I am developing three in-house apps and we want to distribute the apps to 40 iPads. But we dont want them all to be registered as development devices, we want to have the apps in the store. When I tried ad-hoc distribution, it never worked. I tried to install the apps after registering the device.
So I thought is there anyway that we can distribute the in-house apps through app store instead of going through this painful app distribution?
Presumably you would have an Enterprise Developer license ($299/year) which is for exactly the scenario you have: you want to develop and distribute apps to your organization. This type of license exists precisely for this purpose and because Apple doesn't really want these kinds of apps -- apps that are not generally for everyone -- to be on the App Store.
To distribute your apps under this license you need to look at Apple's Mobile Device Management architecture. It basically lets you setup your own legitimate "store" through which your apps would be distributed to your organization's devices. It is not intended for you to sell your apps to the general public, bypassing Apple. No, no.
I cannot seem to find a good link for you. Google for "apple mobile device management documentation" or "apple mdm"; there are a lot of interesting PDFs that come up.
Bottom line is that this is, I think, a fair bit of work to setup this infrastructure. But necessary if you want to do internal app distribution the right way.
https://testflightapp.com/ it's a very good website to distribute Apps to the people you want. You should really check it out.
It's not through App Store, though.
Check out this documentation from Apple, should provide you with the necessary information for in-house distribution: http://help.apple.com/iosdeployment-apps/mac/1.1/#app43ad6a6a
My organization has had some luck using MobileIron. I believe the piece is called "Enterprise App Storefront".
You setup a MobileIron server and (one option is to) get a MobileIron-managed app directly from the App Store to connect up to it.
Related
Team,
I would like to know how to set up appstore for its enterprise program, with only iOS applications. To be more clear on my question, I run a business and I have applications created for my business which will be used only by customers to whom I give privileges. I don't want to put these business apps into apple's app store, where anyone can browse and install the application.
Is it possible to maintain a store for my business alone where only those who I provide access to, can be able to browse and install the applications?.
Yes you can.
Thats what companies with products like Afaria and Appearean to name a few do.
In a word: no. You can't deliver apps publicly (outside your own enterprise) to non-jailbroken phones, except via the app-store.
Maybe TestFlight comes close to what you think?
The target device(s) get a link with which they get to your TestFlight site. When they visit it the first time, they'll have to register their device via a profile and then get a testflight app from which they can download your app as often as they want.
Con: No payment possible.
cheers
Finn
Looking for the same thing and found this https://developer.apple.com/programs/volume/b2b/. Its for Business 2 business distriubtion
You might be interested in the iOS Developer Enterprise Program, although it doesn't fit your description exactly.
You can't.
Deployment of iOS apps to any non-employee's stock OS devices, on 100 or more devices, or for a longer duration than past your Ad Hoc Distribution certificate expiration date, requires submitting your App to the iOS App store, and distributing it from there if approved by Apple. This is true for all individual, company or enterprise developers.
For employees of D&B rated corporations, or for fewer than 100 devices for only some number of months, there are other options.
We have an application which will be used only by customers nationwide and for this reason we do not want to put the application on appstore. Shortly we want to publish it on one of our servers like a zip file then the customers will connect to that server and download the application. Yesterday when I called to apple support, one of the customer represantatives said to me that this is not possible even if we choose the enterprise license. But today I found a link which it says it can be possible. http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html
Now, I want to know that is there anybody had same problem in here? What are the differences between enterprise license and company license? And the most important is that how can we do what we want to do if it is possible?
It's not officially possible.
You could try Enterprise distribution as others have mention, though it's not designed for distribution outside your company. I'm not saying it will happen, but if Apple find you're doing it they might close your developer account. I've never heard of that happening; only you can decide whether it's an acceptible risk.
Apple would say that you should put the app in the App Store. Unless Apple would reject your app I don't see why this wouldn't work. You don't have to make it easy to find and you don't have to make it cheap.
You can limit it to your customers by requiring a log in. Many, many apps do this, from Salesforce to Skype to Twitter.
Your options are:
Use solutions like TestFlight (free AFAIK) and HockeyApp (paid
service / 1 month free trial) which use UDIDs for app distribution - they
allow seamless ad-hoc distributions.
Use Apple's corporate license ($99/yr) + enterprise license
($299/yr) at the same time and use the latter to distribute your
betas/products without managing UDIDs (i.e. anyone with a link to
your server can install the app, but you can introduce serial numbers etc.).
NOTE: using enterprise license obliges user to not share the app
outside the company, but most companies breach the license agreement
(sharing the apps outside company is not traceable AFAIK).
If you plan to distribute your app outside App Store, option 2 with enterprise license is a way to go, but mind the license agreement on other hand.
The Apple representitive was wrong.
With an enterprise account you can sign an application using an enterprise distribution certificate and provisioning profile, which lets the app run on any device with no restrictions.
You can also use Over-The-Air distribution which lets people install the app through a simple http link in Safari (for example).
We use this a lot at my workplace. We have hundreds of people around the world using our (private) apps, all installed via safari.
