New on ShipDesk: Mac apps, TestFlight betas, and three new free tools
George · 2 min read
Another round of updates on ShipDesk. As usual, most of it started as a reply or a message from a founder, so thank you to everyone who asked.
Mac apps launch as Mac apps
Until now, a Mac app launched with its App Store link was shown as an iPhone app. That was wrong, and a founder launching a Mac app pointed it out.
Now ShipDesk reads the App Store listing and tells the two apart:
- A Mac app is labelled Mac app, and its launch page shows a Download on the Mac App Store badge.
- iPhone apps show the devices they run on, such as iPhone and iPad app.
- All launches has a new Mac filter next to web, iOS and Android, so people looking for Mac apps can find them.
You do not need to do anything. Paste your App Store link as before and the right label is picked for you.
iPhone apps still in beta can launch
If your iPhone app is in TestFlight and not in the App Store yet, you can launch it now. Paste your TestFlight invite link where the App Store link goes.
Your launch page then shows a blue Join the beta on TestFlight button, and the app is labelled as in beta, so visitors know what to expect. When your app reaches the App Store, swap the link.
A better row for phone screenshots
Tall phone screenshots now sit in a row you can swipe, with small dots underneath that show where you are, like the App Store. You can tap any dot to jump there. On a computer there is one dot for each place the row can stop, not one per screenshot, so nothing is shown that you can already see.
Three new free tools
The free tools page has three new tools. Like the others, they need no account.
- [Startup name and domain checker](/tools/domain-checker): type a name and see whether it is free as a .com, .dev, .app, .io, .ai and five more endings, straight from each registry.
- [App icon and favicon generator](/tools/icon-generator): one logo in, every icon out: favicon.ico, Apple touch icon, web manifest, and iPhone, Mac and Android app icons, in one zip. It runs in your browser.
- [robots.txt and sitemap checker](/tools/robots-checker): see which search engines and AI crawlers your robots.txt lets in, and whether your sitemap reads cleanly.
Every tool is now listed in the site footer too.
What is next
Keep the replies and messages coming. If something about launching on ShipDesk is confusing or missing, that is exactly what gets fixed first.