Get Feedback on Your iOS App From Indie Developers

You released the app. The screenshots look correct, and the onboarding works on your phone. But nobody has told you what is confusing.

This does not prove that the app has no confusing parts. Usually, it means that nobody has watched a stranger use the app yet. This page shows how to get feedback on your iOS app from other indie developers.

Why your own testing misses problems

You know where every button is, because you put it there. You know that the gear icon opens the sync settings. You know that a long press on a card shows more options. A new user does not know these things.

Nielsen Norman Group calls this the false-consensus effect. Designers expect users to think the same way that they do. Only a test with other people shows the difference.

So you test the paths that you made. A new user takes a different path. Then that user stops on a screen that you did not think about.

The usual options and their limits

Friends and family

They like you, so they rarely tell you what annoyed them. Also, they are often not the people that your app is for. You get encouragement more often than feedback that you can use.

Reddit and developer forums

A post can get comments. But a comment is not the same as a person who installed the app and tried a task. Before you post, read the self-promotion rules of each community.

TestFlight testers

Before launch, TestFlight is the correct tool. Apple's TestFlight overview gives these facts:

• You can invite up to 10,000 external testers.
• The first build for external testers goes to App Review.
• Each build expires after 90 days.

Testers can send feedback with screenshots from inside your app. The problem is motivation: nothing tells a tester to write. Our guide on getting feedback from TestFlight testers shows how to fix this.

Paid usability services

Services such as Userbrain get testers from a panel. They record each session with voice. As of October 2026, the Userbrain Starter plan costs $49 a month for 3 panel testers.

A paid service is the better choice when you need people from your target audience, filtered by age or country. It is also better when you want to hear them think aloud. But with a budget near zero, it is difficult to pay for a test at every release.

What a Raizy session gives you

Raizy is a free web app where indie iOS developers test each other's apps. In each feedback session, another indie iOS developer installs your app from the App Store on their own iPhone. Then that developer uses the app. You get:

• A short screen recording or a screenshot of what the tester did. Recordings are silent. They have no voice track.
• Written notes about what worked and what did not.
• A private overall impression from 1 to 5. It is never public. It never goes to the App Store.

A moderator checks each recording or screenshot and the notes before any credit moves. The moderator rejects low-effort feedback.

No task asks for an App Store rating or review. Ratings never affect credits or approvals.

How credits work, step by step

1. Create a free account. A new account starts with 0 credits, so you test one app first.
2. Test another developer's app. Install the app from the App Store and use it. Upload a recording or a screenshot. Write your notes. Select an impression.
3. When a moderator approves your feedback session, you earn 1 credit.
4. Add your own app with its App Store link. You can also add instructions for testers, up to 500 characters.
5. Request feedback sessions. Each feedback session costs 1 credit. You choose how many you want. You can pause or cancel the request.
6. Read the approved feedback under My Requests. You do not see who the tester is.

There are no subscriptions and no fees.

What to put in the instructions for testers

Give testers three things:

• One clear goal.
• The part of the app to try.
• The question that you want an answer to.

Do not tell testers how to do the task. If you do, you test your instructions and not your app.

A weak instruction:

Try the app and tell me what you think.

Better instructions:

Start as a new user. Create your first budget for this month. Add two expenses. Was anything unclear before you saw your balance?

Find a recipe for dinner with chicken. Save it to a list. Tell me where you expected the save button to be.

For more about how to write tasks and read the results, see free usability testing for iOS apps.

FAQ