What is the difference betwen .ipa and .app format in iOS? - ios

I tried Adobe flash professional CS5 based to develop an iPhone application in windowsOS but when I publish it's out will be .ipa format. Will this work properly for an iPhone?
Can anyone explain .ipa and .app?
And also is it possible to develop an iPhone application in Adobe flash professional CS5 and how can we get .app format ?

Disclaimer: my answer comes completely from digging around the files themselves.
.apps are application bundles. They contain the executable file, an Info.plist file, an icon, a launch image, and some other application resources. Application bundles are the only ones that actually get installed onto your device.
.ipas are archives that contain .app bundles as well as some other files meant only for iTunes to use, for instance iTunesArtwork. They are how iTunes manages applications, and as far as I can tell have little to do with the applications themselves other than App Store information.
I haven't worked with Flash CS5's export to iPhone feature, but you should be able to just drag your .ipa file to iTunes and it'll appear in the Apps list.
And also is it possible to develop iphone application in Adobe flash professional cs5?
It is possible in the sense that your iPhone software won't crash permanently or something, but as phwd and David have said, your app will not make it to the App Store.

iOS app formats
iOS supports next app formats:
.deb - Debian package. Since iOS is based on Darwin (BSD) Unix family it is *possible to run such Linux format. For example Cydia package manager uses .deb for sharing applications on jailbroked devices.
.app - during development when you build your application for simulator or real device the .app is generated. You can find it in Products group. Sometimes .app is used to share application thought iOS simulators[About]
.ipa - iOS App Store Package for iOS devices. When you publish/distribute or download an app using App Store your operates .ipa files. This container includes .app and other metadata. Actially it is an archive with .app. And to create it you should Product -> Archive -> ...

Related

How do I convert a mobile app on my device into an IPA file?

I've been using an app (Simblee app, to be specific) to manage some software components of a hardware device - an electric motor system. For example, the Simblee ios app is used as the UI to control some of the functionality of the hardware device like turning on the led lights on the device, managing how much power the device outputs, etc .
However, the app is no longer available through the App Store. I can still use the Simblee app on phones where the app has already been installed but I just got a new phone and I cannot use the Simblee through that phone. I saw online that it may be possible to convert the app from a phone to an ipa file. I've tried using iMazing to generate an ipa file but run into issues where the ipa file is corrupt. When I go on diawi to share this app with others, the error I get is: 4001009: Invalid .ipa file: missing embedded mobileprovision.
My question is two-fold:
1) Is there another way to convert the mobile app to an ipa file?
2) If not, is there a way to fix this error that I'm running into?
A mobile app is distributed via an IPA file. The problem you're facing is app signing. iOS apps are digitally signed by the App store for a specific device. You need to install the app from the app store in order to get it signed for a new device. I don't think there is a way to circumvent that step unless you use a jailbroken phone.
On Mac OS you can copy a Mac app from one Mac to another Mac with that uses the same AppleID in the app store and it will authenticate it and it will work, but I don't think you can do that with iOS apps.
tldr: I think you're out of luck.

how to generate .ipa file from html5 project

I developed an mobile app using JQuery Mobile Framework, in HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery/JavaScript. The files all have the extension .html or .css or .js...
Using the PhoneGap, I was able to convert the zipped folder to Android App (.apk), Windows Phone App, BlackBerry App and others, but I couldn't convert to iOS App (.ipa)...
It's a really simple app, so I just don't want to spend money on that. I don't have an Apple Developer License, I wanted to know if there is a way to try my app on my iPhone without paying, if is possible to create an Apple Developer License for free, or if there is a converter .apk to .ipa, or .zip to .ipa or ANYTHING like that.
You could use the iPhone/iPad Simulator. To do so, you need a Mac computer, and you can download Xcode from the Mac AppStore for free. You can use Xcode to test your app on the simulator without having an Apple Developer Account. You just won't be able to build it on a real device.
But the thing is, if you want to publish your app on the AppStore, you will need to have an Apple Developper Account sooner or later. I strongly advise you to test on real devices before publishing anything. The simulator is great, but it's not like a real device. A lot of problem can come up on devices (mainly, memory and performances issues) and won't append in the simulator.

