How to find beta testers for your iOS app

TestFlight makes sending a beta easy. Getting people to open it and tell you something useful is the hard part. This guide covers both.

Updated 7 November 2026

Internal vs external testers

TestFlight has two kinds of testers. Internal testers are members of your App Store Connect team and can test builds right away. External testers are anyone else: you invite them by email or with a public link, and the first build you send them goes through Beta App Review.

For finding new testers, the public link is what matters. Fill in the beta app description and the test information, create a link, and share it anywhere. You can cap how many people join and see how many have.

Where to share your TestFlight link

• Communities around your app's topic, not just developer forums. A language-learning app gets better testers from a learners' community than from other developers.
• Subreddits for betas and side projects. Read each community's rules first. Most ask you to explain what the app does and what feedback you want.
• Your own audience: a waitlist, a newsletter, social posts showing what you're building.
• Feedback exchanges. On Asolo, other developers and testers pick your app from a queue, complete the tasks you set, and report on each one. You review someone else's app in return.

Write tasks, not "thoughts?"

Open-ended requests get polite, empty replies. Give testers a short list of things to do and ask what happened:

1. Install and sign up. Note anything that made you stop.
2. Do the one thing the app is for (log a workout, save a note, book a slot).
3. Come back the next day. Could you pick up where you left off?

TestFlight lets testers send feedback and screenshots straight from the app. Remind them how: take a screenshot, then tap Share Beta Feedback.

Keep testers engaged

• Reply to every piece of feedback, even with one line. People who feel heard test again.
• Ship small updates often and say what changed in the "What to Test" notes.
• Close the loop. When you fix something a tester found, tell them. On Asolo you can mark a review as "fixed", and the reviewer sees it.

One thing not to do

Don't trade testing for App Store ratings, and don't ask beta testers to rate the app once it launches in return for anything. Apple's guidelines prohibit manipulating ratings and reviews, and it can cost you your developer account. Collect honest feedback during the beta; let ratings come from real users after launch.

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