Distributing mobile apps (iOS) and TestFlight integration

Traditionally, Apple has offered the following ways to distribute iOS apps:

1. App Store: Most common way to distribute your apps to the users. Both enterprise (B2B) and consumer apps are distributed through the app store.

2. Volume Purchase Plan: Distributing B2B apps so that customers can buy the app license in bulk

3. In house distribution: If you build an app which will be consumed only for a specific company (custom development), Apple also provides a In-house distribution channel. More details on Apple site.

4. Ad-Hoc distribution: Allowing downloads to up to 100 users, for trial, by distributing the .ipa file (which is the app). Sites like TestFlight and AppBlade have thrived because the entire process was quite painful. Users have had to provide their UDID which has to be packaged in the app. Then the app has to be installed through iTunes. TestFlight and AppBlade made this simpler by automating the UDID collection and app installation seamless.

This is what Apple should have offered from beginning. However Apple acquired TestFlight in Feb, 2014, and it finally made it convenient to distribute apps for limited testing. Now developers can distribute the apps to up to 1,000 users through Apple, using TestFlight. This was a missing link in Apple distribution and I am sure all iOS developers have one less thing to worry about.