How i can use PhoneGap to create ios app in windows os?

hi I am beginner in IOS mobile I know that i must have Apple device to work on it to create IOS app . my project is that i am preparing to work on it is HTML5 and Javascript and css when i searched i found that PhoneGap can do it without more codes .so how i can work on phonegap in windows os if i dont have apple device?. I hope you will help me on this issue.
You will have to use cloud building tools like Phonegap build or Intel XDK to develop iOS app without a Mac.
With Phonegap build, you will have to create a config.xml, zip this along with the app written in HTML5/CSS/JS and upload it to Phonegap build and it will give back a .ipa iOS app file to download, which can be installed on iOS device for testing. But to do the build, you will need to upload a exported developer certificate (.p12 file) from a Mac and upload to phonegap build before you can build the app. You just need the certificate exported from a Mac, you can get this certificate and use Window PC to upload the certificate and start building iOS apps from windows PC
With Intel XDK, you can develop app using HTML5/CSS/JS, simulate app on various devices and build app in cloud just like with phonegap build. But you dont need a Mac for exporting certificates and stuff, Intel XDK generates a Certificate Signing Request(CSR), which you will have to upload to apple developer site to get a certificate. You you do not need a Mac at all to start building iOS apps.
But in both cases you will require a Mac when you want to submit the app to Apple AppStore, you will have to use the XCode -> Application Loader to upload the iOS app binary to submit to AppStore.
Here you can found the Developer Platform Guide for your question
PhoneGap Developer Guide
Your App in fact is a HTML5 With Javascript and you can convert for all Devices support this architecture, in the link you see all list for different platform.
Hope this help you.
Phonegap requires native environment to wrap your html,css,javascript and produce a native build.
iOS native environment requires Mac OSX.
AFIK, you cannot do iOS development in windows OS.
On work around you can consider doing is using Phonegap's online build service
The only possible way building for iOS without touching a Mac would be Phonegap's cloud building service.
Phonegap Build FAQ
You would still need both of:
some device for testing purposes
an Apple Developer account

Is it possible to deploy an Adobe AIR desktop application to iOS?

I have an incredibly basic Adobe AIR 4.5 desktop project that I just want to use to test an iOS deployment. Is it at all possible to deploy this to an iOS device as it is? Or does it need to be turned into a Mobile project somehow?
The steps to creating an IPA file in the guide on Adobe's site (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/articles/packaging-air-apps-ios.html) seem to assume the project is already a mobile project. I'm a total newb here, but it sounds like this sort of thing is possible? Is it really? I'm having trouble finding information.
It is possible to create a simple Flash project and export it without modification for iOS. Obviously depending on what the project is doing, some things might need to be tweaked.
I am currently building several apps using the same fla and as files, which are targetted for browser and iOS use.
But in order to place anything onto an iDevice, be it just for debugging, testing or adHoc distribution, you need to be signed up to the Apple Development program, have an Apple provisioning certificate in place and have relevant apple provisioning profiles created.
There is a great course on lynda.com about setting yourself up for iDevice app building.
http://www.lynda.com/iOS-SDK-4-tutorials/distributing-ios-applications-through-the-app-store/77853-2.html?srchtrk=index%3A7%0Alinktypeid%3A2%0Aq%3Aios%0Apage%3A1%0As%3Arelevance%0Asa%3Atrue%0Aproducttypeid%3A2

Distribute BlackBerry compiled app

I have developed a BlackBerry project and now I want to send the compiled output, such as .cod, .alx or .jad, to a client so that he can check it. This is similar to the ipa file for iPhone. How can I do this?
The document from RIM How to Deploy and Distribute Applications tells all.

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