Revenuecat Test Store failing with preview builds.

Question

Hello people,

I just want to understand a bit more on how the revcat Test Store works. First, I tested with a local dev build and it works perfectly fine. But when I got and create a preview build (NOT production, release) build, I get the warning that im using a test key and the app will now close. Is this normal behavior or is there a way to fix this?

I dont have the option to use the real app store key on a preview build because I have different build environments along with different bundle identifiers. This would imply that I have to create a new app in app store connect simply to test the native purchase flow.

Haley Pace · Answer

Hi — yes this is expected. There isn’t a way to keep a Test Store key in a preview/TestFlight/Release binary. The RevenueCat Test Store is a simulated purchase flow for development only. It does not use StoreKit. Local/dev-client builds (developmentClient: true / Debug) are the intended place for it. An Expo preview build (developmentClient: false) is compiled as Release, so the SDK treats a test_ key as a production leak, shows that warning, and closes the app.

You do not need a new App Store Connect app just to keep using Test Store — keep the Test Store key on the dev client.

A second App Store Connect app is only needed if preview uses a different bundle ID and you want the real StoreKit purchase sheet there. Apple looks up products by bundle ID, so com.app.preview cannot buy products for com.app.

Typical setups:

Preview uses the same bundle ID as production → use the Apple appl_ key in preview/TestFlight. No extra ASC app.
Preview must use a different bundle ID and you need StoreKit there → create that app in App Store Connect, add a matching Apple app in RevenueCat, and use that app’s appl_ key in the preview profile.

Docs: Test Store · Sandbox testing

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