Registering devices with TestFlight

One of the features of TestFlight for iPhone was when a user logged in their UDID was automatically linked to their TestFlight account, making it very easy for developers to get new UDIDs and keep track of which users were on which devices. The webapp, however, did not have this luxury…until now.

We’re really excited about the Register Device feature that went live last week. So, let’s take a look at the highlights:

• added security
• manual links can only be accessed by provisioned devices who have registered their device
• manual links can only be accessed on a desktop if a user has logged in and has registered a device that is on the provisioning profile
• accessing the install page on a desktop browser provides a “email me reminder” form to remind the user to access TestFlight from their device 

How Does This All Work?

Access to betas is now based on user permissions as well as device permissions, meaning both your TestFlight user must have been given access to install a build, and the device you’re trying to install the application on must be in the provisioning profile.

Let’s walkthrough how this works.

First, as a tester, if you login to your dashboard but have never registered a device, you’ll see this screen, so let’s do it!

Tapping the Register Device link will send you to install a mobile configuration profile. For some people, this can be a little scary so let’s break it down. Basically, all this does is sends TestFlight information about your device: UDID, model, and OS version, as well as installs TestFlight bookmark on your homescreen.

Contrary to what the alert states, installing this profile does not change any settings on the device. This is a system alert that we cannot modify, so rest assured, we aren’t messing with any settings.

Once the profile has been installed, this device has now been linked with your TestFlight account. You will now be taken back to the dashboard. If a developer has not given your user permission to view any builds you’ll see this screen.

Once a developer has given your user access to install their application we need to make sure the device the tester is currently using is in the profile. And that’s what the Register Device feature is all about. Once TestFlight knows that both your user and the current device can install the application, we’ll see this screen.

Awesome! Tap install and you’re good to go!

You’ll notice previously a reminder that logging out will require you to re-register your device. This is a security consideration to ensure that only users granted permission with registered devices will be able to access your betas. If you logout, then log back in we know that your user has, at some point, been granted access to your applications. The difference here is on the application details screen, where we require you to re-register the device.