How to Allow a Beta Tester to run my iPad Application without Physical Access to iPad

Question

I'm trying to get my App localized and want to allow someone to run my app so they can see if the localizations are working fine. I do not have physical access to their iPad. Is there a way to facilitate this? Could you lead me to some documentation to allow this to happen?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can give them a copy of the app using Ad-Hoc distribution. You will first need the UUID of their device (have them download the AdHoc Helper app from iTunes).

After you have the UUID you can prepare the Ad-Hoc distribution of your app. The following instructions should be accurate, but I put them together pretty quickly and may be lacking explicit detail at some points.

Create Distribution Profile:

1. Sign into the iOS Dev Center (https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/)
2. Go to the iOS Provisioning Portal.
3. Add the beta tester's device (Click "Devices" from menu on left, then click "Add Device" button.
4. Click on the "Provisioning" item in the menu on the left.
5. Click the "Distribution" tab.
6. Click the "New Profile" button.
7. Select "Ad Hoc"
8. Fill in rest of information.
9. Check mark the beta tester's device.
10. Click the "Submit" button.
11. Wait a few moments, then refresh page and download the provisioning profile.
12. Double click on the provisioning profile to install.

Configure Xcode for Ad-hoc Build:

1. Open project in Xcode.
2. Navigate to the project's settings (Click on the project in the project navigator, then click on the project in the project editor).
3. Click on the "Info" tab of the project's settings.
4. In the "Configurations" section, click the "+" button.
5. Select the "Duplicate Release Configuration"
6. Name the configuration "Ad Hoc" or similar.
7. Click on the "Build Settings" tab of the project's settings.
8. Search for the "Code Signing Identity" build setting.
9. Change the value of "Any iOS SDK" under "Ad Hoc" to "iPhone Distribution" (found in the "Automatic Profile Selector" section of the drop-down list).
10. Open the Schema Editor (Menubar -> Product -> Manage Schemes)
11. Select the scheme for your target and click "edit" button.
12. Expand "Archive" in the left panel of the Scheme Editor.
13. Change the selected build configuration to "Ad Hoc".
14. Click "ok" button.

Compile Project as Archive:

1. Select "iOS Device" or your iOS test device from the Xcode toolbar.
2. Archive the project (Menubar -> Product -> Archive).
3. If everything is successful, then the organizer should appear with the "Archive" tab selected.
4. Select the archive you just created and click the "Distribute…" button.
5. Click "Next"
6. Code Signing Identity: select the identity you created (or use "iPhone Distribution" for automatic profile selection).
7. Click the "next" button.
8. Codesign wants to Sign, select "Always Allow"
9. You can now either save the application for installation via iTunes or check the "Save for Enterprise Distribution" checkbox (see next section for Enterprise Distribution).

Enterprise Distribution (works for ad-hoc distribution to beta users):

1. Check the "Save for Enterprise Distribution" checkbox.
2. For "Application URL" enter the real URL that will be used to download the .ipa file, for example: http://www.example/downloads/newapp/NewApp.ipa
3. Enter the name of your application in the "Title" field.
4. Save the files (default file names are app.ipa and app.plist).
5. Upload the files to your web server and change the name if necessary (for example I would need to change the name from "app.ipa" to NewApp.ipa" and "app.plist" to "NewApp.plist").
6. Verify that you can download both the .ipa (http://www.example/downloads/newapp/NewApp.ipa) and the .plist (http://www.example/downloads/newapp/NewApp.plist) files.

7. Add the install link for your application to your website:

   <a href="itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=http://www.example/downloads/newapp/NewApp.plist">Install NewApp</a>

Install Application on Device:

1. Have user go to download web page.
2. Have user click on install link.
3. When prompted, have user allow the installation of the app.