I'm using XCode 6.1.1, ios8 and MacOSX Yosemite.
When I click "Run on device", all I seem to get is an .app file. It runs fine on the device.
Why and when would I need an .ipa file?
You can direct me to relevant docs, I really cant seem to find any official, general info on this.
An .ipa is an archive containing your .app. It's useful when you want to share your application to others.
You can install an .ipa from Itunes for example, or by direct download from a server.
Just to append. .app is not a file, but a Folder, which would be hard to distribute to the users, but all is said in previous comment.
More in wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ipa_%28file_extension%29
Related
I got into mobile development through Flutter, so all my contact with native platforms and techs comes from that.
So far I've been distributing my Flutter apps as the doc says, opening the build/ios/archive/Runner.xcarchive package with Xcode and validating/distributing it.
I found fastlane, but before getting into it, is there a way to use Transporter to upload iOS apps to Apple Store console? It does not recognize the .xcarchive file with it, I suspect I have to do something else before but I could not find what
Thank you!
Archive app with XCode.
Go to "Distribute" and choose "Export".
You will have .ipa exported with provisioning profile, and just add it to Transporter app.
Yes, I just did since brilliant xCode got stuck consistently while trying to upload the app, I switched to Transporter:
Run "flutter build ios --release"
Copy the generate /build/ios/iphoneos/YourApp.app file to a newly created folder named "Payload"
Compress the folder (right click - compress)
rename the compressed file to have a ".ipa" instead of a ".zip"
upload it using transporter
I have application for iOS created on Go language, I compiled it to .app file. Can anyone tell me what should I do to:
Load application to my iPhone
Load application to iTunes connect (I loaded another via Xcode, but there are no objective c or swift code here to do so)
PS: I have valid developer account, able to create any certificates that will need. Versions: XCode 7.2, iOS 9.2
Thanks a lot for your help.
For submission part there is Apple tool called Application Loader. It is a part of Xcode, but I think can still be downloaded separately. It can deliver app to App Store without having to use Xcode Organiser interface.
You need to deliver your app as .ipa file. If your .app is properly signed and contains a valid .mobileprovision (which is a different question), all you need to do is to create a new folder named "Payload", put copy your .app into ito it. Then you can rename the .zip file to .ipa and upload it using Application loader.
I have an app that was developed for my company. Unfortunately it needs to be resigned (i know how do this part) because the distribution cert has expired. The problem is we need to change the version number so it allows for an update on all iPads. Does anyone know how to do this using terminal (i have xcode installed but i dont have and of the files from the developers). Once again, i only have the IPA file for the app.
Thanks for any help.
Rename the .ipa to .zip, and unzip the archive.
Inside should be a folder called "payload", and inside that folder should be your application archive.
Right-click the application archive, and choose "show package contents."
Find the Info.plist file (either named "Info.plist" or "AppName_Info.plist"). Open that file with a text editor
Change the value of "CFBundleVersion" and "CFBundleShortVersionString" to your desired version number.
Re-zip the archive
Rename the .zip to .ipa
Re-sign the .ipa
In answer to Chris Emerson's comment above (sorry, I don't have enough reputation to add another comment so I'm adding an answer) it is still possible to do this! I have just done it for an IPA with latest updates to everything iOS 8.3, OX Mavericks. I was getting the same message "... could not be installed at this time" and it turned out to be an issue with the entitlements in the provisioning profile not matching the entitlements in the *.app.
You can check the entitlements in both like this: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/technotes/tn2318/_index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40013777-CH1-TNTAG68, and I put an answer detailing how I fixed the entitlements of my IPA so that they matched here: Alter Minimum OS Version of IPA without XCode, iOS 8+.
I am new to the iphone development.
And i am using Hackintosh and i do not have any user ID of apple.
Now my clients need two file( .mobileprovision file and .app file) for creating ad hoc distribution.
Now is it possible to create .mobileprovision file and .app file from my hackintosh?
Is it mandatory of real mac and apple User ID for creating these two file ?
Edit: These links are old and now point to an archive, but unfortunately the images aren't archived. The information is likely outdated and no longer relevant.
In order to provision an app you will have to be part of the iPhone developer program. Once you do that, these instructions (minus the part about building for corona) will help you. You can also build with Xcode 4. I don't know if any of this can be done with a Hackintosh.
I wanted to know what is the use to create an ipa and distribute it to client for testing when we can easily zip the built app and distribute the zipped .app file.
What is the benefit of creating the .ipa?
Is it that creating the ipa do not need the mobile provisioning profile?
Please clarify my doubt.
I would tell you an advantage from my experience. When you deliver a zipped .app file to a client, if he is using iTunes on Windows machine, he would be tempted to open it(as .app looks like a folder in Windows). That would actually render the app unusable. However IPA file can't be opened in any way. So it is safe to distribute IPA without considering whether it is going to be deployed on a Mac or a Windows PC.
Although middaparka's answer has been marked as correct, the link in his answer is now deprecated. The updated reference is App Distribution Guide
The ipa file is in fact the installable.
I'd recommend reading the iOS Development Guide (see the "Distributing Applications" section in particular), as this explains everything in detail.
The reason why I use the .ipa over .app is because you can have your clients install your adhoc build straight from the iDevice over mobile safari without having to go through iTunes.
This comes in VERY handy. However, it does take some research to do because it is a wee bit tedious. Basically you have to have a html page incorporating a link to a manifest.plist that has a link to the .ipa file.
http://jeffreysambells.com/posts/2010/06/22/ios-wireless-app-distribution/
Use the Build and Archive command in Build menu. Then you can save it to disk as an ipa archive.
You don't need to send the mobile provisionning profile with the .ipa so it's easier to install for your client. And it's easier to build it (Product->Archive in Xcode than share than give the .ipa name).
I don't understand why Apple gives the technic for the .app in the iOs provisionning portal.