What is a TestFlight external testing group?

External testers are people who aren’t App Store Connect users: customers, clients, beta volunteers. Apple lets you invite up to 10,000 of them per app, by email or with a public link. Creating external groups and inviting testers takes the Account Holder, Admin or App Manager role, and the app needs an internal group first.

A build added to an external group goes to Beta App Review before testers can install it. Apple says the first build you submit needs a full review and later builds of the same version might not. Before that review, Apple wants test information for the app (a beta app description and a feedback email), contact details for its reviewers, and What to Test notes on the build. Apple reviews one build of each version at a time.

In VibeView. Choose an external group in the Submit dialog, or name it with --group, and VibeView sends the build to Beta App Review and adds it to the group; Apple releases it to the testers once it approves. The dialog’s Ready to send list says whether the test information and Beta App Review contact are filled in. In TestFlight details, New group creates an external group and Add testers invites people by email, up to 100 at a time (vibeview testflight add-testers from the command line, CLI 0.57.0 or later). Removing testers, renaming or deleting a group and creating a public link stay in App Store Connect. See Testers and groups.