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After the testing period has ended for a TestFlight Beta, the build status changes to Expired

In Apple's iTunes Connect Developer Guide, Apple has stated:

  • When a build has Active status, the number of days remaining for testing is shown.
  • After the 30 day testing period has ended, the build status changes to Expired.
  • Builds not currently being tested will have the status Inactive.

Can anyone please tell me what does this means?

  1. Whether the TestFlight Beta is not available for new testers to install the app

  2. When the testing period ends, testers that already have builds installed will not be affected

My test beta app is expired. Can my testers continue testing the build that's already installed on their devices, or should I upload a new build? Image shows build expired

I looked at this previous SO post, but it didn't help.

Thank you!

I found the solution here:

This is a general limitation when using TestFlight. Apple probably wants to prevent that TestFlight can be used to distribute Apps to users outside of the App Store, so they enforce a strict expiry policy. The App runs for 30 days and will then stop working. You can update your beta within this 30 day period, so beta testers can update and then get again 30 days. The 30-day limit is documented by Apple and also the TestFlight App will tell the user about this limit. If you think this is not enough, you should tell your beta testers about it as well.

The alternative would be to go the "old way" by distributing your App via iTunes with AdHoc provisioning profiles. This way you need to register the UDIDs for each device yourself, you are limited to 100 devices in total, but the beta will run until the provisioning profile expires (AFAIK these profiles needs to be renewed every year).

EDIT: The beta period used to be 30 days, but has been increased to 90 days.

Solution

  • Your TestFlight app users should not be able to launch the app 90 days after you release it due to provisioning limitations.

    If you want your test versions to last beyond 90 days, you can use good old fashioned ADHOC builds (but you'll be limited to 100 users versus the 10,000 you can use via TestFlight).