What is a TestFlight build?

What a TestFlight build is

Apple does not let people install iPhone apps from just anywhere. Apart from the App Store itself, the standard way to put an app on testers' phones is TestFlight, Apple's beta testing service. A developer builds the app for release, signs it with their Apple Developer account and uploads it to App Store Connect. That uploaded build can then be sent to the App Store for review, or to testers through TestFlight, or both. Testers install Apple's free TestFlight app, accept an invitation, and install the beta, which appears on their home screen with an orange dot beside its name. They can send feedback and screenshots from inside the app, and crash reports reach the developer automatically. A TestFlight build is the same kind of file as the one that will go to the App Store, so it is the closest a tester can get to the real release before it exists.

How a build reaches testers

There are two kinds of tester. Internal testers are members of the developer's App Store Connect team with a suitable role, up to 100 people, and they can install a build as soon as it finishes processing, with no review. External testers are anyone else, up to 10,000, invited by email or by a public link the developer shares. Before external testers can install, the build must pass a TestFlight beta review, which checks it against Apple's guidelines; the first build of a version gets the closest look, and later builds of the same version are often approved faster. Testers are grouped, so a developer can send one build to staff and another to a group of friendly customers. Every build stops working 90 days after it was uploaded, and testers are prompted to install a newer one. Using TestFlight requires a paid Apple Developer Program membership, which costs 99 USD a year.

When to use it

Use TestFlight once an app works well enough for someone outside the team to use, and before submitting to the App Store. It is the place to catch things a simulator cannot: how the app behaves on an older iPhone, on a slow connection, with large text, or in the hands of someone who has never seen it. A small business app, such as a booking app for a clinic, benefits from a week of testing by a few staff and a handful of regular clients who will say plainly what confused them. TestFlight is also useful after launch, to try a significant update with a small group before releasing it to everyone. It is not a substitute for release: builds expire, testers must install the TestFlight app first, and the general public cannot find the app. And passing beta review does not guarantee the app will pass full App Store review later.

Common mistakes

Waiting until the day before launch to invite external testers, then discovering the build needs beta review first. Sending testers a build without telling them what to test, so feedback is vague or missing. Forgetting the 90 day expiry, so testers' copies stop opening in the middle of a pilot. Testing only with the team, who know where every button is. Leaving placeholder screens or demo data in the build, which beta review can reject and testers find confusing. Not supplying a demo account when the app requires sign in, which delays review because the reviewer cannot get past the first screen. Treating TestFlight as a private distribution channel for a finished app instead of submitting it. And assuming Android testers can use it; TestFlight is Apple only, and Android testing happens through Google Play's own test tracks.

Where it shows up in OneCraft

Phone apps built with OneCraft are Expo apps, and paid plans can run Expo builds from the app builder for Android or iPhone, either a test build or a store build, at 5 credits each. An iPhone test build installs from an Expo page; an iPhone store build is the file that goes to App Store Connect, and it needs the owner's Apple key. OneCraft does not submit apps to the stores or manage TestFlight: the owner submits from their own Apple Developer account, which costs 99 USD a year, and invites testers there. Builds run on OneCraft's Expo organisation unless the owner connects their own Expo token. The free plan cannot run Expo builds, and phone apps built with OneCraft cannot scan QR codes or use the camera, which is worth knowing before writing the TestFlight notes for testers.

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