BuildFerry - Install iOS test builds on any iPhone with one link
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Send your .ipa to testers with one link. BuildFerry registers each tester's iPhone with your Apple account and re-signs the build in the cloud, so there's no UDID hunting, no Mac, no TestFlight app and no App Review. Free for one app.
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Hi Product Hunt 👋
I built BuildFerry because sharing an iOS test build outside TestFlight was always the same chore: ask for a UDID, add the iPhone in Apple Developer, regenerate the profile, rebuild on a Mac, upload again. Every new tester meant doing it all over.
Tools like Diawi only host the file, so that loop stays with you. App Center used to automate it with "auto-provisioning", but it shut down in March 2025.
BuildFerry does the whole loop for you:
1) Connect your Apple account once with an App Store Connect API key.
2) Upload an exported .ipa. Nothing is rebuilt.
3) Send one link. The tester opens it in Safari and allows a one-time profile.
4) You approve their iPhone, it's registered with your Apple team, the build is re-signed in the cloud, and they tap Install.
New builds reach existing links on their own. Share links can have a PIN, an expiry date and auto-approve.
Honest limits: it's ad hoc distribution, so Apple's 100-iPhones-per-year limit applies, and you need a paid Apple Developer membership. iOS only for now, no Android. If you have thousands of external testers, TestFlight is still the right tool.
Free plan: 1 app. Solo $12/mo, Pro $29/mo. I'd love feedback, especially from Flutter and React Native folks.
The UDID hunt is the exact part that makes sharing a test build feel like a chore — I've walked friends through finding theirs more times than I can count. Skipping the TestFlight review wait for a quick build is the real win here. Curious: when a new build lands on the same link, does the tester get any kind of nudge, or do they just need to re-open it?
@jcbuilds Thanks JC! The UDID dance is exactly what pushed me to build this 😅
Right now there's no nudge. A new upload gets re-signed for every approved iPhone automatically and the same link shows the new version, but the tester has to re-open it and tap Install.
Telling testers when a new build is ready is on my roadmap. Would an email work for your friends, or would a Slack/Discord ping be more useful?