I have built an app for a client that would like to run the app on multiple iPads. Is it possible to do this without distributing through the App Store? Can I use Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store or distribute through the Xcode Server?
You can use TestFlight.
Details: https://developer.apple.com/testflight/
You can use Apple configurator or MDM if you have enterprise certificate to create in-house apps or your provisioning profile contains all the UDID's of target devices you want distribute to.
You may find useful my answer to the similar question.
tl;dr: it's better to use HockeyApp or Fabric. Alternatively you may use Testflight.
Just go to Xcode and export the app (Product -> Archive -> Export), and follow the steps to save the .ipa file.
Create a file named app.plist (see this).
Create a index.html file with this content:
click this link to install
Upload these three files to your server (note that the URL must be HTTPS, not HTTP) and clicking on the link should download your app.
Note that you must select a Distribution Code Signing Identity and Distribution Provisioning Profile in Step 1. Also, the UDID of the iPads need to be included in the distribution provisioning profile.
Related
I'm developing apps for other companies. My customers want their app in App Store to show as published by their own company, not mine. Also, they don't want to give me their private key for signing apps for App Store distribution. I don't want the key myself, because I don't want any legal responsibility related to the key being lost or stolen.
They can add me as a developer on their company's team inside the Apple Developer portal, and this gives me access to publish new builds for testing. In this situation, I must sign my app with their distribution certificate, or my builds would be rejected when uploading them. Is that correct?
A possibility is that I send them the app as an IPA-file, using their app's bundle id, and sign it with my own certificate. They would then resign the app with their distribution certificate and submit it to iTunes Connect using Application Loader or similar. What is the easiest way for them to do the re-signing? Will they have to use Xcode to upload the IPA, or manually run codesign on the command line?
I'm looking to make this as easy as possible. The people receiving the builds (IPA-files) are not developers.
Try this one, you can sign IPA package by your certificate and send it to them, then ask them to re-sign it using their own certificate.
How to Re-Sign an iOS App from an External Developer
In this scenario, the customer will have to resign the IPA file they recieve from the developer and upload it to iTunes Connect themselves using Apple AppLoader or Xcode. To resign it, they will need the codesign binary provided by the Xcode command line tools (full Xcode not required, but will also work). Optionally, they can use Xcode to upload and re-sign an xcarchive.
There are some apps that give a UI to codesign, like iResign and AirSyncApp, that are more user-friendly than the command line.
Thanks to #alanc-liu for contributing information.
I work for a company developing their iPad app. None in the company is a technological geek to handle Xcode app deployment themselves. So for now, we do this:
I develop the app.
Create an ad hoc testing version and share the .ipa file with them.
They test and then I make a distribution version for further release.
What I want to establish as a permanent solution is
I develop and share the Xcode archive
They make all different versions for testing and release.
However I have been largely unsuccessful in doing so: for creating the archive, I have to sign/certify with my development profile. They could deploy it further from Xcode archive to an .ipa file, using their distribution certificate. However, they can not install it on their devices. I believe mainly because the development version requires my certificate/profile to be enabled on their devices :(.
Is there a way out? I need to provide them an archive which they could further sign and do whatever they want to do (either test on whatever devices they want to or release).
Thanks,
Nikhil
If you don't want to manage the device identifiers where you are deploying the device, you could use:
1) TestFlightApp.com (although I don't know what the current status of their offerings are -- since they've been acquired by Apple -- but they still have a "Sign Up" link on the top of their home page).
or
2) Apple's Enterprise Developer Program, which allows you to "Distribute In-house Apps".
You can sign application using their distribution certificate.
To do so c'est have to send you a p12 export of the certificate, the p12 contains the private key of the one creating the certificate and the certificate.
To export a certificate :
Go to the keychain access
Right click on the certificate
click export
I am already testing my iOS app on my iPhone and it works great. My client wants to test my app on his own device but the problem is that he is a resident of different country. Can I send him something like we have "apk" in Android?
Yes, this is possible using the "Ad-hoc".Steps:
Add Your partner's device to the iOS provisioning portal at developer.apple.com
Generate a provisioning profile that includes it for your app.
Build the app using this profile.
Generate an .IPA file using Product->Archive
Send it to your partner that .IPA file.
Many more details available in Apple's guides under "Ad-Hoc" testing.
This is also a good option. testflightapp.com
Yes, you can send him IPA file.
See here:creating ipa for distribution to client
OR
you can refer to this link: How to make .ipa file in Xcode 4.5?
I'd look into services such as TestFlight to make the process of publishing and installing the app on your client's machine. Get your ad hoc provisional profile and archive your build. TestFlight will upload it to their servers and email your client that the build is ready. From there the installation is a snap.
Just send an .IPA File to him he cant see the code using that
i want to know do we need both distribution certificate and development certificate, if i want to give my app to any one else or want to install on other mobile?
how can i setup my code signing with this certificates in xcode?
can anyone give me a screenshot for it?
The development and distribution is both necessary. They are both used in archiving which is a step you take when you want to upload your app to App Store. If you want to allow your friend to have the app you developed on their device, just connect the device in xcode and click on use for development. Then you can upload your app to their device for testing. You can register up to 99 devices to your development id. If you decide to publish your app on the App Store then you need to go through the steps of uploading your app and then you need your distribution profile. I hope this answer your question.
First you want to register with the Apple Developer Program (99$).
After that you want add your Device UDID.
Then you create the developer and distribution certificates.
Download these certificates and install them into your system.
Now In your Xcode Build Settings Set the Corresponding profile.
Connect your device and run it.
We have developed an iOS app that has been delivered to the customer as an IPA with an ad-hoc distribution profile that allowed a set of their employees to install it on their devices. The customer now wishes to distribute that app internally to all their employees using their iOS Enterprise Developer program credentials.
I had hoped that the customer could simply re-codesign the ad-hoc IPA with their own enterprise identity. However, they say they can't do that. They say they "need an IPA file with the removal of the limitation to only certain devices".
So, what do I do?
Do I need to somehow create an "unsigned" IPA for them? (And if so, how do I do that?)
Do I need them to generate an Enterprise distribution provisioning profile for me so I can build the app with that profile?
Do I need to just send them the source or build output and let them build the package?
I have looked at the following documents, but they have not enlightened me:
TN2250: iOS code Signing Setup, Process, and Troubleshooting
Distributing Enterprise Apps for iOS Devices
It's completely possible to take any IPA and resign it with your own details, modifying the Info.plist, bundle ID, etc. in the process. I do this all the time with IPAs that have been signed by other developers using their own provisioning profiles and signing identities.
If they aren't familiar with the codesign command line tool and all the details of replacing embedded.mobileprovision files and entitlements, the easiest way for them to do this is for you to "Archive" the app via Xcode, and send them the generated archive file (*.xcarchive).
They can import that into Xcode so it is visible in the Organizer, and from there they can choose "Distribute" and sign it with their enterprise identity.
To import the .xcarchive file into Xcode, they just need to copy the file into the ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives directory and it should appear in the Xcode organizer. Then they click "Distribute" and follow the instructions: