciation for this and other lovely communities.

[SuperFlo75]

@isazi I think you and the other moderators do a very good job! Thanks!

[zhang965]

isazi said in What do you expect from the next update?:

mods and external field testers. Neither group is paid

Kek, of course, it’s not worth to pay.

[wakarimasen]

@zhang965 Wow. Just wow. I love to see someone spreading joy and positivity in the world.

[Stefan Kersting]

@isazi this was a pretty interesting “insight” of how the field testing works !
But I have a question. Are you running with your test device and you everyday watch when testing? For me it it would be a must to have two accounts then. One account with “clean” data and one account with test data that can be affected by bugs

[isazi]

@zhang965 ahahah, well I guess you’re paid somewhere, so there’s hope for everyone

[isazi]

@Stefan-Kersting yes, I have my own paid watch and my own App account, and then I have another account that I use for testing the other watches. I don’t install testing software on my own device.

[freeheeler]

@Stefan-Kersting
I keep it completely separate, too.
same as @isazi only released and tested firmware on my private watches and testing with everything unreleased on a “locked” account.

[Brad_Olwin]

@Stefan-Kersting I purchase my own watches as well. And yes, I have at least one FT watch on everyday. I have been burned by FT firmware that I thought was ok and have lost exercises. The watches go through extensive testing prior to firmware release and the vast majority of bugs are discovered. Many times our test firmware is highly unstable, especially when new features are tested.
Personally, I have never had a bricked watch on production firmware yet, and I have lost very few exercises. I am often using the watch for long outings as you are aware either trail running, mountaineering or SkiMo.

[Stefan Kersting]

@Brad_Olwin @freeheeler nothing is more annoying than loosing activities/gps tracks. Especially if you’re on a tour that isn’t kind of daily tour. And the overall stats get messed up
Have second account too. On this account I load up merged Gpx files when hiking several days in order to get a 3d Film of the whole tour

[GiPFELKiND]

@isazi THANK YOU ALL for your great Job

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

Am I the only one who finds it strange that testers are not being paid for their job?

[Stefan Kersting]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel I think it’s ok that testers aren’t payed. Science is independent and maybe the same principles are relevant for testing. If you’re payed your bought you know what I mean.

[wakarimasen]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel I’d place a reasonable bet that many reading would still like to be testers, even if the role is unpaid

[freeheeler]

@Stefan-Kersting
I support Stefan’s comment but will not comment it any further

[A Former User]

@isazi said in What do you expect from the next update?:

@altcmd so we have two groups of volunteers in the forum: mods and external field testers. Neither group is paid, and both mods and testers do moderation and testing on their own time. Mods get nothing from Suunto, and most have been elected on this same forum by other users (last election in 2020). External field testers have access to new hardware and software, but not as gifts. Experimental hardware may not work, beta software can brick a watch or crash multiple times a day, and devices can be recalled by Suunto at any time (so they’re not owned by the tester). So the only thing testers get (that in some way is precious) is insider knowledge, but that cannot be shared because of a signed NDA, and still Suunto does not share everything with externals. And testers have obligations, filling one or more surveys a week, reporting bugs, and acting on special tasks. No field tester has any obligation to report issues from this forum or other channels to Suunto, btw, the customer service is doing that, but some of us do it anyway out of appreciation for this and other lovely communities.

Thanks for clearing up.
I think most people “want” to be testers but doesn’t realize how annoying can be to have stuff that may breakdown, not perform as we want, and always have a backup (possible in case of a watch, but not really on other producs).
Bravo for your dedication guys!

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@wakarimasen sure, but aren’t that what betas are for?

We’re talking about testing, especially on an early level, with signed NDA. Why would you pay a developer and not a tester?

[isazi]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel internal testers at Suunto are paid, externals are volunteers.

[martintrail]

Back to software- I’d like to have realtime GAP/NGP on my watch.