--- description: Distribute iOS and Android beta builds via QR code or direct link. No App Store review, no Play Store delays. Testers install instantly. title: Beta Testing Without TestFlight Delays - Capawesome image: https://ogkit.dev/img/ob3tqEF0.jpeg?url=https://capawesome.io&v=3 --- New **Capawesome Platform** is here **Introducing Capawesome Platform** — native builds, live updates, and Insider SDKs in one unified platform. [ Read more →](https://capawesome.io/blog/announcing-capawesome-platform/) Capawesome for Beta Testing # Skip TestFlight. Ship builds to testers in minutes. Distribute iOS and Android beta builds over-the-air. Share a link or QR code, and your testers install instantly — no TestFlight processing, no email invites, no tester accounts. [ Get started ](https://console.cloud.capawesome.io)[ Book a demo ](https://cal.com/team/capawesome/demo) More than 1,000 teams build with Capawesome ## Why Capawesome for Beta Testing Get builds to testers in minutes, not hours Distribute iOS and Android beta builds over-the-air, straight from your pipeline to the people who need to click through them — no store review queue in the way. ### Instant distribution New builds are downloadable the moment they finish. No 15–30 minute TestFlight processing, no Play Store review queue. ### No tester accounts Share a link or QR code. Testers scan, install, and launch — no App Store sign-up, no email invites, no onboarding step. ### Faster feedback Run five review cycles in the time a single TestFlight upload used to take. Minutes from new build to usable feedback. ## Link & QR distribution One link or QR code, installed in seconds Every finished iOS or Android build gets a secure download link and QR code. Post in Slack, email a client, or drop it in a PR. Testers install and launch — no store account required. **Direct install** on iOS and Android — no app store in the loop **QR code or URL** — share wherever your testers already are **No tester account required** — skip email invites and onboarding **Installs in seconds** — tester scans, installs, launches [ Explore Native Builds ](/cloud/native-builds/) SCANNING… ## Team access A Viewer role built for QA and testers Give testers and external reviewers exactly the access they need. The Viewer role lets people install builds and file feedback — no source, no credentials, no production controls. Revoke when done. **Viewer role** — install-and-feedback access, scoped per app **No source, no credentials** — testers see only what they need to test **Per-app permissions** — external reviewers stay on their project **Revoke in one click** when the engagement or sprint ends [ Explore platform trust ](/trust/) O Owner Full access InstallFeedbackBuildsReleaseSourceBilling A Admin Build & release InstallFeedbackBuildsReleaseSourceBilling V Viewer Test & report QA InstallFeedbackBuildsReleaseSourceBilling ## Automations Every merge, a fresh build for every tester Wire beta distribution into your pipeline. Every push to main, every merged PR, every nightly cadence triggers a build and ships the download link to your testers. No manual uploads. **Trigger on every push**, tag, or scheduled cadence **Build, sign, and distribute** in one automated pipeline **Notifications on every new build** via email or webhook **No manual upload step** — the link is live the moment the build is [ Explore Automations ](/cloud/automations/) console.cloud.capawesome.io TRIGGER RULES When should this run? Branch pattern release/\* Matches 3 Tag pattern v\*.\*.\* optional Require commit marker \[release\] Skip keyword \[skip ci\] Trigger active Save ## Comparison Distribution you control, on your timeline TestFlight and Play Store internal testing work — until you're shipping multiple builds a day and every one waits 15 minutes for processing. Here's the difference in practice. * Available instantly Download link is live the moment the build finishes * Share a link or QR code No tester account, no email invite, no onboarding * Feedback in minutes Tester installs, tests, and files feedback the same hour * Fully automated Every merge builds and distributes — no human upload step * iOS and Android, one flow Same distribution pattern on both platforms * 15–30 minute processing Every build waits on App Store or Play processing * Email invites Testers create an account and accept an invite before installing * Feedback in hours or days Review, install, test — each step adds lag * Manual upload per build Someone runs fastlane or Transporter every time * Separate tools per platform TestFlight for iOS, Play Console for Android — different UIs, different rules ## Customer Stories What QA teams say From two-person QA squads to agencies running dozens of client releases — teams ship faster and test more often on Capawesome Cloud. We've been using Capawesome Cloud for CI/CD across our Capacitor apps and couldn't be happier. **Migrating from Appflow was a breeze — we were up and running in no time**, with way less friction than anticipated. The setup was straightforward and the workflow has been rock solid ever since. But what really sets Capawesome apart is the support. The team is incredibly responsive and genuinely helpful. It's great to get that level of personal attention from a SaaS tool. Highly recommend it to any Capacitor team looking to simplify their deployment pipeline. ![Dan Ziv](/assets/images/testimonials/dan-ziv.jpg) Dan Ziv Head of Engineering at Greetings Island We tested and verified several solutions on the market to help us deliver OTA updates for our Apps quickly, securely and, most importantly, that were capable of scaling as we grew and demanded. Capawesome Cloud was our choice! **The integration is super simple, we have automatic rollback and code signing to ensure the security of updates**. The costs are transparent and honest, we are very happy with the platform and looking forward to integrating our future Apps! ![Patrick A. Lima](/assets/images/testimonials/patrick-a-lima.jpg) Patrick A. Lima CEO at Nuinalp Capawesome Cloud has become an essential part of our release workflow. We mainly use it for over-the-air updates, allowing us to **fix bugs and release updates quickly without waiting for the app review process**. The integration was incredibly easy — it took us less than a day and felt almost plug-and-play. The support is excellent as well; the team is always helpful, responsive, and quick to reply. ![Sagie Ivan](/assets/images/testimonials/sagie-ivan.jpg) Sagie Ivan Co-Founder at Dibs We switched from Capgo to Capawesome Cloud a few months ago and so far we