How to tell at runtime whether an iOS app is running through a TestFlight Beta install

Question

Is it possible to detect at runtime that an application has been installed through TestFlight Beta (submitted through iTunes Connect) vs the App Store? You can submit a single app bundle and have it available through both. Is there an API that can detect which way it was installed? Or does the receipt contain information that allows this to be determined?

Answer 1

For an application installed through TestFlight Beta the receipt file is named StoreKit\sandboxReceipt vs the usual StoreKit\receipt. Using [NSBundle appStoreReceiptURL] you can look for sandboxReceipt at the end of the URL.

NSURL *receiptURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] appStoreReceiptURL];
NSString *receiptURLString = [receiptURL path];
BOOL isRunningTestFlightBeta =  ([receiptURLString rangeOfString:@"sandboxReceipt"].location != NSNotFound);

Note that sandboxReceipt is also the name of the receipt file when running builds locally and for builds run in the simulator.

Answer 2

Based on combinatorial's answer I created the following SWIFT helper class. With this class you can determine if it's a debug, testflight or appstore build.

enum AppConfiguration {
  case Debug
  case TestFlight
  case AppStore
}

struct Config {
  // This is private because the use of 'appConfiguration' is preferred.
  private static let isTestFlight = NSBundle.mainBundle().appStoreReceiptURL?.lastPathComponent == "sandboxReceipt"

  // This can be used to add debug statements.
  static var isDebug: Bool {
    #if DEBUG
      return true
    #else
      return false
    #endif
  }

  static var appConfiguration: AppConfiguration {
    if isDebug {
      return .Debug
    } else if isTestFlight {
      return .TestFlight
    } else {
      return .AppStore
    }
  }
}

We use these methods in our project to supply different tracking id's or connection string per environment:

  func getURL(path: String) -> String {    
    switch (Config.appConfiguration) {
    case .Debug:
      return host + "://" + debugBaseUrl + path
    default:
      return host + "://" + baseUrl + path
    }
  }

OR:

  static var trackingKey: String {
    switch (Config.appConfiguration) {
    case .Debug:
      return debugKey
    case .TestFlight:
      return testflightKey
    default:
      return appstoreKey
    }
  }

UPDATE 05-02-2016: A prerequisite to use a preprocessor macro like #if DEBUG is to set some Swift Compiler Custom Flags. More information in this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/24112024/639227

Answer 3

Modern Swift version, which accounts for Simulators (based on accepted answer):

private func isSimulatorOrTestFlight() -> Bool {
    guard let path = Bundle.main.appStoreReceiptURL?.path else {
        return false
    }
    return path.contains("CoreSimulator") || path.contains("sandboxReceipt")
}

Answer 4

Update

This does not work any more. Use other method.

Original answer

This also works:

if NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("embedded", ofType: "mobileprovision") != nil {
    // TestFlight
} else {
    // App Store (and Apple reviewers too)
}

Found in Detect if iOS App is Downloaded from Apple's Testflight

Answer 5

There is one way that I use it for my projects. Here are the steps.

In Xcode, go to the the project settings (project, not target) and add "beta" configuration to the list:

Then you need to create new scheme that will run project in "beta" configuration. To create scheme go here:

Name this scheme whatever you want. The you should edit settings for this scheme. To do this, tap here:

Select Archive tab where you can select Build configuration

Then you need to add a key Config with value $(CONFIGURATION) the projects info property list like this:

Then its just the matter what you need in code to do something specific to beta build:

let config = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "Config") as! String
if config == "Debug" {
  // app running in debug configuration
}
else if config == "Release" {
  // app running in release configuration
}
else if config == "Beta" {
  // app running in beta configuration
}