I am often more irritated than pleased by Apple’s announcements. The notch, features that have been in Android for years being lauded as a revolutionary innovation, dropping the headphone jack…I could go on, but it would be exhausting for both of us. I think it’s important to know what I think about Apple before I move on to discussing this new TestFlight feature.

I believe TestFlight Screenshot Feedback will end up being one of the most important announcements Apple has made in the past 5 years.

What is it?

Here’s a quick demo of the new TestFlight Feedback using RateTheMeet:

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Feedback is available to developers almost instantly through App Store Connect.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store-connect/whats-new/?id=testerfeedback

Testers can now send feedback directly from your beta app simply by taking a screenshot and share detailed feedback with a crash report immediately after a crash occurs. TestFlight 2.3 and iOS 13 beta or later are required. You can view and manage tester feedback in App Store Connect.
Visit your app’s TestFlight page and click Crashes or Screenshots in the Feedback section in the left side navigation. You can filter your feedback view by build numbers, app versions, devices, iOS versions, or tester groups.
For details on how testers submit feedback, see Testing Apps with TestFlight.
For details on viewing and managing tester feedback, see View tester feedback.

Why is it important?

I hope you immediately see why I’m excited about this feature. Managing feedback from users is never a simple task. Since there was no first party flow for collecting feedback on iOS or Android, this was always some sort of custom process. Whether you would do this using a third party tool or an ad-hoc flow like email or an issue tracking system, it would be a hassle for both users and developers to manage feedback.

A first party flow from Apple means that Google Play will likely work to add similar functionality in the near future. It also means I will be driving the majority of my testing through App Store connect and recommending my clients do the same.

Providing an out-of-the-box first party solution for managing feedback will help increase app quality and reduce time spent implementing third-party solutions or handling cumbersome manual feedback mechanisms. Kudos to Apple for leading the way on this important ecosystem improvement!