Not understand test flight beta testing - ios

now i am using test flight for testing my application.Testflight said from next month onwards standard test flight is not available.SO i have some doubt on this please clarify
-Standard test flight is available for already existing apps or not?If available can i release new build?
-How can i test the ios 7 apps with test flight beta testing.
-Apple saying,each prerelease version expires after 30 days.So after 30 days can i test downloaded app?
-Suppose i released build A and installed in some devices and after 10 days again i released build B and installed on some other devices.Both are working or only latest Build B is working?
-Each internal tester can test the app in 10 devices,So how we can register that devices.
-Each version we have to wait for beta app review for external testers?
If any information is useful for me please post except these questions.

-Standard test flight is available for already existing apps or not?If available can i release new build?
The original TestFlight is being shut down. Apple's TestFlight is the new TestFlight and you can use it with existing apps.
-How can i test the ios 7 apps with test flight beta testing.
You can't. TestFlight is iOS 8 only.
-Apple saying,each prerelease version expires after 30 days.So after 30 days can i test downloaded app?
This means that the build expires in 30 days. You have to keep submitting new builds for your testers.
I find this good way to keep your testers really up to date and up to the task. In contrast, if build didn't expire, the beta testers could stick to the old versions and eventually become a burden (irrelevant bug reports, etc.).
-Suppose i released build A and installed in some devices and after 10 days again i released build B and installed on some other devices.Both are working or only latest Build B is working?
I think the old build A will continue working for the aforementioned 30 days when you submit the new build. You simply can't revert back to it. I'm not absolutely sure though, but there is a transition time for beta testers to update to the new version.
-Each internal tester can test the app in 10 devices,So how we can register that devices.
I haven't had any internal testers but my guess is that the usual way: add the devices from the developer portal.
-Each version we have to wait for beta app review for external testers?
Yes. However, if the new builds have no major modifications they might not need to wait for the review process. This is being asked when you submit consecutive builds.
I think there is a chance of review even with small updates, but I haven't seen any. I've had new builds ready to distribute within the same hour every time I submit a minor update.

Recently, the All-New TestFlight Beta Testing service was launched inside of iTunes Connect.
Here's What's New:
Invite up to 1,000 external testers using just their email address
Easy to use TestFlight iOS app available on the App Store
No need to keep track of UDIDs or provisioning profiles
Beta testing directly inside of iTunes Connect without the need of the TestFlight SDK
Learn more »
With the new version of the TestFlight service available inside of iTunes Connect, we are also informing you that TestFlightapp.com will no longer be available as of 2/26/2015.
To prepare for the TestFlightapp.com closure, we recommend that you export all of your current testers so you can import them directly into the new TestFlight Beta Testing service.
How to export testers from TestFlightapp.com
Sign in to the TestFlight Dashboard at testflightapp.com
Navigate to the "People" tab
Check mark the teammates you would like to export
Open the "Actions" menu on the right side of the teammates list
Select "Export Contact Info" to download the exported CSV file
How to import testers into the new TestFlight Beta Testing
Sign in to iTunes Connect at itunesconnect.apple.com
Click "My Apps"
Select the app you want to enable for beta testing
Enter the "Prerelease" tab and select "External Testers"
Click the plus sign to add new external testers
Use the "Import File" from the "Add New External Testers" page to upload the exported CSV file
Hope this information helps you.

-Standard test flight is available for already existing apps or not?If available can i release new build?
Standard Test flight app is completely shut down. You cannot use it anymore.
-How can i test the ios 7 apps with test flight beta testing.
Testflight beta testing is not available for iOS 7 apps.
-Apple saying,each prerelease version expires after 30 days.So after 30 days can i test downloaded app?
Yes, you can continue testing already downloaded app. 30 days is the active period for downloading app.
-Suppose i released build A and installed in some devices and after 10 days again i released build B and installed on some other devices.Both are working or only latest Build B is working?
Both will continue to work but after uploading release B, build A will be deactivated for downloading. Only latest uploaded builds will be active.
-Each internal tester can test the app in 10 devices,So how we can register that devices.
When you accept the invitation from any device, the device gets registered.
-Each version we have to wait for beta app review for external testers?
Yes, you need to wait for approval then only you can distribute app to external testers.

