TestFlight Public Link: Where to Share It So People Join

A TestFlight public link works once your first build has been approved by App Review for TestFlight, and it lets anyone with an iPhone join your external group without an email invite. You can cap it at any number from 1 to 10,000 testers, and you can filter it by device or OS version. The link itself does not carry an expiry date in Apple's help pages. The build behind it does: a build stops being available to testers after 90 days. Where you post it decides who taps it, so match the place to the person: communities where people already like trying unfinished apps, with a short line that says what the app does and what you want back.

Most pages on this topic stop at "paste the link into your marketing". That is true and not much help. This one covers what has to be true before the link opens, what limits come attached, eight places to put it, and how to write the few lines that sit around it. All the Apple details below were checked against Apple's own pages while writing this.

What has to happen before a public link works?

Three things, in this order.

First, the app needs a build uploaded to App Store Connect, plus a beta app description and beta app review information. Apple's TestFlight page says both are required before you can share a beta with external testers.

Second, you need an external testing group, and a build added to it. The first build you add to a group gets sent to App Review to check it follows the TestFlight guidelines. Apple's help page for external testing says builds are sent for review automatically when you add them. Until that first approval lands, you have no working link to share, so there is nothing to post yet. Plan for a gap between "uploaded" and "shareable", and do not announce a beta date before that approval.

Third, you create the link. In App Store Connect, open your app, go to the TestFlight tab, pick the group under External Testing, and use Create Public Link on the testers tab. You then choose between Open to Anyone and Filter by Criteria. If you notify testers manually rather than automatically, you also have to notify them once the build is approved. Apple's guide to inviting external testers walks through each click.

One thing worth knowing before you share anything: the link does not do the work of a landing page. A stranger who taps it is asked to install the TestFlight app and then accept your beta. If they have no idea what they are accepting, many will stop at that step. That is what the rest of this page is for.

What limits come with a public link?

Apple's TestFlight overview and the external testing page give you more control than most people use. Here is what is on the record:

Setting	What Apple says	What it means for you
Tester limit	Optional. Enter a number between 1 and 10,000.	Set a small cap on a first push so a flood of strangers does not arrive before you can read feedback.
Total external testers	Up to 10,000 external testers per app.	A ceiling for the whole beta, not a target.
Criteria	Filter by device or platform, and by OS version ranges.	Stops people on unsupported devices from joining and then reporting that nothing works.
Build lifetime	A build becomes unavailable to testers after 90 days.	Plan your next build before day 90 so the link still leads somewhere useful.
Tester identity	People who join by public link show as anonymous in the Testers section.	You see installs, sessions and crashes, not names and emails.
Disabling	You can deactivate the link at any time.	Turn it off when the group is full or the build is dead.

Two of those rows change how you should behave.

The first is anonymity. Apple's help page says a tester who joins through a public link will not have a name or email shown in App Store Connect. It shows as anonymous, though install date, sessions and crashes still appear. So if you want to thank someone, or ask a follow-up question, the link will not give you the address. Give people a way to reach you in the post itself, or in the app's beta description, or you will have counted installs and have nobody to talk to.

The second is the cap. Apple's own advice on the TestFlight page is to be thoughtful about where you share a public link and when to remove it, and it specifically says to disable the link once you have reached your tester limit so people know the beta is no longer accepting testers. A link that opens to a full group and says nothing wastes a stranger's tap. The same help page also notes that the group page shows insight cards when the public link is full or a build is about to expire, so check there before each push.

Where does a TestFlight link reach iOS testers?

Here is the placement map. Eight places, who you reach in each, the post length that fits, and the one rule to check first. The pattern is simple: a place that already expects people to try early work will convert far better than a place that expects finished products.

Where	Who sees it	Post length that fits	Check this first
Your own email list or newsletter	People who already opted in to hear from you	4 to 6 short lines	Whether your list includes iPhone users; the link only helps them
Your app's website or a listing page	Visitors who found you through search or another post	One paragraph plus a button	That the link text says "Join the beta" and not just "TestFlight"
Subreddits made for sharing projects	Builders and curious users	Title plus a short body; see the r/SideProject guide	The sub's current rules on links, self-promotion and beta posts
Indie hacker and maker forums	Founders who give detailed feedback	6 to 10 lines, with context	Whether the forum has a dedicated feedback or show-and-tell thread
Builder communities with favour trading	Makers who test each other's work in return	Short ask plus a clear offer back	That you test theirs in return, as promised
A social post on a profile you already use	People who know you	2 to 4 lines with one image or short clip	That the link is not the last line with no label
Direct messages to specific people	A named person who has the problem	2 to 3 sentences, no pitch	That you have talked to them before
Your app's own listing on a showcase	People browsing for apps to try	A tagline and description that mention the beta	That the listing says it is a beta and links the public group

A few notes on the map, because the table cannot say everything.

Email and direct messages convert best per tap, and reach the fewest. Both go to people who already know who you are. If you have ten friends who match the app's audience and none of them has been asked yet, start there. The follow-up is easier, too, because you can reply by name.

Communities reach new people but come with rules. Each subreddit and each forum sets its own policy on links and self-promotion, and those rules change. Read the current ones in the community itself before you post. If the rules are unclear, a short message to a moderator asking whether a beta post fits is better than guessing. The guide on not sounding like spam covers how to keep a post useful on its own.

