Apple’s acquisition of TestFlight has given a whole new dimension to pre-release features and apps, allowing interested parties to aid the process of development and improvement as an app is readied to go live. Now, Apple has opened up the TestFlight beta to everybody after a period of internal-only testing, so if you’ve been waiting to give it a whirl, now’s your chance.
Although, for the most part, the consumer tends only to be concerned with the end product, more and more folk are taking a vested interest in the various stages prior to end user roll-out, and TestFlight is a perfect platform for individuals to peek at beta software before it hits the App Store.
The way it works is simple; an app’s author sends you an email invitation via iTunes Connect, and once you accept, the beta version of the app in question can then be installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPad touch. Despite being accessible to anyone and everyone, it’s limited in that devs can only invite 1,000 testers at any one time, but if those involved in the process have a genuine interest in trying out new features and reporting back with bugs via the TestFlight app, then that quantity seems more than enough.
As you’d expect of any Apple app, TestFlight is nice and fluid in refining the feedback process, and should certainly aid the progress of the thriving App Store along with the rich iOS ecosystem. As time progresses and improvements are made, it’ll no doubt get much better, but with Apple currently preoccupied in dealing with iOS 8.1 and OS X Yosemite’s respective releases, the current TestFlight app is certainly fit for purpose.
If you’ve never seen yourself as a beta tester, now’s as good a time as any to get involved, because by diving in and spotting the bugs, you’ll be helping to make your favorite apps the best that they can be.
The TestFlight app can be picked up below, and is, as ever, free of charge.
(Download: TestFlight for iOS on the App Store) (Source: Apple)
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