game-qa
7 articles
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Update testing — the bugs only users on old versions ever see
The release was tested perfectly — on a clean install. But almost every user gets it as an update on top of an old version with old data. A first-person take: why an update means new code reading old data, the N-5 → N version matrix and migration chains, updates landing mid-session, force update and its bypasses, staged rollout and a server that must support two versions at once, downgrade as a crash loop, first launch after an update ≠ FTUE — and why an archive of old builds must exist.
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Crashes and ANRs in a mobile game: catching what won't reproduce for you
Crashes almost never happen on your device — they live on other people's, where memory is tight and the network drops. A first-person walkthrough: why you should test the crash reporter itself first (a real case where Crashlytics initialized after the crash and the exception handler was grabbed by the ad SDK), how a crash differs from an ANR, why you need symbolication and context in the report, managed vs native crashes in Unity, and how to deliberately recreate other people's conditions.
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Testing runtime permissions in a mobile app: states, on-the-fly revocation, and edge cases
Permissions aren't 'granted or not' — they're a state matrix. A five-state model, pre-permission priming, graceful fallback on denial, process death on on-the-fly revocation, background and precise/approximate location, ATT and limited Photos on iOS, 'Don't ask again' on Android, verifying via Proxyman traffic, and a 12-point checklist.
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AI bots that play your game: game-QA automation in 2026
AI agents for game testing: how they differ from scripted automation, what they actually do (24/7 exploratory play, crashes, balance, video logs), the limits and risks, who's on the market (modl.ai, AltTester, GameDriver), when to use AI bots and when plain automation is enough. A pilot checklist.
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FTUE / onboarding in a mobile game: what to test in the first session
The first session (FTUE) through a QA lens: the matrix of entry points (install/reinstall/deep link/login), tutorial interruptions, skip and mandatory steps, returning player and updates, idempotent reward, A/B and funnel analytics. A 12-point checklist.
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Testing deep links: deep links, Universal Links, App Links and the state matrix
Deep links through a QA lens: three link types, the state matrix (foreground/background/killed/not installed), deferred deep linking and attribution, fallbacks and broken links, security, AASA/assetlinks verification, tools adb/simctl/Proxyman. A 12-point checklist.
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Testing ads in a mobile game: rewarded, interstitial, mediation and edge cases
Ad monetization through a QA lens: how to test rewarded and interstitial ads, reward idempotency (SSV), no-fill, mediation and waterfall, frequency capping, ATT/GDPR consent, network and analytics. A 13-point checklist.