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Adding testers to your staging app

Who can use this feature?

On iPhone and iPad, anyone in your App Store Connect team with the Account Holder, Admin or App Manager role. On Android, anyone in your Google Play Console account with the Manage testing tracks and edit tester lists permission.

A tester is someone on your team who can install your staging app, to try changes before supporters see them. You add testers yourself, in your own App Store Connect and Google Play Console accounts, once for iPhone and iPad and once for Android. For what the staging app is, see App.

Each new version of the staging app reaches your testers by itself, with nothing for you to do.

iPhone and iPad​

On iPhone and iPad, a tester installs the staging app through TestFlight. A tester must be a user of your App Store Connect team, and they test with a personal Apple Account. A Managed Apple Account, one your organization manages through Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager, cannot test.

Adding the tester to your team​

  1. In App Store Connect, open Users and Access, and under People select the add (+) button.
  2. Enter the tester's first name, last name and email address, and choose the Developer, Marketing or App Manager role. The Admin role sees every app and cannot be limited to one.
  3. Select Next.
  4. Select your staging app as the app the tester can access.
  5. Select Invite.

The tester receives an email with a link to activate their account, and signs in with their personal Apple Account or creates one. The invitation expires after three days, and you can send it again.

Apple's own steps are in Add and edit users.

Adding the tester to the Staging Testers group​

  1. In App Store Connect, open Apps and select your staging app.
  2. Select the TestFlight tab.
  3. In the sidebar, under Internal Testing, select the Staging Testers group.
  4. Select Invite Testers, tick the tester, and select Add.

The tester receives an email inviting them to test the app. They install Apple's TestFlight app on their iPhone or iPad, accept the invitation, and install the staging app from TestFlight.

Apple's own steps are in Add internal testers.

Android​

On Android, a tester installs the staging app from Google Play, through internal testing. A tester needs a Google account on the email address you add, even when it is a work address.

  1. In Google Play Console, select your staging app.
  2. Open Test and release, then Testing, then Internal testing, and select the Testers tab.
  3. Add the tester's email address to the email list selected there. If no list is selected yet, select Create email list, name it, add the address, and select the list.
  4. Select Save changes.
  5. On the same tab, copy the shareable link and send it to the tester.

The tester opens the link on their phone while signed in to Google Play with that Google account, accepts the invitation, and installs the staging app from Google Play.

Google's own steps are in Set up an open, closed, or internal test.

note

On Android, a phone with both the staging app and the live app opens links to your websites in only one of them.