TestFlight, the popular beta distribution service for iPhone and iPad apps, has just launched TestFlight Live and aims to give iOS developers real-time analytics (how many users are using their apps right now), engagement metrics (how often and how long users are using their apps), and more.

TestFlight LIVE has arrived. Use Testflight for more than just Beta testing. Just one SDK for Beta and Live.

One simple line of code empowers developers to take control of their beta testing and their app business. Our goal is to help you build better apps.

Both services are free and we plan to add optional premium features in the future. The features offered today will remain free.

In addition to real-time and engagement, TestFlight Live will also measure audience (which devices and which features are most used), revenue, and stability.

No word yet on what those premium features are, but developers can download the TestFlight Live SDK now via the link below. If any developers give it a whirl, let us know what you think about it in our iOS developers forum.

Source: TestFlight

Apple is about to add a third device to their iPhone OS family, the iPad, but so far developers are still limited to 100 UDID "slots" for ad-hoc distribution (aka beta testing), leading Craig Hockenberry of the Icon Factory to wonder on his Furbo.org blog if the "crunch" is coming.

Let's say you (or your company) has a developer account with Apple, two popular iPhone/iPod touch apps, and are about to release an iPad app. That's three apps total. But all you get are 100 slots total -- not per app, not per-user, not 100 for iPhone and 100 for iPad. Total. So if you have 5 developers in-house and each wants to test on all three iPhone OS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad), that's 15 slots gone already. If you want to maintain compatibility with older devices like the iPhone 2G or the iPod touch G1, you might need slots for those as well. If anyone has replaced a lost or broken device, or had one swapped out under warranty, that means a new UDID and another slot taken. We could be up to 20 slots gone already.

If you have beta testers, the problem scales. Each device each tester has comes with a UDID and takes a slot. If you want to maximize your beta testers, that could be 3 slots each (one for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) and perhaps more if they have old iPhones or iPod touches, or if they're replaced a device. That means 15-20 beta testers can consume every slot you have left. Sure you could stretch that out by only having each tester register 1 device but that adds complexity and still only delays hitting the limit.

Further compounding the problem is that Apple only frees up the UDID slots once a year, so any lost devices, developers who have left the company, or beta testers who have dropped out can equate to wasted slots just sitting there for up to a year.

With the iPad launch, it means any developer whose already maxed out and whose slots don't free up before April 3 is in a tough spot. They can't register any new UDIDs, which means they can't register any iPads to test on. That's not only bad for them, it's bad for users who expect well-tested, well-polished apps and games.

Hockenberry thinks there's a better system for Apple to adopt:

A tweet from Mike Piontek crystalized this thought: the limitation for Ad Hoc provisioning should be based around individuals, not the devices that they own. It makes more sense to regulate Apple IDs rather than UDIDs. I want John Gruber to be able to run my apps on whatever devices he currently owns. I want to put my own name on the provisioning list and enable the five iPhone OS devices sitting on my desk. All that Apple cares about is that are only 98 other people besides Gruber and me.

And he points out it's not just developers but those same Fortune 100 companies Apple often touts who would benefit:

(I suspect that Enterprise IT has similar problems and would welcome a solution based on employees rather than the hardware they own. I can only imagine the headaches of managing thousands of devices.)

If you're a developer, let us know if the ad-hoc crunch is a concern and what, if anything, you're doing to handle the oncoming iPad UDID storm.

Apple's Ad-Hoc iPhone distribution method allows developers to register up to 100 iPhones or iPod touches so they can run their applications on them without having to go through the App Store. This is priceless for beta testing, educational environments, and other non-public environments.

Dragthing's James Thomson, however, has posted on a problem that just might bite a few developers right in their beta tests:

Reading between the lines, and discussions on the forums, it sounds like every time I deleted or modified an entry, I was getting one closer to the magic figure of 100 device IDs you have entered since the beginning of time. When you hit the limit, regardless of how many total device IDs you have listed in the portal, your ability to further edit the list is removed completely.

In other words, if you change your beta testers -- if you change your own device -- you might just end up locked out of your own Ad-Hoc distribution.

Check out the full post for more on this problem and what, if nothing, Apple is currently doing to help developers fix and/or work around it.

Meanwhile, let us know if you have any ideas as well...

No, not the 2.1 firmware beta, that one's for realz. We're talking here about the Washington Post, which ran a Techcrunch story breaking the news that:

Now we're hearing from an app developer that Appleis finally going to start rolling out a new beta program in the next few days has released an Ad-Hoc program. Details are slim, but it seems like Apple is capping the total number of beta participants at 100 per app. In order to download a beta app, users will need to submit their iPhone's UDIDs number to the developer,who will then need to flag its eligibility in the store itself. All betas will still be distributed through the App Store - you won't be able to download one on an external site.The apps will be directly distributed by the developer.

Sound an awful lot like the Ad-Hoc distribution method Apple announced for educational institutions way back at WWDC to you? Sure did to iPhone developer extraordinaire Erica Sadun, who rumor smashed thusly:

The "Beta Program" will not be released in the "next few days." Ad-hoc distribution is already available and working. Developers can create ad-hoc provisions through the iPhone Developer Program site today.

Sadun also provides a handy-dandy Ad-hoc Helper app for mailing your UDID directly to a developer, should you be part of an Ad-hoc app distribution group.