Tips for TestFlight
Are you making an iOS app and nearly ready for your TestFlight launch? What can you validate with beta testing?
- Idea ❌
- Business model validation ❌
- Correctness and functionality ✅
I don't think that looking for beta testers should be done where you look for users. I initially treated beta testing as providing idea and market validation and realised that these are not the same. As users can get your IAP for free on TestFlight, I have found that the interest in the beta does not reflect the interest in your paid or released app.
There are several subreddits dedicated to TestFlight and beta testing and many websites you can submit your app to, and this is where I recommend you go to find testers. There is also Twitter, and throwing it out there can get you some great feedback from other developers. Feel free to @ me with your TestFlight, and I will check it out!
This is not a golden rule as with just about everything I write. Different approaches may work best for other people and different apps. These are just my thoughts, what I have done previously, and what I now do.
| App | Approach | Testers | Feedback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixtapes | Public beta link and share on Twitter/Reddit/Airport | 1470 | 👍 |
| Word Game Hero | Post on Twitter and ask people to DM me their email | 86 | 👍👍👍 |
| Barcodes | Post on Twitter and ask people to DM me their email | 46 | 👍👍👍 |
| Contact Toolbox [1] | Post on Twitter with form for email submission | 6 | N/A |
Despite having a far greater number of testers, I have received the least feedback on Mixtapes.[2] A smaller, more engaged group of testers has worked out better for me.
The number of users testing your app is likely not as important as the quality! I have hundreds of beta testers for my music app, Mixtapes, and I have not received as much feedback as from the couple of dozen I have testing Word Game Hero and Barcodes. This could be just my experience, so you can definitely experiment yourself, but I suspect that having to put your email in is correlated to a greater interest in testing the app.
I will frequently offer to add a user to the beta if they have emailed me with an issue or suggestion, even if I don't have a fix ready. I highly recommend doing this. If they cared enough to email, there is a greater chance that they will also care enough to test and give feedback! A few people have turned this offer down, and a few have accepted and then never tested it, but the majority have provided valuable feedback.
What do I recommend now?
Use Tally.so to make a simple form for email submissions and add these to your beta invite list. This is the current one I am using for Contact Toolbox.
P.S. If you want access to the betas of any of my apps, send me an email or get in touch on Twitter!
Credits
Cover image by Andrew Palmer on Unsplash