Sketchbook Beta Program

Thank you for your interest in being a beta tester!

Your real-world testing and feedback is an important part of ensuring Sketchbook is enjoyable and functional for millions of users around the world.

We throughly QA a release before sending it out to the beta group, but we are looking to you to test outside of our somewhat controlled environments. Your system configurations, settings, and personal workflows are unique, so you may experience bugs we didn’t catch.
Please make sure you always back up your work.

FAQ

How do I get added to a beta testing group?

Most of our beta tests are by invitation to people who have reached out to us via support and expressed an interest in testing future releases. You can also email us at beta@sketchbook.com to be added to the list! Please let us know your device make/model and operating system, so we can be sure to put you in the correct group. If you’re on one of our beta lists, we’ll email you when we’re about to start a new test and explain what we’ll be testing and give you an opportunity to test (or decline, if you’d rather not). We also run public beta tests on Google Play where the platform makes this possible.

How do I send you feedback, and how often?

Please email feedback to beta@sketchbook.com, identifying yourself as a beta tester and providing as much detail as you can. If you have encountered a bug, please also let us know the steps you take to reproduce it, along with what device and OS version you are running. The more information you can give us, the better! Many of the beta platforms (eg: TestFlight and Google Play) also provide beta feedback and reporting, but that can take some time to reach us through the platform system so an email is always appreciated.

What should I do if I encounter a bug?

If you run into a bug or unexpected behavior let us know right away and please do not try to fix it on your own :). We need to fully understand what’s wrong so we can try to reproduce and fix the bug, and we may have further questions.

Can I use the production build and the beta at the same time?

Most often we’ll be seeking validation of a release we’ve QA’d and are getting ready to submit to the app store, in which case the beta will supersede your existing install just like an update would. Rarely, we may set up a separate beta build and you will be able to have both it and the current version from the app store installed at the same time. This is more likely when we’re seeking longer term feedback on a new feature or workflow that isn’t pending immediate release.

How will I get the beta?

For Windows and Android, expect to update to the beta via the Microsoft Store or Google Play as you normally would. For iOS and macOS we use Apple’s TestFlight app to distribute beta builds.

TestFlight and the Premium Bundle

Apple’s TestFlight app is on a separate system than the main App Store, so it is not connected to any purchases you have made through the App Store. Because of this, your Premium Bundle purchase won’t automatically appear/unlock. Never fear! TestFlight has no payment capabilities so purchases are functionally impossible. That means you can tap the purchase button in Sketchbook and the Premium Bundle will automatically unlock with no payment required. All your preferences (imported brushes, settings, etc) from the Premium Bundle will still be in place once it is unlocked again.

I need to go back to the production build, can I safely uninstall the beta?

Do not delete or uninstall the app without reaching out to us first so we can help you transition back to the public version while keeping your app data and saved art files intact. Doing this in a way that preserves your settings and files is a little different depending on your device platform. Our QA team will have already run this scenario many (many, many) times so we will be able to provide any necessary info.