Firefox OS/DogfoodingTips
Some notes from Dietrich. Please add your own!
Get a 2nd SIM Card
Seriously. Ask your manager for one, or buy a prepaid account or something. It's not possible to properly dogfood if you're only using the device as a Web-only device, and not using as your primary phone.
Safe Dogfooding with Google Voice
Hardcore dogfooding means you throw the old phone away and live entirely on your Firefox OS phone. That's reasonable for some people, but not for others (like the ones with children who need to be available for emergencies). YET.
So for a while I've been using Google Voice as my primary number, and having it forward to my other devices. This means I can dogfood with a scenario like this:
- my normal number, on my trusted device
- my testing number, on my Firefox phone
- my Google Voice number, which forwards all calls and text messages to *both* of the other numbers
This allows me to do real-life dogfooding of the Firefox phone, but with a backup in case of bugs or missing functionality.
Importing Google Contacts
First, you must export your contacts in your old phone to the SIM card. Some phones do this by default.
- Android: To export Google contacts onto a SIM card (which Android does not do by default), install the free app Contact2Sim. Open the app, select the phone, and in the options menu choose "Copy missing to SIM".
- iPhone: ???
Then you can put the SIM card in your Firefox phone, open the Contacts app and click the "Import SIM contacts" button.
Dogfooding on the Go
The best types of testing is when you're using the phone with everyday use cases. Here's a few of my own User stories:
- While connected to wifi, surf the browser. Walk out of the building to your car, and watch your signal switch to the data carrier network. Continue surfing the browser without interruption.
- Have a set of your favorite music playing in the background. Put on some headphones and go for a run. Stop and answer a phone call, talk to your mother, and hang up to resume where your music left off.
- Pull out your camera app, and take a few pictures of your kids. open them up in the gallery, and make a few contrast and crop edits. Share them via email to your spouse.
- Make a phone call to your friend. when the call is done, save the phone number as a new contact. From the contact app, launch the SMS app and sent him or her a text on how cool your phone is.
- Go to the marketplace, log in and install a few games. Launch and play. Pause the game, open the browser, and search for tips on how to beat that level.
- Set up bluetooth and transfer a mp3 to another phone or computer
Copying Music and Videos
- Connect the device via USB
- Go to Settings -> Device Storage
- Check "USB Mass Storage Enabled"
- Wait for the device to show up on your computer
You can now transfer media over.
FAQ
- Where should I put my files? The device scans the entire SD card for all media types, so anywhere will do.
- What music file formats are supported? MP3, OGG, M4A (i.e iTunes AAC files) OGG files won't display album art. (File a bug if you have a problem with that.)
- What video file formats are supported?
Biggest Dogfooding Complaints
Can't import SIM contacts yet. (bug 788377)- FIXED as of 9/14- Can't play more than one song in a row in the Music app. Not usable as my iPod replacement because of this. (bug 783512)
No Gmail support.- FIXED as of 9/14- Google calendar import is broken. (issue 4708)
- Twitter app has major problems.
- Can't get 3G data connectivity (for some networks. specifically, Canadian networks.) - there's a bug for this, i can't find it though
- Camera doesn't support auto focus
- Video recording hasn't landed yet (bug 776062)
- Music doesn't automatically stop when you answer a phone call. Issue 4609