Related

Can I add a new TestFlight version without adding a version to the App Store?

I'm not very familiar with TestFlight. I would like to add a build with a new version for my app. Do I need to add the new version to the App Store settings first?
For every build you upload to iTunes Connect you can decide whether you want to share it with testers on TestFlight and/or submit it for app store review.
When you share builds with TestFlight Apple will review these builds too and you can receive warnings to them too. The initial TestFlight build will be tested more extensively.
Do I need to add the new version to the App Store settings first?
I don't know about which app store settings you are talking about, but all you have to do before uploading to iTunes connect is set the code signing and provisioning profiles first in XCode and Apple's development portal and make sure you increment the build number on every new upload because the upload will fail if you try to upload a build with a build number already present on iTunes Connect.
Once uploaded iTunes Connect will start processing it and then you can share it for testing with TestFlight or submit for app store release review.
You can read more info about TestFlight in Apple's dev site
1 - Test Flight have nothing to do with Live apps
2 - Versions can contain unlimited number of builds before submitting one to the Live app store
3 - Every time you upload new build it goes under the version number in test flight.
So lets say I am on version 1.0, everyday I'am uploading new build under the same version number
day one : 1.0 (1)
day two: 1.0 (2)
And so on, after i upload the final build i can submit that to the live app store, next i will start working on version 1.1 I add that and submit builds to test flight as before, then i submit my 1.1 to the store, and so on .
On app store users will not see anything but the version submitted and current version live is not affected by any test flight version, i can be on version 9 on test flight but 3 on app store, and even schedule an update every month till i reach 9.

iOS: How to release an app for a limited number of users?

I'm quite new to iOS distribution so I'm here to ask for the right direction, in particular because my objective is not a common publication.
I'd like to distribute to a few hundreds of selected users for at least half year. What provisioning profile do I need to use, developer or enterprise? What about the provisioning's expiry date? There are differences between them, aren't they?
What distribution platform do we use for this purpose? Is TesFlight a suitable choice?
Enterprise distribution could work for you, but it is officially allowed only to be used in-house, e.g. on devices that are owned by the same company that joined the enterprise developer program.
You could also use the B2B program (available through the normal developer program)
Note: Type of certificate(provisioning profile) depends upon distribution of your app. If you don't want to release app outside your organization, then use
Enterprise provisioning else, use Production/Distribution provisioning (Standard Development),
so that your app can be made available for public use (outside your
organization)
Follow these steps to distribute your app through TestFlight
Step 1: Enter your test information
Enter test information about your app, such as a description and feedback email. You will need this if you plan to distribute your build to external testers (persons outside your organization).
Step 2: Upload your build
Upload your build using either Xcode or Application Loader. Read Cryptography and U.S. Export Compliance to determine if you need to provide export compliance documentation for your app. After builds are uploaded, they are available for testing for 90 days.
Step 3: Invite internal and external testers
Add internal testers (up to 25 iTunes Connect users in your organization) so they have access to the builds you distribute. Then invite external testers (up to 2000 persons outside your organization) who you want to test your app. You can create groups of testers and assign specific builds to groups. If you invite external testers, the build needs to be approved by Beta App Review before testing can begin.
Tip: To test the variants that the App Store builds before you release your app, invite internal testers only and download the variants using TestFlight.
Step 4: Testers download TestFlight and accept your invitations
Testers install the free TestFlight app on their devices. Then testers use TestFlight to redeem invitations, install your app, send feedback, and get updates. Testers download and install thinned variants of your app.
Step 5: View tester and build information
Track your tester engagement and your app’s performance by viewing build status and metrics in iTunes Connect—such as numbers of sessions and crashes. You can also resend invitations to testers who have not yet accepted their invitation.
Tip: You can also view crash reports directly in Xcode for apps distributed using TestFlight.
Step 6: Collect feedback from testers
Read the feedback from testers, that is sent to the email address you specified in Step 1, continually during the testing period. Also, make improvements to your app and continue distributing builds until all issues are resolved before you submit your app to the App Store.
Step 7: Stop testing
When you are done testing, you can optionally expire a build to stop testing it, and then go to Overview of publishing an app for the process of submitting your app to the App Store. If you don’t expire your build and submit it to the App Store, testers that have received an invite to test will still be able to test your build even after it goes live on the App Store. Your build will become unavailable in TestFlight after 90 days.
See: TestFlight beta testing overview
TestFlight beta testing lets you distribute beta builds of your app to testers and collect feedback. TestFlight beta testing is optional; you can submit your app for review without using it. However, it’s easy to do, free, and a valuable way to improve your app before releasing it on the App Store. You can enable TestFlight beta testing for up to 100 apps at one time in your iTunes Connect account.
Here are some guidelines & tutorial that helps your better:
TestFlight Tutorial: iOS Beta Testing
TestFlight - Apple Developer Forums

