Alternative solutions for in-house iPhone enterprise app distribution

Question

A client has asked us to develop a proprietary in-house app for managing their back-end systems. However, we are a small development company and I\'m certain that their comp

Answer 1

You can completely bypass the App-Store or Enterprise Developer Program approval process, if you develop your app as pure HTML5 solution. This technology is called webapps. And they can be pretty advanced in functionality. You automatically have cross platform readiness and very easy deployment options (as webclip this can be distributed via .mobileconfig configuration files) See http://www.apple.com/webapps/whatarewebapps.html

Answer 2

Ad-hoc distribution is limited to 100 devices per app, that's true, but you can add the project n times to the apple developer center, so you can deploy it to n * 100 devices

Answer 3

How does apple ensure that your enterprise has greater than 500 people? I'd give it a go through the enterprise program anyway...

I would not jailbreak, I would not do ad-hoc because it is limited to 100, and I wouldn't make everyone put their phones in developer mode.

For future maintainability, enterprise mode is the way to go, so see if you can navigate your way through the process without mentioning that you might not be quite 500 users.

Also, I saw your comment about developing using MonoTouch. I would talk to Apple about this before you do anything else, because given their recent policy changes I am pretty sure this will get your app denied from the App Store and the Enterprise program.

Edit: I checked the Mono web page. It seems like Apple may still be letting mono apps in, and the Mono creators insist that it is kosher, but you might be running the risk of having your future app pulled from phones at any time.

A better edit: Straight from the mono website: Enterprise MonoTouch

It is important to point out that the new iPhone Developer Agreement terms are for AppStore deployment and not the Enterprise program that allows deployment of in-house application to users in the enterprise (using the Enterprise Deployment program).

So you might be good there as long as you can get into the enterprise program.

Answer 4

I was researching this yesterday and today, and it appears that Apple has just (within the past week) removed the >500 employee requirement for enterprise development. However, I believe you will need to develop/deploy for a particular client using a development toolkit registered by the client.

So if you do work for client A and client B, both client A and B will need to sign up with Apple as business developers, at which point you can develop apps for them (as a contractor) and use their tools to build and deploy within their enterprises. I would think it would be a good idea for your company to also be registered as a business developer.

Apple does still require you to have a Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number to sign up as a Business Developer.