I have an enterprise account. I can test apps on my device from XCode. How do I send apps to other people to test?
I believe TestFlight is not available for enterprise accounts. A long time ago, ipa files used to be the way to go. With ITunes being replaced by the Music app on the Mac, the ipa file route no longer seems possible.
I couldn't find any information either on Stack Overflow or on Apple's documentations. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
You can use over-the-air installation, by uploading the ipa and Manifest.plist to a server and letting the users install the app using an install link like itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=Manifest.plist . (See this tutorial for example.)
But it's probably easier to use a 3rd party deployment service instead, like Bitwise, HockeyApp, Firebase, etc.
Related
I recently finished an application in Unity for a client who runs a sporting event and wanted the app to let the referees keep a more accurate log of the statistics of each game. When building for android, i get a single file that i can send to my device and install it/run it. The part that i have some questions is re-building that same project for IOS.
I know i MUST have xcode which means i MUST have a mac OS, but here are a few questions that i am unaware of.
1) With the most recent release of xcode, developers dont need the $99 apple developers kit to produce something and test it on their device. From what i learned, is it true that you need to verify each device you send the application to in order to test it?
2) Is there a way to compile the IOS application in a way that i can get a single file, or even a folder, and send it via email to my client, at which point they can download the file to their phone and have the application installed?
3) What is the easiest route i can take in order to get my application into ~30 peoples iphones without individually signing each phone to my application?
Thankyou for your help!
You will have to remove this question as what i understand this is a programming site, Please find the answer for reference below as per your question order.
with xCode 7.0 you can do this, we dont need any licenses and its free for any number of devices to test , refer :- link
Yes you can generate a executable which is termed as iPA , but if you want anyone else to install the iPA, either you will have to generate this using a enterprise profile, or you wil have to add you client device id while generating the profile on apple developer protal :- refer :- link
post which they can install the iPA using itunes
This is not possible as per my knowledge, as Apple has strict poilicies as you cant distribute witout their knowledge. that is the reason of having the apple developer account at first place.
Hope the following helps:
1) For testing on your local device XCode should set up proper provisioning files for the development builds of your app automatically once you purchase a developer license.
2) I build Enterprise Ad Hoc applications for a large publicly traded client and I'm able to send the compiled .IPA file to the client and have him test it by installing it via iTunes after I've signed it with a production certificate through XCode. He tests the app using that method before using a third party vendor to distribute the app on their corporately owned iPhones. The same should work if you sign your application with a production cert, although the aforementioned may be limited to the enterprise account's certificate.
3) If you're trying to remotely install a development version of the app on a test phone you will need to verify the phone via UDID in the Apple Developer center for AdHoc distribution, or use the TestFlight method. You can read more about how to do both of these methods here.
Hope this answer will help you out & good luck!
I think for that what you want you need a Paid Apple Developer because it is not possible (without Jailbreak) to install Apps which are not from the AppStore in iOS. So you have to "test" the App on each iPhone you want the App to run on, or you have to publish it to the AppStore, where you can set, that only specific Apple-IDs may download your app.
Thanks luca4499 and Max. I guess the $99 apple dev kit is the way i'm going to have to go then.
To clarify to other users interested in the same questions.
You can develop for multiple people without using the dev kit as long as your list of people isnt changing often, or you are ok with adding each device separately.
If you want to distribute your application, the easiest way is to get the apple dev kit.
Is there any way to distribute ios applications through my own website, not using app store?
I mean is there any way that enables end users to download the .ipa file from my website with their browser application and install it directly on their iOS devices?
I have looked around in the web and googled it, but it doesn't seem to be any option for it out there, I just want to make sure of it.
Thank You
There are several possibilities, which probably won't match your needs:
Since last month it's possible to test apps on a device without the need of a paid membership.
There's a possibility to deploy an app through a service like TestFlight, but this needs either a profile installed on the device (like HockeyApp) or always new build since the old ones expire after 30 days.
You could deploy an app with the Enterprise Program
The easy way you describe is not possible.
Apart from the options mentioned above there are 2 more methods.
Method 1:
You could ask the user to open a webpage in safari browser with the following link in it.
href="itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=url of the manifest file"
The app is installed as soon as the user clicks the link.
Method 2:
You can also leverage iOS mdm solutions like Hexnode MDM though its bit of an overkill.
here is a link on how to distribute app without app store
UPDATE:
BuddyBuild service will stop on 1-3-2018, the other alternative I know is https://www.diawi.com
Old ANSWER:
Try BuddyBuild , after making a build you can take link to IPA file and distribute it as shown.
The options include:
App Store (free or paid)
Enterprise Distribution (must be within an organization)
Open source distribution
It does not sound like any of these will meet your requirements, so no.
Further explanation:
Just to be clear, the limitation is not in distributing your .ipa file, it is the ability for users to install it on their phone. iOS requires an app be signed by Apple (from the App Store), from an Enterprise certificate, or from a developer certificate when a valid provisioning profile includes the target device.
Basically there are three ways
App store
With this method anyone with an iPhone can have access to the application. You can distribute an unlimited number of applications like this. Apple gets a 30% cut. Of course, Apple must approve your application.
