We develop and sell enterprise apps distributed via Apple's Enterprise developer program: https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/
What this basically means is that we self-host and install iOS apps on our client's employee devices without going through any sort of app-store layer from Apple. (the enterprise license lets companies self-sign and distribute arbitrary apps on non-jailbroken devices with no intervention from Apple)
With this in mind, would it be possible for us to push Unity3D incremental code-updates to our iOS users via:
http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/scriptsinassetbundles.html
(or any other method?)
Or are we still restricted to only non-code assets in iOS because of the compiler technology itself?
That documentation seems to imply that it wont work:
"If you want to include code in your AssetBundles that can be executed in your application it needs to be pre-compiled into an assembly and loaded using the Mono Reflection class (Note: Reflection is not available on platforms that use AOT compilation, such as iOS)"
MDM can be used to distribute (and manage app updates) on enterprise apps, without having to manually copy .ipa files around:
https://www.apple.com/support/business-education/mdm/
Related
I have developed a platform that will provide an Information Security service to Enterprise customers. The front-end is a Xamarin Forms application. A company signs up for the service and their Information Security team members install the app on their mobile devices.
I believe this use is not covered by the Apple Enterprise Developer program. The apps are not stand-alone app-store type apps. I cannot install by physically connecting the user’s iphone to my dev machine.
Is there a way to do this other than Test Flight? I am using Visual Studio 2019 from a Windows 10 PC (with a Mac on the same network, of course).
Have you looked at Visual Studio App Center? Not sure if it will fit your exact deployment needs but it may be something to look at if you haven't. I've just started using it and have had some success... but also some headaches too. Android distribution is a breeze but IOS in any shape form or fashion makes it difficult outside of their app store in my opinion.
Over last two months, I successfully finished simple Android application. The application uses Qt framework and should therefore be compatible with iPhones as well.
The development software for iPhones only works on iOS. I am working in a company, therefore the development process must be completely legal - downloading hacked iOS from warez sites is not possible.
My question is, whether apple provides iOS release for programmers (or QA staff or whatever needs) that can be installed on non Mac devices, ideally in virtual environment. Whether the release is free or requires purchase does not matter, but it must be in accordance with Apple's terms of use.
No, Xcode runs on Macs only. But why do not you buy a used computer? It will be cheaper and a good choice for start.
Some cross compilation frameworks like Adobe Air, Marmalade sdk, Trigger.io and Embarcadero allow one to build test and debug applications from a windows machine. Do they violate the iOS SDK license agreement? This agrement forbids to distribute derivative work of the SDK which is the certainly the case with the above mentioned products. Is it safe to use this products for development or is there a concrete danger that Apple will retire any app developed with these solutions?
I can comment on the trigger.io side of things..
My understanding of things is that the forge build process is acting much like testflightapp, just without the download / install process.
You never actually download / use the apple SDK so its hard to say if you are violating something that you are not using directly.
Forge, just like all build services, has a build server. The build server contains the IOS SDK for packaging. As long as your certs and provisioning files are correct it will package it up just fine. The forge process simply installs it after the fact, again similar to testflightapp.
As for apple knowing you tested in a specific manor.. I don't know how they could even know because the end package is just an ipa file, you still have to submit via a mac.
I am about to embark on some mobile development projects but I'm doing a little homework first. My primary goal is to deploy to Android and iOS, but the latter is posing some problems because I do not have access to (nor do I have any interested in acquiring) a Mac.
Phonegap offers a cloud service where you can upload your mobile development project and they will do the building for you - no Mac required. From the Phonegap Build FAQ:
Simply upload your web assets - a ZIP file of HTML, CSS and
JavaScript, or a single index.html file - to PhoneGap Build, point us
to your Git or SVN repository, or let us set up a git remote endpoint
that you can push to. Then we’ll undertake the compilation and
packaging for you. In minutes, you’ll receive the download URLs for
all mobile platforms.
I am leaning toward the development and native UI capabilities of Appcelerator, but since I do not have a Mac, is there any hope for me using Titanium for iOS development using something akin to PhoneGap's Build service?
If you dont have a Mac you will not be able to develop, test, deploy, or put in the app store applications for iOS, with or without using Titanium.
Regardless, even if you were able to use a cloud build technology with Titanium (which does not exist) you wont be able to deploy your final application to the App Store because you have to have XCode for that, the same goes for PhoneGap. Check this here:
Note: Since PhoneGap Build uses Apple's standard development process to build applications, >you will need to sign up for their developer program to build iOS applications on PhoneGap >Build. You will also need a Mac to configure your certificate and provisioning profile.
Bottom line, unless you use a mac, your not legally deploying to the App Store.
Don't be forgetting the registration fees that come with signing up as Both a google play & iOS developer.
I fear that using a remote service is going to cost you dearly in time, as you'll be significantly increasing your test cycle.
The cost of a second hand Mac mini is hardly going to impact any development budget, even charity work. And as the previous poster note, you can't legally deploy your completed build without a mac. If you made macs, wouldn't you do the same?
There are services cropping up like Mobundler.com and Foundry22.com which let you do end to end development without a Mac.
Foundry22 is a service similar to PhoneGap build, for Titanium SDK. Similar to PhoneGap build, it requires p12 bundle for iOS signing and Java keystore for Android. You can use service like Mobundler to create those using just your browser. You still need to pay to become part of iOS developer program.
The answer here is outdated.
There is an Icenium platform which will allow you to build and put your app on App Store without using Mac at all.
http://docs.icenium.com/publishing-your-app/distribute-production/publish-ios
I am enrolled in the Apple Developer Program ($99/year) and I have the trial (free) version of MonoTouch. Am I able to submit MonoTouch apps to the App Store with what I have now or do I need to get one of the paid versions of MonoTouch first? I know that one of the differences between the free version of MonoTouch vs. the paid versions is the ability to run your apps on your iOS hardware during development but doesn't the Apple Developer Program get you some kind of ability to do this as well? Just a bit confused.
Note: If this belongs in another StackExchange site, please let me know and I will move it.
I think you're getting confused...
MonoDevelop is free, its MonoTouch that has the trail/paid versions. Basically you'll need to purchase either MonoTouch Professional or MonoTouch Enterprise in order to get your iPhone app into the App store as the trail version only allows to run the app in the simulator.
http://monotouch.net/Store - see first paragraph
EDIT: Being part of the Apple Dev Program provides you with a Developer Certificate which allows you to upload applications to the App Store (generally, be it obj-c based or other) whereas the paid versions of MonoTouch provides you with the mechanism to get your application in a state where it can be deployed to a device and the app store - and also a cunning way of generating money. Because whose going to develop iPhone apps without a desire to distribute them ;)
without a license, you can only run MonoTouch apps in the simulator. You cannot deploy them to a device or the App Store.