I am a contracted beta tester, and have had no notifications about betas, for either V8 or now, in July of '25, no notice for V9. Did this program go away? I know some have addressed it for V8 and V7, but I’m not sure I understand this entire beta program. Does someone know the status? plus, zero financial consideration for upgrading… kinda sucks, but oh well.
You are a contracted beta tester for what? If you have been a DxO beta tester in the past you should probably know that anyone with knowledge of the current status of PhotoLab’s Beta testing program will not be in a position to share any information about that program with you as it would be a violation of their NDA.
Mark
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There is imo a difference between asking for details of the beta as oppose to asking why one has not been included in the testing. I too (amongst others) have been left out of the V9 testing and know not why, but I have no doubt that version 9 testing is underway. Either way the question can only be answered by DXO.
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I agree with you Colin. However, since the program changed after PL 7 was released, the only people here who can provide any feedback on the current model or the current selection process are probably members of the current Beta team. Historically however, the NDA has explicitly prohibited testers from acknowledging the existence of a test version or their presence on the testing team. Additionally, based on historical precedent and their current lack of participation on this site it is extraordinarily unlikely that anyone from DxO will provide the information that Phil is seeking.
Mark
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After beta testing for V7 those beta testers with the most posts (not most issues identified) were selected for future testing.
This was rediculous criteria to use as they ended up with beta testers who just rambled on without really providing any real substance to issues others identified.
This is what happened to me because I simply identified issues but did not get involved in long discussions about these issues as I was away for long periods during the testing period.
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AND …
That’s a pity, I reckon … It would be good to hear from post-PLv7 beta testers about their experience. For example; did the beta-testing process change for the better - and, if so, how and from whose perspective … was the outcome a win/win - or was it one-sided ?
I was a beta tester for version V7 (I think) and I didn’t receive any response afterwards.
I found the process to be very poorly organized:
- it seemed to favor very long discussions and a high number of messages
- no rational organization; many different issues in the same message, a lot of idle chatter
- no response or reaction from DxO
- At the time, the process was led by Captain PO, who disappeared from the radar, and communication from the staff completely ceased*
- When I had a billing issue, I wrote to DxO, who corrected the problem. In my message, I mentioned the total lack of communication, and they replied that they would make an effort, but we saw nothing!
Fortunately, DxO is a good product and continues to evolve, and there are unbearable constraints on the other side, such as the subscription.
* last messages
I find it hard to understand how a company can be so ignorant of its customers in 2025.
I signed an NDA when I was accepted into the program. How can they not know someone is a legit member of the beta program when receiving a question? More to the point, this forum has been the point of contact with the previous beta tester community. If I am incorrect, then please correct me with accurate information.
Phil,
Unfortunately, this site is no longer used by DxO for any activities related to what used to be called the Early Access beta testing program. That also includes announcements about upcoming Beta programs and how to apply for a spot in them.
Mark
How DxO is interacting with customers and take their feedback into account is really surprising. Beta testing/Early access/Roadmap is a good example how customer feedback and expectations are managed - it’s a pure one way process with no feedback to customers. I participated to the last Beta test/Early access programs and was surprised to get not informed about an equivalent program for PL9. I contacted DxO, but didn’t got any response.
For me the behaviour of DxO is a real surprise how disconnected from customers they are acting. Especially if I remember how I was managing for many years roadmaps, customers interactions (beta tests, customer programs …) for industrial automation HW/SW offer. Funny enough, DxO and the company I was working for, both are french …
Looking back to my professional period, the most critical part was to manage customers expectations. Of course, customers do have needs and even more dreams. Customers do not expect that every feature request will be realized, they are just expecting to get an explanation why a vendor does something and why. Vendors should know how they can create customers value (understand the customer needs and challenges) and have a vision and strategy how to materialize this through offers. All that must be communicated to customers so that they understand why and when features are arriving … If this communication doesn’t happen, sooner or later customers will walk away and business gets impacted.
After several decades working in a french company I can confirm that french engineers are extremely good in technological aspects (PL technology is a great example and is probably the best in the market), but they are not very talented to turn this “technological golden nuggets” into business success.
I well remember on a saying from a colleague “Mixing oil an water is as successful as letting a French engineer do business”
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I like the way CO used to do it (they closed their fora). People would request a feature or point out a better way to work with layers and the moderators would tag these with “to be implemented”, “under consideration”, “not currently under consideration”. Unfortunately, improve noise reduction got the latter tag. As much as I like DXO, if CO imprioved NR, it would be my only RAW processor.
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Keep in mind with all of this, that DxO did a bankruptcy back in 2018 and came out apparently a better company and with a drastically slimmed down workforce. That probably explains the disappearance of “Captain DO” or whatever his moniker was, and of the entire beta program.
They went bust refusing to listen to many existing customers saying that developing hardware for apple phones was a rather stupid thing
As now they didnt listen.
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The company is in a situation which is probably well deserved 
It is but not where we as users benefit and I fear in the long term will they
I work for a software company and, by the way, I’m French.
The way to manage customer expectations is complex, because customers themselves are not all on the same page regarding the priorities to be assigned to any feature request.
I managed Limited Availability (LA) programs, a kind of closed beta, so that customers could test and verify the features they had requested themselves.
It was very hard to involve them in the program with the discipline we were looking for. They often scattered, answered out of turn, or just didn’t respond at all.
There was a chasm between their initial request to participate in LA and the reality. We ended up giving up.
Customers often want everything and right away, which is impossible for any software company, including the giants like Microsoft and Adobe.
Remember, a software company chooses features on the following 3 factors
- business impact
- development time
- technical impact
I can understand DXO’s position, even if it’s true that they should improve the customer experience by being more involved in the community.
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Mes condoléances 
Yup. That was the case with previous DxO betas. Loads of people would apply but very few would actually participate to any meaningful extent.
I have written a Mac app for managing keywords, tags, star ratings, etc and that coordinates with PhotoLab. I sent it to a few folks for beta testing. So far, only one person did any meaningful testing, but a lot of what he mentioned tended to be features he thought he would like, not just whether what was there worked 
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Mmmmuhhahaaaaaaaa !!
Yes, but… There is a nice saying: “The customer is king and the salesperson is emperor.” The manufacturer must know exactly what goal they want to achieve and gently guide the beta testers and the community in that direction. Features that are to be included in a product should be determined well in advance and should no longer be a major issue during the beta phase.
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Just like with this thread, there was always a lively discussion among the beta testers who had access to a special forum page. There was a thread for the accumulation of most-wanted new features or improvements. I don’t know how DxO could have had better response and suggestions than what existed here! I know I contributed as much as I could, but in the end, one would think these folk who took the time to offer feedback could get a discount on upgrading, or maybe a free sub to Nic Software, but there was nothing; no effort at all to acknowledge or compensate folks in some small way. So, with that, I didn’t make the same effort to contribute later. I’m all for giving back, but these guys are a for-profit company asking for free beta testing. How sad. Parenthetically, it would appear that DxO is ripe for a takeover.