The folks at Cloud.tv are gearing up to release the first major upgrade in over a year to their immensely popular homescreen app, HD Widgets, and they want you (yes you) to help test the latest version before it is officially released to the masses on Google’s Play Store on May 1st. If you’re up to the task, all you have to do is head over to the HD Widgets 4 Beta Community on Google+ and click the opt-in link on the right-hand side of the page, under the section labeled “About this community”. Then, click the install link to grab the beta version of the app from the Play Store.
In the updated version, the developers have embraced Android application design standards by including a new side menu for easy navigation. There’s also an hourly forecast graph, 7-10 day forecast, new preferences, support, guides, widgets and more. Additionally, the app’s developer says it has a few extra surprises up its sleeve, but those won’t be announced until the May 1, when the staged rollout of the app begins on Google Play. You have to appreciate a good suspense story, right?
The public stable version of HD Widgets, which costs $1.99, has over 1 million users and boasts an impressive 4.4-star rating with over 39k votes. Cloud.tv is also recognized as a top developer on the Google Play Store, so it’s nice to see them continue to build on their already stellar work. The beta community on Google+ already has over 1k members, too, so there are already a good number of people giving the beta version a test ahead of the app’s official release. If you help test, be sure to report any bugs or crashes you may encounter to the HD Widgets 4 beta community on Google+. Developers hope to smooth out any last-minute bugs prior to rolling out the update, and they need your help in doing so.
How many HD Widgets users are in our reader base? If you are guilty as charged, will you be testing the new version, or will you wait for it to go public? You know where the comment thread is; you know what to do. We’d love to hear from you!