Register a tester's iPhone without making them sign up anywhere
· 8 min read
Before an iPhone can install an ad hoc test build, its UDID has to be registered on your Apple developer account and included in the build's provisioning profile. The hard part is rarely Apple. It is getting the UDID from the tester in the first place, especially when the tester is a client, a stakeholder or a QA contractor who has no reason to create an account in yet another tool.
This guide compares how the common tools collect a tester's device, then shows a flow where the tester opens one link, taps through two screens and is done, with no account and no sign in anywhere. AppForShare is the tool we make, so the second half uses it. Rival facts are dated and linked so you can check them.
Why the UDID is needed at all
Apple only lets an ad hoc or development build run on devices listed in its provisioning profile. That is true for every tool outside TestFlight and the App Store. So any flow, whatever tool it uses, has the same four steps:
- Get the tester's UDID.
- Register the device on your Apple developer account (Apple allows 100 per device type per membership year).
- Make a provisioning profile that includes the device.
- Build again with that profile and send the new build.
Tools differ in who does each step and what they ask of the tester. Step 4 always needs a new build: no tool can add a device to an .ipa that was already signed without it. The full Apple side is in registering devices for ad hoc builds.
What testers are asked to do in other tools
Bitrise
In Bitrise, test devices are registered from a Bitrise user's Profile page in Safari, or added by UDID by hand, and Bitrise's Xcode and "iOS Auto Provision with App Store Connect API" steps register them on Apple during a build (Bitrise docs, as read on November 4, 2026). Its distribution docs say an iPhone install needs the device "registered for your user and for this build" (distributing builds to testers, same date).
Bitrise has offered external tester groups by email, with no Bitrise account needed, since July 2026 (announcement). That covers installing. For the device itself, a way for a tester without a Bitrise account to send a UDID was not found in its docs; a 2021 forum answer says devices must be on a Bitrise account first (forum thread). In practice the developer collects the UDID some other way and types it in. Where Bitrise is strong is the build side: once the UDID is in, its signing steps put it in the profile during the next build.
Firebase App Distribution
Firebase's tester guide asks the tester to open the invitation in Safari and "sign in with Google and accept the invitation", then install the Firebase profile, which collects the UDID and emails it to the developer (tester setup, register additional devices, as read on November 2, 2026). The tester does not need a Gmail address, but does need a Google account. The developer then registers the device on Apple and builds again by hand. More in Firebase without a Google account and Firebase iOS UDID problems.
Asking by email
The UDID is not shown in the iPhone Settings app. Asking a tester to "send me your UDID" usually means a back and forth, a Mac with Finder, or a serial number sent by mistake.
The no account flow, step by step
Option 1: the free UDID finder
For a one off, send the tester to the AppForShare UDID finder. It is free and needs no account on either side. In Safari the tester installs a signed configuration profile; iOS returns the UDID, model, iOS version and device name, and the page shows them with a button to email them to you. Lookups are deleted after one day.
On the result page the tester can also tap Remember this device. That keeps the UDID, model and name in a signed cookie in that browser only, for up to 400 days. From then on, iOS install pages on appforshare.io tell the tester, for example, "Your iPhone 15 is in this build" or that it is not in this build yet, before they tap Install, so they stop trying builds that cannot install. "Not your iPhone? Forget it" on any iOS install page removes it. See iPhone device check.
Option 2: an onboarding link per iOS project
For a project with more than a handful of testers, turn on the device onboarding link for the iOS project (Pro and Team). You get one link to post in a chat or email to the whole group.
- The tester opens the link on the iPhone, enters an email (a name is optional) and installs the UDID profile. No account, no password, no Google or Apple sign in.
- The device lands in your workspace's device list and you get an email.
- You register it on Apple and build again (next section).
- When you upload a build of that project that includes the device, the tester gets one email with the install link. Nobody has to tell them it is ready.
You can make a new link or turn it off at any time. If the project's onboarding link is on, a tester who already tapped Remember this device and opens an install page for a build without their iPhone can send the device to you from that page, which starts the same flow.
Registering the device on Apple
By hand
Open Certificates, Identifiers and Profiles, add the device under Devices, edit the ad hoc profile to include it, download it and export the build again. This works with any tool. On Pro and Team, appforshare devices export writes the saved devices in Apple's file format for Register Multiple Devices, so a batch is one upload.
One click on Pro and Team
With an App Store Connect connection, an Admin of the workspace can register saved devices on Apple from the Devices page, up to 20 at a time, skipping ones already registered. The page shows how many of Apple's 100 slots per device type are used and refuses to go past the limit before asking Apple. It also lists your ad hoc and development profiles with how many enabled devices each one is missing, and "Add new devices" makes a new version of the profile with every enabled device (Apple has no profile edit, so the old one is replaced). Download the new profile and build again. See iOS device registration.
Hands free on Team
On Team, an Admin can turn on Hands free device setup for a project. When testers send their iPhone through the onboarding link, AppForShare waits about five minutes to batch them, registers the devices on your Apple account with your App Store Connect key, remakes the app's active ad hoc profile where the build uses one, and, if the project has an AppForShare GitHub iOS build, starts it. That build runs on your own GitHub Actions minutes, not on our servers. When it is uploaded, each tester gets the install email. Without a GitHub build the profile is remade and you build and upload yourself.
Limits keep it in check: at most 10 devices a run and 20 a day per Apple connection, Apple's yearly limit checked first, every Apple call in the connection's audit log, and one email to the account owner per run. Only devices from the onboarding link are registered this way.
Side by side
| Bitrise | Firebase App Distribution | AppForShare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tester account to send a UDID | A way without a Bitrise account not found in its docs | Google account | None |
| How the UDID reaches you | Bitrise user profile, or typed in by hand | Firebase profile, emailed to the developer | UDID finder (free) or onboarding link (Pro and Team) |
| Registered on Apple | During a build by its signing steps | By the developer | One click by an Admin (Pro and Team) or Hands free (Team) |
| Rebuild needed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tester told when a build has the device | Not checked | Yes, by email | Yes, one email (onboarding link) |
Bitrise facts as read on November 4, 2026; Firebase facts as read on November 2, 2026.
What AppForShare does not do
- It never re-signs your build. After a device is registered, a new build has to be made, by you or by your own GitHub Actions workflow.
- It cannot free Apple device slots. Disabled devices keep their slot until your membership year renews.
- It does not register devices from the UDID finder or install pages on its own. Only the onboarding flow with Hands free turned on does that, and only an Admin turns it on.
A practical setup
For a client project: turn on the onboarding link, paste it in the kickoff email, register devices once a day (or let Hands free do it on Team), and send builds with a channel link that always opens the newest one. If your builds come from Bitrise, sharing a Bitrise build with testers shows the Script step that uploads each build, and the Bitrise public install page guide covers what Bitrise's own pages do. Testers then do two things in total: open one link to send their iPhone, and tap Install when the email arrives.
