Deploying on device options

ar2rsawseen · February 2012

Hello all,

I'm mostly windows user and was testing apps on Android, my colleague was the one testing on IOS devices. Recently I've acquired some IOS devices for testing purposes, before I got to know Gideros. So when I found out that I can simply install Gideros player on device and then test apps without Mac, I was stunned, because of the shock how cool this feature is, and because my colleague just moved abroad for 6 month, and I lost my option to install Gideros player on devices.

So where I am:
I have testing IOS devices, enabled with my Apple ID (No Mac)
My colleague (who has Mac) is on the other side of the world
My colleague has a developer account

As I don't know anything about apples system, here are my questions:
Can device enabled with one Apple ID be used for other developer account (are these same things or separate)?
Should I create my own developer account? (Would not like it, but it's an option) Can device be used with multiple developer accounts, because app would be published on colleague's account?
Can colleague compile Gideros player and sent me app file, would I be able to install it?
Can I use colleague's developer account on another borrowed Mac (is it safe)?
Other super cool ideas, like connecting device to remote virtual machine, with MacOS and colleague's developers account?

atilim · February 2012

Hi,

I think the easiest solution is using ad hoc distribution. You send your device UDIDs to your friend, your friend build the Gideros Player using ad-hoc distribution specific to your UDIDs and send you back. And you install the Gideros Player to your iOS device using iTunes. Here are the up to date steps: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5295890/iphone-ad-hoc-build-using-xcode-4

The only disadvantage is whenever we release a new version, you should ask your friend again

Also there are some services like: https://testflightapp.com/ But I haven't used them. (btw, Is anybody using TestFlight?)

cheers,

phongtt · February 2012

I'm using TestFlight. It's really good.

Magnusviri · February 2012

I will speak from my experience, and I don't read all of the ADC updates (Apple Developer Connection), so things may have changed.

There are at least 2 types of developer accounts, maybe more, I'm not sure what they are or how they differ. The one that I have only allows my AppleID to login to the developer portal (developer.apple.com), even though there were multiple people working on apps.

I could allow other AppleID's to other portals (itunesconnect.apple.com), but only I could do things like make certificates and provisioning profiles for the iOS devices (which is what you need to put apps on an iOS device).

If you created your own developer account, that would be like saying you were a different business I think. I'm not entirely sure. You should ask Apple about it though, because like I said, things may have changed since I first got involved.

Yes an iOS device can be used with multiple developer accounts. You basically put a provisioning profile on the device and that allows the app to run. Without the provisioning profile, the app may be on the device, but it will not run. Provisioning profiles also expire, so you would need to keep renewing the profile.

Yes, you can put apps compiled by other people onto iOS devices, even using Windows. I'm not sure of the process but I'm pretty sure you use iTunes. It's complicated and it uses what is called an ad-hoc provisioning profile. I'm not sure if those profiles expire as often as the developer profiles.

You can not virtualize Mac OS X on Windows or Linux so that is not an option.

To compile apps, you must have a Mac. To put apps on an iOS device, the compiled app needs to be cryptographically signed (on a Mac). To sign an app, you must have a certificate, a private key, and the provisioning profile installed on the computer. It's complex. I actually can't even get it to work for me right now and the whole time I've developed for iOS it quits not working repeatedly. If you are unfamiliar with the process, I wouldn't suggest you attempt it on a borrowed Mac because you could accidentally leave the private key on the Mac, which isn't that big of a deal. It's like losing your car key at someone's house. The other person probaby wont know what it is for or what to do with it, but it would leave me with an uneasy feeling.

ar2rsawseen · February 2012

Ad-hoc sounds exactly what I needed, thanks

ar2rsawseen · February 2012

Thank you too, Magnusviri, for thorough explanation. Don't know why they need to complicate such things, with Android it's all much simpler.

OZApps · February 2012

Test Flight and some other options work on the fact that they need the UDID of the device, however if most of the testing is between developers that have their own certificates, I had created a utility that helps the developer to sign the app with their certificate and deploy to their device, thereby saving giving up a UDID. This cannot be used for Piracy as it does not help to resign the app with a distribution certificate. Only the developmental certificates are what it works with.

a small article on that can be found at http://howto.oz-apps.com/2011/11/share-my-app-with-developers.html

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