Do testers need a Google or AppForShare account?

No. They prove their email by opening the confirm link, and that is all. Firebase App Distribution invite links ask testers to sign in with Google.

What if someone forwards the link?

Limit it to your email domains, set a cap on joins, or pause it. A new address for the link stops the old one at once.

Can joiners go straight into a group?

Yes. Pick a tester group for the link and joiners get every project of that group, including a linked TestFlight group.

Which plan do I need?

Team, with tester groups and private projects.

AppForShare Create a free account

Let testers sign themselves up for your beta

Team

Typing every tester email into a list is fine for five people and painful for fifty. A join link turns it around: post it where your testers already are, and each one adds themselves.

The tester enters an email, and a name if they like, then opens the confirm link we send. They are added to the project, or to the tester group you chose, and land on the newest build. No account and no Google sign in, on iPhone or Android.

Start free See plans

Example

Join links, Shop app

Staff betaacme.com only, 37 of 100 joined
Discord betaGroup Public beta, 212 joined
Client linkPaused

Up to 10 join links per project.

Made for

Teams that run a beta from a newsletter, a Discord or a company chat
Companies that test internal apps with staff and want only work addresses
Agencies that let a client invite their own colleagues

What it ends

Collecting emails in a chat and typing them into a tester list
Testers who need a Google account just to accept an invite
A sign up link that anyone can forward without a limit

How it works

Step 1
Make a link
On the project's Testing tab, press New join link. Pick whether joiners go into the project or a tester group, and set a domain limit or a cap if you want.
Step 2
Post it
Share appforshare.io/join/... in your beta group, newsletter or intranet. The page shows the app, who shares it and the domains it takes.
Step 3
Testers confirm
They enter an email and open the confirm link from their inbox. The email goes out in the tester's language and the link works for 24 hours.
Step 4
They get the build
The confirm link adds them and opens the newest build. From then on they are testers like anyone you invited, with the same new build emails.

Who can join

Limit a link to email domains such as acme.com. Addresses at a subdomain, like qa.acme.com, count too, and up to 20 domains fit on one link. Set a cap between 1 and 1,000 joins, pause the link at any time, or give it a new address so the old one stops working. Deleting a link keeps the testers who joined through it.

Each tester proves their address by opening the confirm link, the same way invited testers do. The join page says the same thing whether or not an address is already a tester, so it tells strangers nothing about who tests your app.

What you see

The card lists every link with its joins, and the testers who came in through a link with their name and date. Each join is a line in the activity feed. Joined testers have the same status, reminders and tester app as anyone you invited.

Good to know

Join links are on Team. A paused or removed link takes no one, also from confirm links already sent.
An account can have up to 1,000 testers, joined or invited.
On a public project anyone with the install link can still install; joining puts the tester on the list for new build emails. Make the project private to limit installs to testers.
The join page itself is in English; the confirm email is in the tester's language.

Questions

Do testers need a Google or AppForShare account?: No. They prove their email by opening the confirm link, and that is all. Firebase App Distribution invite links ask testers to sign in with Google.
What if someone forwards the link?: Limit it to your email domains, set a cap on joins, or pause it. A new address for the link stops the old one at once.
Can joiners go straight into a group?: Yes. Pick a tester group for the link and joiners get every project of that group, including a linked TestFlight group.
Which plan do I need?: Team, with tester groups and private projects.