The time has come - we are in need of more beta testers for the Fairphone 4!
Who can join?
We are looking for people spread across Europe (wherever we sell Fairphone 4s) to cover as much as we can geographically. If you are someone who uses the Fairphone 4 as their main phone on a regular basis (or you plan do to so), and if you are interested in using the device for a longer period of time, go ahead and sign up!
Please note that, as a beta tester, you accept the risk of bumping into issues. While we have been doing as much internal testing as we can to avoid major problems, releasing the software in the wild will likely dig up more bugs. So be ready for a factory reset if the need arises.
How do I join?
Simply sign up via this link and share the requested information with us!
We will keep the application open until May 23.
Once closed, we will then go through the list of candidates:
We will give priority to candidates who have previous testing experience
We want a geographically diverse pool of testers, so that we can cover as many countries and operators as we can
All things being equal, we will go for a āfirst-come, first-serveā approach
We will report back to everyone who has applied. Those of you accepted into the program will receive more detailed instructions on eg. issue flagging.
while this is vaguely interesting, could you clarify, i am having troubles understanding the proposition.
I see difficulties (own riskā¦) but no incentive. Does one get a phone or what is the exchange?
you talk about software that needs to be tested. Do you mean the stock android as an OS, some specific app, or another os (i would be interested in helping with e for example)
since you mention the fp4 in the title, i thought that was clear. Until you mention the area where you sell 4s. So is there a 4s coming that we can test?
Thanks for your interest! Let me try answering your questions:
We encouarge applications from both - people who already own a Fairphone 4, and people who donāt but are interested in one. In the latter case, we would indeed provide the device. However, providing the device would of course come with some conditions, on which we would elaborate if your application is chosen.
We are looking for people to test stock Android.
Fairphone 4s was just an awkward way of phrasing the plural We are looking for testers in countries wherever the Fairphone 4 is currently sold.
Does that mean the betatesters would get access to a proper bug tracker with (more or less) direct connection to the development team?
Would the beta testers be assigned concrete scenarios to test, or are they expected to just use the phone and report whatever they find wrong?
Would it be possible to temporarily pause the beta updates and revert to stable releases, eg when I expect Iāll need the phone 100% working on some occasion?
Would the beta updates somehow taint the OS? I mean, would banking apps, google pay etc work properly?
Does that mean the betatesters would get access to a proper bug tracker with (more or less) direct connection to the development team?
Yes, beta testers flag issues to us via a bug tracker, where they are in direct contact with Fairphone employees - but not necessarily developers.
Would the beta testers be assigned concrete scenarios to test, or are they expected to just use the phone and report whatever they find wrong?
Generally, we just want our beta testers to use their devices as they normally would. In specific situations (eg. to verify a fix), we may ask to test a particular functionality or scenario.
Would it be possible to temporarily pause the beta updates and revert to stable releases, eg when I expect Iāll need the phone 100% working on some occasion?
Usually, we of course would prefer beta testers to stay on beta software. However, there is always room for discussion
Would the beta updates somehow taint the OS? I mean, would banking apps, google pay etc work properly?
In many cases, our beta software is already quite stable. Thus, with most of our beta builds, you will be able to use all of your deviceās functionalities - but this is not something we can guarantee, you may bump into issues or experience some limitations.
If you need anyone to test the upcoming Fairphone 5, then you can always contact me. Even if itās just for one hour at the Amsterdam office The more people check the better the launch quality will be.
I donāt feel comfortable to sign up for the FP4 beta updates since the stable releases are already a hit and miss.
I unfortunately cannot afford to do factory resets on my main phone since I really need it for work and I just donāt have time (or patience) to deal with that. But is there any way to access your internal bug tracker without participating in this program?
I am temptedā¦.
The FP4 has a few annoying issues and if this is a chance to avoid new ones, I would do it.
But I rely on the device for my daily work too. So resetting it on demand to get things fixed is not an option for me tooā¦
Thank you all so much for the many applications - we are super excited that so many of you are willing to help us improve!
All of you who have been accepted into the program should have received an email by now (please make sure to also check your spam folder). Since we have received a lot of applications, we could not accept everyone into the program at the moment. However, as we may open applications again at a later point in time, we can of course keep your data for the next round - if thatās something youāre interested in, please let me know by replying here on this forum thread in the coming week.
Otherwise I will go ahead and delete your data.
Again, many thanks to everyone! Have a wonderful day!
We are looking for testers in countries wherever the Fairphone 4 is currently sold.
The more people check the better the launch quality will be. 
