Dev Notes #4 – Scaling the Beta

Days like yesterday are exhausting.

In the morning, I sent out an email newsletter that asked for users to join the FoodNoms 2 TestFlight. Over 100 users requested access and the majority of them joined the FoodNoms Discord server. I'm quite happy with that turnout.

After sending out the invites, I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting to hear if there was some major issue in that build.

Feedback started pouring in around noon. Some additional feature requests, some minor bugs, and a few issues I'm still triaging. But nothing super major, which is a relief.

The one concerning pattern that seems to be materializing is various support issues with HealthKit syncing. I already know "why isn't my Health data showing up?" is going to be a common support request.  (I hope I don't regret building this feature…)

These issues are motivating me to build a screen to show user-facing diagnostics that provide visibility into what work is going on, if any. Also some support FAQs and in-app copy to explain certain behaviors.

I started reaching out to press in the evening.

I've been thinking a lot about press coverage for FoodNoms 2. It'd be great to get good coverage, but I don't have my expectations too high. The update is tricky from a PR perspective because it includes many new features – some that are unique and differentiators – but I'm not sure if any of them are big headliners.

I'm still going to try and do my best to let the media know about what's happening. I have some pitches that I think are compelling. We'll see.

At the very least, I'm excited to be FoodNoms 2 to be behind me so I can focus on other things, including the next update (which will certainly be much-more focused).