TestFlight

TestFlight is Apple's beta distribution service, built into App Store Connect, for getting a build onto real devices before it goes on sale.

There are two tester routes and they behave very differently. Internal testers are people with a role on your App Store Connect account, capped at 100, and a build reaches them within minutes of finishing processing with no review step. External testers are anyone else, invited by email or a public link, up to 10,000 per app, and their builds pass through Beta App Review first.

Every build expires 90 days after upload. Testers get warnings, then the build stops launching. This is the single most common TestFlight surprise: a beta that worked last quarter simply refuses to open, and no amount of reinstalling fixes it.

TestFlight builds are ordinary App Store builds. The same .ipa you distribute for testing is the one you can attach to an App Store version, so a build that has been through TestFlight needs no rebuild to submit. That is the point of it.

What TestFlight does not tell you is whether App Review will approve the app. Beta App Review is a lighter pass with different priorities, and a build that has been in external testing for weeks can still be rejected on submission.