For internal beta tests we would like to implement a system to automaticly distribute our signed apps.
According to our information we need to have an enterprise licence to accomplish this.
We are working on multiple projects each with a different package name.
Are we able to sign multiple apps with a single enterprise licence?
The information we are finding is contradicting. One persons says there is no limit on the amount of app(-packagenames) we are able to sign. The other says it's limited to two distribution profiles.
If there is a limit, are we able to use a wildcard?
So in short:
We researching if an enterprise licence covers our means. We want to enroll the enterprise program to let a CI sign multiple apps. Apps have different package names.
There is no limit on how many App ID-s you have on any one Program, either Enterprise or Developer, i have used 6 and more, and been a part of the teams that have used more than 25.
In short, Enterprise Program is for enterprises for their In-House applications that are not intended to distribute outside of the enterprise, if You want to distribute your finished App outside of your enterprise you will need a Developer program.
For testing apple has https://developer.apple.com/testflight/ system that is for beta testing, and is available in all programs.
Related
I'm developping an App in my company. We want to distribute this App to our customers but without using the AppStore from Apple, is it possible?
I heard about MDM (mobile device manager) but I'm not really sure if it will cover this need?
I heard also about Enterprise developer license for in house deployment but if I'm understanding correctly it means the App can be deployed only inside my company and not to our customers, is it correct?
Thanks for your clarifications.
Seb
If you are trying to get apps to customers without the App Store, you have options, but none of them are awesome.
There are many choices for over the air distribution of the binary, that really isn't the complicated part. You've got MDM solutions, HockeyKit, TestFlight, Manual server manipulation - all are fairly easy and well documented.
Where things get nasty is in the signing. If you definitely do not want to participate in the App Store environment (no app store, no Volume Purchase Program), you only have two real options:
Ad Hoc - Limited to 100 Devices. Devices must be explicitly added to a provision.
Enterprise - No device limit, devices do not need to explicitly added to provisions. In effect, these builds will run on any device; the caveat, you are not legally allowed to distribute these builds to anyone outside your company.
If you intend on developing an application for some other company and their employees, then your only viable option is to sign the final build with a signing certificate attached to said company's development account. The enterprise signing route is a really great approach, if you can get the company to sign all the paperwork to get their own developer account, owned by them.
For stock iOS devices, you really have only 4 choices:
1) Ad Hoc distribution to up to 100 total max devices per iOS Developer enrollment (including wireless Ad Hoc via manifest file & SSL.)
2) Enterprise distribution for distribution to employees of corporations with a D&B rating.
3) Apple's iTunes App store if your app is approved by Apple. (This includes the B2B program and account/password protected apps.) (This now also includes up to 1000 people using Apple's new Testflight service.)
4) Unlimited distribution to other people who have their own individual, company or enterprise iOS/Apple Developer enrollments. The distribution can be either as an Xcode project with source code or a pre-compiled library, or as an ipa or archive file that the customer can (re)codesign with their own Developer certificates. For applications priced at well over $99 per customer, the cost of this annual developer program enrollment might only be a slight additional cost to the customer (and given appropriate legal authorizations, might even be handled as an annual paid service.)
4 b.) ADDED UPDATE: As of Apple's release of Xcode 7 (in late 2015), anyone with just a free Apple ID can use Xcode 7 on their Mac to install apps from build-able Xcode projects directly to their own tethered iOS devices this way, with no need to pay $99 to Apple to enroll. See this answer.
This essentially allows unlimited distribution to anyone with physical access to a current Mac and who knows how to run Xcode.
Options (1), (2) and (4) do not require going through App store approval. There are no other options for distributing apps to stock OS iOS devices.
You could take a look at https://testflightapp.com/.
We use that a lot for customers that only need a app for testing doing the development phase and for apps that are used for conventions (limited time, limited number of units).
Testflight is very easy to use for both developers and end-users, but it is not very well suited for apps that are going to be used on a large numbers of devices, since all devices that are installed to needs to be in your provisioning profile which has a limited number of slots.
EDIT
The testfligt approch is no longer valid. You can now use the TestFlight integrated into itunesconnect. Alternatively you could integrate crashlytics.com, at use their distribution system. It works pretty weill
I'm sorry if this question has been asked. I have looked but can not find the question/answer.
I work for a web agency and am now developing IOS Apps for deployment on iPads.
We have the Developer licence from Apple however, reading the blurb it suggests that the Apps need to go through the App Store.
Due to the nature of the Apps (Medical) they can not be on the App Store.
Is this Developer licence using the "Ad Hoc" option enough to deploy the App to clients (not in our company) using a link, or do I need to use the Enterprise Licence?
The Enterprise Licence does say:
You plan to only distribute your iOS apps within your company or organization
The Enterprise Program is intended for developers who wish to develop
and distribute their iOS apps within their company or organisation.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry this is a bit of a random/bitty question.
Thanks in advance.
