Hey all! I have an idea for an app that I’ve run by some higher ups in the company I work with and they think it would be really useful. Here’s my question:
Do I need to publish my app on the App Store in order for other people to use it, or is there another way to beta test it?
I’d love to get a minimal viable product out soon so people can start using it.
Thanks for the help! I love being a part of this community of developers 
Welcome to the community!
You can beta test the app and only share it with specific users via email if you’d like.
To actually publish the app you can put it on the App Store for anyone to download, or if your company wants to get an enterprise business account, you can publish it so it’d be internal to your company
Thanks! How do I email the app to people to download?
I’ve tried ‘running’ an app from Xcode on my phone and it remains useable for only a limited period of time, I think about a week. Then when I try to open it it says it’s ‘unavailable.’
Yes!! That’s because you’re really running a debug version of the app on your phone.
To actually send out to beta testers you need a paid Apple development account, which is $99/yr USD
Here’s a video to send users the beta test, they use an app called TestFlight that allows them to download beta applications
Note if you want this to only be released within your company (when you actually publish it, the they can have an enterprise dev account and add you as a developer, who can have a free account)