Apple's TestFlight system will remain open to all EU developers

Apple has made it clear that no matter how a developer chooses to sell or distribute an app in the European Union, the TestFlight beta distribution system will remain available.

There have already been a number of questions and debates about Apple's concessions to the European Union's Digital Markets Act changes to the App Store. Apple was aware of this, and hosted a follow-up briefing on Friday afternoon.

Much of what was covered has already been gleaned from existing, albeit sparse for now, support documents for developers. However, one point was less clear — the fate of TestFlight for developers not using the App Store for distribution.

The company made it clear in that briefing that TestFlight was more a feature of Xcode than the App Store. It will remain available regardless of locality, or distribution method.

As Apple says, "TestFlight makes it easy to invite users to test your apps and App Clips and collect valuable feedback before releasing your apps on the App Store."

Up to 100 internal testers, and 10,000 external users can test an app. Builds can be shared by email, or by the distribution of a public link. Builds last for 90 days on a user's device without redownloading, but a developer can "expire" a build in advance.