Along with the Apple Intelligence-powered iOS 18 update for consumers and developers, Apple is rolling out a major update to TestFlight, its app testing platform for developers. Developers have more control over who can participate in betas and how new features in their app are shared with testers. You can also view metrics related to the success of your beta, such as how many people saw your invitation and agreed to it, and why others didn’t.
These changes will make it easier for developers to target betas and get more feedback before their apps appear on the App Store. Meanwhile, for beta testers, the redesigned invitation provides more information about the app to help them decide whether to join the testing group.
With the update, invitations can now highlight new features or content coming to your app or game to entice testers to try it out. Apple also said that beta builds of apps and games already approved for publication on the App Store may include screenshots and app categories along with invitations. This will make your beta testing experience feel more like downloading from the App Store. It could also challenge alternative testing markets that have emerged in recent years, such as Airport, which includes app screenshots, and Departures, which organizes apps into categories.
Meanwhile, the ability to set criteria for TestFlight tests helps developers narrow test groups to specific audiences, such as users with specific device types or OS versions. Considering that TestFlight offers up to 10,000 invitations, this could help prevent people who don’t yet have the app available on their devices or aren’t eligible for testing from joining the more popular betas. Developers can set a maximum number of testers in a group to further control access.
New invitations are also sent in a new public link with new metrics, such as the number of testers who saw the invitation and chose to accept it. Developers can also see how many potential testers did not meet the criteria they set. Meanwhile, users can leave feedback for the developers to help us understand why they did not participate in the beta for other reasons.
