As I understand it, an App ID is an code that's unique for an single application. Every time I start developing an new application, I have to create a new App ID.
But I don't get it what's up with that "provisioning profile". Do I need one for each single app? What's that for?
It's to protect the end users, by having a way to validate apps and their origin. It also serves as a centralized system to control development. On windows most apps use GUIDs for this, but they don't have any centralized info about them. Apple does, which is a pain at times, but it's a valid effort in the end.
The provisioning profile contains a list of devices that are allowed to run or debug your code. Everything is verified with a digital signature, which ultimately lets Apple control distribution. This is why you need to jailbreak in order to get apps from sources outside the App Store.
Related
We recently enrolled in the iOS Enterprise Developer Program to be able to use in-house distribution, which significantly simplifies the deployment of the apps inside our company which is fairly big. Before joining we have thoroughly read the program documentation and we were aware that the new account would live completely separated from the standard account we use for the AppStore submissions.
What I'm unsure about is now what would be the best way to organize the two accounts in the developer portals. I'm mostly concerned with the bundle identifier since I'll be dealing with two different bundle ids inside Xcode for each application. All of our apps use iCloud and Push notifications so wildcard is not an option.
How do you organize this inside Xcode? Do you create two different targets or are you able to manage this with a new Project Configuration? What about iCloud entitlements?
EDIT
Just as an update I wanted to make clear that we're looking for the best solution to build an app for both In-House distribution and for AppStore submission.
EDIT2
Given that the enterprise program does not grant you access to iTunesConnect, where test users and product ids can be setup, is there really no way to test InApp purchases?
I'm not entirely clear on what you need, but it sounds like you want to be able to build your app store apps for internal enterprise use. Is that correct?
If you want to be able to build your app with two different bundle IDs you can create a custom build setting, and give it different values for your different configurations.
So for example, you could create your Enterprise configuration:
Then go to your target's build settings and add a user-defined build setting:
Give it a name like BUNDLE_ID, and if you expand the triangle you can give it different values for each configuration:
Next, open your Info.plist file and enter ${BUNDLE_ID} for the bundle id value:
When you compile using the "Enterprise" configuration, which you can do using a custom scheme (or via the command line build process if that's what you use), the appropriate bundle id will be used.
You can also configure the code signing/provisiong profile setting in the same way:
Once you do this, the correct push notification/iCloud entitlements will be used depending on the configuration.
We've been doing this kind of thing for a long time now. Our build server will generate enterprise and app store versions of our apps for each build, using exactly this technique.
When it comes to the provisioning portal, you will need to configure both app IDs separately for push notifications, iCloud, etc.
This does mean that push notifications must be sent separately to the app store and enterprise versions since they will not share the same bundle ID or push notification certificate.
The iCloud storage by default will be totally separate for the two versions. They may be able to access the same iCloud store (if you need this) as long as the entitlements are set up with the same team ID. But this may be a problem if you have two separate developer accounts.
i want to create an application which will not launch in AppStore but all my clients can install my application in their devices. the problem is that i do not have all my clients devices UDID. how they can insert my application because i can't create Ad Hoc since i do not have all my clients UDID and i do not want to create an App Store binary.
Please tell me this is possible or not.?
Use InHouse distribution, see
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
and
http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/apps/in-house/
In short, you'll need an Enterprise account. With it, you can create inhouse-distributions that work the same as ad-hoc (i.e. you can distribute them directly or via Over-the-air), except that you don't need to specify UDIDs.
However, since this is a major security "flaw" you have to make sure that everyone who downloads/gets this app is properly authenticated one way or another.
Important: If your clients are not members or subcompanies of your company, I'd check the legal status of using InHouse distribution for this. I'm not sure myself.
If you can turn your app into a web app, then yes you can do it.
But assuming you are talking about a native iOS app, and you don't want to require clients to jailbreak their phones, then no, Apple have a single distribution channel and that's the App Store.
If your clients are 'internal' clients, ie you want to distribute within your own organisation, then the enterprise program is an option for you;
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
If your clients are large, and want to buy in volume and then re-distribute internally, another option may be the custom B2B program;
http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/
I'm trying to understand app ID's and provisioning profiles here, I'm quite lost.
I am a registered Apple Developer as an individual under my full name, and I have 2 applications currently in the works, and 2 device UDID's ready for testing.
I'd like to be able to build IPA's for these two apps, upload them to TestFlight, and use them on either of the UDIDs I have on me.
I have several questions (if I should ask separate questions, I'd be happy to unless someone happens to be willing to answer them, I'd appreciate it):
1) Because I have 2 (or more in the future) applications, do I need a wildcard app ID?
2) If I have the app ID ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname.* listed in the portal - WHAT is the actual appID - ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname.*, ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname, or *?
3) Why can't you delete an AppID in the portal?
4) I've read that this must match the name Bundle Identifier. Currently it sits at ${PRODUCT_NAME:rfc1034identifier}. What specifically needs to go here to 'match'?
5) Do I need to create separate distribution profiles for each app, or can I tell each new app to use the wildcard identifier?
6) How do I tie a specific target to a specific provisioning profile in XCode 4? (TestFlight suggests to use the distribution profile)
Thank you,
You have to either have a wildcard app id, or 2 separate (specific, non-wildcard) app ids, one each.
That is a wildcard app id, so the app id is *
No idea.
Your PRODUCT_ NAME, which you specify in the Packaging section of the Build Settings screen.
A single distribution profile will work with multiple apps if the app ID for that profile is a wild-card app id. If they are specific app IDs, yes, you need a profile for each app.
