Collect UDIDs from your testers
Send one link. The tester opens it on their iPhone, taps once, and the device identifier arrives in your dashboard — with the device name and model already attached. No cable, no Mac, no App Store download, and no account for them to create. When you have collected enough, export the list in the two-column shape Apple's Developer portal expects.
It is free on every BetaDrop plan, including the free one. Registering test devices is what makes ad-hoc iOS distribution possible at all, so it is not something we put behind a subscription.
Why Apple makes you do this
An ad-hoc build installs only on devices that were already named in the provisioning profile when the app was signed. Not devices you add later — devices that were in the profile at signing time. So before a tester can install anything, you need a string off their hardware, and Apple caps the whole exercise at 100 devices per product family per membership year, with removed devices not freeing their slot until the yearly reset.
The traditional ways of getting that string all assume the tester is sitting at a computer with a cable: Finder on macOS, iTunes on Windows, or Xcode's Devices window. For a colleague at the next desk that is fine. For a client, a contractor or a beta group in another timezone it is the step where the week goes.
How collection works
- 1. Send a link. From the Devices page, invite testers by email one at a time, or share a single open link that any number of people can use — useful when you do not know every address up front.
- 2. They tap once. The tester opens the link on the iPhone or iPad itself and approves a configuration profile. It is not an app and it does not stay: they can delete it immediately afterwards under Settings, General, VPN & Device Management.
- 3. Export for Apple. The device lands in your registry with its identifier, model and name. Export a CSV of
Device ID, Device Namefor a bulk upload to Apple's Devices page, or a plain list of identifiers alone for a script or a Fastlane lane.
One thing that catches people after the portal step: registering a device does not retroactively bless a build. You still need to regenerate the provisioning profile and re-sign — see when you actually need to re-sign an IPA.
Two things to tell your testers first
It has to be Safari
Device registration works in real Safari on iOS only. Chrome, Firefox and Edge on iOS cannot install a configuration profile, and neither can an in-app browser — the one inside Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Messenger or WeChat. Since you will almost certainly send the link through a messaging app, tapping it opens it inside that app's browser, where the capture quietly cannot start. Tell testers to hit the share or menu icon and choose Open in Safari.
The phone may make them wait an hour
Apple's Stolen Device Protection treats installing a configuration profile as a Security-Delay action: two biometric checks, a full hour apart, before it will install. iOS 26.4 turned that feature on by default, so this is the normal path now rather than a rare one. The phone shows a security-delay notice and notifies them when the wait is over. Collection links stay valid for 90 minutes so they still work on the far side of that hour — but a tester who was not warned reads the wait as a dead link and gives up.
Once the devices are registered
Add them in the Apple Developer portal, regenerate the profile, re-sign, and then upload the .ipa to get an install link your testers can open on the same phones they just registered. No TestFlight review, and nothing for them to install first — see how that compares to TestFlight.
Testers looking for their own device identifier rather than collecting other people's want the UDID checker; if you just want to know what the string actually is, start with what a UDID is and how to find it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a UDID from a tester who isn't near a Mac?
Send them a collection link. They open it on the iPhone or iPad itself, tap once, approve a configuration profile, and the device identifier arrives in your dashboard with the device name and model already attached. Nothing is installed permanently, and the profile can be removed straight afterwards under Settings, General, VPN & Device Management. The older routes — Finder on macOS, iTunes on Windows, or reading it out of Xcode's Devices window — all assume the tester is sitting at a computer with a cable, which is the assumption that turns a five-minute task into a week of chasing.
My tester opened the link and nothing happened. Why?
Almost always the browser. Device registration works in real Safari on iOS only: Chrome, Firefox and Edge on iOS cannot install a configuration profile, and neither can an in-app browser — the one inside Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Messenger or WeChat. Since collection links are usually sent through a messaging app, tapping the link opens it inside that app's browser and the capture quietly cannot start. The fix is to tell testers to open the link in Safari: tap the share or menu icon in the in-app browser and choose Open in Safari.
My tester says the phone is making them wait an hour. Is it broken?
No, and it is worth warning them before they start. Apple's Stolen Device Protection treats installing a configuration profile as a Security-Delay action, which means the iPhone requires two biometric checks a full hour apart before it will install. iOS 26.4 turned that feature on by default, so this is now the normal path rather than a rare one. The phone shows a security delay notice and notifies them when the wait ends. Collection sessions stay valid for 90 minutes precisely so the link still works on the other side of that hour — but a tester who was not told will read the wait as a dead link and give up.
What format do I need to add the devices to Apple's Developer portal?
Export straight from the dashboard. The CSV comes out with two columns, Device ID and Device Name, which is the shape Apple's Devices page accepts for a bulk upload — the name falls back through your own label, the tester's name, then the device model, so no row arrives blank. There is also a plain-text export of the identifiers alone, one per line, for pasting into a script or a Fastlane lane. After the devices are registered in the portal you still need to regenerate the provisioning profile and re-sign the build: adding a device does not retroactively bless an .ipa that was signed before it.
How many devices can I collect?
The real ceiling is Apple's, not ours: 100 devices per product family per membership year, and removing a device does not give the slot back until the yearly reset. A BetaDrop account holds up to 1,000 devices and 200 open invites at once, roughly twice Apple's annual allowance — those numbers exist to bound what a forwarded link can write into your account, not to ration the feature.
Does collecting UDIDs cost anything?
No. Device collection is free on every plan, including the free one, and there is no per-device charge. That is deliberate: registering test devices is what makes ad-hoc iOS distribution possible at all, so putting it behind a subscription would paywall the step that lets someone try the product. Paid plans differ on how long build links live, on storage and on branding — not on this.
Is a UDID sensitive information?
It is a stable hardware identifier, so treat it as personal data belonging to the tester rather than as a throwaway string. It is what Apple matches against when deciding whether a build may install, which is the only reason to collect one. BetaDrop stores the identifier, the device model and a name against your account, and never returns an email address on the public collection routes — the token in a collection link gets forwarded, so those responses carry display names only. Testers can remove the configuration profile immediately after registering, and you can delete a device from the registry at any time.
