Bugs are an inevitable a part of the event course of. Although they are often irritating to bump up towards, you may assist squash these types of issues rapidly by figuring out the difficulty you’re operating into, reproducing it, and submitting a bug report by way of Apple’s Suggestions Assistant.
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It’s best to at all times file suggestions for any bugs you discover whereas growing for Apple platforms; in any case, we are able to’t repair issues we don’t learn about. However how are you going to ensure that the data you present is useful for triaging the difficulty, slightly than a bug-solving lifeless finish? Listed here are our prime ideas for ensuring your bug report is obvious, actionable, and — most significantly — fixable.
Be clear, direct, and detailed
When logging any new bug report, be as descriptive as you may, beginning with a title that clearly describes each the difficulty and the inciting issue. A title like “Calendar occasions are lacking” leaves out necessary info like how or why, whereas a title like “Calendar occasions on macOS 12.4 are lacking after creating a fast occasion” gives extra actionable element.
Tip: It’s typically useful for bug screeners to know how points may have an effect on app growth. If you happen to establish an issue whereas growing your app, embrace the identify and model of your app in each the title and outline subject — even for those who can reproduce the issue in a standalone pattern challenge — and add a hyperlink to your App Retailer report or a TestFlight construct.
When writing up your downside, describe every step completely — it’s typically useful to fake that whoever reads your report has by no means encountered the app or system you’re writing about. For instance, an announcement like, “After I create an occasion in Calendar, it disappears in a second” omits most of the particulars essential to breed the difficulty. Are you making a Calendar occasion by way of the Fast Occasion button, by way of Siri, or are you dragging so as to add a brand new occasion? How lengthy is a second? Did the occasion disappear after multitasking, or did you stay within the app?
At any time when a bug screener has to pause and contemplate this type of query, it reduces the probability that your downside can get fastened rapidly. As an alternative, contemplate how you may describe your bug intimately. For example, you may write:
1. Click on Fast Occasion button within the Calendar app.
2. Fill out an occasion with any title.
3. Hit Return.
Precise Outcomes: The occasion seems in the precise place in my calendar however then disappears.
Anticipated Outcomes: The Calendar occasion ought to seem and keep on my calendar.After you fill out your copy steps and anticipated outcome, contemplate any extra elements that might affect the issue. Are you signed into iCloud? Do you have got any Accessibility settings turned on? Are you able to reproduce the difficulty elsewhere within the working system? The extra info you embrace within the preliminary report, the quicker the screener can triage it successfully and get it over to the precise crew for a repair.
Add a couple of visuals
A screenshot or display screen recording of the reproduced bug can present invaluable clues — and may embrace particulars you could not have thought of writing within the description subject. You probably have a problem with UI, it’s best to at all times embrace visuals.
Log the crash
Sadly, not all bugs are reproducible or have easy-to-follow steps. For these trickier circumstances, contemplate offering logging info like a sysdiagnose; for those who’re submitting a bug on iPhone or iPad, you should utilize the Suggestions Assistant app to seize one robotically. If you happen to’re submitting by way of Apple’s internet portal, you may set up profiles that can assist you manually collect a sysdiagnose.
You may as well present any extra logging related to the difficulty. For instance, for those who’re experiencing a crash, embrace your app’s crash logs. If you happen to’re reporting a efficiency regression, embrace an Devices Hint on iOS or iPadOS, or a Pattern on macOS.
Create a pattern challenge
Operating into a problem whereas growing an app? Take into account isolating the issue right into a small pattern challenge or Swift Playgrounds challenge that compiles. Not solely can it assist you slim down the precise bug you’re going through, it’s additionally one of many best methods for bug screeners and engineers to triage the issue. If you happen to can’t produce a full pattern challenge, pattern code can be useful — all extra info that may assist slim down the difficulty is efficacious.
Escalate your report
If you happen to’re a paid member of the Apple Developer Program, Enterprise Program, or MFi Program having a technical challenge with one in every of Apple’s platforms on a manufacturing launch, contemplate submitting a Technical Help Incident. It is a request for code-level help for Apple frameworks, APIs, and instruments when you may’t repair a bug, encounter hassle when implementing a selected expertise, or have common questions on your code.
