creating ipa for distribution to client

I wanted to know what is the use to create an ipa and distribute it to client for testing when we can easily zip the built app and distribute the zipped .app file.

What is the benefit of creating the .ipa?

Is it that creating the ipa do not need the mobile provisioning profile?

Please clarify my doubt.

How do you distribute an IPA?

Distributing via Ad-hoc (Apple Developer Enterprise Program)plist) file with the correct URL for your IPA. This url will be the HTTPS url to the IPA file for your app. Just replace the highlighted text with the correct URL to your IPA file. Then save your changes.

How do I distribute an IPA without Testflight?

Yes , you can use https://www.diawi.com portal to send yourself iPhone IPA file without using test flight.

I would tell you an advantage from my experience. When you deliver a zipped .app file to a client, if he is using iTunes on Windows machine, he would be tempted to open it(as .app looks like a folder in Windows). That would actually render the app unusable. However IPA file can't be opened in any way. So it is safe to distribute IPA without considering whether it is going to be deployed on a Mac or a Windows PC.