Are there any alternate ways to develop Metro/Windows 8 style apps without obtaining a Windows 8 developer license?
Our department wants to explore the development of corporate, strictly in house, applications for our upcoming Windows 8 deployment next year.
There is no ability to fetch a license offline (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh974578.aspx and http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/762946/cannot-request-offline-developer-license-for-visual-studio-2012-windows-store-app).
Without an internet connection you can’t obtain the Windows 8 developer license from VS2012, and I can’t find any work around.
Does anybody have a work around to enable development of Windows 8 apps without requiring an internet connection?
It was quite frustrating for me that I will never be able to create win8 apps since my developer machine will always be off-line. So I have created a petition to Microsoft to provide a means to obtain a license off-line.
If you are reading this and also want to see a means of obtaining a Windows 8 developer license off-line, please drop your vote here:
http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio/suggestions/3313641-provide-a-way-to-obtain-a-windows-8-developer-lice
There is a hot fix available for this.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2871280
Actually, you are required to renew this developer's licence every month, so it's not really a one time thing.
While you need an internet connection to initially obtain a licence, once you have done this, you can develop applications entirely offline. This is not an unusual model! Quite a lot of applications require a one-time registration initially.
Related
I just want to ask that how can i develop apps for Nokia 220 which has s30+ platform. Is there any way to develop apps for this or not?
It appears that the answer is no.
In spite of the name, S30+ is not related to S30.
Microsoft's specifications page for the Nokia 220 mention a handful of built-in applications (browser, calendar, contacts, alarm clock, "native games", etc.), but says nothing about installable applications.
This FAQ: How do I update the software on my Series 30+ phone? discusses a "Software Recovery Tool" that runs on a computer; it erases all personal content on the phone.
This doesn't prove that it's impossible to install additional applications, but it strongly suggests that it's at least not supported.
S30+ is MRE from Mediatek, see mre.mediatek.com.
There you can find a development system.
However, for the Microsoft handsets you need signing,
which i dont know how to achieve.
Sorry for being late for nearly 7 years (I was a kid 7 years ago :D)
Here is the link to a comment on Github where a man post a copy of MRE SDK 3.0.
From his comment:
Yes it is removed from his server bit I have copy of it on my google
drive I give you link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KIh3VrOIAYLVw5cOf2_uPQvJbOmT6MyC/view?usp=drivesdk
and
If you want any other software that are missing you may found here
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=12ohq-7V0_02QQX9Kjf1m6YRWHO9-JpPy
If the link is broken, leave a comment and I will fix it :)
I also made a copy of it in my repo.
Hope it helps.
We have developed a private WP8 application, and we have registered company account on Windows Phone Dev Center.
The next step is the development of "Company Hub app" which will take care for installation and available updates.
Since we have only one application, I think there is no need to develop "Company Hub app".
Is it possible that the application itself check for any available updates? (We plan to develop webservice for upgrades distribution).
Can I do the following:
Application Check for updates
If so, take the installation of a new version
The application installs a new version of itself. (If this is possible, how to do it?)
So far I have managed to find only examples with "Company Hub app"
Thanks
Selvir K
So far I have managed to find only examples with "Company Hub app"
That's because it's the only way.
To deploy applications on Windows Phone, you have three options:
Using the marketplace
Using the company hub: you get the benefits of the marketplace, but inside of your company network
Using the XAP deploy tool. The phone needs to be developer unlocked (it's a free operation now), there is a limit to the number of apps you can deploy this way on a phone, and you lose the benefits of automatic updates
One alternative way could be to publish an app on the marketplace and mark it as hidden. Only people who have the direct link to your app will be able to download it. Still, if the link to the app is somehow leaked outside of the company, you'll have no way to control who installs the app. So don't do that for critical/confidential applications.
I am in the exact same boat. We are working on our fist wp8 app and do not want a company hub.