The standard Corporate license only lets you manage a maximum of 100 devices on your developer account, but if you take this route you can still use Over-The-Air distribution with an ad-hoc distribution certificate/profile. But you have to manage each device id yourself.
If the cost of the enterprise account is not too much for you, that is definitely the route to take.
It's like Apple said, not possible.
You can add device to the ad-hoc profile, this will allow your app to run on 100 device maximum.
You can use the Enterprise license but you will still need to register the device before the app can be installed and there is still a a maximum.
See the comment of Mike Weller.
Mustafa
you can generate your OTA(Over-The-Air) file in which you set your appropriate profile(with client`s UDID) and send that link to your client and easily provide your update.with using little bit help of your web-developer.check here.
hope this is helpful to you mate...
I am developing custom iPad applications for clients. So far I know that you cannot distribute the same app to more than 100 iOS devices. Although I have read that this method of deploying applications is meant for "beta testing" and that I have to renew the profile every three months.
I was wondering, is there a workaround to this issue? I simply cannot be updating deployment profiles to every one of my clients I'm deploying a custom app to.
Can someone provide me with some information/advice?
Your options are somewhat limited for a custom app. These are really the best options you have for your clients. With proper security and authentication the app store could a decent solution.
Deploy App to the app store
Deploy an enterprise application (Recommended, Requires Dun & Bradstreet Number)
Require that the app is for use on jailbroken devices
Enterprise deployment may solve this problem for you, but to the best of my knowledge Apple will not approve you until you have a large number of employees (500+).
The three month expiration of profiles is only for development profiles. If you produce an Ad Hoc build, these profiles are good for one year.
Update August 2011: Apple now allows iOS developers to write custom apps for businesses. Your customer needs to enroll in the Volume Purchase Program, but presumably after that you can make apps available only to them and not to the general public through the App Store. (Disclaimer: I have not yet done this myself.)
More information on Apple's page about the Volume Purchase Program.
There are different types of developer program that you can be enrolled on. For this you would need the iOS Developer Enterprise Program
We have an industrial app that currently runs on a very expensive ruggedized PDA.
Since most of the engineers we sell to have iPhones we are considering moving to the much nicer newer platform.
A couple of questions:
Is it possible to sell iPhone apps with out the app store? Apple taking a 40% cut of a 99c iFart app is one thing but this is a $3000 engineering calculation app. We have also heard of the hassles some people have had getting apps approved.
Can we sell an iPod touch (I understand selling an iPhone without a contract is trickier) with pre-packaged software.
ps. Sorry for the anonymous posting, the company is a little nervous about our relationship with the PDA maker.
There are basically three different official iPhone application distribution methods that I am aware of:
- App store
With this method anyone with an iPhone can have access to the application. You can distribute an unlimited number of applications like this. Apple gets a 30% cut. Of course Apple must approve your applicaion.
- Ad hoc
You can distribute applications using ad hoc without going through the app store, but you are limited to a maximum of 100 devices. With this method you can distribute you application from a web site, email, etc.
- Enterprise
The method is for internal distribution in companies with more than 500 employees. Apple does not provide any more public detail that I could find on this method.
It doesn't sound like any of these methods meet your criteria unless you have fewer than 100 customers and don't plan to exceed that number. It sounds like from the question your customers are not internal to your company.
I would advise contacting Apple. They might be able to work out some kind of custom distribution deal.
Enterprise developer program allows in house distribution, avoiding the appstore. It's $299 vs $99 and doesn't include AppStore distribution.
For companies with 500 or more employees who are creating proprietary in-house applications for iPhone and iPod touch.
Apple also has a B2B Program, which sound like you are aiming for. It allows you to sell your apps directly to other businesses. You can find out more here: https://developer.apple.com/programs/volume/b2b/
Spotify has a free app you can download, but to use it you have to have a Premium account. So you don't have to sell your app for $3000 to go thru the app store.
You can give the app for free in Appstore, but it will require an online activation. The online activation will cost 3000$. If apple would not accept the app, you can try to create a very limited version (without activation) and get it accepted in appstore. Then release un update for it, which will enable online activation system.
It's a pity - the iPhone/iPod touch could make a really nice platform for automation/interface stuff.
I was working on an embedded industrial platform recently - a 16bit micro, 64K memory, a serial port and a 120x128 2 grey level screen for $1000/unit and $10,000 for the appalling OS/devkit.
I can't see how apple could possibly care if you purchase iPod touches, jailbroke them, installed your app and sold them to customers.
For a $3k app, the $220 for an iPod Touch is less than 10% of the sales price.
Testflight. Google it. Basically you get an account with testflight. Put your app on testflight. You send your customer an email and they click it on their iphone. It sends testflight an email with your customers device ID. Testflight sends you an email saying "a New customer requested your app" and their device ID. You add their device ID to your provisioning chain and rebuild your App. Upload it to testflight, they get a notification that it's ready, and they can install it. Somewhere in there be sure to get your money :)
Native app, no. However, you can create it as a Web App that's specialized for the iPhone, in which case you circumvent the app store altogether.
