Ship your iOS app to TestFlight

In Newly v2, at app.newly.app and in Newly for Mac, you publish an iOS build from inside a chat. You ask the agent, a Ship to TestFlight card opens, and Newly builds your app on a cloud Mac and uploads it to App Store Connect. From there, TestFlight lets you install the app on your own iPhone and share it with testers.

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Before you start

You need all of these:

• An Apple Developer Program membership. Newly signs and uploads the app under your Apple team.
• The organization owner or admin role. Only an owner or admin can connect Apple and start an upload. Members see “An organization owner or admin must connect Apple and authorize the upload.”
• A saved Newly cloud project. Publishing works from a Remote chat on a project Newly stores for you. Every chat in the web app is a Remote chat. On Mac, use a Remote chat. Otherwise the card shows “Publishing requires a saved Newly cloud project.”
• A plain app.json file. Projects that configure the app with app.config.js, app.config.ts or any other app.config file can’t publish. New Newly projects already use app.json.

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Publish a build

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While it runs

The card shows where the release is, with a progress bar under the steps:

1. Preparing the release
2. Waiting for a Mac builder
3. Building, signing and uploading, which usually takes 10 to 25 minutes

The release keeps going if you close the browser tab or the Mac app. Come back to the chat later to see the result. The Deploy tab shows the same release. Only one release can run for a project at a time. If you try to start another, you see “A release is already running for this project. Reopen its publishing card to follow it.” If the saved code changes after you opened the card, Newly asks you to look again: “The saved source changed. Refresh and review the new revision before publishing.” Check the version the card now names, then press Send to TestFlight again. If you see “Submission was interrupted. Refresh status, then resume this release; do not start another upload.”, press Resume release submission. It picks up the same release rather than starting a second upload.

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When the upload finishes

The card shows “Uploaded to TestFlight”. Apple then processes the build, which usually takes 5 to 30 minutes, and the card says when it is ready for your iPhone. Press Open TestFlight in App Store Connect to go to your app’s TestFlight page. To share the build, use Share with testers under it. What happens next, including testers and App Store review, is on From TestFlight to the App Store.

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Download a past build

Deploy then Builds has an iOS card with every build that reached TestFlight for the project, next to a card of its Android APKs. Each build is a row with its version, build number, size and when it was built, and the newest is tagged Latest. Download beside a build saves the exact file that was sent to Apple. An IPA signed for the App Store can’t be installed on a phone by opening it: install through TestFlight, and keep the file for your records.

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Version and build numbers

• Build number: Newly increases it automatically on each upload, so you don’t have to change anything between releases.
• Version: the version your testers and users see comes from expo.version in your project’s app.json. New projects start at 1.0.0. To release a new version, ask the agent to change it. See App name, icon, bundle ID and version. Once Apple approves a version, it refuses any new build of that version. The readiness check tells you before the build starts, and names the version to move to.

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If a release fails

The card says “The build failed” with the reason, the step it stopped at and the last lines of the build log, with secrets removed.

• Press Ask Newly to fix it to hand the reason and the log to the agent. It can fix code problems in your project, but it won’t revoke certificates or start a new upload for you.
• Press Try again yourself once the problem is fixed.

Common failures:

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Credits

The cloud build and the upload to Apple don’t draw down credits. The agent’s chat turns do, including the message that opens the card and any turns where the agent reads logs or fixes your code. See How credits work.

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Android

There’s no TestFlight equivalent for Android in Newly. To put the Android version on a phone, ask the agent for an APK and install it directly, or use the Deploy tab to publish to Google Play internal testing. See Download an Android APK and From TestFlight to the App Store.

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