TestFlight - Test Flight

TestFlight is an online service for over-the-air installation and testing of mobile applications, currently owned by Apple Inc and only offered to developers within the iOS Developer Program. Developers signed up with the service to distribute applications to internal or external beta testers, who could subsequently send feedback about the application to developers. The TestFlight SDK additionally allowed developers to receive remote logs, crash reports and tester feedback.

TestFlight initially supported testing of Android and iOS applications, but since March 2014, Apple has retracted support for Android. As of 2015, applications must be published for TestFlight using Xcode, and testers must be invited using iTunes Connect. After invitation, up to 25 internal testers (with up to 10 devices each) and 2,000 external beta testers can download and test the application build. Up to 100 apps can be tested at a time, internally or externally. Testers may be grouped and separate builds created for each group. The TestFlight application for iOS notifies testers when new builds are available, features to focus on, and enables sending of feedback.

History

TestFlight was founded by Benjamin Satterfield and Trystan Kosmynka on Dec. 23, 2010, and was designed as a single platform to test mobile applications on Android and iOS devices. It was acquired by Burstly in March, 2012, and thereby gained the resources necessary to launch TestFlight Live. TestFlight Live enabled developers to receive install rates, purchase rates and other monetization data from final builds of the application, even after beta testing concluded.

In 2011, Burstly raised $7.3 million from Upfront Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners, Softbank Capital and others. Apple Inc. acquired Burstly in February 2014, and terminated support for Android as of March 2014. Apple also shut down FlightPath (a mobile analytics solution and a replacement to TestFlight Live) and SkyRocket (a mobile application monetization platform) the same month.

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