You could consider a HTML5 app on Safari which offers many of the features of an app like offline access, local storage, canvas for rich graphics etc. No distribution issues and no commission. Depends what you need - access to camera, compass I think is not possible. (Also: works on Android)
Edit:
Here's a great intro -
http://sixrevisions.com/web-development/html5-iphone-app/
How to Make an HTML5 iPhone App
Build a version of Tetris that is "for the most part, it’s going to be a pitch-perfect imitation"
Full Screen
Offline Cache
Persistent storage
If your app is pretty expensive, you probably have few customers and they receive personal support, so what you could do is the following:
Have each customer get their own Apple developer license ($99/year). Your support can talk them through the process, or you can probably do it for them. Give them a discount/credit for the $99 they pay to Apple.
Compile your apps logic into a library, and make a thin shell that loads code from the library.
Give the customer the XCode project for this shell, and the binaries for your code :-). Write a little OS X app that triggers the download of XCode, the compilation, and installation, so they can "compile" and deploy "the app they are developing" (a.k.a. your app) to their devices. Or, do it as a service for them.
Don't forget to get your lawyers involved. I'm sure there are ways to look at it in which this is legal, and interpretations in which this violates some license. There is probably a way to make this waterproof, e.g. by calling your customers "developers" and yourself "consultants" in the contract or something. Helping a customer compile their app is not prohibited :-)
If you do this, deployment is not going to be so smooth as if you go the official way, but you'll save a lot of money. For a $3000 app, instead of 30% you'll give Apple 3.33%. I haven't done this, and I don't know anybody who has, and can't even recommend it, but I also can't see why it wouldn't work. So it might be worth a try.
I wish. Short answer, no.
There is some kind of a hack, whereby you isntall your app in a ad hoc manner, but you can only have 100 devices. Painful road if you ask me.
The way to do this would be to give the app for free in iOs store.
But charge $3000 for an activation code or subscription fee purchased from your website.
You will need to give the free app some basic functionality of some kind, however. Apple won't approve the app if it doesn't do anything without the activation code.
If it was me I would do one of the follow:
1) Submit it to Apple and sell it for free. They then enter a license code bought from you to access the full feature set. Include a welcome page, about us, contact page for unlicensed functionality. As Apple won't approve it if it does nothing.
2) Get the companies you're selling to to open an Enterprise account with Apple. Then you build the IPA and sign it using their credentials and send them the IPA.
Good luck.
This article summarizes all the answers to this question and discusses Apple's B2B, iOS developer enterprise program, adhoc distribution and testflight.
http://mobiledan.net/2012/03/02/5-options-for-distributing-ios-apps-to-a-limited-audience-legally/
All of the solutions (except the test-oriented solutions, which are limited), however, force you to get Apple's approval before publishing and updating. This process can take time and can leave your users stranded when you have a critical bug that needs a quick update.
If this is a deal breaker for you, you might want to try developing the app for Android, which also has advantages and drawbacks, but in your specific case, gives you more flexibility.
In Android, you can email an APK file, a user clicks it, and the app gets installed on the device.
In iOS, every devices that is not a member of the "enterprise program", "b2b" program or is provisioned for testing, cannot install the app.
You have to jailbreak the iPhone to put an app on it not from the app store.
Can I go around Apple and offer applications to users, or do they force you to go through them? How? Just legally?
Aside from the App Store (and jailbreaking), Apple provides two official routes to install applications on the iPhone.
Enterprise Distribution: designed for internal users of a company
Ad Hoc Distribution: allows your app to be installed on up to 100 iPhones
Source: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/distribute.html
For phones that are not jailbroken, distribution rules are enforced by the iPhone's code-signing system. The phone won't run any apps that aren't signed by Apple, and the only way to get an app signed is either to get it into the app store or to use ad-hoc distribution.
Ad-hoc is effective but time consuming for more than a few devices, in that you have to get the unique device ID for each device you want to distribute the app to. You then sign the app for that device and send a copy along with a provision file. Some batching is possible-- you can get up to 100 devices in the same ad-hoc build. But if/when Apple finds out you're doing it, they'll close your iPhone developer account (for violating the rules) and then you won't be able to generate any more provision files.
One developer tried using the ad-hoc approach last year when Apple rejected their app (Podcaster). They claimed to have sold something like 1100-1200 copies before Apple shut them down.
Jailbroken phones don't have this limitation, but it's up to you to determine (a) whether the market is big enough and (b) whether enough of those people will be willing to pay for your app. I don't know the answers-- it could well be "yes" to both-- but don't just assume they're true without investigating enough to make a reasonable prediction.
If you wish to distribute applications to phones with out going through the App Store, you must sign each copy of your application for a specific phone handset. If you need more wide spread distribution, all your client phones must be "jail broken". Once a phone is jail broken, it will accept any application for installation.
You can offer applications through Cydia for jailbroken iPhones / iPods. Cydia uses a system similar to Debian's apt. Basically allows users to add custom "sources" (repositories) and install applications provided by those sources.
Obviously this is not supported or approved by Apple since it circumvents the App store and their App approval process.