haven't looked back. With Capawesome Cloud, we have **significantly less downtime, updates are delivered faster, and support is literally the best we have ever experienced**. The integration was straightforward, and the documentation is clear and concise. Big thanks to the Capawesome team for creating such an awesome platform! ![Clément Fradet Normand](/assets/images/testimonials/clement-fradet-normand.jpg) Clément Fradet Normand Co-Founder at Clovis Capawesome's live updates have been a game changer for our mobile recipe app at King Arthur Baking. We can **quickly deliver improvements without app store delays, saving time and resources** while keeping the experience fresh for our baking community. ![Jordan Kilby](/assets/images/testimonials/jordan-kilby.jpg) Jordan Kilby Digital Marketing Leader at King Arthur Baking Capawesome Cloud has helped us **reduce our live update costs by more than 90%** while offering more features than our previous provider. The integration took us less than a day and the support is top-notch. We now deliver daily live updates to more than 200,000 devices without any issues. ![Michael Wolz](/assets/images/testimonials/michael-wolz.png) Michael Wolz Head of Development at snapADDY GmbH We had to use an Android and iOS SDK in our Capacitor app, for which no plugin existed. Capawesome was able to **create a fully functional Capacitor plugin for us within a few days**. The communication was excellent and the plugin works perfectly. ![Daniel Ehrhardt](/assets/images/testimonials/daniel-ehrhardt-96.jpg) Daniel Ehrhardt CEO at Codext GmbH We mainly use over-the-air (OTA) updates to deliver critical bug fixes and updates when waiting on the App Store review process is not an option. After dealing with too much down-time and latency from Capgo, we made the decision to switch to Capawesome Cloud and we couldn't be happier. **Capawesome is more stable and the package delivery speeds are significantly faster**, which makes a big difference at scale. Capawesome's team is extremely responsive and professional - thanks for supplying such a great product guys. ![Jedidiah Weller](/assets/images/testimonials/jedidiah-weller.jpg) Jedidiah Weller World Builder at Summon Worlds Moving from Ionic Appflow to Capawesome Cloud has been a fantastic experience. We're very pleased with the product and genuinely impressed with what the team has built. The **builds are significantly faster than Ionic Appflow**, which is a nice improvement. We especially appreciate how the build process is separated from deployment—it has made debugging much easier and streamlined our entire workflow. The support has also been great. We hope to see even more users make the switch! Karvan Jay Technical Director at Our Management Group Pty Ltd Our Capacitor app had several unique requirements for running operations in the background. The Capawesome team was able to quickly understand our needs and crafted a **customized Capacitor plugin that exceeded our expectations**. ![Christofer Huber](/assets/images/testimonials/christofer-huber-96.jpg) Christofer Huber CTO at WEBPUNKS GmbH Capawesome Cloud has been a game-changer for our team. We can now deploy updates to our Capacitor app without pushing to the app stores. This has saved us countless hours and allowed us to iterate faster. It's a **must-have for any modern app development team**. ![Hugo Corta](/assets/images/testimonials/hugo-corta.jpg) Hugo Corta Tech Lead at Vitruve ## FAQ Beta testing FAQ Have a question we haven't covered? [Ask on Discord](https://discord.gg/VCXxSVjefW) or [talk to our team](/contact/). Is this a TestFlight replacement? For most internal QA and beta testing workflows, yes. Capawesome OTA distribution ships iOS and Android beta builds directly to testers without routing through TestFlight or Play Store internal testing — so there's no 15–30 minute processing wait, no email invites, and no tester account setup. For external beta programs that require store-managed review, you can still use TestFlight alongside OTA distribution. Does this work for iOS, or only Android? Both. iOS and Android beta builds distribute through the same flow — publish a signed build, share the link or QR code, and testers install directly on their device. For iOS, tester devices need to be registered in your ad hoc provisioning profile; our [iOS UDID Finder](/tools/ios-udid-finder/) tool makes collecting those UDIDs straightforward. How does a tester install the build? They scan the QR code or tap the link on their phone, confirm the install prompt, and launch the app. No App Store account, no Play Store account, no email onboarding. The first install takes under a minute; subsequent builds install over the top of the previous one. How is this different from Live Updates? Live Updates push JavaScript, HTML, and CSS changes to a running app — ideal for [hotfixes](/solutions/hotfixes/) and content changes on Capacitor, Ionic, and Cordova apps already installed on a user's device. OTA beta distribution ships the entire native build — the signed .ipa or .apk/.aab — to testers before it reaches any store. Different tools for different jobs; many teams use both. Can external testers install, not just my internal team? Yes. Anyone with the link — and, for iOS, a device registered in your provisioning profile — can install. Most teams share links with external QA firms, pilot customers, and stakeholders the same way they'd share a Figma file. Can we scope tester access per project? Yes. Team permissions are scoped per app, and the Viewer role gives testers install access without exposing source code, credentials, or deployment controls. Revoke access in one click when the engagement or sprint ends. Can the distribution trigger on every build? Yes. Wire OTA distribution into [Automations](/cloud/automations/) and every push to main, every tagged release, or every nightly cadence generates a new native build and ships the download link to your testers. No manual upload, no forgotten builds, no stale links. ## From commit to tester in minutes Start a free trial to ship your next beta build without a TestFlight or Play Store wait in the way — or book a demo to see the distribution flow end to end. [ Get started ](https://console.cloud.capawesome.io)[ Book a demo ](https://cal.com/team/capawesome/demo) Running a QA program on Capawesome already? [ Compare notes on Discord ](https://discord.gg/VCXxSVjefW) or [ talk to our team ](/contact-sales/). ![Capawesome](/assets/logo.svg) Capawesome Ship mobile apps the modern way. 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