Beta Testing
The Apple App Store Guidelines explicitly state that “Demos, betas, and trial versions of your app don’t belong on the App Store”. Instead they refer developers looking to test their apps to Apple’s TestFlight Service.
TestFlight
Overview
Apple provides the TestFlight service to make it easy for developers to invite users to test their Apps
More information can be found at https://developer.apple.com/testflight/
Requirements
A Mac computer
A Apple Developer account
A Xcode project connected to your apple developer account (See Unity iOS Build)
Set Up
Create an Apple Developer account. Visit https://developer.apple.com/ for more information. Note that this process can take up to 5-7 business days.
On the webpage under the section Program resources, you should see a section called App Store Connect. Under this click the link for Apps. This should take you to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/apps
Click the button for adding a new app.
Enter the relevant app information:
Under the Bundle ID section, if you havent already registered an ID for your app see the article Register A New Bundle ID for an Xcode Project.
Under the SKU section just enter any unique identifier you wish. You can use the name of your game for example
Once you are done entering the app information click on the Create button.
With your app created on App Store Connect. It is time to upload a build. Below we summarize the process for uploading an app using Xcode. but for more information see the links below
In Xcode, go to Product > Scheme > ChooseScheme and select your app
Next select Product > Archive. You may be prompted to sign up for Xcode cloud for their automatic services including archiving but we will defer from using this for now.
After the archiving process is complete, the organizer window will automatically open with the archives section selected. From here you will be able to see your archive there.
To confirm that your app is ready for TestFlight, select your archive in the archive window and click the Validate App button.
During this process an App Store Connect distribution window will open. We select the options for uploading the app’s symbols and managing version / build numbers before clicking Next
During this process we opt in for automatically managing signing for app store connect distribution. Once the signing setup is complete we review the information and click Validate
Validation is complete when you are presented with a screen titled App “XXX” successfully validated. From here you can click the Done button.
Next select the Distribute button and select the App Store Connect option (for the app store and test flight service) followed by the Upload option. We next choose the options to upload app symbols and mange version / build numbers. We then allow for automatic signing management. Once this process is complete we click the Upload button.
Once the upload is complete you you can see the build being processed by going to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ , selecting your app, and clicking on the TestFlight tab.
Distributing App Through TestFlight
For more information on TestFlight see https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/test-a-beta-version/overview-of-testflight
Go to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ and click on you app
Go to the TestFlight tab and check that your app status is Ready to Submit.
Note
If you have not uploaded a build yet, see the setup instructions in the previous section.
Under the general information section on the left hand side, select test information and fill out the sections including the feedback email.
Back on the TestFlight Page under the Build section, click and open the build you wish to test. Under the test information page, include a description of what you want users to test / pay attention to as well as any other information they should know.
Navigate back to your app’s TestFlight page. If you have not already done so, create a group to invite testers. If you are just starting out you can create a Internal group. Go to the Internal Group section on the left hand side of the webpage and click the blue “+” button to create a new internal group. In this example, when we create a group we will opt out of automatic distribution.
Now with the group selected, go to the Testers section and click the blue “+” button to add testers to the group.
After adding your testers, go back on the TestFlight Page under the Build section and find the build you want to test. Hover your mouse under the Groups column of the build and click the blue “+” button that appears to add your test group to the build.
Note
Once a test group has been added to the group of a build, the users in the test group will be sent an email with instructions on how to download TestFlight and how to begin testing the app.
Users can leave feedback inside the testflight app. You can view this feedback on the app’s TestFlight page under the section Feedback where you have access to user screenshots.