Distributing a third-party developed application via App Store

Question

I am newbie in iOS development and distribution, so may be my question is too basic.

Consider the following, I suppose, very common situation.

Our company (A) asked a software company (B) to develop an iPhone application for us. Naturally we want to distribute this application via App Store under our company brand (A).

However they say a strange thing like the application can be distributed only under the developer name (company B), and that is unacceptable for us.

What is a possible solution here?

Answer 1

It seems that your software developer is confused.

You just need to pay Apple the $99 and register your company with the iOS Developer Program. From there you have a few options:

1. You can give your username and password to your iOS developer. Then they can create a Distribution Provisioning Profile through your account, reconfigure the project to use that profile, and submit the app to Apple on your behalf.

2. If you've registered with Apple as a company, not an individual, you can invite your developer to join your team via the People tab under Member Center. That way they can help you administer your app through their own account.

3. Your developer can hand over all the source code to you, and you can handle all the building and app submission yourself. Be aware that process can be a bit confusing if you're new to the platform.