在没有分发文件的情况下（仅在配置文件中）将ipa发送给测试人员

Question

Today I was building an ipa from my application to send to testers. I have always thought that i would need a distribution provisioning file for this but a friend of mine came with his ipod and I just added his device to the provisioning file and rebuild the ipa file. After syncing his device against my itunes library he was able to play/test the game without problem. So, why is then needed a distribution ad-hoc file?

Does this work because I installed it in the computer that owns the provisioning file? I'm a bit messed up.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There are two kinds of distribution. One is Ad-hoc, the other is Enterprise Distribution.

Ad-hoc limits your distribution to 100 devices. It means that for your development certificate, you cannot test your app in more than 100 devices during the certificates life. Also, ad-hoc requires you to physically connect the device to the computer and build the app. This most-likely looks like the situation that you are in.

Enterprise Distribution (ED) is the other way. ED lets you host the app on a secure web-server. This way, you can just copy the ipa on a webserver and pass the link to your colleagues. They will be able to download the app on to their devices directly by pressing the itms:// link (that you send them), without having to be around you.

If you have your options open, I would also check TestFlight . It is a third party app distribution system.