Ad hoc
You can distribute applications using ad hoc without going through the app store, but you are limited to a maximum of 100 devices. With this method you can distribute your application from a web site, email, etc.
Enterprise
The method is for internal distribution in companies with more than 500 employees. Apple does not provide any more public detail that I could find on this method.
It doesn't sound like any of these methods meet your criteria unless you have fewer than 100 customers and don't plan to exceed that number. It sounds like from the question your customers are not internal to your company.
I would advise contacting Apple. They might be able to arrange some kind of custom distribution deal.
You if don't want to upload your files to the already mentioned web services, you can host your IPA in your own computer and distribute over the internet using ngrok and the approach given by jithin.
I've created a server that does exactly that and also is protected by password. You can check it out here:
https://github.com/Edudjr/IPAServer
To send build to testers or client I am generally using installonair.com which allows to upload IPA file and generate short URL which we can provide to other users and they can download and install easily from that link.
There are other options as well like Apple Testflight, hockeyapp but I found installonair.com is the quick one.
If you have and Enterprise membership you can do this, but it really isn't what they want you to do on a large scale.
Take a look at this question: Deploying an iOS Application Using Apple Enterprise Developer Program
You can use enterprise distribution services like BuildCannon, but you still need an apple enterprise account. I use a custom solution, but it's a pain to maintain.
I built an app for a company, then they bought an Enterprise license and are now ready to distribute the app. I have been following this article: Distributing Your Application In-House I have successfully created the .ipa file, but then it just says "Distribute the iOS App file using MDM." with no link or any explanation of what that means. Further research is just making me more confused. I've found articles like this: Add MDM servers which uses terms like "MDM Vendor". What the heck is an MDM Vendor? Surely the Apple Enterprise program comes with a method to distribute an app without having to buy 3rd party software, no? Is there any kind of tutorial out there that can tell me step-by-step instructions for how to distribute this app in layman's terms that I can understand? Thanks.
You can distribute your Enterprise app without MDM. The way it works is basically you upload the .ipa file and a manifest .plist file to a website somewhere. Then you just put a hyperlink that connects to the .plist file. The end user uses a browser on their device, taps the link, and it installs the app on their device automatically. An easy-to-follow tutorial can be found here. The only problem is that the tutorial uses an older version of xcode that generates the .plist file for you. Xcode 6 will not generate the .plist file, but you can find a sample file here. Just replace the URL of the .ipa file, the bundle identifier, bundle version, and title with your own values.
Whenever I've asked people about how to send out a beta through email, they've always told me "Oh, it's easy. You just export the IPA, then send everyone the link." I've done this myself as a tester. I tap the link, and it installs. Easy as that.
And now I can't find out how to do that.
For me, I export, and attach the link in an email to myself, and it forwards me to safari, with an "Open with..." prompt. I can't figure out how to get it to install.
I'm not interested in TestFlight or anything that involves more complication. I just want to send people my build, and can't figure out which part I'm getting wrong.
Assuming (and I hope you don't) jailbreak targeted devices:
With a basic Apple developer licence, you'll need to add devices UDID into the provisioning profile you built your app with. Using a third-party service is a great solution (Crashlytics, TestFlight).
If you have an Enterprise Apple Developer plan, you can build your app with your certificate and install it on a device without adding its UDID before - that's what you need. Once you built the app, you'll just have to host the generated .ipa on a web-server with HTTPS and send the direct link to your customer. Please find the official documentation here and here.
You'll need a webserver for this, and one that support HTTPS.
Here is a link how to do this. Of course, this only works if you know the user's UDIDs beforehand, or use an In-House distribution profile.
My company has an iOS Enterprise Account to distribute In-House Apps. Now we want to develop an app for a customer. The question is: How to deploy the app to the customer's employee's devices? I heard about a "B2B Program", but I wasn't able to find any further details how to deploy to a special Business Store.
I know that there are a lot of discussion about this topic on the net, but I missed the fine details how the process is working in detail.
So what possibilities we have to get the app installed on the customer's employee's iPads?
EDIT: I don't want to invite beta testers or anything similar. I need an official way to install the app on the devices of the customers employees.
Another faster solution then testflightapp is diawi.com.
The link doesn't hold forever but it takes a few seconds to generate a download link.
You either use an archived IPA or a zipped .app , drag it to the relevant part of the site and it generates a download link for you.
We have been using this with a lot of customers with great success.
Just remember - the link is temporary.
Alternatively you can build a simple web page around the IPA file on a server you own (look at the generated diawi page for reference of the tags and info used).
You can also try OTA Distribution process, for more details go through this link.
Here download link is permanent and you don't need to use any third party tool.
How about using a Mobile Distribution Platform like MobileIron?
http://www.mobileiron.com
A few clients at my work use them and their services are pretty good.
I'm doing this for a client now. B2B is, I think, not what you want. Enterprise distribution is intended, by Apple, for in-house distribution. 'In-house' extends as far as out-of-house reps, and even independent contractors who use your client's in-house business app.
Your client should purchase his own Enterprise Developer's certificate, or ask you to purchase one for him. Use that certificate and associated provisioning profile to publish the app (in the usual way using the 'Ad-Hoc' distribution type). Then deploy over-the-air.