How an iOS app is installed on a device

Question

I\'m interested to find out the technical details of how an iOS app installs on a device. Let me explain my situation,

• I have my app\'s .ipa and .plist on a serve

Answer 1

I personally use iResign to resign the ipa with the correct provisioning profile. https://github.com/maciekish/iReSign

That saves me from keep changing the provisioning profiles in the xCode project and build a new archive. The ipa can be resigned multiples times.

I would recommend before signing the file have a look at the provisioning profile by opening it in text editor and make sure the UDID for the device you are trying to install the app on is included in the file.

Once you have the ipa use Beta Builder to generate the plist file along with a nice html file which can be uploaded to the ftp. http://www.hanchorllc.com/2010/08/24/introducing-ios-beta-builder/

So all the user has to do now is visit a url on their phone to download an app.

You shouldn't have any issues with this method other than your internet connection dying.

Answer 2

Normally if a adhoc install via the web fails its either due to invalid provisioning set to the ipa, invalid entitlements set or timeouts due to internet connection.

I would check to see what entitlement settings you are using in xcode. Get task allowed should be set to false.

If its not entitlements I would log into itunes connect, make sure your distribution profile has the correct devices set to it. Delete your local distribution profile, download the profile from itunes connect and reinstall into your keychain. This is to avoid the chance that old profiles are still being referenced.

A quick and easy way to install ipas would be to use the iphone configuration tool like paul said. I think there was a bug with mavericks but that might be fixed now. Worst case scenario you can drag and drop the ipa into the device via organiser.