This is all about the CI/CD pipeline and speeding up the iteration process.
Express TestFlight Distribution
- .xcarchive is a optimized release build of your app with debug symbols and it is repackaged for distribution
- Xcode allows you to use the Achieve so that it either goes to your team only, without going to the App Store, or build a workflow that will ultimately be released to the App Store.
- Nice to see the Internal test option which really makes it quick and easy to test with your team, one button click! You can use App Store Connect to add in What to test information and receive screenshot feedbacks.
- Xcode Cloud allows you to build workflows to customize the CI/CD process, this is now discoverable in the “Integrate” menu. You can have workflows build based on various tags, branches, or other rules. You can use Git Commit messages to include notes to testers.
Automating notarization
- You can notarize your app so you can distribute without using the App Store, by uploading to the notary service, this will check for malware, etc.
- To notarize in Xcode, you can go to Organizer and select an archive and click Distribute – choose Direct distribution
- If you use Notarize post-action in Xcode cloud it can be used to automatically notarize your app for direct distribution