what kind of certificate do I need to test apns using ad-hoc distribution?

Question

I can't understand from Apple's docs if I need a production certificate or a development certificate...

Answer 1

You need to create a Distribution Certificate. The Distribution Certificate are used for creating Distribution Provisioning Profiles. Which will allow you to do the following:

1. Create an Ad-Hoc version of your app (this is used if you want to distribute to beta-users, testers, etc (this is what you want))
2. Create an App Store version of your app (You'll do this once you're ready to submit it to the App Store)

Below are the Apple steps on how to create an Ad-Hoc version of an app

Ad Hoc distribution allows you to share your application with up to 100 iPhone or iPod touch users, and to distribute your application through email or by posting it to a web site or server. To prepare your application, the following steps will need to be completed.

1. Create and Download an iPhone Distribution Certificate
2. Create and Download an Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile
3. Build your application with Xcode
4. Share your application file and the Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile with the owner of each device
5. Recipients of the application will need to drag the application file and Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile into iTunes, then sync their iPhone to iTunes to install

Hope this information points you in the right direction. If you need additional details or walkthroughs just let me know.

Answer 2

The SSL certificate you need is for production when you're building with a distribution provisioning profile. As far as push (apns) is concerned, ad hoc == app store. This is quite helpful, as you can test how push will work in the app store build by building an ad hoc app and using the production certificate.