The ad-hoc distribution is limited to 99 devices and the enterprise limitation is 2k or 5k, not sure. If you want to really distribute your app, but limit its usage, then you have to build an authorization mechanism into your app (like http://www.doccheck.com for doctors). You may use an existing service like this or you can implement your own.
Enterprise distribution, btw, requires the registration of the device in your company. I would not do that as a customer in that case, maybe that is an issue in your case, too.
I am currently developing iPhone app, and I use a "Apple standard program".
At the moment, I am deploying this app to users with OTA with distribution certificat and OTA (over the air) installation.
It's working but i'm limited up to 100 devices.
I read that the "Apple Enterprise Program" don't have this limit (of 100 devices).
Is it right ?
If I enroll to Enterprise program, will I need to get UUID devices in order to generate provisioning profiles to deploy my app (like I do now with standard program and my 100 devices users) ?
Thanks for feedbacks.
No you don't need to know the UDIDs for Enterprise distributed apps.
It's very important to note however that you're not allowed to distribute Enterprise Apps to People other than your employees or other members of the organization which enrolled in the Enterprise Dev Program.
You should be aware that Enterprise distributed apps are signed with a special distribution certificate and provisioning profile which only allow the app to run after the device had an opportunity to check with apples servers if your certificate is still valid. This means that Apple, should they happen to learn about illicitly distributed Enterprise apps, is perfectly able to shut these apps down by revoking the distribution certificate. Furthermore, those certificates expire each year anyway just like the regular distribution certificates do.
Unfortunately, there's no real solution to your problem - I happen to know, because the 100 device limit put a halt to a research project of one of my clients, too. In their current form, the available development programs as offered by Apple offer only a minimum of flexibility. You might want to contact them about it, if enough people do, maybe they'll change something one day.
The Apple Enterprise Program will only allow distributing within the organization. Further Apple restricts the Enterprise Program to large organizations and there are other restrictions as to membership.
If you are looking for general distribution the Apple Enterprise Program is not an option.
I have a question about the licenses of iOS and my application.
I am developing a application to run on a lot of iPad's for a consulters company. This company will download the (IPA) file from our web interface, and sync the devices on iTunes. Is this possible with the simple iOS Developer Program licence? I think that this is the famous ad-hoc, and not the in-house distribution from Enterprise Program. I am really confused about this licence and the Enterprise Program.
Thanks.
Since iOS 4 was released, you don't have to manually download the IPA and sync through iTunes, you can install by tapping on a link on a web page. You just need to create a plist file and point the link to it with a special pseudo-protocol. The details are in the developer library.
The individual / company developer account can handle that with ad hoc builds, but it sounds like the enterprise program is a better match for your needs. Ad hoc builds expire after a few months, it's limited to a hundred users and getting the UDIDs from the client can be a real pain. I've gone down that path before, and it's not unusual to receive UDIDs as screenshots of iTunes embedded in a Word document or incomplete/wrong, even after you give them step-by-step instructions on how to do it properly.
The enterprise program has its own drawbacks. It can take a while to get set up, and the company needs a DUNS number. However once it's set up, you'll find it easier to work with.
The standard developer program will let you distribute to 100 devices per year. That's the ad-hoc mechanism, and it isn't intended for what you're doing, although it certainly will work assuming you have fewer than 100 users.
The Enterprise program is designed for what you're doing, but costs more and has different details.
With the individual and company plans you have a limitation of 100 devices that you authorize with ad hoc distribution. Besides you have App Store access. If the number of devices is > 100 then applying to this program is not useful and then you must revert to the enterprise program.
The enterprise program gives you unlimited number of devices that can be authorized but no access to the App Store. In such case the consulter company must be enrolled to this program and can distribute the apps only to its employers or members. Finally this program provides other than ad-hoc distribution even in-house distribution, that is a form of automatic app distribution (like a simplified app store but for the company only). Finally note that in order to apply to this program the company must own a DUNS number.
Clearly if you want to have both options, that is in-house distribution and App Store access the company can enroll to the two programs.
We want to develop apps for a variety of separate clients for use on their iPads/iPhones.
Right now we have a developer license and and provision UUIDs manually and distribute the app OTA via a web server.
This limits us to 100 devices per license and leaves us paying for upkeep of the license.
Some of our clients may also be interested in using an MDM software package.
What is the best way for us to provision and push apps to many clients and more that 100 devices? Would each client need to pay for their own enterprise license?
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.
Would each client need to pay for
their own enterprise license?
It looks like it, according to the terms and conditions available here: http://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
More specifically, from this page:
I am a developer who wants to create an in house app for my client.
Can I join the iOS Developer
Enterprise Program to do that?
The iOS Developer Enterprise Program should be used to develop and
distribute proprietary in-house
applications to your own employees
within your own company. As such, your
company would not qualify for direct
Program enrollment in this situation.
We would suggest that your client
apply for enrollment in the Program,
and, once enrolled in the Program,
your client may add the appropriate
developers from your company to their
iOS Development Team.