I found if you use InstallationManager.AddPackageAsync(String, Uri) method within your app this will go to our website and download\install the xap file very easily. Of course once executed it appears to close your app so it can reinstall but for now this works fine for us.
I happened to see this post as I just finished developing a Windows Phone 8 app for a client, which was in a similar situation. I found publishing to Windows Phone Beta Store severed them the best for the moment for the main reasons below.
The distribution is totally in client's control. The apps in beta
store do not appear nor can be searched in public store. Client just need to send
emails with the app link to its employees. Only the people with the
Windows Accounts added into the tester's list are allowed to download
and install it. Up to 10,000 testers are allowed which is more than
enough for most of the business.
It is much easier to publish it in beta store compared to it is in the
public one. It does not require strict certification as it does in public store. It is an automatic process and only takes a few hours compared to up to two weeks in public store.
From the end users point of view, after it is installed there is no difference. It is the same app and it does not expire (as of today).
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...
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I work for a company that would like to create an app that we can distribute to our customers. We manufacture industrial equipment and we would like to provide an iPhone/iPad app to our customers that can interact with their equipment.
The problem is that we would prefer that the app not be downloaded from the App Store. We would like for this application to be available for our customers free-of-charge and would also like for them to have the ability to download and install the application on as many devices as they desire. However, we do not want non-customers (ahem, competitors) to be able to download and use our application.
What options are available? We have considered allowing the app to be available through the app store but in that case the app would be locked until the user entered an application key. This would keep the app free to download and it would give us the ability to control who could use our software. I'm not sure, however, if that is allowable by the Apple TOS.
The Enterprise license sounds like a potential option. If it is, what are the specific steps necessary for installing an iOS app on an Apple device if not through the App Store? I'm also not sure if it would break the TOS to distribute our app for this purpose under the Enterprise license. Is that the case?
What options do I have? Please realize, I don't own a Mac and I've never even attempted to write or distribute an iOS application-- I'm 100% new to all of this. Thanks for you help.
EDIT
Thank you all for the wonderful responses that I have so far received. Half of the questions that I have stem from the fact that I can't find the actual TOS agreement that I would have to sign if I became a standard or enterprise developer. (Yes, I've googled it.) Does anyone have a link to such documents?
If you want to distribute your app outside the App Store, you need to get an iOS Developer Entreprise license ($299/year). You're going to need a Dun & Bradstreet (D-U-N-S) number to enroll and can only deploy to 500 (registered) devices.
Edit: Another option would be to demand the user some authentication (such as user/pass) to use the app (think Facebook or Twitter). You could provide your clients with the credentials to ensure only a certain users have access to the app.
I think #ibeitia's answer is the best one, but here's an additional option: put the app on the app store, but make it all-but-useless without a login to your server.
For example, the Google+ app is useless unless you have a Google account.
You'd have to give a login to Apple so they can vet it, and of course I can't guarantee they'll allow it, but it's an option I'd consider.
(If you do go down that route, send an email to Apple's approval team asking for clarification before you start development!)
I work for a company that would like to create an app that we can
distribute to our customers.
From http://developer.apple.com/support/ios/enterprise.html (bold is mine)
I am a developer who wants to create an in house app for my client.
Can I join the iOS Developer Enterprise Program to do that?
The iOS Developer Enterprise Program should be used to develop and
distribute proprietary in-house applications to your own employees
within your own company. As such, your company would not qualify for
direct Program enrollment in this situation. We would suggest that
your client apply for enrollment in the Program, and, once enrolled in
the Program, your client may add the appropriate developers from your
company to their iOS Development Team.
The Enterprise Developer program doesn't allow you to sell your app to your customers. It's the customer, not you, who should enroll in the program.
I think your best bet will be to use Apple's B 2 B program:
http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/
This will allow you to have apps in Apple's business app store (not the ordinary app store), and control who gets the apps. You'd provide the redemption codes to your customers.
btw, I can confirm that providing an app with a login to make it useful would be okay with Apple - I've done it before.
