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iosxcodeapp-store-connecttestflight

How to make App available for beta tester in Testflight

This drives me crazy, I cannot find any information online, and the information I find are contradictory. The Apple Docs suck in this regard and I am hitting a dead end... What do I want to accomplish? I have an iOS App which I want to make available to external beta testers.

So what I have found out so far is

  1. Upload to Testflight
  2. Get review for Beta testing
  3. Add build to group

Step 1) Uploading

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There are various ways to upload the build. Which one do I choose for external beta testing? I tried do find informatoion on each one of the possbilities, but did not find any. I went with 'Testflight Internal Only'.

Step 2) Get review for Beta testing Apparently, before submitting an App to an external beta testing group, I need a beta app review. Where do I get this? How do I submit my app for beta testing review?! After uploading I see my App here. But where to go from here? How to submit the App for beta testing review?

screenshot appstore connect

Step 3) Add build to group Currently I am only able to add the build to the group of internal testers. Again, what do I need to do, step by step, in order to make the build for external testers available?

another screenshot appstore connect

Honestly, this drives me nuts... Why isnt there a clear step by step explanation from Apple?!

Edit: As you can see, I cannot add the current build (70) to the group external testers to trigger beta app review.

enter image description here

As you can see, it only "goes back" until build 64 (which could be the time I updated to XCode 15)

enter image description here

Solution

  • You need to use the "TestFlight and App Store" option when creating your build.

    From the documentation:

    TestFlight & App Store

    Default settings to distribute through TestFlight and submit to the App Store. Use this option to update the build number of the content in your archive, perform automatic code signing, and upload your app with symbols.

    TestFlight Internal Only

    Default settings to distribute through TestFlight and restrict access to your team. Use this option to prevent a development build of your app from being submitted to the App Store.

    Note the emphasis added - If you use the "TestFlight Internal Only" option then you can only distribute the build to your team.

    The "TestFlight & App Store" option is the equivalent of the "App Store Connect" option in earlier versions of Xcode.

    Once you have an appropriate build uploaded then you can add the build to your external group to trigger the TestFlight review process.