As a user, I am curious and excited to know the future of the apps I use. Reverse engineering allows catching a glimpse of the future without having to wait for

As a user, I am curious and excited to know the future of the apps I use. Reverse engineering allows catching a glimpse of the future without having to wait for launch events or press releases. Often times, this kind of scoops could be beneficial to companies. Product teams at companies could look at public opinions and take that into the consideration of product decision. It functions similarly to "focus groups" or "soft launch", except it's free. According to my profile on CNN, a Twitter spokesperson mentioned [0]: > the platform wants its users to be part of the process, and these types of discoveries help it learn That's not to say companies encourage users to reverse engineer their apps. However, if they make it completely impossible to find any unreleased features whatsoever, it will kill off this free channel of unofficially gathering public opinions (or hype) before launch. It is understandable there are competitors out there in reality. Getting better at hiding tests and under-development features could help preventing the competitors from knowing the company's upcoming strategies. To hide or to not hide, they both have pros and cons. It really comes down to how companies balance their priorities. If their priority is to hide everything until launch, even if it means getting rid of the free QA and focus groups, go for it. I personally hope companies will choose the transparent route rather than being a sealed black box. I believe users deserve to know what is changed in the apps installed on their own phones. Being more specific than the vague "bug fixes and improvements" will provide a sense of assurance to users. [0]: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/tech/jane-wong-app-features/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/tech/jane-wong-app-features/i...