iOS App Publishing Guide

IOS Application Publishing Guide

the packaging and publishing of iOS apps is a complex chore for beginners, and this article collects and collates the steps and Considerations for iOS app Packaging, publishing, and app Store listings, hoping to be a beginner's guide.

Developer Account

  to publish Ios Application, you must first register the developer account. There are three types of Apple developer accounts: individuals organizations (organization) and Educational Institutions (educational institution). where organizations company (company) and Enterprise (Enterprise). Educational institutions are generally not accessible to us, so we do not discuss, the main differences between the other are as follows:

	personal	company	enterprise
cost	99 USD	99 USD	299 USD
App Store shelves	support	support	not supported
In-house publish	not supported	not supported	support
number of collaborators	1	multiplayer	multiplayer
TestFlight Beta test	support	support	not supported

Account Registration Link:https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/, if you are a registered personal developer account, you need to provide personal name, address and other information; Organizations account, you need to provide information such as the code, such as the registration process follow the guidelines of Apple's website.

There are two types of APP releases:

1. On the App Store, users who are in the App Store can download and install it in the app stores and use the company account to publish;

2.in-house Released, the app will not be posted to the app Store, only the users can access the download path can be installed, using the Enterprise account release. Intra-company applications are generally published in this way.

If you need to do When the App Store is published, the company account is registered andin-house is issued.

Once you have an account, you need to Configure in Xcode, open xcode-> preferences ->account, add account:

Introduction to the relevant elements of publishing

after you have a developer account, you can login tothe https://developer.apple.com/account/, login screen:

then click on the tags in the red box to access the certificate, authorization File Management page:

Certificates(certificate)

  certificate is a qualification for computer development, used to give the app signature, only the signed app iOS Certificates (development) iOS certificates (Production ) development certificate installed can be signed for App Test package, signed app can only be installed on the debug device (specified by the development authorization file, which will be said later) to test, development certificate can generate a copy, in keychain Access, export the p12 file for installation by other computers, The computer with the certificate installed has the same permissions, and the computer-signed app with the production package can be published, after the release of App can be in the Debug device list outside the Ios installed on device, production The certificate cannot generate a copy, so the publisher can only have one.

Provisioning Profiles(license file)

authorization files are used to authorize which IOS devices can install the app, which includes the certificate used for signing, the UDID of the device that is allowed to install the app(iOS A unique identifier for the device, and the app's app ID( the app's unique identifiers), which is used when using Xcode to archive the application. Depending on the certificate used, there are two types:development and distribution, respectively, for development and distribution.

Device(Debug devices)

Apps that are released by in-house or published in the app Store can be installed on any supported IOS device, but there are no published apps can only be installed on a licensed debug device for testing. In the case of the IPhone, click the Create button and fill in the device name and UDIDto create the device.

An account can only add up to a maximum of one debug device, so if your developer account is shared across multiple projects, please allocate a reasonable number of places to debug your device.

In-house release app

The following operations are all using the Enterprise account.

The first step, the application certificate

The application process for the development certificate and The Production certificate is the same and requires a CSR file to be generated on your publishing machine (a MAC computer signed to the app) , the build process:

go to Keychain Access , Certificate Assistant , requesting a certificate from a certification authority

Click the Create Certificate button on the Web page and select the type of certificate you want to create, which is

Development Certificate Selected"IOS App development",in-house published certificate selected "in-house and Ad Hoc".

Click Continue button to upload a CSR file, you can generate a certificate.

Step two, create APP ID

Click the Create button to fill in Name and bundle ID,name is the app that appears in the app IDs list,Bundle ID is app A unique identifier, named typically a company or team name plus name, intermediate ". "Connection.

Click Continue Create an App ID.

Step three, create an authorization file

Click the Create button and select the option in the Red box

Click Continue button, select the App ID and certificate created in the first two steps to complete the creation.

Fourth step, sign the app

download and pass the authorization file generated in the previous step to the developer, and the developer uses the authorization file to export the xcarchive file and upload the xcarchive file to the Publisher. Open xcarchive file with Xcode and click the Export button:

Select a development team:

finally select the storage location, you can export the signed IPA package, can be uploaded to the IOS device for installation.

APP Store Release

The following operations use the company account.

The first step, the application certificate

procedure Basic and application The in-house certificate is the same, and the certificate type is selected in the Red box:

Step two, create APP ID( same as in-house release)

Step three, create an authorization file

the authorization file type selects the option in the Red box, and the other In-house publish the same.

Fourth step, sign the app and upload it to the app Store

with Xcode Open The xcarchive file, select "Upload to App Store", and follow the prompts to upload the app to the App Store.

depending on the size of the package, the upload process varies. After the upload is successful , you will see this package in ITunes Connect, which you will see in the next step. If you do not see the upload has a problem, you need to pay attention to the mail from Apple, the mail will explain the problem in detail.

Fifth Step, login to ITunes conncet manage app

  iTunes Connect is A portal for app developers that allows the development of Personnel management Its application, tracking the download situation. After logging in, the developer will be in "My app Span style= "; font-family: Song body; color: #333333; Background:white" > "See all your Apps, URL for https://itunesconnect.apple.com/

in the "My App,Click on the app you want to use, and you're in the app Management page. the app packagethat you uploaded in the previous step is visible in all builds , active . We can perform a TestFlight beta test of the uploaded package , allowing the specified tester's Apple ID to download and install the app.

The app will be approved by Apple before itgoes to the App Store, need to go back to the App Storetab, create a new version for review, and the button location like:

then fill in the version number, version information, description of the app, preview map and other information, which usually need to be provided by the operator of the app, so it is best to "users and functions" to invite operators into the developer account, as an app Administrators, ask them to fill in this information in person, and then they can submit a review.

iOS App Publishing Guide