I'm looking for a mechanism to allow our employees and a select few key business partners to download a copy of our Beta iOS app without having to register for TestFlight or register their device in one of our provisioning profiles to use a service such as Crashlytics.
Can the iOS Developer Enterprise Program achieve this? If we build an app using the enterprise provisioning profile would anyone with a link to the .ipa be able to install this app on their iPhone?
Using enterprise profile you don't need to add UDID of devices in it, you can make build using it and achieve from XCode. Then it can be installed in any iOS device.
TestFlight is integrated in iTunesConnect, so you can use iTunesConnect for managing a BetaCommunity. Advantage is that you keep better control as the apps expire after 30 days.
If you deploy apps build with enterprise certificate you can not prevent abuse ... everyone in the world can install these ipa-files.
Related
My employer doesn't have an iPhone for testing, they are also not enrolled into Apple's developer program, but they recruited me as an iOS developer.
I was told to create an app and I did it with the help of simulator.
Now, they want me to generate an IPA file of that application for their client who is in another country to test, in his iPhone. Is that even possible?
You will certainly need a developer account if you want to run your app on a physical device (unless that device is jailbroken, which I wouldn't recommend). If your employer hired you as an iOS developer, you need to inform them that a requirement to doing iOS development is a developer account.
If you are going to be writing iOS apps to deploy on client device (which you won't have physical access to), you have a couple of options.
You could have your employer pay for the enterprise developer account ($299/year). This allows you to have an In House Distribution profile, which lets you build an IPA that can run on any iOS device without the need to register the UDID for each device in the provisioning profile.
You could use Apple's TestFlight to deploy the app to your clients' devices. This still requires a paid developer account as you are basically creating an app store build and distributing to others as "beta testers". The app goes through a more lax review process, but it still must have been signed with a distribution certificate, which you only can get with a paid account.
Bottom line, if your company is asking you to develop apps professionally, you need to get them to understand that the $99/year fee is part of the process. IF they can't justify that, they shouldn't be hiring out iOS development jobs.
Without Apple developer's account it is not possible. You would not be able to archive your code either. Have a look at these documents :
Apple's documentation : Exporting Your App for Testing (iOS, tvOS, watchOS)
Stackoverflow : How to export an ipa in Xcode 7
you have to enrolled into Apple's developer program, and add all UDID into you app device ID than generate a provisional profile. install it in xcode than create an archive, zip it and upload to diawi.com. Diawi( https://www.diawi.com/ ) is best solution, It will generate a link which you can give to client and they can install it on their device directly.
I have faced same problem at start of my job :)
- but it is not possible to generate ipa without apple developer account.
- and even if you connect device to deploy then device iOS version and XCode iOS version must be same.
you have to enrolled into Apple's developer program and this is not enough. For over-the-air installation you have to use apple's testflight or hockeyapp like third party apps.
I find out some app on internet that it installed my phone not through Apple Store. When i clicked "Download App" on the website, it will install automatically on the phone. I wonder why this way is available with Apple Security.
Please, give me a reason. ^_^
Read this article:
http://mobiledan.net/2012/03/02/5-options-for-distributing-ios-apps-to-a-limited-audience-legally/
You can do what you want with iOS Developer Enterprise Program -- In-house app distributing.
Compile your Application with Enterprise Account -> Upload on third party site like http://www.diawi.com & share generated link with others
If you don't know about build types then let me tell you there are 3 types of iOS ipa files that can run on iPhone
1-Developer Mode
2-AdHoc Distribution
3-App Store Submission
Developer Mode: it will only run on debugging device
AdHoc : two types of this build
i) Simple account:
for this build you have to add your mobile Udid into the provisioning profile it will only run on that device whose udid is included in the profile.
ii) Premium account:
for this build you don't have to do any thing it will run on every device without adding its udid to provisioning profile.
App Store Submission : for submitting to apple store you have to make this type of build.
//udid means your mobile device id.
Purchase Enterprise account(299 dollars) or simply create ipa and share on TestFlight but you will still need developer account (99 dollars). In developer account you can register only 100 devices so you cant send ipa to many users. In your case Enterprise account is better. It is your choice.
You are correct,
Some apps don't need to go through APP-Store
There is two types of Developer account by Apple,
If you go with "Enterprise Program" (need to pay more), and you have to create Ad-HOC app and upload on 3rd party server, and you can download it from there.
We are currently adding some mobile applications built using Xamarin.iOS to our AirWatch MDM entreprise store. Unfortunately it doesn't behave as it should: we trigger the download on the device, it downloads the app but it doesn't install on the device. We checked the device logs and we seem to have an issue with profile or code signing.
Have other persons already used Xamarin.iOS with AirWatch MDM?
If yes, then how do you build your ipa file? Currently we build them for armv7+armv7s, with all assemblies linked, using LLVM and we build using AppStore mode.
When we build the app in AdHoc mode with UDIDs in the provisioning profile and add it through iTunes then it is installing and running fine.
Maybe it is necessary to go the AdHoc way, with this ipa file, with all UDIDs referenced, or, we should go the InHouse way? https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
I haven't used AirWatch but I do currently use the Enterprise program (with ad-hoc builds) for internal company apps. I had the same issue when I tried using the wrong provisioning profile when signing the application.
Yes I have been using Xamarin with Airwatch for two years. I have no problem deploying applications to the field. I routinely provide updates for the programs and in most cases they are 100% deployed in a matter of a couple of days. The majority of the last forced deployment completed in less than 8 hours.
It sounds like it might be the way you are uploading the application into Airwatch. Are you requiring something that is not on the user's device such as a passcode?
I have about 240 IOS devices deployed with a mixture of OS (6.0 - 8). I do not build the apps for the AppStore. I can see where that could be an issue with the deployment methodology. When you deploy via IPA in Airwatch, it is assuming you are deploying enterprise applications. When I deploy an AppStore program I use the catalog and they install via the AppStore.
Our IPA's work either via iTunes or through Airwatch. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
My iOS app just working on my developer devices other phones can't install I'm using phonegap. Other devices can download but when install get full its sticking in install. I think Problem in the Provesion or certificate.
If you haven't added the other devices to your provisioning profile, you will need to.
Also, take a look at TestFlightApp.com to help with the app distribution process during testing.
You need to add all devices you want to test on into provisioning profile you are using.
Here is a good answer how to do it:
How do I add a device to my provisioning profile?
You have to keep list of devices you are using for development only during development phase.
Apple is protecting themselves from you publishing application outside Appstore.
For submitting app to Appstore you need to use Distribution certificated - than everyone can install it - but only when downloading from Appstore - you won't be able to install that build outside Appstore flow.
During development you are only allowed to add up to 100 devices on your account. On enterprise account however there is an option to release "in-house" build - which allows you to install app on many devices - but you are not allowed to use that to distribute an app.
I have created an iPad app using Appcelerator Titanium for the company I work for. This is an app that we can only use in my company, and do not want to try and distribute it through the app store. Is there a way to distribute this app to the company iPads without them being connected to my developers program?
Yes, you could (for example) create a website where people can download your app (.ipa) and the provisioning profile (distribution). People can open that website on their device and "download" both files. Make sure to only do this for internal use as Apple will not like to see you distributing apps to the public like that.
You should look for in-house apps. Here's how the process works
Register for the iOS Developer Enterprise Program.
Prepare your app for distribution.
Create an enterprise distribution provisioning profile that authorizes devices to use apps you’ve signed.
Build the app with the provisioning profile.
Deploy the app to your users.
You should package the app using Titanium Studio or create an archive using XCode and then choose in-house distribution in XCode Organizer.