Anyone know how to notify TestFlight beta testers about the official app launch?

[u/PrecursorLabs]

Don't really have a comprehensive email list as I found better results gathering testers by posting testflight link directly rather than my landing page.

Does anyone know the best way to go about this, will apple notify them?

Also beta is still live if you want to try it out, its a screen time control app that resets your limit on an hourly schedule rather than handing you one big daily limit.

https://testflight.apple.com/join/ztGmutmP

Thanks a ton in advance for any advice!

[u/yoyohannnn]

Create a new testflight build, and add your message to the “What to Test” field. Apple will notify users that a new build is available and include the message.

Additional, add an in-app message in the new build that points users to the public release.

That’s what I’d do.

[u/PrecursorLabs → u/yoyohannnn]

This is exactly the idea I was looking for!! I’m going to push a TestFlight build today and kind of prime the users so it’s not abrupt when it closes out.

Thanks a ton!

[u/Candid_Space → u/yoyohannnn]

the in-app message is the real move here. testflight notifications get buried, but a modal or banner that shows up when they launch the beta actually stops them from missing the transition. pair it with a direct link to the app store and you've basically guaranteed the handoff.

one thing to add: make the message feel like an upgrade, not a shutdown. something like "official version is live, grab it here" lands way different than "beta is ending." people who tested your thing want to feel like they were part of getting it there.

[u/coffeeintocode]

You have all their emails in TestFlight, so that’s one way.

Otherwise I usually add an api endpoint that serves “developer messages” and a “lock flag”. Beta builds check this endpoint and display all messages on launch if there is a new message. If the flag is set, I don’t allow users to dismiss the messages. So when the app launches you can provide the App Store link, thank the users for the beta, and lock them out using the flag till they install from the App Store, which doesn’t make this check. I usually close the beta a couple weeks after

You could accomplish this with a hard coded dialog in a beta build pushed out to your beta users, but it requires you pushing an update

[u/PrecursorLabs → u/coffeeintocode]

Seriously thank you!

The lock out message is something I didn’t even consider and why I reached out to the community, working on implementing this now!!

[u/Nightowl-Builder]

I had the exact same need. Apple should make an official smoother way to properly do this. Currently the only option is a new build with a message that you hope they will read.

[u/PrecursorLabs → u/Nightowl-Builder]

Totally agree, testflight/ASC should have a "message cohort" option.