Is there is a counterpart of .apk in ios [duplicate]

Question

I was an android developer and trying to learn on IOS programming, i wondering if there is a counterpart of .apk file for the application in IOS. Because there is the time that i need to send the application to my boss to try it on the his device. Is there are counterpart of .apk in IOS? or there is a other way in IOS to do that. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, it's called an IPA ("iPhone app"). To send to your boss, you'll need to create an "ad-hoc" build, using his device ID in a provisioning profile. There are tons of resources for this on Apple's site and elsewhere, but in brief:

1. Add the test device's UUID to the iOS provisioning portal in developer.apple.com.
2. Create a new provisioning profile for Ad-Hoc Distribution that includes this device.
3. Set up your project's build settings for Ad-Hoc build to use the new provisioning profile.
4. Product -> Archive, then select the archive and "Distribute". Choose Ad-Hoc, and I think you'll be able to save the .IPA from there.