Are In App Purchases charged for people running the beta AFTER I've stopped the beta test (selected Not Available For Testing)

My App is about to be released in the App Store. I have about 100 external beta testers using the latest beta build, which is also the build that will be released to the store.
Now I'm going to stop beta test by selecting 'Not Available For Testing' in iTunesConnect. The message that appears says that this will not affect the people who already have the build installed (it only prevents testers from installing any more builds). So I'm assuming they can continue using the beta version until it expires (57 more days in this case)
So now my question is. If these people do In App Purchases with the beta build, will it be charged? Or, will it not be charged (like normal for beta builds while test is in progress)?
All beta testers will be able to get IAP for free as long as they have the beta installed on their device, so until the beta expire. What you can do is create IAP for beta and then delete/disable them once you have finish with it.

How to release testflight beta version to external users?

Having submitted a beta version of my IOS App trough Itunes Connect and Testflight to INTERNAL users, and selected it for testing to EXTERNAL users, it displays "waiting beta app verification" (from Internal users) and I don't know how to release the app for EXTERNAL User. (see pict enclosed).
It did worked on past version but I don't know how ... times, upload from Internal users, approval from them (but don't know how).
Need to re-test then submit my app quickly, any help welcome !
NOTE : Apple displays help on old itune connect versions, and don't see where this can be done. See here
Apple says:
Upload a build for the app. See Uploading a Build for an App.
Add App Description and What to Test to the build. This step is optional for releasing your builds to internal testers, but required
when submitting your app to Beta App Review for external testing. See
Add Metadata for your Prerelease App.
Distribute the app to internal testers.
Submit the app for Beta App Review, and distribute it to External users.
You need to have every build reviewed from apple for distribution to external testers.
I'm not sure how it worked earlier, but for now
All builds distributed to external testers must pass through an Apple review. While these reviews do not fall into the same queue as those submitted for App Store release, they can take time.
In other words, you have to use button "submit for beta app review" ;)
You can find guides here: Ray Wenderlich or kyleclegg.com

TestFlight app availability for internal testers

I'm fairly new to iOS dev (coming from an android background). There are some things about the beta process in the Apple ecosystem that are are confusing me.
We are using Testflight to distribute our app to test users, right now just internal ones.
I uploaded a new version of the app, it showed up in iTunes Connect and I clicked the toggle to make that version available in TestFlight. It warned me that the old one would be unavailable now.
So... Now iTunes Connect says Active by the new version. I have confirmed that I am on the internal users list, but I can't download it using TestFlight (doesn't show up). Is there another action I need to take? Does it take a certain amount of time before it's available?
This seems to be a bug and happens every time I sent a new build to TestFlight.
The workaround
In iTunes Connect > Prerelease, Switch "TestFlight Beta Testing" off, then on again.
You will get a instant TestFlight app push notification in your iOS device, saying the new build is available.

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