A crucial part of making apps involves the beta testing process, and Apple has released a new tool to help streamline the process for everyone.
After initially previewing TestFlight for third-party developers alongside iOS 8 at WWDC in June, Apple made it available for use today. Developers can now invite up to 1,000 beta testers, including non-developers, to try early builds of their apps before they hit the App Store.
Once a registered developer invites someone to beta test an app through iTunes Connect, the user can quickly install the app, get new builds via push notifications, and provide feedback in the TestFlight app. Apple previously restricted developers to only 100 beta testers per build.
While other beta testing services like Hockey provide more features and multiple platforms, Apple’s goal with TestFlight is to take the friction out of the beta process for developers and testers. The need to manually approve individual UDIDs and make testers approve special provisioning profiles is gone, which should make it easier for less savvy users to run beta apps.
TestFlight was an independent beta distribution tool before Apple bought it earlier this year. The new and simplified TestFlight app is a free download in the App Store and required for managing a device’s installed betas and providing feedback.
Source: Apple
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One response to “TestFlight brings iOS beta testing to the masses”
TestFlight solves the problem (that Apple created with its restrictions on distributing Apps) of HOW to distribute your app to Beta testers, but it doesn’t solve the problem of how to find beta testers or get them to actually test. While your most passionate users may be dying to get their hands on the latest version, they’re usually not that interested in reporting bugs. What’s in it for them?
But offer a few bucks a bug and lots of people will be willing to test your app and spend time filling out detailed bug reports that actually give you and your devs the info you need to fix it. That’s where services like Pay4Bugs come in. We’ve got TestFlight integration in the works, so sign up to get notified when it launches! https://blog.pay4bugs.com/2014/09/16…t-coming-soon/