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Help / Developing for iOS (iPhone / iPad)
  • Principle
  • Ad Hoc setup: the different steps
  • Connection to the Apple site and identification
  • Provisioning Portal
  • Operations in Xcode
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Stored procedures
Principle
This type of deployment allows you to distribute your application on an iPhone or iPad device.
The "Ad Hoc" mode is reserved for the deployment of applications on a small telephone/tablet fleet (up to 100 devices). This mode can, for example, be used for an internal application in an SME.
To use the "Ad Hoc" deployment, the unique identifier of each iOS device on which the application will be installed must be registered.
Most of the operations will be performed on the Web, then in the "Apple developer center", then in the XCode compiler on a Mac.
Benefits:
  • application content not checked by Apple
Drawbacks:
  • requires an HTTPS server to distribute the application,
  • limited to 100 client devices.
Ad Hoc setup: the different steps
The Ad Hoc setup is used to install the application on several devices (up to 100 per device type).
Remark: The following operations can be modified at any time by Apple.
The distribution of application includes several steps:

Connection to the Apple site and identification

  1. Connect to the site of the iOS developer center: "http://developer.apple.com".
  2. Click the "iOS Dev Center" link.
  3. Click the "Log In" button and type your login and password (created when registering toward the "iOS Dev Center").
  4. Click the "iOS Provisioning Portal" link.

Provisioning Portal

Once connected to the iOS Provisioning Portal, follow these 4 steps:
  • Certificates.
  • Devices.
  • App IDs.
  • Provisioning.
These steps will allow you to:
  • Retrieve the certificates in order to authenticate your application.
  • Reference the devices on which your application will be distributed.
  • Create an identifier for your application (bundle).
  • Associate your application with the target devices.
  • Create a final certificate. This certificate will be installed on the computer that compiles in Xcode the application in Release mode (distributable) in order to install it on the relevant devices.
Click the "Distribution" link for more details. This documentation explains the different steps for saving and distributing an iOS application on a device.
Certificates step: downloading the developer certificate
Click the "Certificates" link. Several tabs are visible in the page :
  • "Development": this tab is used to download and install a certificate to run the test of the application on the device.
  • "Distribution": this tab is used to download and distribute the application on the device (real deployment).
For example, to run the test of the application on your device:
  • Select the "Development" tab
  • Download the development certificate (developer signature).
  • Download the Intermediate certificate (Apple signature).
  • Double-click each certificate to install it on the Apple computer used for the compilation.
Device step: Recognizing the devices
Click the "Devices" link. For an AdHoc setup, each device (up to 100 devices) must be registered before installing an application on a device.
The list of registered devices is displayed in a table.
To register a new device, click the "Add device" link. You must specify the "Device ID" of device to register.
App IDs step: Creating an identifier for the application
The "App ID" of the application is used to represent in a unique way the application that will be installed (this identifier is also called "Bundle Identifier").
This identifier must be unique for each application. Caution, this name cannot be deleted. This identifier includes 2 sections (prefix and suffix):
  • The prefix can be a generic identifier (* for team id) or an identifier linked to your developer account.
  • The suffix corresponds to the name of your application.
This identifier should be named in 'reverse domain', which means for example: fr.pcsoft.MyApp
See the Apple documentation for more details.
Provisioning step
The "Provisioning" is used to link the application certificates and the device certificates. This association is used to represent in a unique way the couple corresponding to your device and to your application.
To do so, you must:
  • Create a profile ("New Profile" button).
  • Select the "App Id" of your application and check the devices onto which your application will be installed.
Once the profile is created:
  • click the "Action" column to download the certificate that must be installed on the compilation computer (Apple computer with Xcode)
  • clickl the downloaded certificate to install it. It will be automatically installed in Xcode.
Note : On the MAC compilation computer, don't forget to install the private key generated when purchasing the developer license.

Operations in Xcode

The operations in Xcode are as follows:
  • Start Xcode and load your project.
  • Drag and Drop the "provisioning" certificate that was previously downloaded into the Xcode environment. It will be automatically installed.
  • Create a new configuration for your project (or copy an existing configuration for example).
  • In the "Target Info" window, select the "build" tab and select the new configuration that was created beforehand.
  • In the "Target Info" window:
    • Click the "Code Signing" pane.
    • Click "Code Signing identity".
    • Then, click "any iOS device".
    • Associate the certificate that was previously downloaded.
  • In the "Target Info" window, select the "Properties" tab and enter the suffix of the identifier of your application (for example, if your application identifier is ABCDEF123456.com.domainname.applicationname, enter "com.domainname.apllicationname".
  • In the project window, in the top left corner, select the "active configuration" and the "active SDK" for the corresponding device (iPhone or iPad).
  • Then, start the compilation ("build").
If the device is connected to the compilation MAC, the application will be automatically installed on this one.
Minimum version required
  • Version 17
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Last update: 05/26/2022

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