You specify the provisioning profile in the Code Signing section of Settings, under CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY.
Because I have 2 (or more in the future) applications, do I need a wildcard app ID?
You don't. In fact, I recommend against it, since it's probably only going to give you problems with the App Store in the future.
If I have the app ID ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname.* listed in the portal - WHAT is the actual appID - ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname.*, ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname, or *?
That depends on the application. The first part is the Keychain space, which determines which applications can access the things you put in the Keychain. Then comes the actual application identifier, which is generally company.projectname. It would probably be ET9WC78H9Q.com.mydevname.myapplication in your case.
Why can't you delete an AppID in the portal?
On Mac and iOS, the AppID is very important for applications like the App Store. They have to be unique, since having two of them could mean that applications get installed in the wrong place. This means that even if you could remove them you couldn't ever add them again, which means there's no point in deleting them.
I've read that this must match the name Bundle Identifier. Currently it sits at ${PRODUCT_NAME:rfc1034identifier}. What specifically needs to go here to 'match'?
Wouldn't worry too much about that - simply look at the target summary page (click the solution then click the target and finally go to the summary tab) and it'll tell you the name it automatically picked for you.
Do I need to create separate distribution profiles for each app, or can I tell each new app to use the wildcard identifier?
You can definitely use the wildcard identifier, but the App Store will not necessarily like that.
How do I tie a specific target to a specific provisioning profile in XCode 4? (TestFlight suggests to use the distribution profile)
Wouldn't worry too much about that. If you got the code signing set up correctly (look at the build settings, then pick the development and deployment certificates) then you have nothing to worry about.
Can't say much more in here since most App Store things are guarded by an NDA. Consider asking this on https://devforums.apple.com instead.
Is there any way to push apps to an iphone through an iPhone explorer or something else, where you can bundle up the ipa and copy it onto an unlocked device (or non unlocked even)?
How can I push an app to my device without putting it on a cydia repo? Are there instructions on how cydia does this, or would this be out of my depth (considering I dont know the intricacies of the iphone).
This is a customized app I have developed, I just need a way to push it to the device without worrying about the approval process, and I want to keep it on the device past the 3 month provisioning profile period.
After spending much time on internet for this question I present the following.
Summary
iOs doesn't allow sideloading of unsigned apps. The only way to
currently do that is jailbreak.
But there is a work around.. You could beat that using
MacBuildServer
The signing process MacBuildServer uses to cleverly skirt this
limitation is to have you use your own certificate, or to simply use
their certificate from the iOS developer enterprise program to sign
the compiled app (again, for testing purposes).
The iOS Developer Enterprise Program was designed to allow companies
to develop in-house apps for use within their organization, without
publishing them on the App Store.
An example of a business that would be part of this program would be
an event coordinating business that uses these in-house iOS apps to
check people in and perform other tasks.
MacBuildServer's demo gives you a three-click process to build any open-source iOS app you can find on GitHub, and sign it with an
enterprise certificate that allows jailbreak-free sideloading
for your own testing purposes.
Disclaimer
The ideas that are presented here are not my own i found this on internet.visit the reference for more details.
Reference
No. If you're working under the iOS Developer Program the only real way to distribute your app is via the app store. Other than that, you're stuck with ad hoc distribution and the time limit that comes with that. However, if you qualify for the iOS Enterprise Program (i.e. you're a business), you can sign up for that program and then distribute your apps in-house without going through the app store.
Without jailbreaking, your options are: app store, ad hoc (with time
limit), and join the Enterprise program
There is one other option. It's possible to create web-app and then add it as a bookmark.
But the obvious downsides are:
It's html. Even with html5 you're not going to get access to the camera etc...
2: It's open to the public (Although it's easy block access with standard security).
However question was asked long ago, but I think now it is possible with XCode 7.
Is it possible to give an ad hoc build for iPhone, without asking for device id?
I want to deploy the app to a couple of people but I don't want to ask for device id to create a profile and all that stuff.
Is that possible?
if not, what is the easiest way to do it?
Simply put, no.
If you're concerned about the complexity of getting the UDIDs from your testers, I recommend having them install & use Ad Hoc Helper, which makes the process very simple (as long as they have e-mail set up on the device).
You can't do an AdHoc build without device ids as that would give you a distribution channel outside of the appstore. AdHoc is designed for testing only
An enterprise account does not have any device id requirements for deployment but you do need to be a company with DnB number etc and pay the $300 annual fee.
Not easily.
Apple likes to control the distribution channel. If you could distribute your app without knowing device IDs in advance, you could make a competing app store. Apple requires that you list device IDs and limits you to 100-some devices, which presumably should be enough for development/testing purposes.
Some possible solutions:
If you're distributing to other developers, they can re-sign the app with their own provisioning profile and certificate (i.e. replace MyApp.app/embedded.mobileprovision, CODESIGN_ALLOCATE=/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/usr/bin/codesign_allocate codesign -f -s 'iPhone Developer' MyApp.app. Additionally, you might need to specify entitlements).
The iOS Developer Enterprise Program presumably has a higher limit, but I suspect you still need to list device IDs.
A jailbroken phone will run unsigned apps.
No, it's not possible (unless you (and your people) work with jailbroken devices).
Assuming you are not going to put your app on iTunes, I guess you have to ask their device ids, at least for once.
However, once you have their ids, the remaining part would be as simple as to give them an URL. They just go to the URL with their mobile Safari, and can directly download the app.
Here's a link to show how to do that:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2010/12/apple-best-kept-secret-how-to-do-ad-hoc-installs.php