Expiring App Store Provisioning Profile

Question

I have an application in iTunes store, for which the distribution certificate (in key chain access) is expiring tomorrow. It was generated a year ago and even though I have renewed my iPhone developer program recently, I have not renewed any certificates or signatures yet.

When I set my test device (iPod touch) date to a few days from now and try running the app on it, it shows "The application ** cannot be opened because the provisioning profile has expired".

Does it mean all people who purchased my application will get this message in a day? Or it's just me?

In other words, when a distribution certificate/profile is not updated and is set to expire, will an application which was purchased before this date also stop working on all user devices? I am very concerned about my users, who depend on this app. Will the application be removed from the store automatically in this case, or I have to pull it out and re-submit?

I am most concerned about the current users. Apple "program renewal" page does not mention that I should also update all my apps in the store. Confused.

Answer 1

Your application will still work for the users who downloaded it from the store, and it'll even work for you if you download it from the store. This only effects users who put the application on the device using a provisioning profile (ie you built it and installed it on your device from xCode). Users past, present, and future will not notice anything different.