You can easily upload new builds to TestFlight (which is part of App Store Connect) using fastlane. To do so, just use the built-in testflight action after building your app

lane :beta do
  # ...
  build_app
  upload_to_testflight
end

Some example use cases

lane :beta do
  # ...
  build_app

  # Variant 1: Provide a changelog to your build
  upload_to_testflight(changelog: "Add rocket emoji")

  # Variant 2: Skip the "Waiting for processing" of the binary
  #   While this will speed up your build, it will not distribute
  #   the binary to your tests, nor set a changelog
  upload_to_testflight(skip_waiting_for_build_processing: true)
end

If you used fastlane init to setup fastlane, your Apple ID is stored in the fastlane/Appfile. You can also overwrite the username, using upload_to_testflight(username: "bot@fastlane.tools").

To get a list of all available options, run

fastlane action upload_to_testflight

With fastlane, you can also automatically manage your beta testers, check out the other actions available.

Install the Firebase App Distribution plugin:

fastlane add_plugin firebase_app_distribution

Authenticate with Firebase by running the firebase_app_distribution_login action (or using one of the other authentication methods):

fastlane run firebase_app_distribution_login

Then add the firebase_app_distribution action to your lane:

lane :beta do
  # ...
  build_app

  firebase_app_distribution(
    app: "1:123456789:ios:abcd1234",
    groups: "qa-team, trusted-testers"
  )
  # ...
end

For more information and options (such as adding release notes) see the full Getting Started guide.

lane :beta do
  # ...
  build_app
  hockey(api_token: "[insert_key_here]")
end

To get your API token, open API Tokens in Account Settings. From there, you can find your existing API token, or create a new one.

To get a list of all available options see the hockey action docs, or run

fastlane action hockey

lane :beta do
  # ...
  build_app

  testfairy(api_key: "[insert_key_here]")

  # Variant 1: Provide a changelog
  testfairy(api_key: "[insert_key_here]", 
            comment: "Add rocket emoji")

  # Variant 2: Specify tester groups
  testfairy(api_key: "[insert_key_here]", testers_groups: ["group1"])
end

To get a list of all available options, run

fastlane action testfairy

More information about the service on TestFairy.com.

Your changelog changes, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to store a static release note in the Fastfile.

lane :beta do
  sync_code_signing
  build_app

  changelog_from_git_commits # this will generate the changelog based on your last commits
  upload_to_testflight
end

Get a list of all available options using fastlane action changelog_from_git_commits, here are some examples

changelog_from_git_commits(
  between: ['7b092b3', 'HEAD'], # Optional, lets you specify a revision/tag range between which to collect commit info
  merge_commit_filtering: 'exclude_merges' # Optional, lets you filter out merge commits
)

You can automatically be asked for the changelog in your terminal using the prompt action:

lane :beta do
  # Variant 1: Ask for a one line input
  changelog = prompt(text: "Changelog: ")

  # Variant 2: Ask for a multi-line input
  #   The user confirms their input by typing `END` and Enter
  changelog = prompt(
    text: "Changelog: ",
    multi_line_end_keyword: "END"
  )

  sync_code_signing
  build_app

  upload_to_testflight(changelog: changelog)
end

You can fetch values from anywhere in your Fastfile, including the file system and remote server

lane :beta do
  # Variant 1: Read from file system
  #   note the `..`, since fastlane runs in the _fastlane_ directory
  changelog = File.read("../Changelog.txt")

  # Variant 2: Fetch data from a remote web server
  changelog = download(url: "https://lookatmycms.com/changelog.txt")

  sync_code_signing
  build_app

  upload_to_testflight(changelog: changelog)
end

Depending on the beta testing service you use, you'll have to increment the build number each time you upload a new build. This is a requirement for TestFlight for example.

To do so, there are some built-in fastlane actions available, here are some examples

Fetching the latest build number from TestFlight

The code sample below will use the latest build number from TestFlight and temporarily set it.

lane :beta do
  increment_build_number(
    build_number: latest_testflight_build_number + 1,
    xcodeproj: "Example.xcodeproj"
  )
end

Committing the build number to version control

The code sample below will increment the build number and commit the project changes to version control.

lane :beta do
  # Ensure that your git status is not dirty
  ensure_git_status_clean

  # Increment the build number (not the version number)
  # Providing the xcodeproj is optional
  increment_build_number(xcodeproj: "Example.xcodeproj")

  # Commit the version bump
  commit_version_bump(xcodeproj: "Example.xcodeproj")

  # Add a git tag for this build. This will automatically
  # use an appropriate git tag name
  add_git_tag

  # Push the new commit and tag back to your git remote
  push_to_git_remote
end

For all the steps above, there are more parameters available, run the following to get a full list:

fastlane action [action_name]

Use the number of commits

This isn't recommended, however some teams prefer this approach. You can use the number of commits of the current branch (via number_of_commits) as the build number. This will only work if you always run the build on the same branch.

lane :beta do
  increment_build_number(build_number: number_of_commits)
end