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Mac App Store and TestFlight

The App Store & TestFlight card on Publish › macOS puts the app on TestFlight for Mac, for your testers, and on the Mac App Store. It works like the iOS card, with the same App Store Connect account and the same App Store listing.

Creator plan

The Mac App Store and TestFlight are part of the Creator plan. On Explorer, the card's Free trial link opens the plans, where you can start a free 7-day Creator trial with 500 bonus credits. See Plans.

Before you start​

You need an Apple Developer Program membership and the app's App Store Connect account connected: an app that has one for iOS uses it.

Set up the app​

  1. App category: Apple needs it for every Mac build. Choose it on the card. It's also the App Store listing's primary category. If the app's macOS Info.plist sets LSApplicationCategoryType, that one is used.
  2. Create the app in App Store Connect (Apps › + › New App, platform macOS, the bundle ID from the list), then Check setup. If the app should be on iOS too, tick both platforms: one app, one purchase.

If App Store Connect already has the app for iOS, the card asks once how the Mac app is sold:

  • Add macOS to the app (recommended): one app for both platforms. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac (Universal Purchase), with one name and price. Apple can't undo this, so Studio asks you to confirm.
  • A separate macOS app: its own app and purchase in App Store Connect, with its own bundle ID. Set it in macOS › Settings, for example com.example.app.mac, then create that app in App Store Connect.

TestFlight​

Publish on the card's TestFlight row builds the app for the Mac App Store and uploads it from Studio's servers. Testers, groups, Test Information and the build's states work as on iOS: see TestFlight.

Mac App Store​

Publish on the card's App Store row submits the macOS version for App Review: a new build, or one already on TestFlight (no build, no credits). Releasing and the version's states work as on iOS: see App Store.

It needs the App Store listing with Mac screenshots: in the Preview, pick the macOS device and add the screen to the App Store listing (2880 × 1800). The listing's texts are the same as iOS's; the card's Update listing sends them, with the Mac screenshots, to the macOS version. See App Store listing.

How it's signed​

Studio makes everything the build is signed with: the app is sandboxed and signed with your team's Apple Distribution certificate (the same one as iOS), and the package (.pkg) with a Mac Installer certificate, under a Mac App Store profile. The card's Create .pkg for manual upload makes the package without uploading it, to upload yourself, e.g. with Transporter.

Mac App Store builds aren't the Developer ID ones the Mac app card makes for downloading: each card signs its own way.