Hello everyone. We have an app that has been on the App Store for several years, originally distributed for iOS and iPadOS only. Recently, we enabled Mac (Designed for iPad) and started distributing macOS-compatible builds.
Current situation:
- The app is available and downloadable from the macOS App Store and runs correctly on Apple Silicon Macs.
- The same app/build appears in TestFlight on macOS, but cannot be installed.
TestFlight shows the message:
- “This app can only be tested on an iOS device.”
This suggests the app itself is Mac-compatible, but TestFlight is treating the build as iOS-only.
Environment and checks performed:
- Mac is Apple Silicon.
- App Store Connect app-level availability for Mac (Designed for iPad) is enabled.
- The app is not Mac Catalyst; it is a UIKit iOS/iPadOS app.
- Distribution is done via GitLab CI.
- CI uploads use an App Store provisioning profile (Apple Distribution), not development or ad-hoc.
- iPhone and iPad TestFlight installs work as expected.
Info.plist verification:
UIRequiredDeviceCapabilitieswas originally present (armv7) and has since been:- removed entirely,
- build number incremented,
- new builds uploaded to TestFlight.
- No other hardware capability requirements are declared.
LSRequiresIPhoneOS = trueremains unchanged.- No other plist keys that should exclude macOS are present.
CI / build considerations:
- The same uploaded build is accepted by App Store Connect and distributed successfully on the macOS App Store.
- This tells us the binary itself is valid for macOS, but TestFlight applies additional or different eligibility checks.
- At the moment we think that TestFlight eligibility may depend on build metadata, scheme/configuration flags, or internal App Store Connect state that differs from App Store distribution.
Questions:
- Are there known cases where a build is valid for macOS App Store distribution but not eligible for macOS TestFlight installation?
- Does anyone know if TestFlight applies stricter or different platform gating than the App Store for “Mac (Designed for iPad)” apps?
- Are there specific build settings (e.g.
SUPPORTS_MAC_DESIGNED_FOR_IPAD, TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY, scheme/config mismatches) that can affect TestFlight macOS eligibility independently of App Store eligibility? - Is there an authoritative way in App Store Connect to inspect why a specific TestFlight build is marked as “iOS-only” for macOS?
- Any insight into TestFlight-specific eligibility rules for “Mac (Designed for iPad)” would be appreciated, especially given that App Store distribution for macOS is already working.
I hope we're missing something very basic, and not that the app can't be tested as is for the mac, because it's useful to have our QA team test it on the mac.