Installing Apps
Get your app onto a device — upload an .ipa or .apk (or a zipped simulator .app for a virtual iPhone), reuse it from My apps, or install a published app from the App Store or the Play Store.
Live can install your own app on a real device before you start driving it — no local setup, no cables. Upload a build, reuse one you uploaded earlier, or install a published app straight from the store.
Upload your own build
Upload your app and TestKase installs it on the real device when the session opens:
- iOS — upload an
.ipa. - Android — upload an
.apk. - Virtual iPhone (iOS simulator) — upload a zipped simulator
.app. An.ipacannot run on a simulator; see Virtual devices for how to make the zip.
Drop the file into the picker's upload area, pick the device to run it on, and start the session. The app is installed and ready when the screen appears.
A build can be up to 500 MB. Anything larger is refused at the point you pick the file, with "File too large. Max 500 MB." The file extension decides the platform — .apk is Android, .ipa is iOS, .zip is an iOS simulator build — and anything else is rejected.
An uploaded iOS build needs no Apple ID. TestKase installs your .ipa on the real iPhone for you — there's no App Store sign-in and no developer account prompt to deal with during the session. Your build is uninstalled when the session ends, and nothing it stored carries over. Installing a published app from the App Store is different — see Install from the store below.
iOS builds are re-signed
To install on a managed device, an uploaded .ipa is re-signed with TestKase's distribution certificate and its bundle identifier is rewritten to a TestKase-namespaced one. That has consequences worth knowing before you test:
- Push notifications, Apple Pay, App Groups, iCloud, and JIT may not work, because they're tied to the original signature and entitlements.
- The installed bundle identifier is not your original one, so anything keyed on the bundle id — deep links, keychain sharing, analytics — may behave differently.
You can't upload an app from the App Store. Upload a development or ad-hoc build instead — the kind you'd send to a tester.
If you need an app that is only on the App Store, install it on the device from the App Store itself. See Install from the store below.
My apps
Builds you've uploaded are kept in My apps so you don't have to re-upload the same file for every session. Pick an app from the list, choose a device, and launch — the same build installs again.
Two limits apply to the library:
- Uploads are kept for 90 days, then deleted. Re-upload the build if you need it after that.
- Ten builds per platform — ten iOS and ten Android. The library does not evict the oldest to make room: the eleventh upload is refused, with "Delete an older build on the Mobile Apps page, then upload again."
Your app does not survive the session. When the session ends the build is uninstalled from the handset, along with everything it stored — accounts you signed into, cached data, files it wrote. The build itself stays in My apps, and the next session installs it again from scratch. There is no way to carry state from one Live session to the next.
Install from the store
If the app you want to test is already published, install it from the device's own app store instead of uploading a build:
- iOS — the App Store opens on the device. Sign in with your own Apple ID and install any app.
- Android — the Play Store opens on the device. Sign in with your own Google account (the Play Store won't download apps while signed out).
This is handy for testing against a live production build, or for pulling in a companion app your flow depends on.
No app handy? Use the sample app
If you just want to try Live and don't have a build to upload, start from the bundled sample app and drive it on a real device to get a feel for the session tools.
Which method should I use?
| You want to test… | Use |
|---|---|
| A build from your CI or laptop | Upload .ipa / .apk — or a zipped simulator .app for a virtual iPhone |
| The same build again, without re-uploading | My apps |
| A published, production app | App Store / Play Store (your own account; on iOS this erases the phone afterwards) |
| Just trying Live out | Sample app |
Installing your app is optional. You can also start a plain session on a device or browser and install nothing — for example to test a mobile website, or to explore a device's built-in apps and settings.
If an iOS install stalls
There is one known issue worth recognising. On iPhones that have just been wiped and rebuilt, an install can stop on an "App Update — Cancel / Update" prompt on the device screen and wait for someone to tap it, instead of installing silently.
It's rare and has only been seen on one device model so far. If you hit it:
- Tap Update on the streamed screen and the install continues.
- Or end the session and start a new one to retry.
- If it keeps happening, contact support with the session details.
Mobile Devices
Drive real iPhones and Android phones and tablets live — streaming, gestures, device controls, orientation, and location. Virtual devices are a separate opt-in switch.
Biometrics
Pass or fail a fingerprint, Face ID or PIN prompt yourself during a Live session — so you can test the login, payment and unlock flows that sit behind biometric authentication.