I have a beta application that I want to show to 100+ people and I can't figure out how I can do it without the app store. The thing is with the app store it's a beta. In the app it has pages that do nothing because I want to show the people what I'm working on next.
What adds to the problem is that the application is Push notification enabled.
I'm guessing if I sent the files of the code that the certificates would change because they would have to make a new provisioning cert.
http://testflightapp.com is a great tool for distributing beta tests. As for the 100+, it will only support 100 a year as per Apple's ad-hoc constraint, up to 200 devices. To test with more people, you'll need to sign the app again with another developer account and distribute to a second list. Other options include enterprise deployment or having some testers build and deploy for themselves, signing with their own developer account.
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My Company is building an app which we want the external customers to try out before submitting to the app store. Since in-house builds can only be distributed to employees of the company, what's the best way to get the app to beta customers without going through the app store?
If the customer signs up for a developer or enterprise account and gives us their certificate, is it ok to sign the app on their behalf and give it to them?
Thanks!
Update: Number of devices is more than 100.
If you have less than 100 devices you want to run the app on, you can do adhoc builds and distribute them via your own web server or TestFlight. You will need the UDID of every device that it will be installed on, though. I usually suggest people run Ad Hoc Helper for that. See iPhone ad hoc build using Xcode 4 and http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ad-hoc-helper/id285691333?mt=8
My answer requires devices to be jailbroken.
Since you say you need more than 100 devices, you could fake sign the app. This will allow you to install on as many devices as you need.
P.S. I recommend option #2 on the fake signing link I gave you.
I'm making an iOS app for a client, and need to share my progress with them in a convenient way.
At the moment I know of two options:
add their device to my provisioning profile then send an IPA to them
send an app through to them, built for the simulator, and have them run that directly
Neither of these are ideal, as the simulator doesn't give the full experience, and getting UDIDs off non-technical people can be painful.
Are there any other options I should know about?
I use testflight - iOS beta testing on the fly. I used to battle with the same problems you mentioned but once I started using testflight, I didn't look back. What testflight allows is -
You can add the specific customer to send the IPA to.
Progress reports
No need for your customer to go through the complicated Provisioning certificate
No need to register your device
You can even create groups and send different builds to different groups. Like "Test Group" would get more bleeding edge builds whereas the customers might get a more stable build.
Free over-the-air beta distribution. Apps are installed in one tap over-the-air and users will be notified of future builds.
Recruitment: Promote your beta app and select new users that sign up
Works within Apple’s guidelines and rules for ad hoc provisioning and device # limitations
You don’t need to jailbreak or alter your phone.
It is not a replacement for Apple’s ad hoc provisioning profile and device limitations.
Hope this helps...
PS: I do not work at testflight & this is not a promo. Just appreciating a good product...
UPDATE: Recently test flight has launched TestFlight Live, pretty awesome for tracking launched apps. This is all with detailed flowcharts et al. Definitely worth a dekko. Defunct after Apple buying TestFlight (or available in different name)
LATER UPDATE: Apple has bought TestFlight. Links updated.
https://testflightapp.com takes a lot of the pain out of circulating iOS app builds. It's free and it's worked very well for me.
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
I want to build an application for the iPhone to be used inside a customer enterprise (very small, only 5 to 10 devices). But since they will be paying the application development, I don't want to distribute that application to the world inside the App Store in iTunes. How can I distribute this app to my customer? Should I get the Enterprise level subscription from the Apple Developer Program? Since I work as a freelancer, I think I can't subscribe to that program.
You should have the client purchase the Enterprise subscription.
The alternative, since there are only a few devices, is to regularly provide provisioning profiles for all devices. This sounds like a huge hassle to me. The profiles expire every 3 months last I checked, but it has changed before.
If you really want to scrape the barrel, there is also jailbreaking :)
I have developed an iPhone App and I want to test this final distribution build before submitting it to the App Store for review.
Is there any safe way to make this app to run on a device?
You might want to also check out Craig Hockenberry's "The final test" blog post.
Craig gives a method of testing where the only difference between what you test and what you submit is the signing identity.
No, you can't. This makes me a little nuts, too. If you set up an ad-hoc distribution profile, that is as close as you can get. On the "positive" side, you're guaranteed to have your app rejected if it can't be installed properly...
check this out, you can actually test a distribution build :
http://nikhilkerala.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-test-app-store-distribution.html
You can setup a beta through the iPhone portal program. You can then load the App and the associated profile onto a phone through iTunes or XCode.
I know this question is a little old, but I've recently found a better way of testing and distributing my Apps prior to submission and this method allows me to easily get it on real devices without having to have the device physically in my hands or have the user muck with provisioning profiles, certificates or iTunes syncing.
Developers can create an account on TestFlight and create a team.
After creating a team, invite testers to your team (click "Invite a Teammate" on the team's page). The tester will receive an invitation email to join your team and will be walked through the process of creating a basic account (name, email, password) and will have their device registered and their account will be added to your team.
Once you have your testers in place, go to your team's page and select all the testers, export their device information via the link and import that list into an Ad-Hoc distribution profile.
Import that profile (and the Ad-Hoc certificate) into Xcode and rebuild your project and share it as an *.ipa file.
Go back to your TestFlightApp.com team's page and upload the binary. All the testers on your team with access to the build will get an email notification about it. All they have to do is click "Install" in the email and they will be taken to a TestFlightApp.com page that will install the App on their device over the air, no iTunes, no mucking around with profiles, etc.
I tested it this morning actually and I'm very impressed with how easy it is and it also happens to be free.
It is actually possible to install the distribution build if you have once previously installed an Ad Hoc build on your phone. Most people simply never tried it =)
And no jailbreak is required. For step by step instructions, see my answer here:
Testing App Store "Distribution" version