Xojo Documentation Xojo Documentation

When your app is ready for testing, you can submit it to TestFlight to make it available to your beta testers. These steps should help get you started, but most of the specifics are defined by Apple, so you may want to also review the official Apple Test Flight Guide.

To build for the TestFlight, you need to be a member of the Apple Developer Program and have the correct certificates, identifiers and a distribution provisioning profile. You will be using Xcode and the iOS Development Portal to set this up.

Do not submit apps to TestFlight until you have tested on an actual device by following the steps in the UserGuide:iOS Device Deployment topic.

The steps for submitting to TestFlight are primarily the same as submitting to the App Store itself. Follow the steps for configuring certificates, identifiers and profiles in the UserGuide:Submitting to the iOS App Store topic to configure your system and build your app. The only major difference is that you will add an App entry in the TestFlight section of App Store Connect for your app.

Add App to App Store Connect

If you have not already created the app details in App Store Connect, you'll need to go do that now.

1. Visit http://appstoreconnect.apple.com and log in using your Apple ID.
2. Click "My Apps" and click the "+" button to add a new iOS app.
3. Here you will need to fill in the App Information for your app.

Now you are ready to build your Xojo app for the App Store so you can upload it.

Build Xojo App

You build your Xojo app for TestFlight the same way you build it for the App Store:

1. In Xojo, set "Build for App Store" property to ON in the iOS Build Settings.
2. Select the appropriate Code Signing team and optionally specify any entitlements (on the Advanced Inspector tab).
3. Verify that the bundle ID matches your App ID (or wildcard App ID). For example if your wildcard ID is "com.mycompany.*", then your bundle ID must start with "com.mycompany" and be followed with the app name. So a final bundle ID might be "com.mycompany.myapp".
4. In Shared Build Settings, ensure that all version fields are correct and that "Short Version" has a value. If you have to submit an update to the App Store, you will need to increase the version information.
5. Click Build. This creates an IPA (iOS App Archive) file.

Upload App

You can now upload the built app to App Store Connect.

1. Launch Application Loader (from Xcode, in the Xcode menu, select Open Developer Tools ↠ Application Loader), select "Deliver Your App" and click Choose.
2. Follow the steps to select the IPA file from your Xojo build and send it to App Store Connect for verification.
3. If there were errors, you'll need to correct them, rebuild and resubmit.

Submit to TestFlight

Once your app is verified and uploaded, your final step is to go back to App Store Connect and add the build to TestFlight:

1. Click "My Apps" and select your app from the list.
2. Click the TestFlight tab and choose either Internal Testing (App Store Connect team members) or External Testing (anyone can test, but Apple has to do a review of your app first).
3. Select the build that was just uploaded and Save.
4. Add the people you want to the list of testers.
5. Click "Save" or "Start Testing".

Your testers need to install the TestFlight app from the App Store so that they receive notifications that your app is available to test and so they can install it.