Fledgling iOS hobbyist here. I have a demo app I plan on presenting to a group of people in about a month. It is a simple app, and I am still on the free tier of the Apple Developer Program for now. For this presentation, I'm being provided loaner iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks to demo my app and its code on.
I do know that I am able to load my app onto at least two devices, but they are my own personal iPhone and iPad.
My question is this: With a free developer account, will I be able to 1) load my app onto multiple iPhones and iPads (that I do not own) to demo for the duration of this presentation; and 2) load the code into Xcode on multiple Macs (that I do not own) so that I can show the code to those present. Or will I have to take the plunge and purchase the full $99/year developer account.
This isn't a code question, I know - but the Apple Developer forums are not nearly as active, and I would like a clear answer on this.
Connect each iOS device to your dev machine and build your app on it. The device will ask you to trust the developer, which you can do in Settings. It's no different than debugging on your own device.
Are you showing the code or the finished app? If showing the code, make sure the other machine has Xcode, then transfer the code from your dev machine (by USB, network folder, GitHub, etc) and build on the new machine. If you are showing the finished app, make sure Gatekeeper is set to at least "Mac App Store and Identified Developer"
The quick workaround is you change the identifiers and install it on various phones. com.company.app1 and com.componay.app2 and install the same app on different device. Although with this push notifications and all services connected to identifier does not works.
Related
I have an iPhone
I don't have a physical mac. I'm using the new AWS mac instances to use XCode / build the binaries (Completely kosher and allowed by Apple).
I can't connect the phone and the AWS instance since they're not physically in the same place.
If I can build an IPA of the app, I should be able to use Firebase distribution to distribute the app to my phone (I think). But when I try to build the app using flutter build ios I get errors like: 'There are no devices registered in your account on the developer website. Plug in and select a device to have Xcode register it'
What should I do? Can I virtually register my device somehow by putting its UUID somewhere? Can I sign up for a developer account and use TestFlight to distribute the app? Will that also require the device to be physically plugged in?
I can answer for the TestFlight part. You can distribute the app via TestFlight, and the device does not have to be plugged in. So that is very doable.
Using TestFlight is simple and pretty straight forward with many guides, official ones and also on youtube. There are several troubleshooting tips here on SO as well. The drawback as I see it is that it takes time before your pushed build is readily available on TestFlight. So it won't be a good way to iterate code changes fast.
I have written a simple to-do list app in Codename One, and so far I have used the simulator to test it. I want to see how it looks on a real device (iPhone 5s or 8 Plus), but I don't want to purchase the Apple Developer membership. I really don't want to pay $99/year (I'm a beginner).
I know I can get the app on my device by jailbreaking it, but is that the only way?
So basically my question is, is there any method of installing my Codename One app on my iOS device (without paying for the membership or jailbreaking it)?
Clarification: I need to know how to test Codename One apps on my device. This is not the usual concern about how to test iOS apps on a device without membership or jailbreaking. I understand how to do this if I am coding in Swift.
This video from Codename One shows how I can generate native projects. This alone would be sufficient, but building the iOS app requires a certificate, which requires an Apple Developer membership.
You need a certificate from Apple to test on a device without using xcode and we can't realistically provide a way around it.
Getting a certificate for free from Apple is a different thing. Educational institutes usually have access to an educational apple developer account that allows you to do just that for free so if you are a student or know a student you can get access to one of those and use it to test your app on your device for free.
Since Xcode7 you can simply build on your device with Xcode, if you don't use any restricted capabilities. That said you would need to run your cross compiled code from Codename One in Xcode, to be able to run it on a device without a membership. (Not sure if it is possible to retrieve the cross compiled code.)
More context on building on device using Xcode:
Test iOS app on device without apple developer program or jailbreak
We have an app in Xcode from our old developers. We are in the registration process for an apple developer account, but on internet I read it can take a couple of weeks before it gets approved.
Is there a way I can simulate the app (like with TestFlight) without sending the actual code to potential new developers?
You can't distribute the app unless you have it signed/provisioned with needed UDIDs (which requires developer program). You can deploy it on your(s) device(s) using XCode though.
You should still be able to run the iOS simulator, which is generally the default behaviour for the build-and-run button - you can download more simulator environments in Xcode -> Preferences -> Components if you're missing one that you need.
