Visual Studio App Center Is Gone. Here's Where to Distribute iOS Builds Now
Microsoft retired App Center on March 31, 2025 — no more build hosting, no more OTA distribution, no more CodePush. If you're migrating, the good news is the replacement for build distribution takes five minutes to set up.
Upload an IPA now — freeWhat teams lost when App Center retired
- Build distribution. The IPA sharing links, tester invites and device installs that many teams ran entirely through App Center.
- CodePush. Over-the-air updates for React Native apps — retired with the platform (EAS Update and Shorebird are the modern replacements).
- Crash reporting and analytics. Now a separate decision — Sentry, Bugsnag, or the built-in tools on Firebase.
- CI/CD pipelines. App Center's build service was replaced by GitHub Actions, Bitrise, Codemagic or self-hosted runners.
The mistake to avoid: re-architecting your whole pipeline at once. Distribution is the urgent piece — testers still need today's build. Crash reporting and CI can move on their own schedule.
App Center alternative, by need
| What you used App Center for | Best replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing iOS builds with testers | Build Installer | Upload IPA → install link + QR. No account, no 24-hour expiry, works with ad-hoc and enterprise certs. |
| Android beta distribution | Firebase App Distribution / DeployGate | Mature Android tester flows and Google-integrated pipelines. |
| Crash reporting | Sentry / Bugsnag | Both ran migration campaigns when the retirement was announced. |
| CI/CD builds | GitHub Actions / Bitrise / Codemagic | Fastlane-based flows port over with minimal changes. |
| CodePush (React Native OTA) | Expo EAS Update / Shorebird | Shorebird covers Flutter; EAS Update covers React Native/Expo. |
A 5-minute migration plan for distribution
- Upload today's IPA to Build Installer and share the install link — testers keep working immediately.
- If you used ad-hoc signing, collect tester UDIDs with our free UDID tool instead of App Center's device management.
- Wire CI: POST the IPA to
/api/builds/from your pipeline and poll for the install URL. - Move crash reporting and CI at your own pace — they're independent of distribution.
FAQ
When did App Center shut down?
March 31, 2025, per Microsoft's retirement notice. After that date, sign-in and API calls stopped working.
What's the fastest free replacement for sharing iOS builds?
Upload the IPA to Build Installer and share the install link — no signup, no size cap, links don't expire after 24 hours like Diawi's free tier.
Can I keep using my App Center CI scripts?
No — App Center's API is gone. Port the build steps to GitHub Actions or Bitrise and add a step that POSTs the IPA to our API.