TestFlight Beta Testing

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/testflight/

by npollock • 12 years ago

72 32 12 years ago

developer.apple.com

nixarn• 12 years ago

It's about time! It's been such a hassle always needing the device id, creating the provisioning profiles, having to recreate the profiles and rebuild the project for every user you add. And also being limited to only 100 devices.

soup10• 12 years ago

Testflight has been around for a while. was using them for beta tests a couple years ago. looks like apple acquired them and made it official.

dblacc• 12 years ago

Yeah I think it was apparent that was the plan when they acquired them. It just took them soo long to get it integrated. Using testflight as it was, was good but it was a little painful. This in comparison should be a lot more simplified and smooth.

jdhawk• 12 years ago

Seriously, this was one of the most painful pieces of iOS devel...

atlbeer• 12 years ago

Kudo's to them on branding. The name was so good even Apple decided to keep it!

div• 12 years ago

I'm using both Apple TestFlight and the original TestFlight, and the original is just such a smoother experience, even with having to add UDID's to provisioning profiles.

Things that are annoying about Apple TestFlight compared to the original:

- itunesconnect, while better than before, pales in comparison to the simplicity of testflightapp

- builds submitted to Apple "take a while" before they're available, testflightapp is instant once you've uploaded.

- managing users in groups seems to be absent

colinbartlett• 12 years ago

Last week I tested 7 builds with my team in the span of an hour. This all worked great because I was using original TestFlight which allows me to distribute immediately.

Waiting on Apple for each one of those builds? No, thank you.

jobu• 12 years ago

The "Activity" screen on the original TestFlight was also a key feature when working with outside beta testers. It made it easy to see where users got stuck in the process and coach/prod them through it.

Someone1234• 12 years ago

Apps made available to external testers require a Beta App Review and must comply with the full App Store Review Guidelines before testing can begin. A review is required for new versions of your app that contain significant changes. Up to 10 apps can be tested at a time, internally or externally.

Eww. Still doesn't hold a candle to an APK.

jc4p• 12 years ago

Or using an enterprise certificate.

chimeracoder• 12 years ago

Or using an enterprise certificate.

Be careful with this!

I see a lot of companies using this as a way to avoid the pains of obtaining UUIDs (for testing) or of distribution on the App Store, if their production product is not intended for public use.

But if you read the fine print for enterprise certificates on iOS, they're not actually supposed to be used for distributing applications for test-use on-site, or non-test use off-site ("site" in this case referring to your physical office), or for use by non-employees (this includes contractors!).

It's completely ridiculous, and I was shocked to discover this, but as far as I can tell, it's true (I even had a phone call with an Apple rep who explained the various certificates to me).

Of course, if you're operating on a small scale they're unlikely to find out if you're using the enterprise certs in this way. But it's still a risk to be aware of.

marpalmin2• 12 years ago

Is it only for ios8?

Scorponok3• 12 years ago

Yep.

drewcrawford2• 12 years ago

Tester? Seeking tester? I'm running a list to connect developers to people who want to test their apps.

All feedback appreciated.

http://sealedabstract.com/betalist

chrisBob3• 12 years ago

This list connects people who want testers, with people who need them.

I get what you mean, but this doesn't quite make sense.

drewcrawford2• 12 years ago

Good point. Better now?

winslow• 12 years ago

No android love? Also no linux option under operating system?

chrisBob3• 12 years ago

Does anyone have experience yet with the timeline for the beta app review required for external testers? This is significant because I feel like I would just have internal users bring their device over, or install it themselves from Xcode. Its the external users that seem the most important with this.

My regular submissions have ranged from 7 days to 20 hours, but I would hope they will keep the beta review to the shorter end of that.

Scorponok3• 12 years ago

I'm very curious too! If it takes anything more than a day to get an app review, this tool is going to be pretty useless for us. :(

I've submitted an update to our app to external app review, so hopefully I'll have more information soon. [Update: Now "In Review", for what that's worth.]

Scorponok3• 12 years ago

And we just got approved! Took ~2 hours.

Rafert• 12 years ago

Sorry to see that the older TestFlight seems to be losing functionality. Sessions show up as anonymous and remote logging doesn't work for me anymore. I'm thinking of switching to http://hockeyapp.net/

mrborgen2• 12 years ago

I read that the beta app review only applies for the 1.0 version, or if you make significant changes. Not sure about the time frame though.

iheart2code• 12 years ago

It's disappointing seeing how TestFlight has been integrated into iTunes Connect. What mostly upsets me is the seemingly arbitrary review before the app is released to testers. It's exactly this kind of a delay ("several hours") that keeps me from using Google Play for Android app beta & alpha testing.

I end up with tight deadlines and my testers include clients & superiors. I can't afford a variable chunk of time between app compilation and release to testers. I've had really good experiences with Crashlytics and have heard good things about Hockeyapp. I'll stick with 3rd party distribution for the forseeable future.

mcmatterson• 12 years ago

I'm going to do a bit of shameless self-promotion for my CLI tool for ad-hoc deployments, hawk:

https://github.com/mtrudel/hawk

Using a bit of XML glue, it uses simple building blocks of xcodebuild, S3, and email to give you one command building and distribution of your app, all driven by a plaintext Hawkfile. I (and a few colleagues) have been using it for a couple of years now, and it's been a real boon. Would love feedback.

TestFlight Beta Testing

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