I have an Xcode app that I have just finished developing. I do not wish to put this app on the App Store. Instead I would like to build the app and then serve it over my local host, so anyone connected to the URL on my network can simply download the app and use it.
How exactly can I achieve this?
One issue I am running into when selecting the organizer after archiving is that the buttons for export is grayed out. I am signing as my (personal team) but it does not seem to cooperate. How can I do this?
You have a few options here:
Enterprise developer account
Additional cost and can't upload to AppStore, users when installing for the first time have to trust the developer before the app will run
Ad Hoc profile
Requires adding UDIDs for all of the devices that you want to be able to run. Profiles will eventually expire (12 months I think). Would usually use this option with a service like HockeyApp/Diawi
Testflight
If you use internal testers then limited to 100 users that have to be invited to the Apple developer tea. If using external testers then can have much higher number of users, but app has to go through a short review process similar to when submitting for review to the app store
Related
I've recently developed an application for the place that I work, and they many colleagues would like to use it.
These colleagues live miles away, and my research has told me it's very hard/impossible to load iPhone apps onto a non-jailbroken device.
So I would like to know if it is possible to put an app on the appstore for free, but only allow people with login credentials to access it or something?
Probably it is not so hard as you thought. You can use over the air distribution, without upload app to AppStore. You can find lots of useful info here.
Register an Apple ID (Or you already have one)
Join the Apple Developer Program (Cost you $99 every year)
Archive your app using AdHoc certificate, every device registered in the provisioning profile will be able to install the app
You can use iTunes Connect and keep your app in preview version or beta version. You can also add 1000 external users for your app and 25 internal users.
Internal users will get update just after you upload new build of your app and external will get after beta review. You just need users name and email This would be helpful for you.
I have a system which I want to present to potential investors. It is a client / server system and the client runs on mobile devices.
The client can only be used when certain people are connected to the server via another app, so I currently don't want to upload it to the app store for public use.
When I present the system to investors I can make sure that the correct people are logged in and run the demo.
I read online and didn't find a suitable distribution mechanism. I don't want to bother my potential investors with details about finding their device ids so I don't think I can use ad-hoc distribution. I can't upload it to the app store because the service isn't available 99% of the time. Any other options"?
Thanks.
Well you options are limited, you can open a new Apple Developers Account for Enterprise distribution. But the license for these distribution does restrict the distribution to company employees only.
You can use the iOS 8 SDK and Xcode 6 to distribute your app to 25 beta tester, wihtout going thru review. And later Apple will allow you to beta test, with app review, for a 100 users.
But for now AdHoC will be your best option, and use something like HockeyApp or TestFlight for the distribution. But using AdHoc does require you to have the device UDID before hand as they need to added to the AdHoc Profile.
Best way to distribute iOS app for testing or demo is to use Testflight. It is much easier then distributing IPA file and letting anyone install it on their iOS device.
I would suggest using TestFlight as it is simple and reliable. The only thing is, you need to register with the device ID. You can send the testFlight build to your selected clients with this.
www.testflightapp.com
Make an enterprise adhoc of your application. Apple allows you to create adhoc of your applciation with 100 users allowed at max.
And then you can demo your application to 100 people.
If you "don't want to trouble the investors with finding their device ids", then test flight is your best options. Your investors just need to install test flight make there account(with really easy steps) on test flight. And accept your invite. After they are are in your team you can easily get there device id by clicking info button next to there name on screen, under people tab of website.
Check this image for detail:
I'm currently developing an iOS app for a company as a consultant and they explicitly asked that the app should not be visible in the public app store but I need to distribute to the employees and contractors.
What are the necessary steps in order to achieve this goal? I've found info on the web about the Apple Enterprise program but the procedure for the distribution is somewhat unclear to me, as the documentation I found is messy.
Could someone please explain what do I need and what are the steps to follow in order to distribute the app in such fashion? I've made clear the steps to get to the .ipa file, I need to put the file on the devices.
Thank you.
