Swift iOS 24-Hour Trainer

Appendix B

Beta Testing with TestFlight

As an iOS application developer, there will be times when you need to try out your app on multiple test devices before submitting it to Apple for the App Store approval process.

If the number of test devices are few and you are the only person doing all the testing, then you can always set up the devices for development and use Xcode to debug applications on the devices.

However, in most cases, you will have a team of beta testers and product owners, each with their own devices. Connecting each team member's device to your Mac one by one and deploying debug builds with Xcode is simply not feasible anymore. Add to this the fact that you will need to repeat the entire deployment process every time a bug is fixed and your app needs retesting.

TestFlight is a service provided by Apple that acts as a central build deployment solution where you upload the new build, and all interested parties are sent notifications to download the new build onto their devices. TestFlight is available to apps that target iOS8 or later.

Preparing a Distribution Build for TestFlight

To distribute your app to testers, you will first need to prepare a suitable build and upload it to iTunes Connect using Xcode. In order to prepare the build, you will need the following:

• An App ID that is registered with your iOS developer account
• A distribution certificate installed on your Mac
• A distribution provisioning profile installed on your Mac
• An iTunes Connect record ...