I was wondering if you can disable or delete (already installed) app from tester's devices in TestFlight, since expiring the build or removing testers will leave the app installed until it automatically expires after 90 days testing period.
The problem is that I submitted the app for review in order to enable external testing, and during this period I would want to disable the app in internal tester's devices. I want to do this because I'm using Firebase for back-end with the free plan, which has a limit for transactions. So, I don't want the testers to use the resources while the app is being reviewed and tested by Apple.
Of course, I could notify these users to not use the app in the meantime, but I'm curious to know if this is possible, because it would be helpful in some other cases too.
NOTE: I know this question has been answered, but it's from 2012, and I want to know if anything changed.
Related
I am working with a team on a mobile application. Everyone would like to use and have this app on their phones. However when I tried to install this app on phones with Xcode I've reached the limit of 5 devices. I wanted to buy an Apple Developer Program account so that I can send this app to other with the help of TestFlight app. Can someone confirm if I understood the information that I found on Apple website correctly:
I can add testers to the app using the link which will be send to them
They will be able to download and test the app for 90 days
They don't have to have Apple Developer Account? (I am not sure about that)
Since the app will not be published but only uploaded for testing it will not have to go through review process
If someone has better idea how to install application on around 10 devices I will be happy to hear that. If someone has any experience with uploading Flutter app to iOS I will also be happy to hear if there are maybe some tricky parts during this process.
Your test users don't need to be part of your developer team, but they must have an Apple ID in order to download the TestFlight App from the App Store. The email you send the invitation to doesn't have to be their Apple ID.
If the users are not part of your developer program team then your app will need to go through TestFlight review before it is available to them.
The good news is that TestFlight review is not as thorough as release review since Apple understands the app is still under development. The bad news is that TestFlight review typically takes a few days for a new version vs the typical 12 hour review for an App Store release.
Once you have a version approved for testing, it is best if you can release new TestFlight builds within the same app version. New builds do not require a manual review and can be approved for testing automatically.
If you change the version then another manual review is required.
You understand correctly. Most of the tricky parts handled by XCode usually but if you encounter any issues don't hesitate to ask.
I am planning to release my first iOS app in AppStore today. I have two questions
1) The app is already approved so if I release it then how soon will it be available in store for user to download & install?
2) if there are some issues with the app then I need to rollback. Is it easy to rollback and how soon app disappear from the store?
Once apps are released to the store it can take up to 48hrs for them to be visible. (In some rare instances even longer, especially if it is the first app of the account)
There's no easy way to rollback an app. For that you should do extensive on device testing via TestFlight or similar. You can remove an app from sale, i.e. it is no longer possible to download it. You can then submit an app update and request an expedited review to get the fix faster to your customers and the app back online.
I have built this app for my cousin. Is there a way I can give it to him and only him? I know I can build it directly on his phone, but I believe that will only work for 30 days after the build, and he lives 8+ hours away so I cannot keep doing that. Any answers would be much appreciated!
If you build the app directly to his phone, the app will expire after 1 week or 1 year depending if you have a free developer account or a paid account. If he has a Mac accessible, he could download Xcode and you could send him the source project for him to build it to his own phone.
You could also use Apple's TestFlight service, which requires a paid developer account. This is probably the easiest and most Apple-approved method, but the apps will expire after 60 days unless you submit an update.
You could use also use a third-party distribution service like HockeyApp or buddybuild.
If you have a free Apple Developer account you can "side-load" the app onto your friend's device and it will last 7 days, it used to be 60 days but Apple changed this.
If you have a paid, $99 a year Apple developer account you can "side-load" the app onto your friends device and it will be on available for your friend's device for 60 days.
The ideal solution is to use Apple's TestFlight, than you can deliver multiple versions of your app quickly to your friend's device. Your friend simply installs the TestFlight app, to get your apps.
You can register your friends' Apple Ids under different roles such as Testers, Advertisers/Marketers, Administrators and control the apps they have visibility to.
Apple' TestFlight requires the $99 a year developer license, it is worth it though, if the $99 a year seems like an unnecessary expense than the app probably is not worth developing is the way I rationalize the expense.
Also, with TestFlight, app expiration is not a big deal because when the app is near expiration you simply provide a new build and your friend can get latest changes.
With 'side-loading" you have to keep physically getting your friend's device to deliver versions of the app and this gets old quick and goes strongly against the grain of agile development/rapid feedback of changes.
I am trying to release an invite-only iOS App. I don't particularly want this app on the App Store, and using TestFlight causes a lot of problems (having to constantly update binaries, limited users... Apple IDs).
At the same time I'd rather not have to resort to a third party distribution to get this kind of an alert.
Is it possible to release a secret invite-only App on the App Store?
Consider enrolling for an Apple Developer Enterprise Program
This will cost more but then you can distribute using your server . You can use MDM also no need to upload or use test flight.
I am not sure the last time you used Test Flight, but it has changed a lot in the last year. There can still be headaches with it, but since it was bought by Apple you now distribute your App through iTunes Connect which is the same way you would do it for releasing in the App store. You have a number of beta testers (up to 1000) that all you need is their email address. You can also have internal testers (up to 25 I think) which will get every build you upload automatically (however they do have some access to the information about your app through their iTunes accounts).
So in summary it takes the same amount of work and the same process to have beta testers that it does to release it through the App Store except that you don't have to wait the 5+ days for the App review. Do note that the beta version will expire after 30 days at which point you just need to upload a new one.
You cannot release a secret App on the App Store, as it violated Apple's App Store Review Guidelines
2.22 Apps that arbitrarily restrict which users may use the App, such as by location or carrier, may be rejected
We are looking at running a test campaign for our iOS mobile app with a few hundreds users, using TestFlight.
(We cannot use an Apple Enterprise account)
The test will last 50 days and there is a 30-day limitation for test flight builds.
the documentation says:
To continue testing after the 30-day period expires, upload another
build. Internal testers automatically receive an update notification
when the new build is available. To distribute the new build to
external testers, you resubmit it to Beta App Review. As soon as it is
approved, you can send the external testers an update email by
clicking Send Invites from the External Testers column on Builds,
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnect_Guide/Chapters/BetaTestingTheApp.html
So, in theory, we could test version 0.9.0 for a month, then build and distribute 0.9.1 and have people update (yes a little clunky).
The question is does it really work and what happens to local app data when updating? things like coreData and NSUserDefault?
It would be great to have some sort of absolute confirmation than those are fine.
I cannot fully test that because update behaviour might be different before and after passing that 30 days limit.
Thanks in advance.
Yes, posting two version works. The app data should not be affected. Make sure your testers are aware of this limitation and do update before the deadline.
Note, If you update the build number instead of the version, Testflight groups it together and automatically sends the update. When you change the version you have to log in to iTunes Connect and enable Testflight on the new version.
If you want to skip the 30 day limit, you can use other services for distribution, such as Fabric's Beta. This requires registering each device though, and you're limited to 100 devices on the developer portal. If you need more, you could create multiple developer accounts. There shouldn't be a fee anymore if you're just testing on a device.
And your app data will not be affected by the update (unless you make a change to your app). I have done this (hit 30 day limit and then sent update) before without any problems.