What strategies can you use to distribute test builds to testers (TestFlight and Internal App Sharing)?

Short answer

Use TestFlight on iOS to send builds automatically to internal and external testers (up to 10,000 testers), and use Google Play Internal Testing or Firebase App Distribution for immediate Android distribution.

Explanation

TestFlight lets you evaluate app behavior in an environment closely matching the real store, while collecting screenshots and crash reports directly from users. On Android, Google Play's Internal Testing tracks can update tester builds within minutes without waiting for lengthy Google review.

Code example

// eas.json — one profile for testers, one for stores
{
  "build": {
    "preview": { "distribution": "internal", "channel": "preview" },
    "production": { "channel": "production", "autoIncrement": true }
  },
  "submit": {
    "production": {
      "ios": { "ascAppId": "1234567890" },
      "android": { "track": "internal" }
    }
  }
}

// Build and push straight to TestFlight / Google Play internal testing:
//   eas build --profile production --platform all --auto-submit

Common mistakes

• Distributing ordinary APK files without production signing to test features that depend on store services such as in-app purchases or production notifications.

Follow-up questions

• How do you prepare an Android app for publishing on Google Play, and what is the Android App Bundle (AAB) format?

Sources

• Apple Developer — TestFlight
• Expo docs — Submit to app stores