Let testers follow your build link: one email per new build
· 8 min read
Most test builds reach testers the same way: someone pastes a link into a chat, a few people install it, and the rest find out a week later that there was a newer build. Sending every link by hand does not scale past a handful of people, and asking every reviewer, client or friend of the project to make an account just to hear about new builds is a lot to ask.
There is a simpler middle ground. Give people one stable link for the build, and let anyone who opens it ask for an email when a new build lands there. No tester account, no list for you to maintain, and the person can stop the emails with one tap. This post explains how that works, where it fits next to the other ways of telling testers about a build, and what to watch out for. Facts about AppForShare, the tool we make, are as of November 9, 2026.
Start with one link that stays the same
Following only makes sense when the link does not change. If every upload gives you a new address, a follower would have to be moved to each new one, which defeats the point. On AppForShare that stable link is a channel: a link such as /c/beta with a QR code that always opens the newest build you put into it. An iPhone gets the iOS build, an Android phone gets the Android build, and a computer sees both with the QR code. You promote a build into the channel from the build page, the CLI or CI. See Beta and Live channels for the full picture.
Channels with followers are a Pro and Team feature. The Free plan includes one channel per account, but builds inside it still expire after 7 days, and followers, a custom address and rollback are not part of it.
How following a channel works
On Pro and Team, the channel page shows an "Email me new builds" box. The same box appears on the install page of the build the channel currently opens. Here is what happens when someone uses it.
- They enter an email address. The form has a bot check, it is rate limited, and throwaway inboxes are refused. The answer on screen is the same whether the address is new or already follows, so the form cannot be used to find out who follows a channel.
- They confirm once. One confirmation email goes out. The link in it is valid for 48 hours, and the follow starts only when the person taps the button on the confirmation page (opening the page alone does not confirm). Addresses that are not confirmed within 48 hours are deleted.
- They get one email per new build. When you put a new build into the channel, followers get one plain email with the channel link. If the build has no password, the release notes are included. If it has a password, they are left out.
- Never more than one email every 6 hours per channel. If you push three builds in an afternoon, followers get one email about the newest, not three. Emails are sent by a background job, so do not expect them the second you press Promote.
- They can stop with one tap. Every email has a "stop these emails" link that works with a single tap, plus the standard List-Unsubscribe headers, so mail apps can offer their own unsubscribe button.
The emails are written in the language of the page the person followed from. The channel and install pages come in 13 languages, so a tester who reads the page in Spanish or Vietnamese gets the emails in that language too. The emails carry no tracking and no promotion; each one is about one new build.
Followers are not testers
This is the part that is easy to misread. A follower is someone who asked to hear about new builds. They are not added to your tester list, and they do not get access to anything they could not already open with the link.
- You see how many people follow the channel and their addresses masked, such as
jo***@example.com. You can remove one. - You do not see installs by follower name. Install counts and analytics work the same as for anyone else who opens the link.
- Addresses are stored encrypted and deleted when the person stops, when you remove them, when the channel is deleted or when the account is closed.
- Following is not offered on private projects. A testers only project on Team already has its own invite list, and a public sign up box would not belong there.
Caps are 200 followers per channel on Pro and 2,000 on Team, counting confirmed and pending addresses. If you need to know exactly who installed what, use invited testers on Team instead (see below).
Managing followers from the command line
The CLI can list and remove followers, which is handy when a client asks you to take an address off. It needs a Pro or Team API token, like every CLI command.
npx appforshare channel followers --channel beta --app com.example.app
npx appforshare channel followers --channel beta --app com.example.app --remove [email protected]For AI assistants, the MCP server has a channel_followers tool. It is read only and shows the same masked addresses, so an assistant can tell you how many people follow the beta channel but cannot add anyone. If you use a custom domain for install links, the follow box on that domain sends people to the channel page on appforshare.io to sign up.
How it compares with other ways to tell testers
Following is one of several ways to get the word out. They suit different groups of people.
| Way | Who starts it | Best for | Plan on AppForShare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Follow a channel by email | The tester, from the link | Open beta groups, clients, reviewers you do not want to manage | Pro and Team |
| Invited testers | You add them | Private projects where you need to know who installed which build | Team |
| Email the install link | You, per build | A one off send to a few people | Pro and Team |
| Chat messages (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat, Telegram) | You set it up once | Your own team, who already live in chat | Pro and Team |
| Paste the link by hand | You | Two or three people | Every plan |
Invited testers on Team are the opposite of followers. You add people by email, they get new build emails, and you can see per tester status (invited, opened the link, on an older build, has the newest build) plus "who installed". It is more work to set up and gives you much more control. Our guide to emailing a test build to testers covers that side.
Emailing the install link sends one specific build to up to 5 addresses at a time. It is a good fit when a client needs this exact build today. It does not keep anyone informed about the next one.
Chat notifications are the right channel for developers and QA on your own team. They are a poor fit for outside testers, who may not be in your workspace at all.
Practical tips
- Put the follow link where testers already look. Share the channel link, not a build link, in your README, onboarding doc or client email. The follow box sits on that page.
- Write release notes. Followers get them in the email when the build has no password. Two or three lines about what to test help more than a version number.
- Keep the beta channel for builds you want people on. Every build you put into the channel can trigger an email. Upload experiments without promoting them.
- Retire broken builds instead of leaving them. If a build in the channel turns out to be bad, put the fix in and retire the broken one. Our post on moving testers off an old build walks through it.
Common questions
Will followers get anything besides build emails?
No. Each email is a transactional notice about one new build in one channel, with nothing else in it. There are no campaigns, no promotions and no tracking, and the person can stop it with one tap.
Will followers get an email the moment I promote a build?
Not instantly. Emails go out from a background job, and a channel sends at most one email every 6 hours. If several builds land in that window, followers get one email about the newest.
Can I see which follower installed the build?
No. You see a count and masked addresses. If you need installs by name, use invited testers on a private project on Team.
Does following work on the Free plan?
No. Free accounts get one channel, but followers, rollback and a custom address need Pro or Team. Builds in a Free channel also still expire after 7 days.
If you want testers to keep up with your builds without you sending every link, set up a channel and turn on following. You can create a free account, try the Pro trial, and read more on the follow a channel by email page.
