Part of: Online IPA Installer
App Center Distribute is gone.
Where your builds go now
Microsoft shut down Visual Studio App Center on March 31, 2025, and Distribute went with it. Your pipeline still produces a signed .ipa or .apk every release. It just has nowhere to land.
Migrating off App Center Distribute is a one-step change: keep the build you already produce, and send the finished .ipa or .apk to BetaDrop instead. BetaDrop turns it into an OTA install link and QR code that testers open in their phone browser. No SDK to remove, no tester accounts, no pipeline to rebuild. Free, for iOS and Android files up to 500 MB.
Last updated 3 September 2026
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What was retired, and when
Microsoft retired Visual Studio App Center on March 31, 2025. After that date you can no longer sign in to the portal or call the App Center API, and Build, Test, Distribute and CodePush all stopped with it. If your release process still ends in "push to App Center," that step is not degraded or deprecated. It is a dead end.
One feature got a stay of execution, and it is worth knowing which one. Microsoft extended Analytics & Diagnostics first to June 30, 2026, then (in an update dated April 15, 2026) to the end of March 2027, while a mobile analytics solution in Azure Monitor moves from public preview to general availability. That is the part a colleague means when they say App Center still works. Distribution never got an extension.
So what actually broke is narrow and specific: the last step of your release, the one that took a signed artifact and put it on a tester's phone. Your build didn't change. Your signing certificates and provisioning profiles didn't change. Your testers' devices didn't change. Only the destination did. That makes this the least expensive migration in your stack, as long as you replace it with something that also takes a finished artifact.
Dates from Microsoft's own retirement notice on Microsoft Learn, checked August 2026: Visual Studio App Center Retirement.
Distribute: retired
The service that hosted builds and released them to distribution groups stopped on March 31, 2025. With portal sign-in and the API both off, nothing is left to pull out of it.
Build & Test: retired
Same date. Microsoft points builds at Azure Pipelines and real-device testing at BrowserStack App Automate.
Analytics: to March 2027
The only extended feature, with Azure Monitor's mobile analytics as the migration path. It has nothing to do with getting a build to a tester.
The step that broke,
and the one that replaces it
Same artifact, same testers, different last mile.
Microsoft App Center
Retired- Shut down on March 31, 2025
- Portal sign-in and API calls both stopped
- Distribution groups and tester lists went with it
- Microsoft points distribution at TestFlight and Google Play
BetaDrop
Where the artifact landsWhat you lose, and what replaces each piece
Name the pieces before you replace them. Two of these have no BetaDrop equivalent at all, and it is better to find that out now than halfway through a release.
Private distribution groups
Groups were private by default: testers were invited by email and had to sign in to App Center to get a release. Groups, invites and sign-in stopped together, so there is no membership list left to pull out and import somewhere else.
The install link is the distribution unit. One build produces one link; a second audience is a second link, not a group to keep in sync. Nothing to set up before your first release.
Tester email lists
Testers were added by email address, invites expired after 30 days, and every release fired a notification email to the group.
There are no tester accounts, so there is no list to rebuild. Keep your audience where it already lives: a Slack channel, an email alias, a shared doc. Paste the link there instead. Testers open it on the device and install.
Release history and notes
Every past release, its version and its notes lived in the portal, viewable per distribution group. That history went down with the service.
Your dashboard lists your builds with install counts, and the CLI's --name and --notes flags attach a label and release note at publish time. Be clear-eyed about retention. A BetaDrop link is a delivery window, not an archive: 3 days by default, up to 7 days on the free tier. Keep the artifacts themselves in your CI or release storage.
Download analytics
App Center reported total and unique download counts per release, with the unique count derived from tester accounts.
You get install counts per build and a total-downloads figure on the dashboard. There is no per-tester identity attached, for the same reason there is no invite flow: nobody signs in to install.
Automatic device provisioning (iOS)
This is the one that hurts. App Center could hold your Apple ID and .p12 certificate, register each new tester UDID, regenerate the provisioning profile and re-sign the existing build so it installed on the new device without a rebuild.
BetaDrop does not re-sign builds and never asks for your certificate. Apple's rules apply unchanged: an ad-hoc build installs only on devices whose UDID was in the profile when you built it, and an enterprise build still needs the trust step on the device. Collect UDIDs with the free UDID checker, add them, rebuild.
The CI upload step and API tokens
App Center API tokens no longer authenticate anything, so any pipeline step still calling that API is failing (or worse, silently skipped).
One step in its place: on GitHub Actions, uses: betadrop-app/upload-action@v1 with a BETADROP_TOKEN secret; anywhere else, install @betadrop/cli and run betadrop publish --ci. Generate the token under Settings → Developer → API tokens. Either path hands back the install URL, which is usually the thing your pipeline wants to post.
