I have a little app that I want (potentially) a lot of my clients to test and give feedback on before launch, do I really need to setup a massive list of UUID's in the provisioning profile and build against that certificate, email them the .APP file and the certificate?
I was hoping for a, perhaps, private app store? But I cannot seem to find much on this topic
Any advice or help is greatly appreciated here :)
Cheers,
Mark
It seems that even with the Enterprise option, you'll still need to distribute a provisioning profile:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf (particularly Chapter 5)
However, it looks like you won't need to add each device to this provisioning profile if it's an Enterprise profile, but the users themselves (or the IT support staff) would have to add the provisioning profile to each machine with iTunes.
Without Enterprise profile, unfortunately the answer is YES. And with enterprise profile, the scenario is already explained in previous answer.
If they all have iPhone SDK installed in their Mac, and if your app doesn't require device-specific features (camera, accelerometer...) then you can just zip your app folder in your iPhone simulator's Application Support folder and send it to all your clients.
It works great for a number of my clients, especially to validate the user interface.
Related
can someone tell me how Amen (getamen.com) can offer their iphone beta app as in-browser download? doesn't it need the device uuid and some certificates/profiles? maybe by testflight sdk?
thanks
I second the notion that it could bea an enterprise distribution; we've worked with clients who do this sort of things for a limited crowd (e.g. their employees only). Check out the following links which might help;
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf
Is it enterprise distribution? You don't need UDIDs for that. The enterprise provisioning profile is generated with the enterprise certificate and specific App IDs.
Chances are the closed beta is not using enterprise provisioning, UDIDs are being gathered, and they are using ordinary ad hoc OTA distribution. Anyone can do this, you just need a web server and a small amount of HTML. Xcode's Archive build can do almost all the work for you. Testflight works the same way and does not get around needing UDIDs, the value there (to me at least) is all the tester management and feedback.
I am an individual developer who has written an ipad app for a company. They have bout 30 devices they want to put it on, so my current plan is to create a provisioning profile that contains all the UDIDS for all those device. So here are my questions:
I surely will miss at least one device and have to either:
a. Create a new distribution provisioning profile for that device
or
b. Add it to the existing provisioning profile, in that case does it void the others
Could I submit something to the appstore that is obviously for internal use and password protect it? The company probably isn't willing to do an enterprise account, and I don't want to maintain it by getting them a new provisioning profile every year when they expire. Any ideas here?
Did you consider Ad Hoc distribution? That would allow you to add the app to a new device without having to make a new provisioning profile.
I haven't done it myself, but this looks useful:
http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/iphone-sdk-development/35818-unofficial-ad-hoc-distribution-guide.html
I love TestFlight for small distributions. Also, see the Apple enterprise distribution documentation. It goes over signing and wireless distribution.
Rather if this is going to be used by the company for a longer period of time then I would advice you to go for iOS Developer Enterprise Program.
The main highlighting lines about Enterprise Program is
"Gain access to resources that will help you develop proprietary, in-house iOS apps that you can distribute to employees or members of your organization."
So you can distribute the app among your company employees directly without need to submit it on app store. That would surely be a better option.
For more details on iOS Developer Enterprise Program, you can check out this link..
iOS Developer Enterprise Program
I'm talking with a client who is abroad and I'm wondering whether I will be able to send him versions of the iPad app for testing before it's on iTunes.
Is there a solution (e.g. Ad-Hoc?) I could rely that doesn't require jailbreak or anything?
If so, could you please provide me with a link to a guide?
Thank you !
Yes Ad-hoc is what you need, basically you will need to associate your client device identifier (UDID) to a certificate that you will use to sign application.
This is a standard procedure (no jailbreak required) that is fully documented on Apple provisioning portal in User Program Guide (you have to apply ($99) for the developer program and be logged to access this... and it is limited to 100 devices)
Another good thing is to use an "Ad-Hoc" updater such as HockeyKit to ease your client updates and installation procedure...
Yes, indeed, there is an ad-hoc distribution method:
here is its mention on the Apple Developer website. As far as details, I think you have to be in the developer program in order to get direct documentation for that, and sadly I allowed my developer account to lapse. A few key points can be found here
Essentially, you can distribute to up to 100 other iOS users who have your group's apple developer credentials installed on their phone, and the app will remain live for 90 days
Essentially, it's the same headache on the remote side with certs, keys, etc... that you have to do with XCode when developing on the device, but you can put the app on a website somewhere where the remote party can install it on their phone.
EDIT: I found this guide that is presented on a forum if you want to look through the steps.
Does anyone have any idea on how to perform over-the-air, deployment of an iPhone app?
Apple's document say that enterprise applications can be distributed OTA, but don't describe , how to go about it.
Any ideas??
Thanks in advance.
I guess when I asked this question, wireless app distribution was not supported. But it is supported since iOS 4.0. In case anyone stumbles upon this question...check out http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html
Also you can do testing of this feature using http://www.diawi.com/
I didn't even know Over the Air was official for so long now! Anyway, first OTA service I've met was TestFlight, which is very much like that diawi you've pointed.
And here I'll quote this great guide I've found about AdHoc OTA with XCode:
If you’ve been through the distribution process of an Ad Hoc application, you can appreciate the challenges of getting a build installed on someone’s device. From the differences of working with users on Windows versus Mac machines, to explaining how to import an Ad Hoc provisioning file and the associated build into iTunes, this process is anything but a walk in the park.
(...) deploying Ad Hoc builds over-the-air, where users simply point the Safari web-browser (on their iPhone) to a link and tap to install the provisioning file and associated application.
Just to highlight the distinct advantage of deploying over the air.
I have a small doubt, so apologies first.
I am creating an iPhone application using my Macbook. I want to upload it into AppStore after some days by creating a developer certificate and use provisioning profile. My friend wants to create his own iPhone application and wants to upload to AppStore for him personally, but he wants to use my same Macbook, but he may create his own dev certificate etc. I hope this is possible. Can we both use a same Macbook to develop different business(myself and my friend's) applications? I'm just curious to ask this doubt.
One more question,
Can we submit an iPhone application into AppStore without having own website page? Is it mandatory to have my own web site page for uploading an application into AppStore?
As long as all of the right pieces are installed, you could definitely share one Mac. You'd need all of the appropriate provisioning profiles installed in XCode, and the private keys / signing certificates used to generate them installed in the Keychain.
Going with separate user accounts might be a good idea, if just so that neither of you gets confused and accidentally builds their app with the other person's profile. But there shouldn't be any technical reason why you couldn't do this with a single user.
You would both need to have different users but apart from that, I can't see a problem.
As far as I know, the certificates and public private keys are per user.
As for the second question, I have no idea, sorry!
For first question:
Sure, it is possible! Its all a matter of creating different Certificate and Provisioning and When you build the project making sure you use the correct certificate to Code Sign!
Second Question:
You don't need a website of your own. I've come across many developers who uses their Blogspot address!
But if you are serious and look serious, get a domain and a simple site :)
Cheers