Just installed a build? The link you followed was made with BetaDrop. Drop your own .ipa or .apk below and you'll get one exactly like it — free, and your first upload needs no account.
BetaDrop is an online IPA installer: upload an iOS .ipa file and share the OTA install link it returns. Testers tap the link and install straight from Safari. No TestFlight, no cables, no App-Store review. It's free, takes files up to 500 MB, and needs no tester account.
Without a computer: upload the .ipa above, open the install link in Safari on the iPhone or iPad, and tap Install, and iOS installs it over the air. With a Mac, Apple Configurator or Xcode installs it from the Mac instead. Either way the .ipa must be signed for that device, and no installer, online or on a computer, can get around that.
Drop the file into the upload box above, and the install link and QR code appear a few seconds after the upload finishes.
Scan the QR code with the iPhone's camera or open the link on the device itself, in Safari; if it opened inside another app such as Gmail or Slack, open it in Safari instead.
Confirm the prompt and the app appears on the Home Screen; an Enterprise-signed app then needs its developer trusted under Settings → General → VPN & Device Management (tap Allow & Restart on iOS 18 and later), and a Development-signed app needs Developer Mode on (iOS 16 and later).
Open Apple Configurator (free on the Mac App Store), select the connected iPhone, choose Actions → Add → Apps → Choose from my Mac, and pick the .ipa. In Xcode 27, Device Hub does the same from the device's Apps list (click +); earlier Xcode versions use Window → Devices and Simulators. A computer doesn't change the signing rule below.
Apple's install tools are Mac-only. On Windows, the .ipa has to be re-signed with your own Apple ID by a desktop sideloading tool, and with a free Apple ID the app stops opening after seven days.
Not sure which one you have? The IPA inspector reads the embedded profile and shows its type, team, expiry and how many devices it covers.
Every iOS developer reaches a point where they need to share a build with testers, clients, or stakeholders. TestFlight isn't always the right tool.
Your build needs to go out immediately. With BetaDrop, there's no waiting for Apple's review process. Upload and share instantly.
Your client doesn't want to install another app. BetaDrop links use native iOS OTA installation. Testers just tap the link and install.
Tired of the extra steps between 'build done' and 'tester has it'? BetaDrop cuts the friction so you get feedback sooner.
Archive the app in Xcode and export it with Release Testing (called Ad Hoc before Xcode 15; release-testing in ExportOptions.plist) or Enterprise signing, after registering every tester's UDID, because an Ad Hoc build installs only on the devices its profile lists.
Drop the .ipa into BetaDrop's upload box, with no signup for your first upload, and BetaDrop writes the itms-services manifest iOS needs for a wireless install, so there is no plist to host yourself and builds up to 500 MB upload without stripping assets.
Share the install link or QR code over Slack, email or chat, and each tester opens it in Safari on their iPhone or iPad and taps Install, with no review wait and no TestFlight app.
| Method | Speed | Cost | Setup Friction |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetaDrop | Instant | Freemium | None |
| TestFlight | No review for internal testers; first external build reviewed, usually under 24 h | Free | Moderate |
| Diawi | Instant | Freemium | None |
| Firebase | Instant | Free | Complex |
Tempted to just share the .ipa from Drive or Dropbox? iOS cannot install an app from a file link. See why, and what to send instead.
Before you upload your IPA file online, make sure it's signed correctly. OTA distribution works with two types of signing:
Adding a tester's device later means re-signing with an updated profile. Our guide on how to sign an IPA covers that, and why an online signer is the wrong fix.
Secure OTA Installation
Uses Apple's native itms-services
TestFlight sends the first build of a version to Beta App Review before external testers can install it. An IPA uploaded here is installable the moment the upload finishes.
Large games, media-heavy apps and bundled ML models fit without stripping assets. BetaDrop accepts IPA files up to 500 MB.
Testers do not install TestFlight or sign in to anything. They open the link on their device and tap install.
Every upload produces both a link and a QR code, so you can drop it in Slack or point a phone at a screen during a demo.
Files move over TLS and sit behind a random link id that is not listed publicly or indexed. Add a password when a build must stay private.
Installs use Apple's own itms-services protocol, the same mechanism enterprise distribution relies on. No profiles or shortcuts.
When a tester cannot install the IPA, it is nearly always one of these four. All are fixable without rebuilding from scratch.
The app installed but iOS will not launch it until the certificate is trusted. On the device, open Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, select your organisation, and tap Trust; on iOS 18 and later, tap Allow & Restart and finish the prompt that appears after the restart. This applies to Enterprise-signed builds only.
The device UDID is almost certainly missing from the provisioning profile. Ad Hoc builds only install on devices baked into the profile at signing time, so adding a device means re-signing and re-uploading. Collect UDIDs first with the UDID checker.
OTA installs run through Apple's itms-services protocol, which requires HTTPS and only works in Safari. Chrome, Firefox and in-app browsers such as Slack or Gmail will silently do nothing. Open the link in Safari instead.
Usually a provisioning or entitlement mismatch: the build requests a capability its profile does not grant. Decode the embedded profile to compare entitlements against what the app expects before re-signing.
Useful alongside this page: the UDID checker for collecting device IDs before an Ad Hoc build, the provisioning profile decoder for checking expiry and entitlements, and the IPA inspector for confirming what is actually inside a build.
Uploading in the browser is fine for a one-off build, but most teams want every green build on a device automatically. The BetaDrop CLI runs anywhere your pipeline does: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Bitrise, Xcode Cloud, Jenkins. It prints the install link to the build log when it finishes.
If your workflow runs through an AI assistant, the BetaDrop MCP server exposes the same publish step to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients, so you can ship a build without leaving the editor.
Your first upload needs no account and stays available for 24 hours, which covers a typical review cycle. Signing in lets you choose how long each build's link lives (up to 7 days on a free account) and adds a dashboard where you can see every active link, revoke one early, or re-share it.
Worth knowing: link lifetime is separate from certificate lifetime. An Ad Hoc or Enterprise provisioning profile expires on its own schedule regardless of how long the download link lives, and once it does, already-installed copies stop launching. Check the profile's expiry date before a long test cycle.
Stop waiting for TestFlight reviews. Get your iOS build into testers' hands in under a minute.
Upload IPA on BetaDrop