Distribute IPA file outside app store

Question

I have created an IPA file with the option 'App Store - Distribute through App Store'. When I install the exported IPA file using iTunes, in the device it's showing 'This app cannot be installed'. I don't want to upload on App store; I want to distribute locally. Can anyone please help me with that?

Answer 1

Sign it as Ad Hoc and use Devices (Shift+cmd+2 @ XCode) to install it.

If you need to distribute to number of devices - use Enterprise program or Testflight

Answer 2

What you can do is Archive your app using development profile, configure the manifest with your ipa name and images, upload to your server and serve an HTML including a <a href="itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://HOST-HERE/build/manifest.plist">Install App</a> pointing to the hosted IPA.

I've created an IPA Server that is really simple to setup and you can host it in your machine and distribute over the internet using ngrok. It's been real handy, maybe it suits your needs too:

https://github.com/Edudjr/IPAServer