iOS apps installed from outside the AppStore - ios

I'll start by saying that I'm pretty new to iOS apps.
I remember I installed an app from their website while they were in beta. Since this was possible(2 months ago).
Is it still possible today? Does it still require to be register in Apple's Developer Program?
I know one can develop iOS apps in Adobe AIR. Can the apps be installed without the Apple Program(from outside the AppStore/on your own iPhone for testing purpose)?

Sometimes you'll get an icon an the home screen that looks like an app but it's actually a shortcut to a web app.
You can install apps from outside the App Store - compiling it yourself, or having someone send you the ipa and a provisioning profile. But this requires your device id to be added to the developer's developer account (unless they have an Enterprise licence, in which case they can distribute it to anyone).
Testflight lets you download apps for testing, but the developer needs to have created a profile with your device id.

Related

Can I submit IOS app created on non-IOS devices (like, using VMware or any other way) or without MacBook?

I need to know if I can submit IOS app which is not built within apple device.
I'm using IOS in VMware to create IOS app. But now I heard that, In IOS 14 they are not allowed those app which aren't built within apple device. They are not allowing apps which are built with VMware.
Anyone know about this? Please help me. I got stuck at this point.
Please make this clear for me and many more developers who got confusion.
Thank you in advanced.
VMware doesn't matter as long as you are distributing your app via Xcode. Keep in mind the only way to distribute iOS application is to sign your application with Apple developer certificates with xcode and upload it via application uploader also you must have Apple developer account to generate distribution certificates.
Yes, an iOS App submission can be done without owning a MacBook; it is possible to submit an iOS app using VMware to the App Store.
Your VM should run Mac OS, and an app should be done/built in Xcode.
What is important is that Xcode will be required in order to upload a build to App Store Connect. Then you may submit to the Apple Certification Team to review.
And ofc, To submit your app to the App Store, you need to enroll in Apple Developer Program ($99/year) that should be done prior to the steps described above.

How to generate IPA file without apple developer program and without a connected device in Xcode 7.2?

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.

How to distribute my finished app without app store?

As the title states, I have been developing and testing an app for Iphone. I have got it to install to an iphone via it being plugged into the Mac. But, I would like to get the app place it on my webserver then via a website allow someone to download and install the app. I tried following various tutorials, but as shown below after archiving the app, the export and other buttons are greyed out. Have also made sure 'Generic iOS devices' selected. What could be causing this ?
You have to use Apple TestFlight or use a third party service to allow your beta to be distributed for testing. One good service is HockeyApp, which I am using currently and it is very cheap $10/month.
Without having the UDID of your client, you simply can't!
What is causing this may be that you are not enrolled in the correct Apple developer program.
A stock iOS device will only install an app from a link on a website if the app is signed by certificate from an Enterprise Developer program enrollment (or Ad Hoc provisioned). The Enterprise distribution method is only allowed to employees of the enrolled corporation.
Ad Hoc deployment to devices registered to your enrolled Developer account is also supported by stock iOS devices.
One other possibility is to put a link to your entire Xcode project on your website, with instructions on how anyone with a Mac and Xcode can build your app and then run it on on their device.

How to install iOS app to any device without App Store?

It's mid 2015 and I've found a lot of old links regarding this problem so I wanted to post a new question. I was wondering how to install generated app to any iPhone/iPad device without publishing it in the App Store?
So, I would like to do the same as I can do with the Android apps. I would like to give my app to close to 1000 selected users so they can use it. For Android I can just take debug apk file and send them to their email and they would be able to install it.
I've found this but it's not for free: http://hockeyapp.net/features
Thank you for your help.
TestFlight Testing makes it easy to invite users to test your iOS 8 apps before you release them on the App Store. You can invite up to 1,000 external testers using just their email address.
https://developer.apple.com/testflight/
Update
Now you can test your iOS, watchOS, and tvOS and you can invite up to 2,000 testers using email address.
As far as I know it is not possible yet, At least in a pretty way, I mean, if the device in which you will install your app is not jail-broken you will need to sign your app, and if you sign your app it makes no sense not publish it on the App Store.
Yes. The number is unlimited if your iOS device owners all enroll themselves in Apple's $99 Developer program, have recent Macs, and you are willing to distribute a build-able Xcode project to them. The limit seems to be up to 100 devices if you alone are the only one to enroll, and don't use TestFlight.
Just enroll in Apple's $99 Developer program, add the devices (up to 100) to your provisioning profile in Apple's Developer portal, download the profile to Xcode, then build the app, connect the device to the Mac (or use Ad Hoc provisioning), and install the app. Or get Apple to approve your app for TestFlight distribution.
If you are doing this for a corporation with a D&B number, then another alternative is to enroll in Apple's more expensive Enterprise program, which allows you to install your app on any employee iOS device, even if this number is well over 100.

Is it possible to install iOS apps without iTunes or the App Store?

I programmed an app for a company and would like to install the app on their iPads without having to submit the app to the App Store since its a commercial app for just this company. Is this possible without connecting each iPad to my MacBook and putting a developer certificate on it.
Is there another way? What about using an URL-link or QR-Code (linking to this url)?
Thanks in advance
Your question is about installing apps without iTunes and the Apple App Store. This is entirely possible and supported by Apple but you are still bound by your developer account's ability to only build signed binaries for 100 devices for testing purposes only.
You can distribute your apps over the air via services like hockeyapp.net and testflightapp.com (free) but these services are just hooking into the iOS system's ability to install signed binaries over the air which has been possible since iOS4. There are several open source projects that provide the bare bones HTML and Javascript/meta tags to install signed binaries over the net - one such one is iOS Beta Builder
If you are creating Enterprise apps for clients (that will exist in production, not just a development environment) then your only legitimate way to provide your clients with apps that won't expire is to use Enterprise Developer Account. The enterprise account has no device limits but the apps you sign with enterprise certs phone home to Apple each time they're launched and are strictly only allowed to be used for a single company and their current employees.
It is because of Apple takes 30% of all the payments, isn't it?
The only way I see is to create usual web-site which runs via browser without installing

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