I have been distributing my apps wirelessly for a number of months now with no issues. Granted, I’m distributing beneath the Enterprise license, which prices $299 a yr and is meant for inner enterprise use. This will likely work with a standard developer license, however you’d must do some testing to verify. I think about the method is identical if it does work. I am utilizing XCode 4, so this can be barely totally different should you’re utilizing a unique model. Mainly, you need to add an Entitlements.plist file to your sources:
New->File->Code Signing->Entitlements
and earlier than you distribute, you need to change:
"Might be debugged" to NO
Be certain your undertaking is ready up with the right Code signing profiles. Now go to:
Product->archive
then along with your newly constructed entry, click on on:
Share
Choose "iOS App Retailer Bundle (.ipa)"
and select the right distribution profile you wish to use. Click on subsequent, then select a location to avoid wasting the .ipa file to. Earlier than you click on Save, you should examine
Save for Enterprise Distribution
The .ipa file must be saved on an FTP Server, or not less than that is how I received it to work. For the “Utility URL” area, use the trail to the .ipa file you’re going to save, for instance,
ftp://ftp.firm.com/Installers/myApp.ipa
Give it a Title, then in “Giant Picture URL” and “Small Picture URL” give it a path to your giant (512×512) and small (72×72) icon information, (I am growing for iPad, so iPhone could also be totally different). For instance,
ftp://ftp.firm.com/Installers/small.png
Save the .ipa file. Now you should place your .mobileprovision file on the ftp server. Anybody that wishes to run the app wants the file put in or they will not have the ability to run it. Now, I am unsure if you will have a .mobileprovision file that has all the system ID’s constructed into it should you’re not a part of the enterprise program, however you may attempt to see. As soon as your information are all on the ftp server, you will have to create an e mail that has hyperlinks to the 2 information, however the hyperlink for the .ipa file must be in a particular format. For the provisioning file:
ftp://ftp.firm.com/Installers/profile.mobileprovision
and for the .ipa file:
itms-services:///?motion=download-manifest&url=ftppercent3Apercent2Fpercent2Fftp.firm.compercent2FInstallerspercent2FmyApp.plist
Now if you ship this e mail to somebody, they only have to first obtain and set up the .mobileprovision file, then the .ipa file. Voila, they’re working your program. Let me know if this works with out the enterprise subscription. I think about it could so long as the .mobileprovision file contained the system ID’s.
Edit:
I’ve discovered a significantly better approach of distributing apps, however it requires you to have a PHP server. What you do is create a PHP file that generates the plist file on the fly and returns that. Within the hyperlinks for big picture, small picture and ipa file you move in hyperlinks to different PHP information that return these issues on your particular program. While you wish to set up an app from a hyperlink, you simply move within the url like this:
itms-services:///?motion=download-manifest&url=http://mycompany.com/php/installApp.php?app=myappname
In your PHP capabilities you’d simply insert myappname into the opposite PHP calls, which might pull the right information out of your server. Utilizing this methodology, you need not retailer plist information for any of your apps as they’re generated, which makes updating your apps simpler because you need not retype the data each time, do not even examine the checkbox for enterprise distribution, simply save the ipa file over the previous one and also you’re good to go. Additionally, it’s simple to implement safety and login options with this methodology. Additionally, you need not particularly set up the cell provision file, because it installs itself if you set up the app. It’s saved within the ipa file.
Edit:
Simply to make clear the PHP methodology, you create a php file that creates plist information. Copy a typical plist file created from an enterprise distribution construct, then in your php file, set the headers like this:
$pathToAddFi = "installers/".$_GET['app'].".plist"; //factors to the php server file location of your .ipa information. if you name this php script, you move within the identify of the ipa file you wish to set up. Observe: this location would not truly include any plist information!
$root = "http://yourserver.com/php/root/"; //path to this PHP file's listing
header('content-type: utility/xml');
header('Content material-Disposition: attachment; filename=".basename($pathToAddFi));
header("Content material-Switch-Encoding: binary');
Then you definately construct a string changing the urls on your objects like this:
<string>".$root."ipa_serve.php?app=". $_GET['app']."</string>
and finish it with one final header earlier than you echo the xml string:
header('Content material-Size: ' . strlen($myXml));
Lastly, you create a php file to serve your ipa file, one to serve your giant picture, and one to serve your small picture. Needs to be pretty straight ahead except you are not very conversant in PHP.