Builder communities that trade favours work because the ask is mutual. A community where makers test each other's work in return is a natural home for a beta link, since the people reading it expect to be asked and expect to ask. Favors.dev is built around that idea, and the same rule holds there as anywhere: if you ask for tests, give some.

Your own pages catch people who arrive later. A post scrolls away. A page stays. Put the link behind a button on your site, or in a listing with a full description, so someone who finds you next month still has a working route in. We come back to this at the end.

What should the post around the link say?

A bare link tells a stranger nothing. They have to leave the page, install an app they may not have, and accept an invitation to something they cannot describe. The text around the link has to do the job the install screen will not.

Include these five things, in roughly this order:

1. What the app does, in one plain sentence. Not a tagline. A sentence a stranger could repeat to a friend.
2. Who it is for. Name the person: "if you plan trips with friends", "if you run a small shop on your phone".
3. What the test involves. How long it takes, and what they need. "Ten minutes, an iPhone on a recent iOS version, and willingness to tell me where you got stuck."
4. What you want back, as one question. Something answerable in a sentence, like "Where did you first get confused?"
5. The link, labelled. "Join the beta on TestFlight:" followed by the URL. Never leave it as the last bare line.

Here is a version that fits in a forum or a social post:

I built a small app that turns a shared photo album into a one-page trip recap. It's for people who come back from a group trip with 400 photos and never sort them. The beta takes about ten minutes. I'm looking for one answer: where did you first get stuck? Join the beta on TestFlight: [link]. You'll need an iPhone and the free TestFlight app.

That is five sentences. It says what, for whom, how long, what to report and where to tap. If you want to go further on wording, how to ask people to try your app goes through the ask itself, and the guide to finding testers with no audience covers where the first people come from.

Two details are worth the extra line. Say that TestFlight is a separate free app they will be asked to install, because that step surprises people. And say which iOS version you need if you have set criteria, so someone on an old phone does not tap, fail, and leave. Apple notes that criteria can limit how many external testers can join, so set them for a reason, not by habit.

How do you know which placement worked?

You have less to go on than you would like, which is why you should plan for it.

Apple's help page says to view the public link metrics to evaluate its performance. That tells you how the link as a whole is doing, but it does not tell you which place sent each person. Since testers who join through the link appear as anonymous, you cannot match an install to a post.

Two workable fixes. The first is to create a separate group, with its own public link, for each major channel. A group for the newsletter, a group for the forum thread, a group for the subreddit. Each gets its own link and its own numbers, and each can have its own tester limit. The second is to stagger: post in one place, wait for installs to settle, then post in the next. Either way, write down what you posted and when, because you will not remember in a week.

Keep the comparison honest. Installs are not the whole answer. A place that sends twenty installs and no feedback is worse than one that sends five and three replies. Look at sessions and crashes in App Store Connect for the signal that people actually opened the app, and count replies yourself. The beta tester checklist lists the questions that tend to produce answers worth reading.

What do you do when the link fills up?

Treat a full group as a normal event with three steps.

Turn the link off, or raise the cap on purpose. Apple's advice is to disable the link once you hit the limit. If you want more testers, raise the cap in the Manage dialog and save. Do not let the link sit there open to a group that cannot take anyone.

Edit the places you already posted. An old post that points to a full beta looks careless. Where you can edit, add a line: "This round is full. I'll post again when the next build is out." Where you cannot, leave it.

Plan the next build before day 90. Because builds are available for 90 days, a beta that runs quietly can end without anyone noticing. Upload a fresh build, check that the group has a compatible one, and only then reopen the link.

If a build is rejected in review, Apple's help page says to contact TestFlight App Review to appeal. Fix the reason first, and write down what it was so the next build does not repeat it.

Frequently asked questions

Does a TestFlight public link expire?

Apple's help pages describe no expiry date on the link itself, and you can deactivate it whenever you like. What does expire is the build: Apple says a build becomes unavailable for testers after 90 days. In practice a link with no live build behind it stops being useful, so upload a new build before that happens.

How many people can join through a public link?

Apple lets you invite up to 10,000 external testers per app. For a public link you can set your own limit anywhere from 1 to 10,000, and criteria such as device type or OS version can narrow who is eligible, which also limits how many people can join.

Can I post a TestFlight link on Reddit?

It depends on the subreddit. Each community sets its own rules on links and self-promotion, and moderators enforce them. Read the current rules in the community before posting, keep the post useful without the link, and ask a moderator if you are unsure. The r/SideProject launch post guide shows what a post that earns comments looks like.

Can I see who joined through a public link?

Not by name. Apple's help page says people who join through a public link show as anonymous in the Testers section. You can see their installation date, sessions and crashes. If you need names or emails, invite people by email instead, or give testers a way to contact you directly.

Give the beta a page that outlasts the post

A forum thread goes quiet in a day. A link in a newsletter only reaches the list. The beta should also live somewhere a stranger can find in a month, with a description, screenshots and the join link in one place. A free TryMy listing does that: submit the app, say it is a beta, and point people to your TestFlight group. Listings are reviewed by a person before they go live, and you can update the text when the build changes.