Well your options are really limited.
You could go with the enterprise license but this is still limited to 500 device which still need to be register with the some how. (never had to work with the enterprise license).
But could you not make your app available in the appstore foor free but only make it work with you equipment. Thus make the app search for the equipment (via bonjour of wifi) and only work when it finds the device. This will make getting the accepted a bit harder but will work. There are some IP camera manager that work that way.
If your competitors really want your app they will get it one way or an other.
Just be sure you release an app before the competitors, do that way your company has the advantage.
A client has asked us to develop a proprietary in-house app for managing their back-end systems. However, we are a small development company and I'm certain that their company does not have >500 employees.
Are there any alternative, yet similar, solutions to distributing this app to their company without going through the iPhone enterprise program?
(just to clarify: obviously, we would like to go through the official enterprise program but seeing how the company doesn't have >500 employees, this isn't possible).
UPDATE (27/09): It appears Apple have removed the 500 employee limit for the enterprise distribution See here. So this will probably be our route now (which is helpful because the app is approaching completion). I'll update this as we go through the process if anyone would like me to, so that others may get an idea of what the actual process is like.
You can submit the app as a completely free app on the AppStore but require that the user log in and authenticate to use it. That way anyone can download it but you control who can actually use it. Apple does all the distribution for you for and you don't have to worry about Ad-Hoc deployments or IT departments.
You then build a really simple configuration management system on a web host (or platform like Google AppEngine) that manages the authentication of apps.
When a user launches the free app they are asked for a username/password/whatever. That information is sent to the web-based configuration management system and confirmed. If the app receives an acceptable confirmation from the configuration management system it unlocks itself for use by that user.
The app can either re-authenticate every time it launches (useful if you want lots of control) or it can store a key file locally indicating that it has been authenticated. If it sees the local key file when the app launches it considers itself authenticated and never checks again.
Whether you use one user account per person or one for the whole company is up to you.
This style of distribution is very useful if you want to have control of who can use the app but want the ease of deployment that the AppStore provides.
Apple has accepted many apps onto the AppStore that use this method of authenticating against a remote server (Skype is a perfect example).
If you keep track of device UDID on the configuration server you can also pre-load it to allow a certain set of devices to work.
Further, nothing I have described is iPhone specific so you can use the same configuration management system and concepts on other platforms like Android (or even desktops) if you ever port the app or build other apps needing this in the future.
Also, since the action of authenticating devices is not processor or data intensive you will likely never incur a cost if you build this on Google AppEngine as you will never go over the free quotas and you will gain the stability and scalability of Google's backend architecture.
As this particular deployment is for managing an in-house back-end system deploying it through the AppStore can seem insecure because there is proprietary information embedded in the app, in particular the information that allows it to connect to and authenticate against the back-end systems.
The solution to that is to not include this information within the app and simply have that information be part of the response that the app receives from the configuration management server. Basically the app contains the logic necessary to perform its function but without the connection information it has no ability to manage any back-end system.
If you make the app authenticate every time it launches you can change the connection information on the configuration server and the app will update to the new information without any new deployment being necessary. The user just needs to restart the app. This gives your client the flexibility to change their internal network configuration without invalidating your application code. You could also make this information manually configurable within the application but then you incur an IT cost when setting up the application on each device and if you already are going to set up a configuration management system you might as well use it.
To further secure the above solution you may want to have the configuration management system be in-house and behind the company's firewall so that regardless of who gets a hold of the app they cannot connect to the config system unless they are within the company's network.
I was researching this yesterday and today, and it appears that Apple has just (within the past week) removed the >500 employee requirement for enterprise development. However, I believe you will need to develop/deploy for a particular client using a development toolkit registered by the client.
So if you do work for client A and client B, both client A and B will need to sign up with Apple as business developers, at which point you can develop apps for them (as a contractor) and use their tools to build and deploy within their enterprises. I would think it would be a good idea for your company to also be registered as a business developer.
