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Difference between ipa and xcarchive?

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ios

xcode4

What is the difference between an IPA file and an .xcarchive?

Which one do I have to create to upload an app using Xcode's Application Loader?

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Tony Avatar asked Dec 21 '11 14:12

Tony

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What is an Xcarchive?

What is an XCARCHIVE file? Application archive created by Xcode, Apple's development IDE for Mac OS X and iOS applications; stores all application files in a format that can be submitted to the App Store for review; contains a digital signature identifying the developer.

How do I get IPA from Xcarchive?

Now you have to do below steps: Go to Window->Organiser->Archives Here, select your archive fine and click on "Distribute App" button on right side Then Instead of upload, select Export option, and continue selecting default options, it will end you up with generating ipa file.

How do I create an Xcarchive file?

All you need to do is archive your target (Product -> Archive). That's it. You will find the . xcarchive file in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives .

How do I open Xcarchive files on a Mac?

You can look inside a `xcarchive by control-clicking or right-clicking it in the Finder and choosing “Show Package Contents”. The archive does not contain your app's source code (unless you have made a serious mistake in your project configuration).

2 Answers

Difference between IPA and .xcarchive:

IPA is a zipped up Payload folder which has YourApp.app bundle. .app contains all your application resources like images, plist files, compressed nibs and the executable, CodeSigning resources,etc.

xcarchive contains your app and dsym files. .DSYM is required to desymbolicate your crash logs. Right click on saved .xcarchive and select show package contents to see what it contains.

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0x8badf00d Avatar answered Sep 25 '22 13:09

0x8badf00d

First comes .xcarchive, which can be used to create an .ipa and sent to App Store Connect.

TLDR: .xcarchive is intermediary step for you, and an .ipa can be used for uploads to the App Store.

.xcarchive:

  • xc is a hint that its for Xcode, not users. (e.g. other files for Xcode: .xcodeproj, .xcworkspace)

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.ipa: iOS Packaged App

After generating your .xcarchive and you can find it in Windows > Organizer > Archives, you can click Distribute app > App Store Connect > Export , which creates this, which you would upload to App Store Connect:

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To investigate whats in the .ipa, you can rename the .ipa file into a .zip and extract it. You'll find the following directory structure:

enter image description here

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Ben Butterworth Avatar answered Sep 24 '22 13:09

Ben Butterworth
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