I have just developed our new iOs app and deployed it through iTunes to my iPhone.
I don't want to use the app store because it's an internal app. I would like to be able to send a link to the ipa and for someone to be able to download it and install it through iTunes. Is that possible?
The only solution I have came across so far is registering the receiver iPhones in my provisioning and use the ad-hoc deployment process.
We used to have an ipa that would install as described on any iPhone without any kind of registration.
I am bit confused between ad-hoc distribution and in-house distribution...
Would paying €299 for an organization account solve that?
Thanks!
Victor
Yes, you will need to shell out those €299 if you ever wanna get into serious app development.
Yes, you are correct, registering the receiver iPhones in my provisioning and use the ad-hoc deployment process can be done easily but will start to wear you out once the number of test devices start to go up.
This Apple Doc is the perfect guide to get you started with setting up an internal distribution host service.
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.
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/
I am programming an iOS app for somebody living in a different state. Last time I finished an update for him to test, he had to drive over to get it on his iPad.
He's all set up with provisioning profiles and such. Last time I just hit "Run" in xcode and it ran on his iPad.
Is there a way to send him the app as a link in an email? The app is very small (around 20mb). He doesn't have a mac so he can't open the xcode file, but he does have iTunes.
What other (preferably free) way could I send him the app via internet to test?
Thanks in advance
If you are targeting iOS 8+ you can actually setup Beta and Sandbox testers directly in iTunes Conenct, without needing any device UUIDs, just email addresses. This makes it a synch to setup and manage, without caring about which device[s] someone owns.
Just go to iTunes Connect > Users and Roles. There you can add people. Then going into your actual application, you can assign people to participate in testing. You then just upload your application via Xcode (like you would for a release) and lastly, approve that build for prerelease, which will allow all of your testers to install it.
Original Post:
We use Ad Hoc distribution to handle this. It took us awhile to get it all working but once we did it has worked amazingly for all of our beta testers. We send new updates of our app to a handful of people to test before we push updates.
Here is a tutorial that may help.
You can use Ad Hoc provisioning profile for his device and archive your project for Ad Hoc.
I am making my first ever application in iPad.
I have created all my development and distribution certificates from iOs Dev Portal and added them onto the organizer and keychain.
Now i want to know that how to create an executable of my application and send that to the client for testing.
Please tell me what is the best solution for that and how to install that executable on my iPad
Thanks
What you're looking for is what Apple calls "Ad Hoc Distribution"; if you don't like Apple's own documentation then a Google search will reveal plenty of information on how to do it.
You don't need physical access to the testing device, but you do need the device's unique identifier (UDID).
You might want to consider a service like TestFlight which automates much of the work required install an ad hoc build directly onto an iOS device, over the network (rather than through iTunes sync).
As far as I understand, you have to add the client's device as a development device and plug it into your development Mac in order to test it. It might be different with an Enterprise development account, I don't know. With a personal account the only way to distribute your App is via App Store.
I would like to know this myself so please update the question if you find out please.
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.