Apple does still require you to have a Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number to sign up as a Business Developer.
About the only real choices you have are...
Up to 100 devices as ad-hoc distribution.
Enterprize distribution (requires > 500 employees)
Everyone has to march their device down to some IT-central and get built as a "developer" device. (yikes!)
Jail-broken.
Jail-broken may sound scary, but it's actually pretty advanced, now-a-days, and can be managed quite easily. Still, it voids your warrantee (unless you're willing to restore-to-factory and be not-honest about it ;)
Still, technically, it's an available option and can be made to work, if you're willing to plan it out.
Let us know what you decide, and the pros & cons of that method.
Another obvious although not neccesarily pleasant is to submit your app to the app store as an app but can only be accessed with a client password. Assuming you can get past the aapp store process this might work for you.
Olie said:
About the only real choices you have are...
Up to 100 devices as ad-hoc distribution.
Enterprize distribution (requires > 500 employees)
Everyone has to march their device down to some IT-central and get built as a "developer" device. (yikes!)
Jail-broken.
But to be clear (correct me if I'm wrong):
if you use the "Ad-hoc" distribution method, your costumers will see the app vanish after exactly 3 months.
only up to 100 devices can be used for testing (i.e. used in "developer mode") and moreover, the app will vanish after 3 months.
So, Apple doesn't give us any choice, are you really big (>500 employes)?? ok so you can do what you want etc otherwise... "byebye"
Moreover, forget about what "Bryce" said before, an app like the one he described would be rejected with the "limeted audience" motivation.
iOS is not for enterprise app....if you don't want to rely on some clever hackers (i.e. jailbreak)
Ad-hoc distribution is limited to 100 devices per app, that's true, but you can add the project n times to the apple developer center, so you can deploy it to n * 100 devices
How does apple ensure that your enterprise has greater than 500 people? I'd give it a go through the enterprise program anyway...
I would not jailbreak, I would not do ad-hoc because it is limited to 100, and I wouldn't make everyone put their phones in developer mode.
For future maintainability, enterprise mode is the way to go, so see if you can navigate your way through the process without mentioning that you might not be quite 500 users.
Also, I saw your comment about developing using MonoTouch. I would talk to Apple about this before you do anything else, because given their recent policy changes I am pretty sure this will get your app denied from the App Store and the Enterprise program.
Edit: I checked the Mono web page. It seems like Apple may still be letting mono apps in, and the Mono creators insist that it is kosher, but you might be running the risk of having your future app pulled from phones at any time.
A better edit: Straight from the mono website: Enterprise MonoTouch
It is important to point out that the new iPhone Developer Agreement terms are for AppStore deployment and not the Enterprise program that allows deployment of in-house application to users in the enterprise (using the Enterprise Deployment program).
So you might be good there as long as you can get into the enterprise program.
You can completely bypass the App-Store or Enterprise Developer Program approval process, if you develop your app as pure HTML5 solution.
This technology is called webapps. And they can be pretty advanced in functionality. You automatically have cross platform readiness and very easy deployment options (as webclip this can be distributed via .mobileconfig configuration files)
See http://www.apple.com/webapps/whatarewebapps.html
There is another solution: an own app store:
http://rhomobile.com/products/rhogallery/
unfortunately only in combination with RhoHub.
Or:
http://www.appcentral.com/
More info:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/integration/mdm/
http://www.cio.com/article/638175/Emerging_Tech_Alternatives_to_Apple_App_Store_For_Enterprises?page=2&taxonomyId=3002
In theory the proposed solution of publishing a free app meant for one company is not valid, since published apps in the app store should not be intended for a "limited audience" (whatever that means), according to:
http://appreview.tumblr.com/post/952395621/cannot-be-intended-for-a-limited-audience
Has anyone tried this with success? Any other ideas?