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App Store and TestFlight

The App Store & TestFlight card on Publish › iOS sends builds to your testers with TestFlight, then releases the app on the App Store. Studio builds, signs and uploads every build from its servers: you don't use Xcode.

The App Store & TestFlight card on Publish › macOS works the same way for the Mac App Store: see Mac App Store and TestFlight.

Creator plan

The App Store, TestFlight and an App Store .ipa are part of the Creator plan; the card's Free trial link opens the plans, where you can start a free 7-day trial with 500 bonus credits. On Explorer you can still test on your devices with install links and build the iOS Simulator app. See Plans.

In short
  1. Connect App Store Connect with an API key.
  2. Create the app in App Store Connect: the card gives you its name and bundle ID.
  3. Publish on the TestFlight row for your testers, and on the App Store row for App Review. The App Store needs the App Store listing.

Before you start​

You need an Apple Developer Program membership and the app's App Store Connect account connected: see Connect App Store Connect. The same connection builds for your devices.

Create the app in App Store Connect​

Once connected, the App Store & TestFlight card checks whether App Store Connect has the app. Until it does, the card shows Finish App Store Connect setup with the app's name and bundle ID to copy:

  1. Open App Store Connect and go to Apps › + › New App.
  2. Choose platform iOS, the name shown, and the bundle ID from the list. Studio registers the bundle ID with your team when it checks, so it's already in the list. Any SKU will do.
  3. Back in Studio, click Check setup. The card then shows TestFlight, the App Store and the store listing.

Check the bundle ID before you create the app: it can't be changed later. If Studio couldn't register it (the key needs Admin access), register it yourself in your Apple Developer account under Identifiers.

If App Store Connect already has the app for macOS (it was on the Mac first), the card asks once instead: Add iOS to the app (one purchase for both; Apple can't undo it) or A separate iOS app with its own bundle ID. See Mac App Store and TestFlight.

TestFlight​

Publish (or Update) on the card's TestFlight row builds the app for the App Store and uploads it from Studio's servers. Apple then processes the build, which usually takes 5–15 minutes, and Studio makes it available to your testers.

Before the first run, create a TestFlight group in App Store Connect › TestFlight, and add testers. Internal testers are members of your App Store Connect team. External testers are anyone, invited by email or a public link.

Test Information for external testers​

Apple's beta review reads TestFlight's Test Information before external testers get an app's first build: a beta app description, a feedback email, and a contact for the reviewer (name, email and phone). Internal testers don't need it.

Add them in the App Store listing (Update listing on the card's Store listing row): the TestFlight section has the beta description and feedback email, and App Review contact the contact. Studio sends them with the build. If you've already filled them in App Store Connect › TestFlight › Test Information, that counts too.

With an external group ticked and something missing, the TestFlight screen says what, with Edit App Store listing, and won't start the run until it's there.

On the screen's Release section:

  • Testers: the groups that get the build. Internal groups set to receive every build get it automatically. The first build for an external group goes to Apple's beta review before testers see it. After a change in App Store Connect, click Check again.
  • What to test: optional notes testers see in TestFlight.
  • Encryption: leave Uses encryption beyond HTTPS off if the app only uses HTTPS and the system's own encryption, which is true of most apps. Turn it on if the app uses other encryption: App Store Connect then asks for export compliance information before testers get the build.

Testers install the build with the TestFlight app. A TestFlight build expires after 90 days.

The TestFlight row shows the build's state from App Store Connect: Processing, Ready to test, In beta review or Expired. If the upload fails, Retry upload sends the same build again without a new build or charge. A build Apple already has is never uploaded twice.

Build numbers​

Each build uploaded to App Store Connect needs a higher build number than the ones before it. Studio starts above the highest build number App Store Connect has for the app, including builds you uploaded yourself.

“Missing purpose string in Info.plist”​

Apple rejects a build whose code can access the camera, photos, location and similar data unless the app explains why in its Info.plist. It applies even when your app never uses that feature, as long as a library in the app could. If App Store Connect reports ITMS-90683, add the purpose strings in Publish › iOS › Settings: Permissions for camera, photo library, microphone or location, or Info.plist for any other key Apple names. Then publish again.

App Store​

Publish (or Update) on the card's App Store row opens Publish to the App Store. If TestFlight has a build the App Store doesn't, Which build lets you submit that build: what your testers had, with no new build and no credits. Or choose a new build of the app as it is now. Then Studio:

  1. finds or creates the App Store version for the version number. A version that's already on the App Store can't change: set a newer version number first.
  2. attaches the build and sets Release: automatically once Apple approves the version, or manually, when you release it in App Store Connect.
  3. sets What's new. Apple skips it for an app's first version.
  4. sends the App Store listing too, if you choose Also send the App Store listing.
  5. submits the version for App Review.

The App Store needs the store listing: its row says so until you create it.

If App Store Connect can't submit the version yet, for example because screenshots, App Privacy answers or the age rating are missing, the run lists what Apple asked for. Fix those, then Retry upload: the build isn't uploaded again and there's no new charge.

The App Store row shows the version's state from App Store Connect: Waiting for review, In review, Approved: release it in App Store Connect (for a manual release), Published to the App Store, or Rejected by App Review with a link to Apple's message. Apple usually reviews a version within a day or two, and emails you when its status changes.

An .ipa to upload yourself​

Create .ipa for manual upload, at the bottom of the App Store & TestFlight card, builds a signed App Store .ipa to upload to App Store Connect yourself, e.g. with Transporter. It doesn't install on devices: to try a build on a phone, use TestFlight or Test on your devices.