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TestFlight & iTunes Connect updates bring enhancements for developers and beta testers

Last night Apple released an update to its TestFlight app on iOS, bringing the version number up to 1.5. Louis D’hauwe, developer of Pixure, shared some of the positive impacts that last night’s update brought.

Developers working with TestFlight can now issue different builds for different testers. Interestingly enough, TestFlight now also offers enhanced grouping of testers. This allows different sets of testers to try out different builds of an app. This A/B method of testing can help developers build out different functionality to discover what performs best.

One of the bigger frustrations in testing apps from TestFlight was that once the app was live on the App Store, testers lost the ability to download test builds from TestFlight. Testers can now go back through all active builds under a new ‘Previous Versions’ section under TestFlight.

Another notable change that the TestFlight and iTunes Connect updates bring is that TestFlight builds remain valid up to 90 days, up from the previous limitation of 60. This gives testers more time with beta builds of applications on their devices.

Here are the changes as noted by iTunes Connect’s My Apps section:

Multiple Build Support
TestFlight now lets you distribute and test multiple builds at the same time, so testers can choose from a number of builds to test.

Enhanced Groups
TestFlight groups have changed. You can now do more with them, like create groups of TestFlight users, and each group can test a different build. To get you started, we’ve added all of your existing external testers to the group “External Testers,” which you can edit at any time. If you previously created groups, learn how to use them with the new TestFlight features.

Improved Testing
Testers can continue testing a build when it goes live on the App Store, minimizing disruptions. iTunes Connect Users can also access all active builds, letting them seamlessly compare different build


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