Update: If you want third parties to run the app, there's no practical option apart from TestFlight. This is because iOS uses code signing to prevent trojan or pirated apps being installed on their devices. In that case you can consider other options which will achieve whatever your goals are, for example making a video of the app in use or setting up VNC access to a machine with the simulator (and code) on it.
I am a Beginner in IOS Development.After I'm done with build and test on iPad simulator.I would like to figure out:
1.What is difference between testing and deploying app on iPad?
2.How we can test or deploy iPad app without developer license and registering iPad development-device ?
3.Can test ipad app on ipad hardware using testflight app without payment. How?
I have visited various link but it didn't clarified me ?
How to test the iPad app in iPad hardware (not in simulator)
How can I test my iPad app on my actual iPad?
Personal iPhone application without paying?
1.How i can test app on iPad hardware?
Buy an iPad device and start testing on it.
2.What is difference between testing and deploying app on iPad?
Certificates Development vs Production
Provisioning profile Development vs Production
Push notification token is different
3.How we can test or deploy iPad app without developer license and registering iPad development-device ?
No you cannot without developer account, as the answers you linked all said you will need to pay a membership to apple of $99 as of now I believe.
In my suggestion,
Don't buy an iPad, instead buy an iPhone6+, why?
You can use it as phone even when you're not doing a test. If an app running well (in most cases) will run on iPad (except some UI objects which you can easily test in simulator). This seems funny but you will happy with 6+.
Even you can buy iPod 5th generation. Which are little cheap.
No developer account? Not need.
If you've a device then ask your friend (who have iOS developer account) to add your UDID into their account and grab you provisioning profile and certificate. For a registered account one can add 100 devices. Mostly they don't have this much of devices. If you're a good friend then he may not say NO. Even you can offer him for a treat (a beer or coffee) for this.
No good friend / No Device ? Still don't worry.
Either you can purchase a device (which you want) and open-up a account, and Yes you'll be happy forever (at least for a year, you've to repay after one year).
OR
There're several online testing services from which you can choose the best for you. Mostly they will charge in minutes they test your app. I seen one service which give 200 minutes/month # $20 (or 1200 minutes/month # $100). For a very small app this can be enough (after proper unit testing in simulator by you).
At last,
Having a device and account will be a long time investment. If you have both you can test and upload (your own apps too) on AppStore. But at minimum investment cost of $700 to 800 .
I have noticed that there are walkie-talkie apps that communicate between 2 Iphones via WIFI.
Each Iphone searches for an available Iphone with the Walkie-talkie App. If this works then there must be a way to distribute an Enterprise App within the reach of the Sending Iphones WIFI to a second Iphone with its WIFI turn on and no app on board.
How it could happen:
Step 1 - First Iphone searches for Iphone within WIFI range.
Step 2 - Push Notification of Available App.
Step 3 - Second Iphone responds affirmative to request, asking for App.
Step 4 - First Iphone pushes .plist and .ipa files to second Iphone with install prompt.
Step 5 - Second Iphone installs app.
There of course could other features.
Can this be done?
Sometimes you have an App on your phone and meet someone who wants your app but they cant download it at that moment because the WIFI and Cellular networks are too slow where you are located. Many times the app is never downloaded by this person and the opportunity is lost. I have experienced this many times. Wouldnt this App above be a good solution for this problem. You could also add a feature in the downloaded app to in the future download the App Store version which is available.
If you know how to do this would you give your input? Thanks for your help, James Vernon
At least for an enterprise app this seems feasible. While there's no mechanism available to push a .ipa onto a device there are over the air installs which have been in use for years. (For example I used them to distribute as hoc builds from a continuous integration server: http://blog.carbonfive.com/2011/05/04/automated-ad-hoc-builds-using-xcode-4/)
If the host device can run a web server to serve te .ipa and a .plist then the client device just needs to visit the appropriate URL to fetch the app.
Of course this assumes that you are willing to allow enterprise app distribution out of your control. I'm not sure if that complies with the enterprise license agreements. It also depends on the wifi network in use allowing peer to peer traffic which is not always the case.
I don't know that the end result is useful to anyone but some parts of what you describe seem feasible.