CodePush over-the-air JS updates
Retired with everything else on March 31, 2025. Microsoft published a standalone, self-hostable CodePush server for teams that depended on it.
No equivalent, and none planned. BetaDrop distributes binaries; it does not patch a running app. If CodePush was load-bearing for you, that is a separate migration from this one.
App Center Distribute to BetaDrop, at a glance
The table you would sketch on a whiteboard while planning the move, including the rows where the answer is no.
Migrating off App Center Distribute
Three steps, and only one of them touches your pipeline.
This is the short version of a distribution migration, and it is worth saying why: there is no SDK to remove. Some distribution tools compile a library into your app, so leaving them means editing a dependency, rebuilding, re-releasing and waiting for testers to update before the old path can be switched off. App Center Distribute was not that. It took a finished artifact and handed it out. So does BetaDrop. What you are replacing is a destination, not a dependency, and the app binary you ship afterwards is byte-for-byte the same one you would have shipped anyway.
Keep building the same signed artifact
Nothing about your build changes. Xcode, Android Studio or your CI keeps producing the same signed .ipa or .apk, with the same certificate and the same provisioning profile. Do not re-archive anything for this migration. The artifact from your last App Center release will upload and install exactly as it did before.
Point the last step of your pipeline at BetaDrop
Find whatever pushed to App Center Distribute (a CLI call, a CI task, a fastlane lane) and replace just that step: on GitHub Actions with betadrop-app/upload-action@v1, elsewhere with the BetaDrop CLI. If you release by hand, drag the file onto betadrop.app instead; your first upload needs no account, so you can test the new path before you touch the pipeline at all.
Send the install link instead of a group invite
BetaDrop returns an OTA install link and a QR code. Post it in Slack, email it, or drop it into a PR comment. Testers open it in their phone browser and install directly. Nobody creates an account, nobody accepts an invite, and there is no store review in the way. iOS still obeys Apple's rules: an ad-hoc build installs on devices already in the profile, and an enterprise build needs its one-time trust step.
Releasing by hand
npm install -g @betadrop/cli
betadrop login --token bd_live_…
betadrop publish ./MyApp.ipa --name "MyApp 1.7.0" --notes "First build after App Center"Tokens live at betadrop.app under Settings → Developer → API tokens. The command prints an install link you can paste anywhere.
The CI step that replaces App Center
- name: Publish to BetaDrop
id: betadrop
uses: betadrop-app/upload-action@v1
with:
file: app/build/outputs/apk/release/*.apk
token: ${{ secrets.BETADROP_TOKEN }}The step's outputs.install-url carries the link, so the next step can post it to Slack or a PR comment. Every input and failure mode is on the Action reference. On CI that is not GitHub Actions (GitLab, Bitrise, Jenkins), install @betadrop/cli and run betadrop publish --ci instead; the Action is a thin wrapper around that same CLI.
Where Microsoft pointed App Center users instead
The retirement notice names a replacement per capability. No single product covers all of them, which is the part most migration posts skip.
Read the distribution row again if you used App Center Distribute specifically to avoid the stores for internal builds. It sends you back to the two places you were working around. TestFlight runs through App Store Connect, and a build added to an external tester group is automatically sent for review. You also need a beta app description and beta app review information on file before you can share with external testers (Apple's own TestFlight page, checked August 2026).
That is not a knock on TestFlight. It scales far past anything here: up to 10,000 external testers and up to 100 builds, on Apple's infrastructure, for free. The question is whether you need that on a Tuesday afternoon when a designer wants to see one fix on one phone. For the second case, a link beats a review queue. That is the gap App Center Distribute filled, and the one that is now empty.
TestFlight figures re-read from Apple's own page in August 2026: developer.apple.com/testflight. Apple changes these; check the source before betting a release plan on one.
BetaDrop distributes. It does not build.
App Center was a platform; BetaDrop replaces one column of it. Here is where this page stops being the right answer.
If App Center was compiling your app, you need CI first
There is no build service here and none coming. Something has to produce the signed artifact. Azure Pipelines is Microsoft's recommendation, and GitHub Actions, GitLab CI and Bitrise are the other usual landings. BetaDrop is the step after that one, not a replacement for it.
No device farm, no analytics SDK, no CodePush
App Center Test ran your suite on real hardware, Analytics collected sessions and crashes, and CodePush patched JavaScript bundles in place. BetaDrop does none of the three, and adding an SDK to your app is precisely what it exists to avoid.
Android distribution is .apk, not .aab
BetaDrop does not accept app bundles. If your release pipeline emits an .aab for Play, produce a universal .apk for testers alongside it. That is one extra Gradle output, not a second pipeline.
