Test on a Mac that never had your developer tools: a second Mac, a fresh user account, or a clean macOS VM. Each item has a reason and a check.
Install and update
- App opens on a clean Mac without warnings. Why: your Mac trusts your own builds. Check: download the build through a browser, as a user would, and open it by double-click. See notarization and Gatekeeper testing.
- Drag to Applications, run from there, and run from Downloads. Why: running from a disk image or a quarantined folder can behave differently. Check: try all three.
- Update over an older version keeps settings and data. Check: install the previous release, create data, update, compare.
- Delete the app and check leftovers. Why: users expect a clear answer on what stays in their Library folder. Check: trash the app, then inspect the folders it wrote to.
Permissions
- Each permission prompt appears at a sensible moment, with a readable explanation. Why: an unexplained prompt at launch gets denied. Check: reset permissions for the app and walk through every feature that needs one.
- Denied permission is handled. Check: deny each permission and confirm the app explains what is missing and how to enable it, without crashing.
- Permission granted, then revoked while running. Check: revoke in System Settings during use.
Hardware and system
- Sleep and wake during a long task. Check: sleep the Mac mid-task, wake it.
- Multiple displays; unplugging and reconnecting. Check: move windows between displays, unplug one, reopen. Windows must appear on a visible screen.
- Light and dark appearance, and larger text or display scaling. Check: switch in System Settings with the app open.
- Both Mac processor types if you support both. Check: run on each type you list as supported.
- Paths with spaces and non-Latin characters; offline start. Check: open such files; start the app with no network.
Crashes
- A crash leaves information you can use. Check: force a failure in a test build and confirm you receive a log or report. See how to read and prioritize crash reports.
- Testers report consistently. Give them a bug report template with macOS version and build number.
Mark each item pass, fail or not tested.
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