iOS playtesting without Testflightapp.com

totebo

Hi,

I've developed in the cozy Gideros sandbox for a while, now I need to test the game on "real people".

This is the first time I do this since Apple assimilated and removed testflightapp.com. It appears that to use Testflight now, I have to upload a build to iTunes, then submit it for review by Apple before I can let my play testers see it. If this is true I need to find a different solution since I believe in "quick iteration" and not "supervised slow iteration".

Could someone shed some light on this, and maybe share their workflow after The Testflight Incident?

Cheers,

Niclas

ar2rsawseen

@totebo yes about uploading a build to itunesconnect and submitting review, but it is not that kind of review when you submit to your appstore

It is much quicker (got reviewed in a day or two) and basically had a blank app there (that simple compiles)

phongtt

My experience with Apple's TestFlight was that the approval was done within 1 day.
And next submission will be approved automatically within seconds.
Here's a tip though: when you submit "new version", do not increase the version number (i.e. 0.0.1 --> 0.0.2); if do you so, it will require human-review process again (1 day); instead, just keep 0.0.1 and only increase the internal version number, then it will be approved automatically.

totebo

Guys, thanks so much for the timesaving golden nuggets of wisdom.

aditya

l would much rather use OTA (Over The Air distribution) to beta test.

You just need to upload your ipa on your webhost and provide your users the url. They can visit the url from their mobile devices and directly install the game.

phongtt

@aditya In my understanding:

You would need to gather UDIDs from your testers' devices and add them to your app's provisioning profile in order for the testers to be able to install your ipa file.

It's not a difficult process for us techies, but may be a different story for most "end-users". ( One way could be like this http://whatsmyudid.com )
That's why tools like Testflight arised (besides other reasons, not only about installing process).

If you sign the ipa with an Enterprise Developer Account ($199/year) then the ipa can be installed by anyone.

Another popular tool is: http://www.diawi.com
(It still requires UDID)

Btw, I've just seen this: https://www.birdflightapp.com

totebo

I was going to fall back on Hockeyapp if this Apple thing failed. But it seems, so far, smoother than expected.

http://hockeyapp.net/features/