It never touches your signing
No certificate upload, no re-signing, no auto-provisioning. That is a deliberate trade: App Center's convenience there required handing Microsoft your Apple ID and a .p12. The cost is that adding a new tester device to an ad-hoc build still means a UDID and a rebuild.
Links are a delivery window, not an archive
A build link is live for 3 days by default and up to 7 days on the free tier. That suits a test cycle. It does not suit "every release we ever shipped, forever." Keep those artifacts in your CI or release storage.
Large external beta programs belong on the stores
Hundreds of external testers, staged rollouts, phased release management and production-adjacent processes are what TestFlight and the Play Console testing tracks are built for. If that is your beta program, Microsoft's recommendation is the right one for you and this page is not.
Why teams land here after App Center
A dedicated, free place to send iOS and Android builds. No build platform required.
Free, Full Stop
Distribute iOS and Android beta builds at no cost. No paid tiers gating the basics you need to ship a test.
Cross-Platform
One workflow for iOS .ipa and Android .apk files up to 500 MB, the same cross-platform reach App Center offered.
Instant OTA, No Accounts
Every build gets an over-the-air install link and QR. Testers install from their phone browser. No tester accounts.
Action, CLI & MCP for CI
Publish from GitHub Actions with betadrop-app/upload-action@v1, from any other pipeline with @betadrop/cli, or wire agents in with the @betadrop/mcp server.
Loved by Developers
See how teams use BetaDrop to ship their builds faster, securely, and with less friction.
Mudasir Ahmed
Data Scientist @ Freelancer
"Absolute 5-star experience from start to finish—the team was prompt, professional, and went above and beyond!"
volnex
BetaDrop user
"i think this the best platform for every starter like me !hmm so this why me given this app 5 stars"
Anosh
SDE
"Love how easy it is to distribute the app for testing and the download and upload speeds are really fast."
Star Jan_F2
Video Editor، Designer
"Great platform, very helpful and easy to use! Awesome service for iOS testing and developer tools. Smooth experience and very efficient!"
Akol, Akol
Developer @ I.T Solution Aweil
"BetaDrop is a streamlined, hassle-free platform for beta app distribution, making the sharing of iOS (IPA) and Android (APK) builds effortless. Key Highlights for Developers - Instant Build Sharing - Developer Workflow Integration - Built-in Inspection Tools - Free Hosted Essentials"
Frequently asked questions
The questions that come up in the first hour of moving distribution off App Center.
When exactly did Microsoft App Center shut down?
Visual Studio App Center was retired on March 31, 2025. After that date you can no longer sign in to App Center or call its API, and the Build, Test, Distribute, and CodePush services went with it. Analytics & Diagnostics is the one exception: Microsoft extended it to June 30, 2026, then again (in an April 15, 2026 update) to the end of March 2027, while Azure Monitor's mobile analytics matures. Distribution got no such extension.
What happens to my distribution groups and tester email lists?
They went down with the service, and there is nothing to import. BetaDrop does not model tester groups for distribution: the install link is the distribution unit, so an audience is whoever you send a link to. Keep your tester list where it already lives: a Slack channel, an email group, a spreadsheet. Paste the link there instead of adding people to a group.
Do I have to change my app or remove an SDK to migrate?
No. App Center Distribute took a finished, signed artifact and so does BetaDrop, so the only thing that changes is the last step of your pipeline. There is no dependency to pull, no re-release just to switch, and no tester-side migration. If you also used App Center's Analytics SDK, that is a separate piece of work on a separate deadline.
How do I replace the App Center step in my CI pipeline?
Swap whichever step pushed to App Center Distribute for the BetaDrop CLI: install @betadrop/cli, set BETADROP_TOKEN in your CI secrets, and run `betadrop publish ./MyApp.ipa --ci`, which prints only the install URL so you can post it to Slack or a PR comment. Tokens come from betadrop.app under Settings → Developer → API tokens.
Is BetaDrop a replacement for App Center Build?
No, and that matters when you plan the move. BetaDrop distributes builds; it does not compile them. Microsoft recommends Azure Pipelines for the build half, and whatever CI you choose keeps producing the .ipa or .apk. BetaDrop is where that artifact lands, free, up to 500 MB per file, with links that default to 3 days and stretch to 7 days on the free tier.
App Center Distribute is gone.
Your builds don't have to be.
Take the artifact your last release already produced and hand it to testers in seconds. Free, with an OTA install link and QR. No account needed to try it.
Comparing other tools too?
Most teams weigh a few options before they settle. Here is how BetaDrop compares — on getting a build to a tester, and on hosting a static page.