You can build your own server and host the application there itself.
You need to uploaded the IPA file on the server and create an HTML page through which it can be installed directly in the device.
This method is called Over The Air distribution. TestFlight uses the same method to do so.
Please refer this link for complete process:
http://aaronparecki.com/articles/2011/01/21/1/how-to-distribute-your-ios-apps-over-the-air
Create a distributed provision file for you app(You need to add the device identifier who want to install the app).
Build you app and distributed with ad hoc
Then the employee can install the app from itunes.
You can also enable the employee to install from safari, please refer here for more detail information.
If you release only a file.ipa to install that you need the jailbreak on the device, that's if is a big company is impossible, but you have a 2 possible ways:
1) huge an slow but is effective, finish you app and pass the project on a laptop, create new buy a new developer program only for this company, setUp the laptop with new certificate and install the app on all company device manually one by one, ins very slow and huge process, but it work, no app on appStore, and no body know that your project exist.
2) publish on app store with AdHoc provisioning profile, have 100 device per App, but you can publish more same app with different name ex: App1, App2 ext.
The app is on appstore, but not visible, only the device with AdHoc Provisioning Profile can install the app.
3) make a jailbreak on a device company heheheh
Hope this help you
Firstly, the app store is the the primary route for App distribution for iOS.
That said, I have done beta app distribution in the past using test flight.
http://testflightapp.com/
This size has usually been small, but you are usually limited by Apple to 100 ad-hoc devices per year. If your install base is going to exceed that, then you may need to look into other methods. Such as enrolling in the Apple's enterprise Program, which depending on the size of the company you're working for, might be a better option.
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
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.
I have created an application for a company that I need to deploy. The application is for internal use only so it will not be available on the App Store. Do I need a UDID for each individual on whose device the app will be installed? That would be impossible since there are 500 employees. Does anyone have a good documentation or experience on deploying the iOS iPhone application using the Enterprise Developer Program only.
With the Apple ENTERPRISE Developer Program you can NOT distribute an App in the Apple AppStore.
Its purpose is to collaborate an In-House App in your own company.
The Enterprise account does not necessarily need the UDID of your target devices. You can for instance also use a link which remotely installs the app directly on the device.
You can find more details here: https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/
If you are trying to deploy applications to customers/users on a production/long term basis, you can deploy an applications outside the apple store in three ways:
manually via iTunes
directly via iTunes Configuration utility
via weblink (sent via mms, email, webbrowser etc.)
In order to distribute an application this way, the application must have a special corporate signature, and each device must have a matching corporate signature installed manually.
The best overall explanation for the process is available at this link.
If you're just testing on a handful of test devices, then you I would suggest two approaches:
a dev release to a test device follow step by step instructions here.
Or you can use a helper application to deploy a beta release: testflightapp.
You can do distribute your iOS app to only a particular set of people (in your case, your company employee), by following these procedure
Get a apple enterprise developer account
Create a distribution certificate and provisioning profile
(In-House) using your enterprise developer account
Archive the ipa file using the created certificate and
provisioning profile
While saving the ipa, click on the check mark. So, the plist file
is also created.
Host the plist and ipa file in your server
Include a download html file with a href tag with src
"itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://mydomain.com/apps/MyInHouseApp.plist"
Now when you click on the link from your device the app will get downloaded.
I don't agree with the previous answer. Check this document page 26.
MDM servers can deploy both App Store apps and in-house enterprise
apps to devices over the air. Both paid and free App Store apps can
be managed by an MDM server using Volume Purchase Program (VPP)
managed distribution.
Once you have VPP and Enterprise Developer account you could be able to install apps in the app store or company owned apps into the managed devices.
Further for just deploying the in-house app you could follow this 9 step process.
If you need to deploy to many devices i suggest AirWatch. I've used it many times, it can be a bit frustrating to set up but once you have it working its very nice to have.
Testflight still requires udid and the limit is 100 for 1 year before you can reset. Enterprise deployment is best method for in house apps.