🧪 Tester's Guide

For QA & Beta Testers
🚀 Getting Started
  1. 1
    Install: Get APK via Quick Share, Bluetooth, or a direct download link
  2. 2
    Permissions: Grant Location and Bluetooth/Nearby Devices
  3. 3
    Enable: Turn ON "Enable Murmur" in Settings
  4. 4
    QA Mode: Toggle ON QA Mode when the testing team asks you to
🔐 Privacy & Telemetry (QA)

QA telemetry is anonymous, but it is not perfectly private. Please understand:

  • IP address: The server will see the IP assigned to your phone by your carrier or Wi‑Fi ISP (dynamic and changes often).
  • Location: The app will collect device location during QA events to study movement and propagation.

This data helps us tune the mesh and validate propagation under real movement patterns.

📋 The Feed

Pull to Refresh — Forces scan for nearby peers

Trust Bar — Green = Friend, Yellow = Neutral

Heart ❤️ — Marks a message you like (affects sorting/filtering only)

👥 Build Critical Mass

Murmur doesn’t work in isolation. For meaningful tests, grow a nearby cluster:

  • Use Quick Share or Bluetooth to share the APK with friends.
  • Share the download link or QR with people in the same area.
  • Try to get several people in the same neighborhood or workplace.
🗓️ Daily Use (Realistic Testing)

One‑time tests are not enough. Please use the app daily:

  • Post at least one message per day.
  • Walk/commute as usual so messages can propagate naturally.
  • Scan QR codes with trusted contacts when possible.
🔬 Test Scenarios

A Basic Exchange (Bluetooth)

Setup: Two phones with Bluetooth ON

Action: Phone A posts message → Place phones 1-5m apart → Wait 30-60 sec

✓ Phone B receives the message

B Wi-Fi Direct (Long Range)

Setup: Two phones with Wi-Fi ON

Action: Post message → Accept "Invitation to connect" popup

✓ High-speed sync of many messages

C Friend Trust

Setup: Two phones

Action: Phone A shows QR → Phone B scans → A posts message

✓ Message shows GREEN trust bar on B
🔧 Troubleshooting

"No peers nearby"

  • Is "Enable Murmur" ON?
  • Is Bluetooth ON?
  • Is Location Permission granted?
  • Within range? (BLE ~10m, Wi-Fi ~50m)

"Messages not arriving"

  • Be patient — discovery runs periodically
  • Pull-to-refresh to force scan

"App crashes"

  • Try: Settings → Apps → Murmur → Clear Data
  • May be needed if database schema changed
📻 Radio Settings (Advanced)

Murmur uses multiple wireless radios simultaneously. You can see their status in the feed header and toggle them in Settings → Radios:

  • Bluetooth (BLE) — Always-on background discovery. Range ~10m, low power. Most reliable for finding peers.
  • WiFi Direct — Longer range (~100m), faster transfers. May show a "connection invitation" popup on some devices.
  • WiFi Aware (NAN) — Modern alternative to WiFi Direct. Same range/speed, no popups. Requires Android 8+ and supported hardware (not all devices have it).
  • LAN — Works when devices share the same WiFi network. Fastest transfer speed but limited to local network.

Known limitations:

  • WiFi Direct popups can be intrusive on some Samsung devices
  • WiFi Aware is not available on older or budget phones
  • LAN only works if both devices are on the same WiFi
  • Some devices have aggressive battery optimization that kills background radios

⚠️ Important for Testers

Do NOT disable any radios unless specifically asked by the De Novo Group testing team. We need all radios active to test the full mesh behavior.

🐛 Reporting Bugs

Bug reporting is coming soon (in‑app report button).

For now, there is no in‑app reporting channel. Please wait for the built‑in feature.

Please include:

  1. Phone Model (e.g., Pixel 5, Samsung S21)
  2. Android Version (e.g., Android 13)
  3. What you were doing (e.g., "Scanned QR code")
  4. What happened (e.g., "App froze")
📡 Planned QA Messaging

We plan to send clearly marked QA messages over the internet to request specific tests.

This feature is not live yet.

Thank you for testing! 🙏