# Ways to run your app

> This page is about FlutterFlow (the app builder you use by describing your app), not FlutterFlow Studio.

URL: https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/ways-to-run

Compare the three ways that your app runs (the preview, a share link, and a phone app) and choose the one that fits what you want to do.

Your app runs in three ways: in the preview inside FlutterFlow, through a share link in a browser, and as an installed phone app. Each option fits a different stage of building, sharing, and testing.

## Which to use {#which-should-i-use}

| Way | What it runs | Who can open it | Where it runs | Use it to |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Preview | Your app on **Overview**, or a thread's **Copy of your app** on that thread's page | App owners, developers, and viewers in FlutterFlow | Inside FlutterFlow | Test a change while you build it. |
| Share link | Your app, or a single thread's version | Anyone with the link | In a browser on a phone or computer | Share your app with others, or open it on your own phone. |
| Phone app | Your app at the time the build was created | Test builds: your own phone. Store apps: anyone downloading from the App Store or Google Play | Installed on an iPhone or Android phone | Test your app as a native install, and release it to the stores. |

Your app's share links, test builds, and **Overview** preview all use live data. Adding, editing, or deleting data in the **Overview** preview changes your live data directly.

## The preview {#preview}

The preview runs your app inside FlutterFlow on **Overview** and on each thread's page. Click **Show the app** to open it:

- On **Overview**, the preview runs your app.
- On a thread's page, the preview runs that thread's **Copy of your app**. Changes requested in the thread remain isolated there until you push them. Data edited in the thread's preview stays in that thread's copy of your starter data; to add an item to your starter data for future threads, turn on **Keep for new threads** for that item and push the thread. See [Live, thread and starter data](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/data-copies).

See [Preview](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/preview).

## Share links {#share-link}

A share link opens your app in a browser for anyone with the link. Owners and developers get the link from **Share › Link**. In a thread you started, choose **Your app** or **This thread**.

Scan the link's **QR code** to open it on your own phone.

**Share › Link** publishes your app on the web. Anyone with the link can open your app in a browser. Some browsers, including those on iPhone and iPad, also show an **Install** button to add the app to the device. FlutterFlow assigns the link's address.

See [Put it on the web](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/share-a-link#web).

## Phone apps {#phone-app}

Owners and developers build installable iPhone and Android apps in **Releases**:

- **Test builds** let you test on your own phone. In **Releases**, click **On your phone**. The **iPhone app** installs through TestFlight and requires an Apple Developer account.
- **Store apps** go to testers and store review in the App Store and Google Play.

FlutterFlow always builds phone apps from your app, never from an unpushed thread.

See [Android test build](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/android-test-build), [iPhone test build](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/iphone-test-build), and [How releasing works](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/how-releasing-works).

## Compared {#push-share-release}

| Action | Where | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Push | **Push to your app**, in a thread | Applies a thread's changes to your app. |
| Share | **Share › Link** | Creates a browser link to your app or to one thread's version. |
| Release | **Releases** | Builds installable phone apps from your app. |

See [Push](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/push).

## iPhone without a developer account {#iphone-without-apple-account}

Building an iPhone test app requires an Apple Developer account.

To use your app on an iPhone without an Apple Developer account, open your app's share link in Safari on your iPhone and add it to your Home Screen. See [Open on a phone](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/open-on-a-phone).

## Next steps {#what-you-can-do-next}

- [Share a link](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/share-a-link)
- [Open on a phone](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/open-on-a-phone)
- [Android test build](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/android-test-build)
- [iPhone test build](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/iphone-test-build)