Maybe my comment was not clear, I do not specifically test the app and all its functionalities. I use the app myself on a daily basis anyway, which acts like a sort-of continuous integration testing program. I use the new version myself for a few days before publishing it, or provide it to some chosen beta testers that use the product anyway.
How in the world is that better than automated testing? Rather than being sure that a feature didn't break, you're taking the chance that you or a beta user is going to hit the bug and report it back correctly.
Rather than spending hours on writing and maintaining tests that are very unlikely to catch any of the future breaking changes, it is indeed better for me than automated testing.
No, you're just using the most expensive / error prone testing methods: doing it manually.